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90-543: Doctor Dolittle first appeared in the author's illustrated letters to his children, written from the trenches during World War I when actual news, he later said, was either too horrible or too dull. The stories are set in early Victorian England , where Doctor John Dolittle lives in the fictional English village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh in the West Country . Doctor Dolittle has a few close human friends, including his young assistant Tommy Stubbins , and Matthew Mugg ,

180-482: A revolution in firepower was not matched by similar advances in mobility , resulting in a grueling form of warfare in which the defender held the advantage. On the Western Front in 1914–1918, both sides constructed elaborate trench, underground, and dugout systems opposing each other along a front , protected from assault by barbed wire . The area between opposing trench lines (known as " no man's land ")

270-405: A communications trench intersected the front trench was of critical importance, and it was usually heavily fortified. The front trench was lightly garrisoned and typically occupied in force only during "stand to" at dawn and dusk. Between 65 and 90 m (70 and 100 yd) behind the front trench was located the support (or "travel") trench, to which the garrison would retreat when the front trench

360-414: A continuous network, sometimes with four or five parallel lines linked by interfacings. They were dug far below the surface of the earth out of reach of the heaviest artillery....Grand battles with the old maneuvers were out of the question. Only by bombardment, sapping, and assault could the enemy be shaken, and such operations had to be conducted on an immense scale to produce appreciable results. Indeed, it

450-424: A decisive breakthrough virtually impossible. In the event that a section of the first trench system was captured, a "switch" trench would be dug to connect the second trench system to the still-held section of the first. The use of lines of barbed wire , razor wire , and other wire obstacles , in belts 15 m (49 ft) deep or more, is effective in stalling infantry travelling across the battlefield. Although

540-873: A defensive measure during the Middle Ages in Europe , such as during the Piedmontese Civil War , where it was documented that on the morning of May 12, 1640, the French soldiers, having already captured the left bank of the Po river and gaining control of the bridge connecting the two banks of the river, and wanting to advance to the Capuchin Monastery of the Monte, deciding that their position wasn't secure enough for their liking, then choose to advance on

630-642: A double attack on the trenches, but were twice repelled. Eventually, on the third attempt, the French broke through and the defenders were forced to flee with the civilian population, seeking the sanctuary of the local Catholic church, the Santa Maria al Monte dei Cappuccini , in Turin, also known at that time as the Capuchin Monastery of the Monte . In early modern warfare , troops used field works to block possible lines of advance. Examples include

720-438: A high priority. A well-developed trench had to be at least 2.5 m (8 ft) deep to allow men to walk upright and still be protected. There were three standard ways to dig a trench: entrenching, sapping, and tunneling . Entrenching, where a man would stand on the surface and dig downwards, was most efficient, as it allowed a large digging party to dig the full length of the trench simultaneously. However, entrenching left

810-404: A minimum of 4 m (12 ft) deep and sometimes dug three stories down, with concrete staircases to reach the upper levels. Trenches were never straight but were dug in a zigzagging or stepped pattern, with all straight sections generally kept less than a dozen metres. Later, this evolved to have the combat trenches broken into distinct fire bays connected by traverses. While this isolated

900-469: A new trench needed to be dug or expanded quickly, or when a trench was destroyed by artillery fire. Trenchmen were trained to dig with incredible speed; in a dig of three to six hours they could accomplish what would take a normal group of frontline infantry soldiers around two days. Trenchmen were usually looked down upon by fellow soldiers because they did not fight. They were usually called cowards because if they were attacked while digging, they would abandon

990-561: A position was a standard practice by the start of WWI. To attack frontally was to court crippling losses, so an outflanking operation was the preferred method of attack against an entrenched enemy. After the Battle of the Aisne in September 1914, an extended series of attempted flanking moves, and matching extensions to the fortified defensive lines, developed into the " race to the sea ", by

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1080-399: A trench, at a house window, behind a large rock, or behind other cover) was often able to kill several approaching foes before they closed around the defender's position. Attacks across open ground became even more dangerous after the introduction of rapid-firing artillery , exemplified by the "French 75" , and high explosive fragmentation rounds. The increases in firepower had outstripped

