– Given that marching across no-man’s land was virtually a death sentence, why did nations with parallel trenches not just start digging trenches forward towards each other, to avoid going over the top?

Question

For instance, given kilometres of trench networks which ran close to each other, sometimes only hundreds of meters apart, why did soldiers from each side not just begin digging new trenches towards the enemy from places across the length of their existing trench, so that they could eventually break through without sacrificing thousands of lives running across open killing fields?

In: 3

Answer 1

Digging tunnels is extremely difficult. Add to that the fact that no man’s land was turned into a muddy bog and there’s bombs going off a few feet above you constantly the risk of a cave in is very high. Also what would happen when you eventually do breakthrough? You’ve got a direct line into their trench but that also gives them a direct line into your trench.