urination or defecation should be punished promptly and rigorously. <Callout type="warning" title="Severe Consequences">Failure to follow this rule could lead to serious health issues.</Callout> Whitewashed urine cans or tubs should be placed in company streets at night, removed at reveille, emptied into latrines, burned out with oil and sunned during the day. <Callout type="tip" title="Efficient Waste Management">This method ensures quick disposal and reduces contamination risks.</Callout> In fixed camps, latrine shelters consisting of a galvanized iron shed may be provided, as that devised by Hopwood. If pits are properly cared for it is not necessary that such shelters should be screened. At Dublan, Mexico, when no other material for privacy was obtainable, the latrine areas of the 4th Infantry were surrounded by adobe walls, 414 feet high. In some localities because of tactical considerations or the geological formation none of the methods described above for the disposal of excrement is applicable. <Callout type="risk" title="Trench Disposal Risks">In trenches, excrement can be tracked into dug-outs by flies, leading to contamination.</Callout> The simplest plan was for men to leave the trenches at night and defecate at any convenient point in their rear. This drew flies, and excrement was soon tracked into the trenches and dug-outs. Then latrines were dug at convenient places and used at night. These latrines, 2 feet long, a spade width wide and as deep as possible, were dug in small trenches, off shoots from the main one or from the communicating trench, or behind contours that afforded protection from enemy fire. Eventually on the western front, the pail system was adopted. Excrement was received in buckets placed in bomb-proof cellars. These were removed by the troops when relieved who cleaned them, buried the contents and brought them back when they re-entered the trenches. A battalion of 1000 men excretes 600 pounds of filth daily, of which 500 pounds is liquid. This excrement is received in 10 buckets. The fluid in one bucket can be absorbed by 20 pounds of sawdust or other material of equivalent absorbent and fuel value. Fluid can be evaporated under field conditions when mixed with 66 per cent, of its weight, of combustible material (matrix) such as sawdust or dry stable litter, which is then burned. Under more favorable conditions, this ratio of efficiency is doubled. The total fuel required to completely incinerate the 500 pounds of liquid excreted by a battalion daily is, on the foregoing basis, 330 lbs. As the total combustible refuse from such a unit averages about 1500 pounds a day, it should be self supporting or at most require less than 100 lbs. of sawdust daily, if the refuse used is not adequately absorbent. Dried manure may be employed. Each horse passes about 8 pounds a day — enough to incinerate the excre- ment of 4 men (Lelean). <Callout type="important" title="Proper Waste Disposal">Using sawdust or dried manure for incineration is crucial for effective waste management.</Callout> The following are certain types of disposal by the pail system employed in the British service in the trenches. Small communication trenches are made leading from the main firing and support trenches. These are fitted up with latrine buckets or urinals, and urine cans may be suspended from the walls. Containers are of various materials, e.g., a stout galvanized iron bucket shaped like a coal scuttle with a swinging handle on the top and a fixed handle half way up the front or back, cresol and paraffin <Callout type="gear" title="Latrine Equipment">Galvanized buckets and urine cans are essential for proper sanitation.</Callout> drums, chloride of lime cans, hard bread tins, etc., fitted with wire handles. A combined latrine was made of two chloride of lime tins. Men were instructed to squat over these tins in such a way that urine was caught in one tin and feces in the other. To mark the right site, bricks or blocks of wood were placed to indicate the position of the feet. The advantage of keeping the solid and liquid excrement separate is that much less earth is necessary to cover the former and the container fills less slowly. A better plan is to suspend a trough and a row of buckets beneath a pole or seat. The former catches the urine and conveys it to a soakage pit. The latter are removed as required. <Callout type="tip" title="Efficient Urine Separation">Separating urine from feces reduces the amount of earth needed for burial.</Callout> Fig, 90. — Latrine separating urine and feces. (Pike.) Urine is caught in a trough which leads to the urine pit. Feces are caught in pails and removed daily. Yet another plan is to perforate latrine tins with holes, a few inches above the bottom and sink them in a trench filled with broken bricks. The urine drains into a pit and the solids are buried or burned. MacPherson's system uses a large rectangular can cut in half. These halves are supported at their overlapping ends on a trestle. Urine is caught in the front tin and feces in the back. Before using this apparatus a man takes a piece of newspaper cut to convenient size and places it in the back tin. After defecation, he takes the two halves apart, empties the urine into a tub and the feces into an incinerator. The process is simpler than it sounds. To disinfect feces tubs, chloride of lime is used from time to time, or a sprinkling of cresol. The latter is also used in urine tubs. Latrine buckets should be cleaned daily. They should be mopped out as soon as emptied with 3 per cent, cresol and smeared with vaseline. Sandbags are hung, at the doors of dug-outs, for reception of rubbish which is collected and burned daily. The excrement is usually buried in pits about 10 feet square and 4H feet deep, with fly proof covers. These covers are removed daily and the pits burned with hay and oil. Or, in uncovered pits, a foot of earth is thrown on each day's deposits. <Callout type="warning" title="Fly Contamination">Covered latrines prevent flies from spreading disease.