Editing Boardwalk (section)

==Duckboards==
[[File:Chateauwood.jpg|thumb|right|Australian soldiers walking along duckboards during the [[Battle of Passchendaele]] ]]
A '''duckboard''' is a type of boardwalk placed over muddy and wet ground.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/duckboard |title=Definition of DUCKBOARD |website=www.merriam-webster.com}}</ref> During [[World War I]], duckboards were used to line the bottom of [[trench warfare|trenches]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] because these were regularly flooded,<ref name="auto">Imperial War Museum, [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30028121]</ref> and mud and water would lie in the trenches for months on end. The boards helped to keep the soldiers' feet dry and prevent the development of [[trench foot]], caused by prolonged standing in waterlogged conditions. They also allowed for troops' easier movement through the trench systems.<ref name="auto"/> 

Combat troops on nearly all sides routinely wore [[hobnail]]-style [[trench boot]]s that often slipped on the new duck boards when they were wet, and required extra caution. Falling or slipping off the duckboards could often be dangerous, even fatal. Unfortunate soldiers were left struggling to rise under the weight of their equipment in the intractable and sometimes deep water or mud. If this happened at ground level during a tactical advance, the rising soldier could be left a defenseless target for enemy fire as well as hinder forward progress. He could also simply go unnoticed in the ensuing [[melee]], and easily drown under his heavy equipment.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C174703 |title=Laying the duckboards, France 1917 |website=www.awm.gov.au}}</ref>