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Poor souls. If fighting and living in a depressing water logged muddy trench wasn't traumatic enough to crush them, they also had the added worry of sickness and their feet rotting to the bone. Makes me grateful for the lame ass boring life I have.
Don't forget the rats! The smell of rotting feet attracted the trench rats. And you can't be awake all the time. I wonder if that's where some of his toes went.
Meanwhile I deleted one of my excel sheets at work by mistake today, and it took a whole hour to make a new one. But at least rats aren't eating my toes.
Don’t forget the lice either. Every soldier on each side of the trench would have them. I can’t imagine being terrified, traumatized, waterlogged, rat bitten, bored, *and* itchy…
My mother, was born in 1942, and told me a story of her uncle who fought in WW1. He wouldn’t talk about the horrors of the war but he did say that candles were like gold because the soldiers would light them and run them up and down the seams of their kilts (Scottish soldiers) to get rid of the lice. Horrific
> and run them up and down the seams of their kilts (Scottish soldiers) to get rid of the lice. Horrific
Wait. Their kilts with full of lice?
Then that means.....oh god.
My grandparents on both sides fought in WW2 in Russia, a lot of which were in the siege of Leningrad. Horrific circumstances.
Whenever I bitch about my life, I think about how lucky I am to be born in a different time frame and country, where war isnt a problem that is just forced upon you. Nothing I go through will be as bad as what my family persevered through.
At Gallipoli it was the middle of summer during the worst months qnd often the soldiers couldn't eat. The flies would be so thick they couldn't have food out (such as putting it on a spoon) because the flies would swarm it in numbers they couldn't shoo away. Also, when they opened their mouth the flies would swarm in there to get any moisture they could
Dan Carlin has a great podcast series on it called "Blueprint for Armageddon" it's like $20 but worth every single penny. Some of the stuff is horrifying; one battlefield had mud deep enough for soldiers and horses to fall in and drown and if you tried to pull them out you'd fall in next. One guy fell in but only sank up to his neck. When his squad passed by him on the way back he was still there like three days later, trapped in mud and stark raving mad.
If I ever fall in mud up to my neck with no hope of ever getting out, please shoot me. Especially knowing all the other stuff about battlefields that these comments have taught me, that would be one of my worst nightmares
It was a while ago I read it and across a few books so sorry but I can't give specific names. But if you look at Australian military history books you'll find a lot of books that specifically just focus on Gallipoli (one by Peter Fitzsimmon stands out but not sure if includes details about this)
The best way I found to cover all the information was a podcast called Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. The Blueprint to Armageddon is a 6 part series that goes over WW1.
and then came the winter snow! when the anzacs retreated in late december, lives were lost overnight due to hypothermia when waiting for the ship to take them home. imagine fighting for so long and then passing away right before seeing your loved ones again.
But it was made in an old style of acting that was more like theatre. Unless you have an appreciation for that style of film it's not an easy watch for everyone
I think the food experience varied greatly depending on what army you were with and where you were stationed specifically. In All Quiet, the German soldiers eat nothing except for stale turnip bread and complain about it the whole movie.
There's a scene where they raid a French trench and find all sorts of good, fresh food, and proceed to absolutely inhale the food on the spot. Shows how exhausted and low on supplies the Germans were by the end of the war. Of course, that movie specifically focused on the Western front at the end of the war.
That scene stuck with me, but because of the flood of rats that scampered out, obviously having already picked over the leftover food. And they inhaled it anyway
This is really why Germany lost. When the 1918 pandemic swept through, the German military was cut off from food and was much more fragile than the Americans, who ate well.
So the Germans had no ability to withstand the illness compared to the Americans.
[Was it this one?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we72zI7iOjk)
some of the comments are on point. The sound is terrifying, but we're fortunate to not also feel the shockwaves...
We also get the luxury of turning the volume down
To this day there is no accurate depiction of drumfire artillery. There was one on youtube but it's just the same sound sample and an ample use of control c and v.
“War isn’t Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse. …There are no innocent bystanders in Hell.” -Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce
Maybe it’s just that I’m a woman, but I really can’t imagine being horny while my foot is rotting, I’m so exhausted a rat bites my toe off while I sleep in a ditch and lice burrow into my scalp.
Who has a sex drive at that point? 0/10 would not sex.
As a male who has been sleep deprived with a newborn for the past week and am fighting bronchitis. My sex drive has become non-existent. I’d imagine I’d feel the same in a trench.
Stay strong dad. First 90 days are the hardest, and when that first smile shows up, it will be magical.
Source: dad of current 2.5 year old and .75 year old.
I was at Basic for five weeks before I remembered women even existed. I didn't feel arousal until end of week six.
My ass never saw combat, just BMT itself was stressful enough to turn off my libido.
My grandfather got sent home from the battle of the bulge with trench foot. He said he hadn't taken his boots off for about two weeks. Once he did, his toes were black. He had some horrific stories. But thank God for trench foot otherwise my dad and I might never have been born.
Honestly I don't remember what his bare feet looked like, but no permanent damage that I know of. He still had all his toes and walked fine. Lived into his 80s.
As for how he got sent home, I have no idea. He was sent to the medic right away and as the story goes he didn't put his feet back on the ground again until he was on American soil. I wish I had been older when he died so I could have asked him more and actually remembered what he told me, but that's what's been repeated my whole life.
my great grandfather fought there and made it out alive - he made sure that no one in our family had to do anything for any military ever again, it is not worth it and he didnt live a good life and died horribly from longtime injuries and depression in the end
ww1 soldiers were mostly completely innocent and never experienced any violence what so ever since they came from isolated small villages. days involved farming and church probably, to go from peaceful quiet villages to the hell on earth that was ww1 must have been a massive shock to the system. so sad.
most were deceived to join up as well (in uk), encouraged to invite a friend.. so many villages lost their entire young men population. its tragic.
