Trench Warfare

Dear Family,

I am missing all of you, especially in these awful conditions. Trench warfare involves nothing like a sense of adventure, but more a sense of despair and desperation. The conditions are terrible and although we're protected from enemy fire, we're still subject to bomb attacks. Just yesterday we lost a man to no-man's land. It wasn't worth the few metres of land we had gained on the opponent, because they just moved back to their reserve trenches. There was no use trying to save him, the machine guns did their job, and anyone who would have followed him out into no-man's land would have been a goner too.
    
Did I mention the awful conditions too? We do practically everything in the trenches: eat, sleep, and fight. Fortunately everyone gets a bit of a rest during breakfast, because both sides need to eat; we call a truce. We all get our rations, which are no where near as good as your cooking, but it's better than starving. It's easy to lose your appetite in the trenches when they're ridden with lice, frogs, slugs and rats, and smells three times worse than you could imagine. Not only have we not have a bath in weeks, but there also remains the smell of our dead companions and the smell of leftover poison gas. Not to mention the occasional snow-filled trenches, which are not nearly as bad as the ice-water filled ones. As you could imagine, all these unsanitary conditions make us very prone to outbreaks of fever and influenza. I'm just as lucky to not be sick as to not be killed by enemy fire.
    
Fortunately, in a few days I'll be transferred from the front line to the reserve lines. This means that I'll be in less immediate danger of enemy attacks, but I'll still be there for back up. I'm hoping to be able to survive this trench conditions long enough to taste your delicious dinners once more.

I hope I see you soon,
Sincerely,
John

This is a picture of a Red Cross first aid worker helping out the injured soldiers. There were a lot of injuries, and we were always grateful whenever we could get any sort of medical support. I think that the medics role in the war is equally if not greater than any soldier, because without them, there would be a lot less of us.

 

This is our General with his guard dog, and some of my fellow soldiers. The dog was a mascot of sorts, and helped encourage morale in the trenches when spirits were low. I think that he gave us the strength we needed to survive the battles, and was a great companion to all of us.

Falk, Jerry, et al. Social Studeis Eleven Student Workbook. Surrey: Hazelmere 
     Publishing, 2006. Print.


English Troops in a Trench / WWI. N.d. Universal Images Group. Encyclopaedia 
     Britannica Image Quest. Web. 6 Dec. 2010.


Red Cross men in the trenches attending to a wounded man. 1916. Bridgeman Art
     Library. Encyclopaedia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 6 Dec. 2010.


Duffy, Michael. "Life in the Trenches." firstworldwar. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Dec.
     2010.