1170-427: A variety of purposes, such as connecting the front trench to a listening post close to the enemy wire or providing an advance "jumping-off" line for a surprise attack. When one side's front line bulged towards the opposition, a salient was formed. The concave trench line facing the salient was called a "re-entrant." Large salients were perilous for their occupants because they could be assailed from three sides. Behind

1260-584: Is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches , in which combatants are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery . It became archetypically associated with World War I (1914–1918), when the Race to the Sea rapidly expanded trench use on the Western Front starting in September 1914. Trench warfare proliferated when

1350-611: Is a little day-book illustrated with pictures and quotations from the earlier stories. It appeared between Doctor Dolittle's Return and Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake . "Doctor Dolittle Meets a Londoner in Paris" is a short story included in The Flying Carpet , pp. 110–19 (1925), an anthology of children's short stories and poems with illustrations by Cynthia Asquith . The character entered public domain in

1440-532: Is dropped; Tommy Stubbins, Dr. Dolittle's assistant, explains that he is reporting a series of Gub-Gub's discourses to the other animals of the Dolittle household around the evening fire. Stubbins also says that the full version of Gub-Gub's encyclopaedia, which was an immense and poorly-organized collection of scribblings written by the pig in a language for pigs invented by Dr. Dolittle, was too long to translate into English. Doctor Dolittle's Birthday Book (1936)

1530-524: Is often considered to be the most sophisticated and technologically impressive by historians. British casualties, such as at Gate Pa in 1864 and the Battle of Ohaeawai in 1845, suggested that contemporary weaponry, such as muskets and cannon, proved insufficient to dislodge defenders from a trench system. There has been an academic debate surrounding this since the 1980s, when in his book The New Zealand Wars, historian James Belich claimed that Northern Māori had effectively invented trench warfare during

1620-417: Is on the run with her cubs from fox hunters. The Doctor hides Nightshade and her cubs in his jacket, and when he discovers Sir William is on the hunt, he tells the hunter's dogs to hunt elsewhere so the foxes can escape. After having saved Nightshade and her cubs, Dolittle returns to Blossum's Circus and finds there is a talking horse called Nino who performs a series of signs to communicate. Nino falls ill, so

1710-785: Is questionable whether the German lines in France could ever have been broken if the Germans had not wasted their resources in unsuccessful assaults, and the blockade by sea had not gradually cut off their supplies. In such warfare no single general could strike a blow that would make him immortal; the "glory of fighting" sank down into the dirt and mire of trenches and dugouts. Early World War I trenches were simple. They lacked traverses , and according to pre-war doctrine were to be packed with men fighting shoulder to shoulder. This doctrine led to heavy casualties from artillery fire. This vulnerability, and

1800-565: Is to get the Pushmi-Pullyu into the circus, but he can't find one until Matthew Mugg suggest a small business circus owned by the ring master Blossum. The Doctor visits Blossum and persuades him to visit his house in Puddleby to discuss the payment and rules of the Pushmi-Pullyu before its performance in the circus. The performance goes well after the Pushmi-Pullyu is put into the show and the doctor starts earning, but he also discovers

1890-572: The Battle of the Somme , but the lines never moved very far. The war would be won by the side that was able to commit the last reserves to the Western Front. Trench warfare prevailed on the Western Front until the Germans launched their Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. Trench warfare also took place on other fronts , including in Italy and at Gallipoli . Armies were also limited by logistics. The heavy use of artillery meant that ammunition expenditure

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1980-640: The Cats'-Meat Man . The animal team includes Polynesia (a parrot ), Gub-Gub (a pig ), Jip (a dog ), Dab-Dab (a duck ), Chee-Chee (a monkey ), Too-Too (an owl ), the Pushmi-pullyu , and a white mouse later named simply "Whitey". Later on, in the 1925 novel Doctor Dolittle's Zoo , Whitey founds (with the doctor's help) the Rat and Mouse Club , whose membership eventually reaches some 5,000 rats and mice. One inspiration for his character appears to be

2070-812: The Lines of Stollhofen , built at the start of the War of the Spanish Succession of 1702–1714, the Lines of Weissenburg built under the orders of the Duke of Villars in 1706, the Lines of Ne Plus Ultra during the winter of 1710–1711, and the Lines of Torres Vedras in 1809 and 1810. In the New Zealand Wars (1845–1872), the Māori developed elaborate trench and bunker systems as part of fortified areas known as pā , employing them successfully as early as