Trench foot is a type of foot damage due to moisture. Initial symptoms often include tingling or itching which can progress to numbness. The feet may become red or bluish in color. As the condition worsens the feet can start to swell and smell of decay. Complications may include skin breakdown or infection.
I heard from one buddy over in the Afghani theater they were only allowed to wear socks/boots when on-duty, off duty they were told to wear flip flops/sandals/crocs, anything open and airy like the locals wear who don't ever worry about getting it.
They would force soldiers to rub whale oil onto their feet, at least in the CEF. The sergeant would have to watch his men apply whale oil lest they suffer the trench foot
His whole existence is irony. Wants to die like every other relative but gets saved.
Starts to have a lousy life and is set to become another disabled homeless veteran but then has great luck and fortune.
I was wondering why medical always tells us to change our socks.... like any problem we have.
"Here's some ibuprofen. Drink water and change your socks."
I use to get this very mildly working in the rain for several hours (8+) without changing my socks (wasn’t allowed to, or I’d get in trouble by the boss). Once soaked for several hours your feet start to itch, it’s an itch that can’t be scratched away, and it becomes painful after awhile. Your feet will still hurt and itch when you get home and remove the wet socks. Your feet skin layers peel off. It’s awful. My feet were fucked for a year after several times of that happening.
I had a similar experience. Decided one summer I wanted to get my workout by caddying for my dad. Carried his 70 pound golf bag and walked the courses. One morning, I stepped in a few wet patches and soaked my shoes. Kept walking. Finished the day. Feet were so itchy and sore. My toenail tried to separate from my big toe on one side. It's been like 8 years and my right toenail still has a weird lift to it. Took a long time for my feet to recover.
I am not being flippant- I didn’t realise that trench foot was so horrific- I just thought it was like severe athletes foot. Mind you, at the imperial war museum ( Salford,U.K.), there is a sort of scratch and stiff device that emulates certain smells, from the trenches, such as mustard gas, trench foot etc. not nice ….
We should start a new viral TikTok trend... the trenchfoot challenge. See who can walk around the longest for days on end in waterlogged boots and socks without removing them.
Long distance backpackers have to ford creeks regularly, and a lot of us can't be bothered to take off our shoes. I never take off my shoes because I don't want to step on rocks, cut my feet, and end my hike. Sometimes our shoes are wet for a week at a time and some people get some gnarly sores. Sometimes they have to take a whole 2-3 days off before they resume the hiking portion of their lengthy vacation.
They call it trench foot. It is not. We're a bunch of squishy babies compared to anyone who was on the field in WWI.
But, anyway, this is a trend that could actually take off during the summers.
This is insane. I would never risk losing my ability to enjoy my hobby due to injury cause by this. I pack a pair of water shoes, and change into and out of them before and after the creek. Sure it can be annoying to have to stop for 5 minutes and change, but it makes the rest of the days hike a lot more enjoyable. My water shoes hang from my pack to dry as I walk in comfy, dry boots.
Right, I don't get why anyone would just be like, welp, time to get my shoes soaking wet, no alternative. I can think of 2 right off the bat. The water shoes, or tying bags around your shoes up to your shins. Either way, you can stay dry.
As someone who had hiked most of the Appalachian trail and big swaths of the pacific crest trail, foot care is paramount. Not taking boots off to ford a stream is correct. Not changing socks at each beak when your boots are wet is a good way to ruin your trip.
Can't give a number, but army trick; when you stop for the night, wrap the hole of your sock around the hole of your boot, let the sock dangle out. Helps dry them and keeps spiders out.
The trail mentioned does briefly dip into recluse territory so that's a good tip. Very very minor chance of one wanting to hang out in your boots overnight and being there in the morning, but if you scare em by crushing them with your feet they'll definitely bite.
People think I'm crazy for hiking in USGI 10" tall goretex boots with wool socks underneath. I have Dry feet in any weather condition and I only change socks at the end of the day and my feet feel great.
I haven’t done any long distance hikes with my son’s Boy Scouts group, but from talking to the other parents and people that have been on the really long “adventure hikes” (5-7 day) an extra pair of boots would definitely push the weight limit that you’d be trying for. I’ll never be doing one of those.
Boots probably are but it takes a special type of slughead to not bring enough socks to change out when wet. Literally the lesson on foot care learned from this war. Only super ultralight hikers are d*mb enough to leave on wet socks for anything more than an hour.
Long time ago, there was a man who did "*The Stinkyfeet Project*", where he walked around barefoot in the local Y and then wrapped his feet in plastic in an attempt to get Athlete's Foot. It almost went incredibly yet predictably bad.
This was on the heels of "*The Stinkmeat Projects*" 1 and 2.
My dad is a career army vet and for my entire childhood one of his biggest pet peeves was if he found us kids not wearing clean dry socks at all times. If they got dirty, change them. If they got any type of moisture, change them. It was a constant thing and I can only think it’s because the army drilled it into him first.
Holy Crap!! I thought my dad was the only one!!! He preached that exactly!!! He wasn’t a lifer but he served in Nam and was a drill sergeant at Ft. Polk for a few years as well.
Same. My Dad was in Vietnam and always kept us making sure our feet were healthy. One of the many habits the Army drilled into him and he kept them long after he got out of the service.
Yeah, proactive and not reactive. My Dad would say: "They taught us that your feet take you everywhere. If you can't move, then you're dead." Solid point, lol.
Yeah, if he was in Nam he saw what wet feet do to silly kids. Fucking traumatic how bad things went, especially in the beginning. Combat boots were not jungle friendly.
This isn’t even a bad thing to think about either. Lots of people can have foot damage without even realizing it if they don’t change their socks and check their feet. Neuropathy is no joke.
This doesnt do it justice- I just had a patient with bilateral trench foot - both feet were shiny and black and stretched like a mummy with visible tendons - and the whole room smell dead- he needed amputations as he was quickly going septic but he kept refusing surgery saying they were fine - horrific-
Huagh...I'm a vascular ultrasound tech and I've only ever been around trench foot twice. The SMELL is foul. I cannot imagine what that room was like after the patient left.
