Encyclopedia - Sandbags
Sandbags were invariably used to provide
troops with protection at both the front and rear of
trenches
(the parapet and
parados) and were
generally stacked some two or three feet deep.
Such sandbags - filled with earth by regular filling parties - afforded troops manning the trench fire-step with effective protection from enemy rifle fire.
Sandbags were however rather less useful in offering protection from the effects of artillery shellfire, although sandbags piled at the rear of the trench did protect to some extent from the back-blast of shells which commonly fell beyond the trench line.
Photograph courtesy of Photos of the Great War website
The "Red Baron" was the allied nickname for German air ace Manfred von Richthofen, the leading ace of the war.
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