2160-602: The Paraguayan War (which started in 1864), the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). Although technology had dramatically changed the nature of warfare by 1914, the armies of the major combatants had not fully absorbed the implications. Fundamentally, as the range and rate of fire of rifled small-arms increased, a defender shielded from enemy fire (in

2250-572: The Turks held the high ground. Dugouts of varying degrees of comfort were built in the rear of the support trench. British dugouts were usually 2.5 to 5 m (8 to 16 ft) deep. The Germans, who had based their knowledge on studies of the Russo-Japanese War , made something of a science out of designing and constructing defensive works. They used reinforced concrete to construct deep, shell-proof, ventilated dugouts, as well as strategic strongpoints. German dugouts were typically much deeper, usually

2340-665: The Wurfmaschine , a spring-powered device for throwing a hand grenade about 200 m (220 yd). The French responded with the Sauterelle and the British with the Leach Trench Catapult and West Spring Gun which had varying degrees of success and accuracy. By 1916, catapult weapons were largely replaced by rifle grenades and mortars . The Germans employed Flammenwerfer ( flamethrowers ) during

2430-535: The camouflage tree . The space between the opposing trenches was referred to as " no man's land " and varied in width depending on the battlefield. On the Western Front it was typically between 90 and 275 metres (100 and 300 yd), though only 25 metres (30 yd) on Vimy Ridge . After the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in March 1917, no man's land stretched to over a kilometre in places. At

2520-603: The " Quinn's Post " in the cramped confines of the Anzac battlefield at Gallipoli , the opposing trenches were only 15 metres (16 yd) apart and the soldiers in the trenches constantly threw hand grenades at each other. On the Eastern Front and in the Middle East, the areas to be covered were so vast, and the distances from the factories supplying shells, bullets, concrete and barbed wire so great, trench warfare in

2610-405: The 1840s to withstand British artillery bombardments. According to one British observer, "the fence round the pa is covered between every paling with loose bunches of flax, against which the bullets fall and drop; in the night they repair every hole made by the guns". These systems included firing trenches, communication trenches, tunnels , and anti-artillery bunkers. The Ngāpuhi pā Ruapekapeka

2700-661: The 1990s, which allowed for the legal creation of derivative works based on it without the need to acquire permission from the Lofting estate, which was required previously. For example, in April 2021, the Japanese biologist Shinichi Fukuoka created a new story Dr. Dolittle Saves Galápagos Islands which appeared in The Asahi Shimbun . The main events of The Story of Doctor Dolittle take place in 1819 or 1820, although

2790-656: The American forces carried at least one machine gun. After 1915, the Maschinengewehr 08 was the standard issue German machine gun; its number "08/15" entered the German language as idiomatic for "dead plain". At Gallipoli and in Palestine the Turks provided the infantry, but it was usually Germans who manned the machine guns. The British High Command were less enthusiastic about machine guns, supposedly considering

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2880-581: The Doctor to plant radishes to feed the horses with. The Doctor then gets his animal friends, including Dab-Dab, Gub-Gub, Jip, Toby and Swizzle, to perform in a play called "The Puddleby Pantomime", and is approved by Mr Bellamy when the performance is done. However, Blossum disappears with the money he owes everyone, and the circus people elect the Doctor as the new manager of the circus. The Doctor reluctantly agrees and arranges everything to his satisfaction by giving tea and peppermints to his visitors. One night

2970-571: The Green Canary (1950). Only then follows the second book, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922), continued by Doctor Dolittle's Zoo (1925). After that, the publishing order is restored; Doctor Dolittle's Garden (1927) is followed by Doctor Dolittle in the Moon (1928) and Doctor Dolittle's Return (1933), ending with Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake (1948). Doctor Dolittle's Post Office (1923) can't be placed anywhere in

3060-678: The Machine Gun Corps was formed to train and provide sufficient heavy machine gun teams. Doctor Dolittle%27s Circus Doctor Dolittle's Circus , written by Hugh Lofting and published in 1924 by Frederick A. Stokes , is set in England sometime between the original story and the later voyages narrated by Stubbins. It was one of the novels in the series which was adapted into the film Doctor Dolittle . The story begins with Doctor John Dolittle looking for some money to earn to pay off his voyage to Africa . The Doctor's idea

