Over the Top

Between 1915 and 1917, fighting on the Western Front developed into what is often known as the 'Trench War.' On an unbroken front stretching all the way from Flanders in Belgium to the Swiss border, the Allies and the Central Powers faced each other in deep and complex trench systems. During these three years, bloody offensive followed bloody offensive, each attempting unsuccessfully to breach the enemy frontline and achieve the much sought-after breakthrough.

In an effort to break the stalemate, the trenches gave birth to new weapons and new tactics: flame-throwers, assault tactics, creeping barrages, combat gas and the formidable tank were all born in the mud and the blood.

Battles of this period such as Artois, Loos, Vimy Ridge, Verdun, the Somme, and Passchendaele were the greatest mankind had ever seen. But most of all it was a time of unsung heroes, whose courage, endurance and devotion defies imagination.