Ypres Salient and other WWI questions

[qafkinnetic]

During the various battles of the Ypres Salient in WWI, were the trenches making up the salient occupied year-round? Meaning, were they occupied for the entire time after the 1st battle up to the 2nd, etc?
I'm going to assume the answer is a 'yes,' but I just want to make sure, and Google isn't really giving me anything. I want my characters to be

Comments

[irish_horse]

The trenches were occupied continuously from 1914 through 1918. The British "tommies", as they were called, lived in wretched conditions for four miserable years. The constant shelling made shrapnel a constant worry, and intermittent trench raids that took place on both sides kept the lines active between big battles. The conditions of the trench deteriorated severely during the war, and depending upon when in the timeline of the conflict your story takes place, the trench walls may or may not have been shored up with pieces of bodies. Frequently, they would hang canteens and rifles on the protruding arms of their dead comrades

[snailbones]

I don't know if it'll help at all, or if you've already seen it, but the In Flanders Fields Museum web site might be of some help:

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/museum-in-flanders-fields.htm

[dorsetgirl]

The lowest level in the British Army was and is Private.

If you're looking for diseases, I would suggest trench foot; my OH's grandfather was sent home with it. Or there's always shellshock ("lack of moral fibre") which people were shot for.

[akiko]

Or trench fever; that's what got Tolkien sent back to England (and saved his life, as his entire unit was destroyed in one day's battle while he was convalescing).

[alextiefling]

This gives the complete picture of the rank system: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_military_ranks_of_World_War_I

[alextiefling]

Actually, I've just realised that's only officer ranks. This gives the history of the ranks and insignia for the other ranks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Army_Other_Ranks_rank_insignia

[beccastareyes]

That only includes the officers, not the enlisted soldiers, just as a note.

[qafkinnetic]

So then what's the lowest rank for enlisted soldiers? Is it cadet? Though I always thought a cadet was like a trainee before they went out anywhere.... Or are they just soldiers and don't really have a rank. Basically, one of my characters is a captain or corporal or something, but I want the other guy to be below him, possibly at lowest or second lowest rank.

[de_ruh]

(posting in 2 parts because this is long - see my reply to myself

[de_ruh]

- Disease and infection were a fact of life in the trenches. The air stank all the time. The only good thing about winter was the lack of bugs. More bothersome than seemingly devastating problems like trench foot was lice, because it was a relentless nuisance and it affected everyone. Let's also not forget that the poorer folks in the ranks probably lived in houses with dirt floors anyway (I know many of the Canadian farmers did