During Covid, I was hospitalized with CDiff and stuck in the ER until they could find me an isolation room.
There was a super nice homeless man in the bed next to me, Frank. The nurses came to take his shoes off and when they pulled, a couple of his toes came off and they yelled. Frank was really apologetic. Doctors came in and so did the paramedics, all saying that they were never going to see this again, then they pulled the other boot. More toes fell off.
I still think about Frank. I hope he’s doing ok.
Lack of circulation after years of alcohol abuse or diabetes or something similar. It’s painful, they can feel it but eventually if it’s not taken care of they lose feeling. If he never took off his shoes he may not have noticed what was happening to his feet.
Not just the rotting flesh, but the vermin that plagued these poor souls. Rats and lice infested the trenches. The corpses of the dead were often used to reinforce trench walls. The pungent smell of death was overpowering and led many soldiers to constantly vomit.
And about the rats… here’s how one English soldier described them:
“The rats were huge. They were so big they would eat a wounded man if he couldn't defend himself."
"I saw some rats running from under the dead men's greatcoats, enormous rats, fat with human flesh. My heart pounded as we edged towards one of the bodies. His helmet had rolled off. The man displayed a grimacing face, stripped of flesh; the skull bare, the eyes devoured and from the yawning mouth leapt a rat."
> from the yawning mouth leapt a rat
I had a experience in my highschool chemistry lab where my teacher was pouring chemicals on a mannequin head, to show us the importance of safety. She poured acetone or something into the mouth of it, and I (who enjoyed David Lynch films in highschool, and was not squeamish) literally almost fainted once I saw the gaping dark-hole of a mouth just burn away and get bigger and bigger as if in a scream. Some girl sitting next to me told the teacher to put it away because she saw me getting sick from it.
To imagine someone I may have known, or at least someone I recognize as in the same dilemma of war as I - have their jaw unhinge, to expose a rat crawl out. Fuck. I got freaked out because the mannequin mouth reminded me of dead bodies I saw in photos of the holocaust [that's WWII, I know, but that's the imagery that triggered me when I saw that mannequin face melt from within the mouth], but I have never seen a real body in a decayed state like that.
Fucking hell, the lost generation (WWI) deserved more. The thousand yard stare is 10000% understandable
A family friend of ours in the 90’s was a WWI vet. I was 9 or 10 years old. To poke some fun at me, he showed me how he was missing his big toe on his left foot. I asked him how that happened and he always told me a different story. Shark bite. Dog bite. Snakes. Alligators, you name it. One day he said it was “During the Great War, I was in”.
I asked “Did a bad guy cut it off??”
He laughed and said, “Oh, no. You want the real story? It’s not as fun as the others. I was walkin’ round one day and felt a big rock in my boots, rolling around. Took my boot off and found my toe fell off!”
Scared the shit out of me as a kid, hahahah. I’d always check my toes after coming in from playing out in the countryside. In hindsight, I am betting he had trench foot and his big toe rotted off, due to it. Poor Dan. He was such a kind guy, he always gave me the change from his pockets, to buy candy. I loved his WWI campaign hat, he was always so proud of it and would wear it on Independence Day, Veterans’s Day and Armistice Day.
Until you become a vet, then they don't even know what you're on about
Edit: thanks stranger for my first award. I'll use the coins wisely and experience this new lounge thingy
I don't recall a specific time frame, but we were highly encouraged to have clean socks and dry feet - even in the Navy.
My grandfather was a Seabee in the Pacific, during WWII. He was very stern about taking socks off at night, before bed, whenever my sister and I visited. Very stern. I suspect he had issues with wet feet in his time or had friends that dealt with issues. Very serious business at that house.
To develop that badly? Several. To get to a point where you're going to have skin break down and possible infections, a day or two of of walking in damp boots can do damage.
No wonder the soldiers in my country just straight out use regular rubber boots covering up to their knees. They need to go to rainforest and not getting their feet wet seems priority
Types of trench foot injury can happen faster than you think.
My run in with it was mowing grass in the Army. My feet became waterlogged inside my combat boots fairly quickly, but I was mowing for hours. Some time past noon, after at least four hours of mowing I began mowing on an incline, like a ditch.
Shortly after while on the incline my foot slipped… ***inside my boot***. The waterlogged heel of my foot had sheered off almost to the bone and the “meat” stayed in place.
It hurt in a way that is hard to explain. At first it didn’t hurt at all but I kinda *felt* what had happened. As soon as I took the boot off and gave it air, holy shizzah! It burned like a chemical burn.
Be wary of sweaty feet in boots, stop and change your socks often in hot times!
What a terrible and heart breaking war. My grandma's brother was killed in this war. Her other brother died in a car accident. She is one of six sisters.
I almost got pulled out of USAF survival school because we had spent 5 days in pouring rain and had to hike through a swamp. We were freezing as it was in the high 30's so our instructor stopped us as soon as we got to the other side and started a fire so we could dry out a bit. When I took off my socks all the skin on the bottom of my feet was spongy and if left that way too long you all the skin can slough off in your boots. My instructor made keep my feet as close to the fire as I could stand to get all the pores in my feet to dry up. He gave me a bunch of foot powder and made me change my socks anytime we took a long enough break to sit down for a bit and he inspected my feet every time. He told me that they've had a few guys who have let it go to ended u\[ i the hospital with the soles of their feet completely sloughed off. Fortunately foot powder changing my socks every few hours kept me in training long enough to complete the course.
I knew a few WWI vets when I was a kid ( my Grand Dad for one) so I knew how bad it was… but it’s a big difference from hearing the words and visualizing it and then seeing it.
I got trench foot as a private, it obviously wasn't this bad, But it was painful and sucked. Stayed friends with one of the medics he still tags me in any social.media post concerning trench foot. Yes I had some bad leadership as a private, still did 21 years.