3150-548: The North Pole in April 1809, and already knew how to speak to some species of animals at that date, suggesting that the early chapters of The Story of Doctor Dolittle take place before that date. However, it is possible that the internal chronology is not consistent. The internal chronology of the books is somewhat different from the publishing order. The first book is followed by Doctor Dolittle's Circus (1924), Doctor Dolittle's Caravan (1926), and Doctor Dolittle and

3240-658: The Scottish surgeon John Hunter . The Story of Doctor Dolittle: Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts Never Before Printed (1920) begins the series. The sequel The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922) won the prestigious Newbery Medal . The next three, Doctor Dolittle's Post Office (1923), Doctor Dolittle's Circus (1924), and Doctor Dolittle's Caravan (1926) take place during and/or after

3330-621: The West European style often did not occur. At the start of the First World War, the standard infantry soldier's primary weapons were the rifle and bayonet ; other weapons got less attention. Especially for the British, what hand grenades were issued tended to be few in numbers and less effective. This emphasis began to shift as soon as trench warfare began; militaries rushed improved grenades into mass production, including rifle grenades . The hand grenade came to be one of

3420-591: The Western front, the pump action shotguns was a formidable weapon in short range combat, enough so that Germany lodged a formal protest against their use on 14 September 1918, stating "every prisoner found to have in his possession such guns or ammunition belonging thereto forfeits his life", though this threat was apparently never carried out. The U.S. military began to issue models specially modified for combat, called "trench guns", with shorter barrels, higher capacity magazines, no choke , and often heat shields around

3510-535: The ability of infantry (or even cavalry ) to cover the ground between firing lines, and the ability of armour to withstand fire. It would take a revolution in mobility to change that. The French and German armies adopted different tactical doctrines : the French relied on the attack with speed and surprise, and the Germans relied on firepower , investing heavily in howitzers and machine guns . The British lacked an official tactical doctrine, with an officer corps that rejected theory in favour of pragmatism. While

3600-477: The armies expected to use entrenchments and cover, they did not allow for the effect of defences in depth . They required a deliberate approach to seizing positions from which fire support could be given for the next phase of the attack, rather than a rapid move to break the enemy's line. It was assumed that artillery could still destroy entrenched troops, or at least suppress them sufficiently for friendly infantry and cavalry to manoeuvre. Digging-in when defending

3690-410: The barbs or razors might cause minor injuries, the purpose was to entangle the limbs of enemy soldiers, forcing them to stop and methodically pull or work the wire off, likely taking several seconds, or even longer. This is deadly when the wire is emplaced at points of maximum exposure to concentrated enemy firepower, in plain sight of enemy fire bays and machine guns. The combination of wire and firepower

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3780-453: The barrel, as well as lugs for the M1917 bayonet . Anzac and some British soldiers were also known to use sawn-off shotguns in trench raids, because of their portability, effectiveness at close range, and ease of use in the confines of a trench. This practice was not officially sanctioned, and the shotguns used were invariably modified sporting guns. The Germans embraced the machine gun from

3870-467: The circus animals are living in wretched conditions, which Blossum doesn't co-operate with when the doctor makes suggestions on how to improve their lot. The doctor then meets Sophie the Alaskan seal, who is owned by Mr Higgins. She explains to him that she misses her husband Slushy, who is her herd's alpha seal, so the Doctor plans an escape for Sophie. When the night comes for the escape, Dolittle waits in

3960-408: The circus' lion and leopard ask the Doctor if they could stretch their legs by coming out of their cages. After the Doctor makes them promise not to eat anybody, the lion and leopard wander around each evening but one night the lion gets lost, frightens the visitors and, because he is hungry, eats some of a farmer's chickens, which the Doctor has to pay for. After the Doctor agrees with the leopard and

4050-432: The coastguard for allegedly throwing his wife in the sea. In prison, the Doctor meets Sir William, an old school friend who is now a fox hunter and whom the Doctor tries to persuade to stop killing foxes. The police sergeant later comes in to explain to the doctor that the coastguard made a mistake and that the doctor is free to go. When the doctor makes his way back to Appledyke, he meets a mother vixen called Nightshade who

