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quintinshill rail disaster
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C . R . TRA I N REG I STER
THE STENCH
Despite several truces arranged to recover and bury the dead, there was
a constant smell of a mix of human excrement
(diarrhoea was a major
problem and troops could not leave their trenches for proper field latrines)
and that from human bodies decomposing in the heat.
Swarms of flies and mosquitoes, and pervasive dirt and sand were
everywhere.
At the end of October uncertain weather and very varying
temperatures further affected the general health of the Battalion with
a steep rise in the number of cases of jaundice and dysentery. At night
temperatures plummeted and men found it difficult to sleep, even
without the almost constant noise of guns.