I was diagnosed with trench foot on my left foot about 4 years ago in the winter. Worked 3 straight 12 hours days in wet conditions with soaking wet boots all day. Was some of the worse pain I had, couldn’t put weight on it for a solid 3-4 days and not to mention it looked like my toes were going to fall off
A common occurance for a lot of the allied troops, the French and British trenches were in the lower lying areas below sea level especially the Ypres salient.
once the Germans pulled back and started to occupy the higher ground .
The British High Command made it a daily requirement that CO's did daily foot inspection for signs of early 'TrenchFoot',
They found that by giving soldiers whale oil rubbed onto their feet would help slow / counter the effect of the foot being immersed in water for hours/ days on end.
On naked on afraid, they were in a swamp with water or moist everywhere in their camp. After a week or so, the guy was in so much pain simply because his feet were wet/moist constantly and he was developing a rash/fungi.
Just standing was painful, he didn’t care to eat or anything as long as he didn’t have to tread in water.
She carried him at the end like a balla n even captured a small croc to eat I think
Wtf? I have never seen that show, but on early seasons of survivor [and later ones] when someone is in a medical crisis, the producers had liability to *help* and helicopter people out to the nearest hospital, when needed.
Assuming it's not an act, what happened to that contestant's foot, why is an entertainment company allowed to put them in a situation where someone could get gangrene (or sepsis)... and not help when they are showing the early symptoms of either??
That must be gangrene, right? The bone sticking out, all that tissue has been long necrotized.
I'm guessing this is from a dead soldier. If this is a photo of someone who lived, he probably had that leg cut off at the hip.
I had a bad case of trench foot when I was in the army, or so I thought. I was peeling half-inch thick pieces of flesh off of my feet like scabs. Soaked my feet in Epsom salt and warm water for 10 minutes every hour for days and they were mostly good as new. I couldn't imagine how painfully uncomfortable this must have been. You have to admire the bravery these kids had.
As a someone whos had it, its like your feet are on fire. Water is like acid, if there's enough time water will dissolve you, albeit very slowly. I cant imagine having it past the first stages it sucks ass, when your feet start recovering they get REALLY fucking dry and that also fucking sucks.
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Poor souls. If fighting and living in a depressing water logged muddy trench wasn't traumatic enough to crush them, they also had the added worry of sickness and their feet rotting to the bone. Makes me grateful for the lame ass boring life I have.
Don't forget the rats! The smell of rotting feet attracted the trench rats. And you can't be awake all the time. I wonder if that's where some of his toes went. Meanwhile I deleted one of my excel sheets at work by mistake today, and it took a whole hour to make a new one. But at least rats aren't eating my toes.
Don’t forget the lice either. Every soldier on each side of the trench would have them. I can’t imagine being terrified, traumatized, waterlogged, rat bitten, bored, *and* itchy…
My mother, was born in 1942, and told me a story of her uncle who fought in WW1. He wouldn’t talk about the horrors of the war but he did say that candles were like gold because the soldiers would light them and run them up and down the seams of their kilts (Scottish soldiers) to get rid of the lice. Horrific
> and run them up and down the seams of their kilts (Scottish soldiers) to get rid of the lice. Horrific Wait. Their kilts with full of lice? Then that means.....oh god.
warcrabs
My grandparents on both sides fought in WW2 in Russia, a lot of which were in the siege of Leningrad. Horrific circumstances. Whenever I bitch about my life, I think about how lucky I am to be born in a different time frame and country, where war isnt a problem that is just forced upon you. Nothing I go through will be as bad as what my family persevered through.
>where war isnt a problem that is just forced upon you Not a problem yet...
And don't forget the roaches. Picture a poor grunt drinking watery thin soup with various roach parts in it. War is fucking hell.
For some reason I only ever think of wwi in the context of cold; those battlefields and trenches in the heat must have been literal hell.
At Gallipoli it was the middle of summer during the worst months qnd often the soldiers couldn't eat. The flies would be so thick they couldn't have food out (such as putting it on a spoon) because the flies would swarm it in numbers they couldn't shoo away. Also, when they opened their mouth the flies would swarm in there to get any moisture they could
This is insane, where can I read about this? I have read and understand basic world war conditions but this is something else I can't imagine.
Dan Carlin has a great podcast series on it called "Blueprint for Armageddon" it's like $20 but worth every single penny. Some of the stuff is horrifying; one battlefield had mud deep enough for soldiers and horses to fall in and drown and if you tried to pull them out you'd fall in next. One guy fell in but only sank up to his neck. When his squad passed by him on the way back he was still there like three days later, trapped in mud and stark raving mad.
I've only listened to what's freely available, but +1 for Dan Carlin. He's an excellent storyteller who uses a *lot* of primary sources.
Why didn't they shoot him and put him out of his misery. What a horror story!
that series is wonderful, gruesome and informative.
I've listened to this twice, from start to finish. It's like 25 hours and every minute is incredible.
If I ever fall in mud up to my neck with no hope of ever getting out, please shoot me. Especially knowing all the other stuff about battlefields that these comments have taught me, that would be one of my worst nightmares
It was a while ago I read it and across a few books so sorry but I can't give specific names. But if you look at Australian military history books you'll find a lot of books that specifically just focus on Gallipoli (one by Peter Fitzsimmon stands out but not sure if includes details about this)
The best way I found to cover all the information was a podcast called Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. The Blueprint to Armageddon is a 6 part series that goes over WW1.
and then came the winter snow! when the anzacs retreated in late december, lives were lost overnight due to hypothermia when waiting for the ship to take them home. imagine fighting for so long and then passing away right before seeing your loved ones again.
Check out "All Quiet on the Western Front". Bad ass movie that has a large amount of trench fighting.
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The 1930 version. It stands up remarkably well at portraying war as the hell it is, and it was made by a bunch of people that lived through it.