4140-416: The confined quarters of the trenches. These tools could then be used to dig in after they had taken a trench. Modern military digging tools are as a rule designed to also function as a melee weapon. As the war progressed, better equipment was issued, and improvised arms were discarded. A specialised group of fighters called trench sweepers ( Nettoyeurs de Tranchées or Zigouilleurs ) evolved to fight within

4230-428: The diggers exposed above ground and hence could only be carried out when free of observation, such as in a rear area or at night. Sapping involved extending the trench by digging away at the end face. The diggers were not exposed, but only one or two men could work on the trench at a time. Tunnelling was like sapping except that a "roof" of soil was left in place while the trench line was established and then removed when

4320-409: The doctor explains to Blossum that he can talk to animals and has an idea to use Beppo as a substitute talking horse for the act. Beppo later tells the Doctor of a nice pasture where he wishes to retire, so the Doctor persuades the farmer to let him buy the farm. The pasture is turned into The Retirement Cab and Wagon Horse Association, and soon afterwards the son of the farmer and his friends get paid by

4410-694: The end of which German and Allied armies had produced a matched pair of trench lines from the Swiss border in the south to the North Sea coast of Belgium. By the end of October 1914, the whole front in Belgium and France had solidified into lines of trenches, which lasted until the last weeks of the war. Mass infantry assaults were futile in the face of artillery fire, as well as rapid rifle and machine-gun fire. Both sides concentrated on breaking up enemy attacks and on protecting their own troops by digging deep into

4500-557: The entire length of a battlefield's trench line, in multiple lines, sometimes covering a depth 30 metres (100 ft) or more. Methods to defeat it were rudimentary. Prolonged artillery bombardment could damage them, but not reliably. The first soldier meeting the wire could jump onto the top of it, hopefully depressing it enough for those that followed to get over him; this still took at least one soldier out of action for each line of wire. In World War I, British and Commonwealth forces relied on wire cutters , which proved unable to cope with

4590-412: The events of The Story of Doctor Dolittle . Five more novels followed, and after Lofting's death in 1947, two more volumes of short, previously unpublished pieces appeared. The stories, in order of publication, are: Gub Gub's Book: An Encyclopaedia of Food (1932) is purportedly written by the pig Gub-Gub. It is a series of food-themed animal vignettes. In the text, the pretence of Gub-Gub's authorship

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4680-567: The events of the early chapters seem to be spread over several years. The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle begins in 1839. Dolittle returned from his journey to the moon in Doctor Dolittle's return during a full lunar eclipse that was visible low in the sky one late evening in spring. This was the first full lunar eclipse for a couple of years, and it took place in May 1844 in real life. Backstory references indicate that Dr. Dolittle travelled to

4770-505: The first encounters, such as short wooden clubs and metal maces , spears , hatchets , hammers , entrenching tools , as well as trench knives and brass knuckles . According to the semi-biographical war novel All Quiet on the Western Front , many soldiers preferred to use a sharpened spade as an improvised melee weapon instead of the bayonet, as the bayonet tended to get "stuck" in stabbed opponents, rendering it useless in heated battle. The shorter length also made them easier to use in

4860-838: The first stages of the New Zealand Wars. However, this has been criticised by a few academics of the same period, with Gavin McLean noting that while the Māori had certainly adapted pa to suit contemporary weaponry, many historians have dismissed Belich's claim as "baseless... revisionism ". Others more recently have said that while it is clear the Māori did not invent trench warfare first —Māori did invent trench-based defences without any offshore aid— some believe they may have influenced 20th-century methods of trench design identified with it. The Crimean War (1853–1856) saw "massive trench works and trench warfare", even though "the modernity of

4950-453: The focus of a determined struggle simply because it was the largest identifiable feature. However, it would not take the artillery long to obliterate it, so that thereafter it became just a name on a map. The battlefield of Flanders presented numerous problems for the practice of trench warfare, especially for the Allied forces, mainly British and Canadians, who were often compelled to occupy

5040-520: The forward zone, the conventional transport infrastructure of roads and rail were replaced by the network of trenches and trench railways . The critical advantage that could be gained by holding the high ground meant that minor hills and ridges gained enormous significance. Many slight hills and valleys were so subtle as to have been nameless until the front line encroached upon them. Some hills were named for their height in metres, such as Hill 60 . A farmhouse, windmill, quarry, or copse of trees would become

