Fascine Making

Monday 11th January 1915: the adjutant of the 1st Bedfords tells us that the men, who are currently back at Dranouter, out of the firing line, are busy making hurdles or, to give them their military name, fascines.

These fascines are, essentially, bundles of relatively thin branches, without leaves or twigs protruding from them, all tied together in a bundle. The thing looks not unlike a bundle of tapers used for lighting candles, but on a larger scale. These can be piled up on top of one another and tied to give the slimy faces of the trenches some rigidity and to help prevent them collapsing.

Source: X550/2/5