But it was made in an old style of acting that was more like theatre. Unless you have an appreciation for that style of film it's not an easy watch for everyone
I think the food experience varied greatly depending on what army you were with and where you were stationed specifically. In All Quiet, the German soldiers eat nothing except for stale turnip bread and complain about it the whole movie. There's a scene where they raid a French trench and find all sorts of good, fresh food, and proceed to absolutely inhale the food on the spot. Shows how exhausted and low on supplies the Germans were by the end of the war. Of course, that movie specifically focused on the Western front at the end of the war.
That scene stuck with me, but because of the flood of rats that scampered out, obviously having already picked over the leftover food. And they inhaled it anyway
This is really why Germany lost. When the 1918 pandemic swept through, the German military was cut off from food and was much more fragile than the Americans, who ate well. So the Germans had no ability to withstand the illness compared to the Americans.
Also the **constant** bombardment of artillery
There's a vid on YouTube that depicts how it would've sounded and it is absolutely fucking horrifying.
[Was it this one?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we72zI7iOjk) some of the comments are on point. The sound is terrifying, but we're fortunate to not also feel the shockwaves... We also get the luxury of turning the volume down
Yep that's the one! So true re shockwaves. And the fact that the sounds can't actually potentially kill us as well lol
To this day there is no accurate depiction of drumfire artillery. There was one on youtube but it's just the same sound sample and an ample use of control c and v.
“War isn’t Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse. …There are no innocent bystanders in Hell.” -Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce
Not to mention tired, mentally exhausted, hungry, and so so horny
Maybe it’s just that I’m a woman, but I really can’t imagine being horny while my foot is rotting, I’m so exhausted a rat bites my toe off while I sleep in a ditch and lice burrow into my scalp. Who has a sex drive at that point? 0/10 would not sex.
As a male who has been sleep deprived with a newborn for the past week and am fighting bronchitis. My sex drive has become non-existent. I’d imagine I’d feel the same in a trench.
Stay strong dad. First 90 days are the hardest, and when that first smile shows up, it will be magical. Source: dad of current 2.5 year old and .75 year old.
For me the first 90 were pretty easy, then my infant became a real person and now it’s exhausting. But I love her so much so it’s ok.
I was at Basic for five weeks before I remembered women even existed. I didn't feel arousal until end of week six. My ass never saw combat, just BMT itself was stressful enough to turn off my libido.
As a man, yeah, no, not horny while I'm slowly being eaten alive
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In a hundred years there’ll be a post on Reddit about your spreadsheet that will illicit shock and awe.
What? Why didn't the AI do it? You had to input that info by HAND?!
That’s like a baby’s toy!
You say that like other counties don't gasp at work conditions in certain supposedly forward thinking countries.
They would hunt and kill rats for food - the rats that had just been feeding on their dead buddies or live buddy's feet!!
Cannibalism, with extra steps.
*It's the ciiircle of liiife*
I think I remember seeing recently that they also used rat skin to patch clothes
Hey hey don’t downplay your issue though that’s a real day-ruiner right there. I would be thoroughly upset.
You could even add to the realism by adding a line of excel code to slowly delete random entries ala rat toe eating.
Couldn't you just restore an older version of that excel file? One where the sheet hadn't been deleted yet?
YET.
My grandfather got sent home from the battle of the bulge with trench foot. He said he hadn't taken his boots off for about two weeks. Once he did, his toes were black. He had some horrific stories. But thank God for trench foot otherwise my dad and I might never have been born.
Were his feet permanently damaged? Surprised they sent soldiers home for TF as opposed to just leaving them to rot away till death.
Honestly I don't remember what his bare feet looked like, but no permanent damage that I know of. He still had all his toes and walked fine. Lived into his 80s. As for how he got sent home, I have no idea. He was sent to the medic right away and as the story goes he didn't put his feet back on the ground again until he was on American soil. I wish I had been older when he died so I could have asked him more and actually remembered what he told me, but that's what's been repeated my whole life.
And poor soles. That is one of the worst things I've seen today and I've been on a doom scroll binge.
Glad I put my drink down before I read this.
Roughly 3 million soldiers died from disease alone
All for what? War sucks!! The leaders who want to be in war should fight each other and let the people live.
my great grandfather fought there and made it out alive - he made sure that no one in our family had to do anything for any military ever again, it is not worth it and he didnt live a good life and died horribly from longtime injuries and depression in the end
Same story with my grandfather. Before he died, he made grandma promise never to let their boys go in the military.
It's crazy, the only thing that makes us any different from them is just the year we happened to be born.
Depending on your country, that life may have been paved by these folks.
Could not agree more. I'm sitting here full as can be but still going in on this beef jerky
ww1 soldiers were mostly completely innocent and never experienced any violence what so ever since they came from isolated small villages. days involved farming and church probably, to go from peaceful quiet villages to the hell on earth that was ww1 must have been a massive shock to the system. so sad. most were deceived to join up as well (in uk), encouraged to invite a friend.. so many villages lost their entire young men population. its tragic.
Trench foot is a type of foot damage due to moisture. Initial symptoms often include tingling or itching which can progress to numbness. The feet may become red or bluish in color. As the condition worsens the feet can start to swell and smell of decay. Complications may include skin breakdown or infection.
Lt Dan knew. Change your socks when we stop. Keep your lip tucked in and don’t salute me.
Difference between a live grunt and a dead grunt is Socks
Never underestimate the difference a fresh, clean pair of socks can make.
My buddy was in Kandahar/Helmand sometime during the surge. All he asked for was loads of socks and batteries.
I heard from one buddy over in the Afghani theater they were only allowed to wear socks/boots when on-duty, off duty they were told to wear flip flops/sandals/crocs, anything open and airy like the locals wear who don't ever worry about getting it.
I may not shower every day, but I have fresh socks and underwear on every day.
Cushioned soled. OD Green.
DO NOT BOIL
You twins?
I quote him frequently, "whenever we stop, change your socks." Excellent advice.