5130-509: The front and reserve lines. Fires were lit in the support line to make it appear inhabited and any damage done immediately repaired. Temporary trenches were also built. When a major attack was planned, assembly trenches would be dug near the front trench. These were used to provide a sheltered place for the waves of attacking troops who would follow the first waves leaving from the front trench. "Saps" were temporary, unmanned, often dead-end utility trenches dug out into no-man's land. They fulfilled

5220-591: The front line. The trench-line management and trench profiles had to be adapted to the rough terrain, hard rock, and harsh weather conditions. Many trench systems were constructed within glaciers such as the Adamello-Presanella group or the famous city below the ice on the Marmolada in the Dolomites . Observing the enemy in trench warfare was difficult, prompting the invention of technology such as

5310-411: The front system of trenches there were usually at least two more partially prepared trench systems, kilometres to the rear, ready to be occupied in the event of a retreat. The Germans often prepared multiple redundant trench systems; in 1916 their Somme front featured two complete trench systems, one kilometre apart, with a third partially completed system a further kilometre behind. This duplication made

5400-505: The ground. After the buildup of forces in 1915, the Western Front became a stalemated struggle between equals, to be decided by attrition. Frontal assaults, and their associated casualties, became inevitable because the continuous trench lines had no open flanks. Casualties of the defenders matched those of the attackers, as vast reserves were expended in costly counter-attacks or exposed to the attacker's massed artillery. There were periods in which rigid trench warfare broke down, such as during

5490-443: The heavier gauge German wire. The Bangalore torpedo was adopted by many armies, and continued in use past the end of World War II. The barbed wire used differed between nations; the German wire was heavier gauge, and British wire cutters, designed for the thinner native product, were unable to cut it. The confined, static, and subterranean nature of trench warfare resulted in it developing its own peculiar form of geography . In

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5580-466: The highwayman's accomplice - so the Doctor and Sophie have to leave. The Doctor and Sophie meet up with the same horse whom the Doctor gave spectacles for his eyesight and who obliges to take them in his wagon to the Kippet River. When they reach the river, Sophie swims most of the way, and finally the doctor throws Sophie into the sea from a cliff, still in her disguise. The doctor gets arrested by

5670-626: The internal chronology without creating contradictions. Doctor Dolittle's Circus contains references to events that occurred in Post Office , indicating that Post Office must precede Circus . But the Prologue of Post Office indicates just as definitely that it must happen sometime after Circus . Furthermore, in the narrative sequence that stretches from the end of the first book, through Circus and Caravan , to Green Canary , there's no gap into which Post Office could be inserted. For

5760-524: The length of the front to be defended, soon led to frontline trenches being held by fewer men. The defenders augmented the trenches themselves with barbed wire strung in front to impede movement; wiring parties went out every night to repair and improve these forward defences. The small, improvised trenches of the first few months grew deeper and more complex, gradually becoming vast areas of interlocking defensive works. They resisted both artillery bombardment and mass infantry assault. Shell-proof dugouts became

5850-416: The lion that he'll keep watch for them each time they have their night stroll, he decides to let the animals take over the performances in the circus and get rid of the people performing in it so the people can enjoy it more. Parts of the story of Doctor Dolittle's Circus were featured in the 1967 film starring Rex Harrison, including the circus with the pushmi-pullyu, the fox hunt and the escape of Sophie

5940-504: The low ground. Heavy shelling quickly destroyed the network of ditches and water channels which had previously drained this low-lying area of Belgium. In most places, the water table was only a metre or so below the surface, meaning that any trench dug in the ground would quickly flood. Consequently, many "trenches" in Flanders were actually above ground and constructed from massive breastworks of sandbags filled with clay. Initially, both

6030-457: The outset—in 1904, sixteen units were equipped with the 'Maschinengewehr'—and the machine gun crews were the elite infantry units; these units were attached to Jaeger (light infantry) battalions. By 1914, British infantry units were armed with two Vickers machine guns per battalion; the Germans had six per battalion, and the Russians eight. It would not be until 1917 that every infantry unit of

6120-510: The parapet and parados of the trench were built in this way, but a later technique was to dispense with the parados for much of the trench line, thus exposing the rear of the trench to fire from the reserve line in case the front was breached. In the Alps , trench warfare even stretched onto vertical slopes and deep into the mountains, to heights of 3,900 m (12,800 ft) above sea level. The Ortler had an artillery position on its summit near

