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[[File:Trench construction diagram 1914.png|thumb|right|Trench construction diagram, from a 1914 British infantry manual]]
By the end of 1914, the war on the Western Front had reached stalemate and the trench lines extended from the Belgian coast to the Swiss frontier.<ref name=trench/> By September 1915, the length of the British front line stretched some {{convert|70
There were three trenches in a typical front line sector; the fire trench, the support trench and the reserve trench, all joined by communication trenches.<ref name=miller/> The trenches varied in depth, but they were usually about four or five feet deep, or in areas with a high [[water table]] a wall of sandbags would be built to allow the defenders to stand upright, fire trenches were provided with a fire step, so the occupants could return fire during an attack (see diagram).<ref name=miller/> Ideally, the bottom of the trench was lined with [[duckboards]] to prevent men from sinking into the mud and dugouts were cut into the walls, these gave shelter from the elements and shrapnel, although in the British Army dugouts were usually reserved for the officers and senior NCOs.<ref name=miller/> The men were then expected to sleep wherever they could and in wet weather they lived under groundsheets or in tents at the bottom of the trench on the duckboards.<ref name= miller>{{cite web|accessdate=27 May 2009|title=Of Lice and Men|first=Doctor M G|last=Miller|url= http://www.gwpda.org/medical/liceand.htm}}</ref>
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