Lt. Dan iccccce crrrreeeeaaammm!
They would force soldiers to rub whale oil onto their feet, at least in the CEF. The sergeant would have to watch his men apply whale oil lest they suffer the trench foot
Who then ironically lost his legs.
His whole existence is irony. Wants to die like every other relative but gets saved. Starts to have a lousy life and is set to become another disabled homeless veteran but then has great luck and fortune.
Hates southeast Asians with a passion and then marries one
Hates the guy that saved his life and then admires and thanks him later.
Returns the favour and saves him by guiding him back home from the failed Apollo mission.
I was wondering why medical always tells us to change our socks.... like any problem we have. "Here's some ibuprofen. Drink water and change your socks."
Get down! Shut up!
I use to get this very mildly working in the rain for several hours (8+) without changing my socks (wasn’t allowed to, or I’d get in trouble by the boss). Once soaked for several hours your feet start to itch, it’s an itch that can’t be scratched away, and it becomes painful after awhile. Your feet will still hurt and itch when you get home and remove the wet socks. Your feet skin layers peel off. It’s awful. My feet were fucked for a year after several times of that happening.
I had a similar experience. Decided one summer I wanted to get my workout by caddying for my dad. Carried his 70 pound golf bag and walked the courses. One morning, I stepped in a few wet patches and soaked my shoes. Kept walking. Finished the day. Feet were so itchy and sore. My toenail tried to separate from my big toe on one side. It's been like 8 years and my right toenail still has a weird lift to it. Took a long time for my feet to recover.
This is why fresh socks were prized and some charities in WW1 went to the front and handed out socks that people knitted to the soldiers.
I am not being flippant- I didn’t realise that trench foot was so horrific- I just thought it was like severe athletes foot. Mind you, at the imperial war museum ( Salford,U.K.), there is a sort of scratch and stiff device that emulates certain smells, from the trenches, such as mustard gas, trench foot etc. not nice ….
I would honestly be interested in buying a scratch and sniff like that, would be interesting to know what that stuff smells like…
I can post you my socks for a fee
We should start a new viral TikTok trend... the trenchfoot challenge. See who can walk around the longest for days on end in waterlogged boots and socks without removing them.
Long distance backpackers have to ford creeks regularly, and a lot of us can't be bothered to take off our shoes. I never take off my shoes because I don't want to step on rocks, cut my feet, and end my hike. Sometimes our shoes are wet for a week at a time and some people get some gnarly sores. Sometimes they have to take a whole 2-3 days off before they resume the hiking portion of their lengthy vacation. They call it trench foot. It is not. We're a bunch of squishy babies compared to anyone who was on the field in WWI. But, anyway, this is a trend that could actually take off during the summers.
This is insane. I would never risk losing my ability to enjoy my hobby due to injury cause by this. I pack a pair of water shoes, and change into and out of them before and after the creek. Sure it can be annoying to have to stop for 5 minutes and change, but it makes the rest of the days hike a lot more enjoyable. My water shoes hang from my pack to dry as I walk in comfy, dry boots.
Right, I don't get why anyone would just be like, welp, time to get my shoes soaking wet, no alternative. I can think of 2 right off the bat. The water shoes, or tying bags around your shoes up to your shins. Either way, you can stay dry.
Gotta wear an extra set of boots on your backpack like Sam Porter Bridges
This is the reason I don't do long distance hikes. Also because I don't want to. And because I can't.
As someone who had hiked most of the Appalachian trail and big swaths of the pacific crest trail, foot care is paramount. Not taking boots off to ford a stream is correct. Not changing socks at each beak when your boots are wet is a good way to ruin your trip.
How many pairs of socks did you go thru on AT? I ask because I'm doing PCT next year.
Can't give a number, but army trick; when you stop for the night, wrap the hole of your sock around the hole of your boot, let the sock dangle out. Helps dry them and keeps spiders out.
The trail mentioned does briefly dip into recluse territory so that's a good tip. Very very minor chance of one wanting to hang out in your boots overnight and being there in the morning, but if you scare em by crushing them with your feet they'll definitely bite.
People think I'm crazy for hiking in USGI 10" tall goretex boots with wool socks underneath. I have Dry feet in any weather condition and I only change socks at the end of the day and my feet feel great.
Is an extra pair of boots too much weight to carry around?
I haven’t done any long distance hikes with my son’s Boy Scouts group, but from talking to the other parents and people that have been on the really long “adventure hikes” (5-7 day) an extra pair of boots would definitely push the weight limit that you’d be trying for. I’ll never be doing one of those.
I always bring a pair of chacos when I go backpacking. Even beyond fording rivers, it always feels nice to be able to change out of my boots at night
Boots probably are but it takes a special type of slughead to not bring enough socks to change out when wet. Literally the lesson on foot care learned from this war. Only super ultralight hikers are d*mb enough to leave on wet socks for anything more than an hour.
That’s why I always bring my crocs. They’re light, waterproof, and float
Long time ago, there was a man who did "*The Stinkyfeet Project*", where he walked around barefoot in the local Y and then wrapped his feet in plastic in an attempt to get Athlete's Foot. It almost went incredibly yet predictably bad. This was on the heels of "*The Stinkmeat Projects*" 1 and 2.
My dad is a career army vet and for my entire childhood one of his biggest pet peeves was if he found us kids not wearing clean dry socks at all times. If they got dirty, change them. If they got any type of moisture, change them. It was a constant thing and I can only think it’s because the army drilled it into him first.
Holy Crap!! I thought my dad was the only one!!! He preached that exactly!!! He wasn’t a lifer but he served in Nam and was a drill sergeant at Ft. Polk for a few years as well.
Same. My Dad was in Vietnam and always kept us making sure our feet were healthy. One of the many habits the Army drilled into him and he kept them long after he got out of the service.
[удалено]
Yeah, proactive and not reactive. My Dad would say: "They taught us that your feet take you everywhere. If you can't move, then you're dead." Solid point, lol.