6210-416: The parapet was the trench periscope – in its simplest form, just a stick with two angled pieces of mirror at the top and bottom. A number of armies made use of the periscope rifle , which enabled soldiers to snipe at the enemy without exposing themselves over the parapet, although at the cost of reduced shooting accuracy. The device is most associated with Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli, where

6300-443: The post and flee to safety. They were instructed to do this though because through the war there were only around 1,100 trained trenchmen. They were highly valued only by officers higher on the chain of command. The banked earth on the lip of the trench facing the enemy was called the parapet and had a fire step. The embanked rear lip of the trench was called the parados , which protected the soldier's back from shells falling behind

6390-550: The presence of an enemy, entrenched camps nightly when on the move. The Roman general Belisarius had his soldiers dig a trench as part of the Battle of Dara in 530 AD. Trench warfare was also documented during the defence of Medina in a siege known as the Battle of the Trench (627 AD). The architect of the plan was Salman the Persian who suggested digging a trench to defend Medina. There are examples of trench digging as

6480-432: The primary infantry weapons of trench warfare. Both sides were quick to raise specialist grenadier groups. The grenade enabled a soldier to engage the enemy without exposing himself to fire, and it did not require precise accuracy to kill or maim. Another benefit was that if a soldier could get close enough to the trenches, enemies hiding in trenches could be attacked. The Germans and Turks were well equipped with grenades from

6570-534: The sake of a reading order, the most logical options are to place Post Office immediately before Circus , or immediately after Green Canary . The stories, in order of internal chronology, are: There have been a number of adaptations of the Doctor Dolittle stories in other media: Animation : Audio : Stages Film : Video games : A Russian children's novel Doctor Aybolit (Doctor Oh-it-hurts) by Korney Chukovsky (first published in 1924)

6660-596: The start of the war, but the British, who had ceased using grenadiers in the 1870s and did not anticipate a siege war, entered the conflict with virtually none, so soldiers had to improvise bombs with whatever was available (see Jam Tin Grenade ). By late 1915, the British Mills bomb had entered wide circulation, and by the end of the war 75 million had been used. Since the troops were often not adequately equipped for trench warfare, improvised weapons were common in

6750-408: The street while Matthew and Jip get Sophie out of the circus, but the guards shut the gate before the seal can make a break for it, so Matthew and his wife Theodosia distract them by luring them to Sophie's tank and pushing them in. The whole circus goes into pandemonium when they see the disappearance of the seal, but Sophie manages to escape eventually. When Dolittle and Sophie reach the outskirts of

6840-445: The top as an improvised defence from shrapnel. The static movement of trench warfare and a need for protection from snipers created a requirement for loopholes both for discharging firearms and for observation. Often a steel plate was used with a "keyhole", which had a rotating piece to cover the loophole when not in use. German snipers used armour-piercing bullets that allowed them to penetrate loopholes. Another means to see over

6930-465: The town, Sophie suggests that if they follow the river, they will get to the sea quicker. They consult the ducks, who tell them to go to Talbot's Bridge, which will lead them to Kippet River all the way to the Bristol coast. Dolittle buys some lady clothes to disguise Sophie while travelling in a coach, but the people in the coach grow suspicious - mistaking him for a notorious highwayman and Sophie for

7020-573: The trench war was not immediately apparent to the contemporaries". Union and Confederate armies employed field works and extensive trench systems in the American Civil War (1861–1865) — most notably in the sieges of Vicksburg (1863) and Petersburg (1864–1865), the latter of which saw the first use by the Union Army of the rapid-fire Gatling gun , the important precursor to modern-day machine guns . Trenches were also utilized in

7110-566: The trench was ready to be occupied. The guidelines for British trench construction stated that it would take 450 men 6 hours at night to complete 250 m (270 yd) of front-line trench system. Thereafter, the trench would require constant maintenance to prevent deterioration caused by weather or shelling. Trenchmen were a specialized unit of trench excavators and repairmen. They usually dug or repaired in groups of four with an escort of two armed soldiers. Trenchmen were armed with one 1911 semi-automatic pistol , and were only utilized when either