</Callout> For the disposal of excrement and refuse, various types of incinerators are now used in the English service. Two main types are recognized — the open and the closed. The former consists merely of a grate and its supports. Objections to this type are that they are slowly erected and started, use a large amount of fuel, give rise to offensive odors, are easily rendered ineffective by rain, and their contents are blown away by winds. Of the closed types several patterns are described. DESTRUCTOR <Callout type="important" title="Proper Incineration">Closed incinerators prevent odor and ensure complete combustion.</Callout> Pig. 93- (After LeLean.) 1. The roofs and walls consist of sheets of corrugated iron! The walls are perforated near the bottom and receive the bars of a grate which cross the bottom of the chamber. 2. The roof and walls consist of sheet iron, hinged to a grate over which they can be made lo fold up for packing, Extensions of the rods which attach the plates to the grate act as legs. A chimney is hinged to the roof. This apparatus weighs £o lbs. and has a capacity of 8 cubic feet. 3. Another type having a capacity of 16 cubic feet is illustrated in the accompanying diagram of a field destructor. The essential part THE H^MUNN INCINERATOR FOR INRTCTIVE. SOLIDS AHD LIQUIDS Fig. 94. — Tray receives urine. Sawdust is added, evaporation 30 per cent. When thoroughly hot. wet sawdast is raked into incinerator while feces mixed with sawdust are thrown in on the drying plate. More are added as required. One such plant disposed of the followins in 34 hours: 130 gallons o£ liquid, excreta, of 200 patients, 180 lb. of wood, so lb. o£ sawdust and hospital refuse. Requires one man's steady attention. (After LeLean.) is the baffle plate which separates the fire box from the chimney. The material introduced is burned and escapes as ashes and thor-oughly oxidized gases, which renders this device void of offense. The minimum effective flue temperature is 500 degrees F. A drawback to the use of this device is its weight, 3200 lbs. (Fig, 93). No excrement should be thrown on the fire until this is white hot. About 30 pounds of excrement are thoroughly mixed with 30 pounds of absorbent fuel. This quantity of material is thrown on the PI Sideelevatitm Front elevation Fig. 96. — Turf incinerator with corrugated iron front. (PiAe.) fire every half hour with other fuel as needed. This apparatus will dispose of the dejecta of 1000 men daily. The fire should be damped at night and stoked in the morning. For the transportation of the buckets low trucks are provided to prevent spilling. They are equipped with hoops and swivel hooks from which the buckets are suspended by the handles. A more elaborate incinerator is such as that figured in the diagram 94. Such apparatus shown should contain two grates, on the first of which material is dried and on the second incinerated. For extemporized incinerators the best material is brick, but in its absence puddled clay is used. A convenient method is to use sand- VERTICAL
Key Takeaways
- Punish urination or defecation promptly and rigorously.
- Use whitewashed urine cans, latrine buckets, or trench urinals for excrement collection.
- Employ incinerators to dispose of waste efficiently.
Practical Tips
- Implement strict hygiene protocols in camps to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
- Use absorbent materials like sawdust and chloride of lime to manage liquid waste effectively.
- Regularly clean and disinfect latrine buckets to maintain sanitation standards.
Warnings & Risks
- Failure to properly dispose of excrement can lead to contamination and disease outbreaks.
- Inadequate incineration methods can result in offensive odors and incomplete combustion, posing health risks.
- Fly infestations from uncovered latrines can spread diseases like dysentery.
Modern Application
While the specific trench warfare techniques described in this chapter are not directly applicable to modern survival scenarios, the principles of efficient waste management and hygiene remain crucial. Proper sanitation practices can prevent the spread of infectious diseases in any isolated or emergency situation, making this historical knowledge invaluable for contemporary preparedness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What methods were used to manage excrement in trench warfare conditions?
Excrement was managed using various methods such as whitewashed urine cans, latrine buckets, and trenches. In some cases, fly-proof shelters or incinerators were employed for more efficient disposal.
Q: Why was it important to use absorbent materials like sawdust in trench sanitation?
Absorbent materials helped manage liquid waste by absorbing the fluid, making it easier to transport and dispose of. This reduced the volume of solid waste that needed to be buried or burned.
Q: What were some risks associated with improper excrement disposal in trenches?
Improper disposal could lead to contamination of food and water supplies, attracting flies which spread diseases like dysentery. Additionally, exposed waste could be blown away by winds, leading to further contamination.