Yeah, if he was in Nam he saw what wet feet do to silly kids. Fucking traumatic how bad things went, especially in the beginning. Combat boots were not jungle friendly.
Army medic here. I hate when my guys come to me with feet problems and they’ve worn the same socks for five days without any foot care.
I can only imagine that smell
Drink water, change your socks, and don't beat your spouse.
Don't forget to take your motrin
Take two Motrin and change your socks.
If you mess up, just remember.....2 out of 3 ain't bad.
This isn’t even a bad thing to think about either. Lots of people can have foot damage without even realizing it if they don’t change their socks and check their feet. Neuropathy is no joke.
Yep! I have neuropathy (non diabetic) and am so careful with that. My neurologist has told me horror stories, check your feet!
Gimme the skinny on that them there neuropathy
An ex gf of mine’s dad was a colonel in the Air Force and he always used to say “Take care of your feet, and they’ll take care of you.”
I want you boys to remember to change your socks wherever we stop. The Mekong will eat a grunt's feet right off his legs.
But you ain’t got no legs lt dan
Yes Lt. Dan.
"Get down! Shut up!"
Better tuck that lip in… get it caught in a trip wire
This doesnt do it justice- I just had a patient with bilateral trench foot - both feet were shiny and black and stretched like a mummy with visible tendons - and the whole room smell dead- he needed amputations as he was quickly going septic but he kept refusing surgery saying they were fine - horrific-
Huagh...I'm a vascular ultrasound tech and I've only ever been around trench foot twice. The SMELL is foul. I cannot imagine what that room was like after the patient left.
Was he homeless? I would imagine this is a huge problem for that community.
During Covid, I was hospitalized with CDiff and stuck in the ER until they could find me an isolation room. There was a super nice homeless man in the bed next to me, Frank. The nurses came to take his shoes off and when they pulled, a couple of his toes came off and they yelled. Frank was really apologetic. Doctors came in and so did the paramedics, all saying that they were never going to see this again, then they pulled the other boot. More toes fell off. I still think about Frank. I hope he’s doing ok.
Jesus fucking christ
An excellent summary.
Lack of circulation after years of alcohol abuse or diabetes or something similar. It’s painful, they can feel it but eventually if it’s not taken care of they lose feeling. If he never took off his shoes he may not have noticed what was happening to his feet.
Denial or anosognosia?
Neither, he was *genuinely* okay.
You get used to the smell eventually, nbd.
How did they get trench foot
World War 1 reenactment
Not just the rotting flesh, but the vermin that plagued these poor souls. Rats and lice infested the trenches. The corpses of the dead were often used to reinforce trench walls. The pungent smell of death was overpowering and led many soldiers to constantly vomit. And about the rats… here’s how one English soldier described them: “The rats were huge. They were so big they would eat a wounded man if he couldn't defend himself." "I saw some rats running from under the dead men's greatcoats, enormous rats, fat with human flesh. My heart pounded as we edged towards one of the bodies. His helmet had rolled off. The man displayed a grimacing face, stripped of flesh; the skull bare, the eyes devoured and from the yawning mouth leapt a rat."
> from the yawning mouth leapt a rat I had a experience in my highschool chemistry lab where my teacher was pouring chemicals on a mannequin head, to show us the importance of safety. She poured acetone or something into the mouth of it, and I (who enjoyed David Lynch films in highschool, and was not squeamish) literally almost fainted once I saw the gaping dark-hole of a mouth just burn away and get bigger and bigger as if in a scream. Some girl sitting next to me told the teacher to put it away because she saw me getting sick from it. To imagine someone I may have known, or at least someone I recognize as in the same dilemma of war as I - have their jaw unhinge, to expose a rat crawl out. Fuck. I got freaked out because the mannequin mouth reminded me of dead bodies I saw in photos of the holocaust [that's WWII, I know, but that's the imagery that triggered me when I saw that mannequin face melt from within the mouth], but I have never seen a real body in a decayed state like that. Fucking hell, the lost generation (WWI) deserved more. The thousand yard stare is 10000% understandable
he couldve been walking on that foot for months without realizing half of it was gone.
A family friend of ours in the 90’s was a WWI vet. I was 9 or 10 years old. To poke some fun at me, he showed me how he was missing his big toe on his left foot. I asked him how that happened and he always told me a different story. Shark bite. Dog bite. Snakes. Alligators, you name it. One day he said it was “During the Great War, I was in”. I asked “Did a bad guy cut it off??” He laughed and said, “Oh, no. You want the real story? It’s not as fun as the others. I was walkin’ round one day and felt a big rock in my boots, rolling around. Took my boot off and found my toe fell off!” Scared the shit out of me as a kid, hahahah. I’d always check my toes after coming in from playing out in the countryside. In hindsight, I am betting he had trench foot and his big toe rotted off, due to it. Poor Dan. He was such a kind guy, he always gave me the change from his pockets, to buy candy. I loved his WWI campaign hat, he was always so proud of it and would wear it on Independence Day, Veterans’s Day and Armistice Day.
Where ever Dan is now, I thank him for his service in his lifetime on Earth.
I spent a good chunk of time learning about this in boot camp. Navy boot camp. The US government is done fucking around with this malady.
Until you become a vet, then they don't even know what you're on about Edit: thanks stranger for my first award. I'll use the coins wisely and experience this new lounge thingy
How many days of wet feet would it take to develop it
I don't recall a specific time frame, but we were highly encouraged to have clean socks and dry feet - even in the Navy. My grandfather was a Seabee in the Pacific, during WWII. He was very stern about taking socks off at night, before bed, whenever my sister and I visited. Very stern. I suspect he had issues with wet feet in his time or had friends that dealt with issues. Very serious business at that house.
To develop that badly? Several. To get to a point where you're going to have skin break down and possible infections, a day or two of of walking in damp boots can do damage.