7200-415: The trench. The sides of the trench were often revetted with sandbags , wire mesh , wooden frames and sometimes roofs. The floor of the trench was usually covered by wooden duckboards . In later designs the floor might be raised on a wooden frame to provide a drainage channel underneath. Due to the substantial casualties taken from indirect fire, some trenches were reinforced with corrugated metal roofs over

7290-790: The trenches. They cleared surviving enemy personnel from recently overrun trenches and made clandestine raids into enemy trenches to gather intelligence. Volunteers for this dangerous work were often exempted from participation in frontal assaults over open ground and from routine work like filling sandbags, draining trenches, and repairing barbed wire in no-man's land. When allowed to choose their own weapons, many selected grenades, knives and pistols. FN M1900 pistols were highly regarded for this work, but never available in adequate quantities. Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless , Savage Model 1907 , Star Bonifacio Echeverria and Ruby pistols were widely used. Various mechanical devices were invented for throwing hand grenades into enemy trenches. The Germans used

7380-410: The view of friendly soldiers along their own trench, this ensured the entire trench could not be enfiladed if the enemy gained access at any one point; or if a bomb, grenade, or shell landed in the trench, the blast could not travel far. Very early in the war, British defensive doctrine suggested a main trench system of three parallel lines, interconnected by communications trenches. The point at which

7470-506: The war for the first time against the French on 25 June 1915, then against the British 30 July in Hooge. The technology was in its infancy, and use was not very common until the end of 1917 when portability and reliability were improved. It was used in more than 300 documented battles. By 1918, it became a weapon of choice for Stoßtruppen (stormtroopers) with a team of six Pioniere ( combat engineers ) per squad. Used by American soldiers in

7560-497: The weapon too "unsporting" and encouraging defensive fighting; and they lagged behind the Germans in adopting it. Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig is quoted as saying in 1915, "The machine gun is a much overrated weapon; two per battalion is more than sufficient". The defensive firepower of the machine gun was exemplified during the first day of the Battle of the Somme when 60,000 British soldiers were rendered casualties, "the great majority lost under withering machine gun fire". In 1915

7650-428: Was bombarded. Between 90 and 270 metres (100 and 300 yd) further to the rear was located the third reserve trench, where the reserve troops could amass for a counter-attack if the front trenches were captured. This defensive layout was soon rendered obsolete as the power of artillery grew; however, in certain sectors of the front, the support trench was maintained as a decoy to attract the enemy bombardment away from

7740-546: Was common to use the coils of barbed wire as delivered only partially stretched out, called concertina wire . Placing and repairing wire in no man's land relied on stealth, usually done at night by special wiring parties , who could also be tasked with secretly sabotaging enemy wires. The screw picket , invented by the Germans and later adopted by the Allies during the war, was quieter than driving stakes. Wire often stretched

7830-685: Was far higher in WWI than in any previous conflict. Horses and carts were insufficient for transporting large quantities over long distances, so armies had trouble moving far from railheads. This greatly slowed advances, making it impossible for either side to achieve a breakthrough that would change the war. This situation would only be altered in WWII with greater use of motorized vehicles. Trenches were longer, deeper, and better defended by steel, concrete, and barbed wire than ever before. They were far stronger and more effective than chains of forts, for they formed

7920-507: Was fully exposed to artillery fire from both sides. Attacks, even if successful, often sustained severe casualties . The development of armoured warfare and combined arms tactics permitted static lines to be bypassed and defeated, leading to the decline of trench warfare after the war. Following World War I, "trench warfare" became a byword for stalemate, attrition , sieges , and futility in conflict. Field works have existed for as long as there have been armies. Roman legions , when in

8010-484: Was loosely based on the stories of Doctor Dolittle. The original novel credited Lofting's work, as did Chukovsky in his memoirs. Norwegian playwright, songwriter, and illustrator Thorbjørn Egner made an album called Doktor Dyregod (Doctor good-toward-animals) with songs and story based on Doctor Dolittle. All the books in the series have been translated into Japanese by Masuji Ibuse and into Lithuanian by Pranas Mašiotas . Trench warfare Trench warfare

8100-418: Was the cause of most failed attacks in trench warfare and their very high casualties. Liddell Hart identified barbed wire and the machine gun as the elements that had to be broken to regain a mobile battlefield. A basic wire line could be created by draping several strands of barbed wire between wooden posts driven into the ground. Loose lines of wire can be more effective in entangling than tight ones, and it

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