Trench

Soldiers digging a trench as cover

A gas pipe being laid in a trench.

A trench is a long, narrow ditch. It is like a valley, only on a very much smaller scale. It was used in World War I. It was supposed to be a short term barrier so that soldiers would be safe from enemy fire when they could no longer advance. However they ended up as a long term shelter throughout the war as they were easy to defend and neither side could successfully commandeer their oppositions trenches.

Trenches wer built as a temporary shield. if the armies had more time to prepare, they would have built something more permanent such as a castle

The following kinds exist:

• Military trench: Both sides of a conflict dig out trenches, they then shoot at each other from those trenches.
• Geological trench: For example the Mariana Trench
• Archaeological trench: When archaeologists do open excavation

The trench coat got its name from there.