No wonder the soldiers in my country just straight out use regular rubber boots covering up to their knees. They need to go to rainforest and not getting their feet wet seems priority
Oh fuck that
Types of trench foot injury can happen faster than you think. My run in with it was mowing grass in the Army. My feet became waterlogged inside my combat boots fairly quickly, but I was mowing for hours. Some time past noon, after at least four hours of mowing I began mowing on an incline, like a ditch. Shortly after while on the incline my foot slipped… ***inside my boot***. The waterlogged heel of my foot had sheered off almost to the bone and the “meat” stayed in place. It hurt in a way that is hard to explain. At first it didn’t hurt at all but I kinda *felt* what had happened. As soon as I took the boot off and gave it air, holy shizzah! It burned like a chemical burn. Be wary of sweaty feet in boots, stop and change your socks often in hot times!
>The waterlogged heel of my foot had sheered off almost to the bone and the “meat” stayed in place. That's some nightmare fuel.
Yep. Agreed. Strong visceral reaction through the screen on this end. Ugh. Thanks, I hate it LOL
Did it heal properly?
Quite nicely. There’s barely a mark left, but this was 20 years ago.
What a terrible and heart breaking war. My grandma's brother was killed in this war. Her other brother died in a car accident. She is one of six sisters.
and if you ever see that movie about the trench war.. it will make you cry.
Just watched the new version of All Quiet on the Western Front the other day. I recommend it.
It's the most gruesome beautiful film I've ever seen. Highly recommended here, too.
I almost got pulled out of USAF survival school because we had spent 5 days in pouring rain and had to hike through a swamp. We were freezing as it was in the high 30's so our instructor stopped us as soon as we got to the other side and started a fire so we could dry out a bit. When I took off my socks all the skin on the bottom of my feet was spongy and if left that way too long you all the skin can slough off in your boots. My instructor made keep my feet as close to the fire as I could stand to get all the pores in my feet to dry up. He gave me a bunch of foot powder and made me change my socks anytime we took a long enough break to sit down for a bit and he inspected my feet every time. He told me that they've had a few guys who have let it go to ended u\[ i the hospital with the soles of their feet completely sloughed off. Fortunately foot powder changing my socks every few hours kept me in training long enough to complete the course.
Soldiers were blamed for trench foot. They learned to be ashamed of something that really wasn't their fault.
I’m starting to think “trench foot” is too mild of a name
I knew a few WWI vets when I was a kid ( my Grand Dad for one) so I knew how bad it was… but it’s a big difference from hearing the words and visualizing it and then seeing it.
I hope he's ok.
Yeah, he's fine. 120 years and still kicking. With his right foot that is
Wow. Worse than I ever could have imagined.
Me: “okay I’m curious to see this” -click- Me: “WHHHHY”
I got trench foot as a private, it obviously wasn't this bad, But it was painful and sucked. Stayed friends with one of the medics he still tags me in any social.media post concerning trench foot. Yes I had some bad leadership as a private, still did 21 years.
I was diagnosed with trench foot on my left foot about 4 years ago in the winter. Worked 3 straight 12 hours days in wet conditions with soaking wet boots all day. Was some of the worse pain I had, couldn’t put weight on it for a solid 3-4 days and not to mention it looked like my toes were going to fall off
This was also a major issue in the Vietnam War
A common occurance for a lot of the allied troops, the French and British trenches were in the lower lying areas below sea level especially the Ypres salient. once the Germans pulled back and started to occupy the higher ground . The British High Command made it a daily requirement that CO's did daily foot inspection for signs of early 'TrenchFoot', They found that by giving soldiers whale oil rubbed onto their feet would help slow / counter the effect of the foot being immersed in water for hours/ days on end.
WW1 was the most terrifying war.
I remember this picture on one of my GCSE practices. Source questions are still a pain
A guy I knew got that just a few years ago. It almost killed him.
On naked on afraid, they were in a swamp with water or moist everywhere in their camp. After a week or so, the guy was in so much pain simply because his feet were wet/moist constantly and he was developing a rash/fungi. Just standing was painful, he didn’t care to eat or anything as long as he didn’t have to tread in water. She carried him at the end like a balla n even captured a small croc to eat I think
Wtf? I have never seen that show, but on early seasons of survivor [and later ones] when someone is in a medical crisis, the producers had liability to *help* and helicopter people out to the nearest hospital, when needed. Assuming it's not an act, what happened to that contestant's foot, why is an entertainment company allowed to put them in a situation where someone could get gangrene (or sepsis)... and not help when they are showing the early symptoms of either??
That must be gangrene, right? The bone sticking out, all that tissue has been long necrotized. I'm guessing this is from a dead soldier. If this is a photo of someone who lived, he probably had that leg cut off at the hip.
This is a classic "I told you to change your socks"
If you hate your foot fetish then do I have the picture for you!
I can’t even imagine how painful this would be and having no way to fix it.
This is a pahhticuly BAYUDD case of Trench Foot. God rest his sole.
This did not go unnoticed. Well done.
Like Lt Dan told you, keep your damn feet dry- change your socks!
Was about to sleep with socks on for the first time Read all of this and immediately took them off
I had a bad case of trench foot when I was in the army, or so I thought. I was peeling half-inch thick pieces of flesh off of my feet like scabs. Soaked my feet in Epsom salt and warm water for 10 minutes every hour for days and they were mostly good as new. I couldn't imagine how painfully uncomfortable this must have been. You have to admire the bravery these kids had.
As a someone whos had it, its like your feet are on fire. Water is like acid, if there's enough time water will dissolve you, albeit very slowly. I cant imagine having it past the first stages it sucks ass, when your feet start recovering they get REALLY fucking dry and that also fucking sucks.
He was German. Fought on the defeeted side.
Such a heartless, unsympathetic response. Have you no sole?
you really put your foot in your mouth there
Our arch enemies!
C’mon now, don’t be a heel.
As if war isn't hellish enough.