Trench Warfare

April 17, 1915

Dear Diary,

I had absolutely no idea it was going to be this bad. How bad you say? This is “hell”. We were fighting against the Germans lines at Ypres.

The death toll was unbelievable. The sergeant shouted at me on the first day, “Over the top”. That means I would have to climb out of the trench and run across “No Man’s Land”. In our case, this was about 200 yards of distance between out trench and the German trench. When I did, the machine guns opened up and the sound of howitzers exploded in my ears. I walked behind a rolling barrage and made it to the German trenches, but it took so long I had to turn back because it was getting dark.

I cannot express how lonely I am here. But I am glad that I signed up for service with my best friend Josh. Josh, who used to be a famous artist in our town, did a small painting of a trench. He gave it to me for my birthday that no one else knew about here…This painting reflects the trench warfare very well. The trenches of Ypres, where I am currently fighting in, are very similar to the trench in this painting.

I am so scared of waking up tomorrow in this muddy trench, and repeating the same disastrous fight again. At the same time, I am scared of not being able to wake up. My feet are infected; they are numb and red, typical trench feet. I miss my darling, Susan who used to massage my feet when I was tired. I really miss her.

Caption

Lieutenant Campbell and Private Vincent, Canadians, at 'Stony Mountain', May 1915 - By Frank Dadd - English Artist - Private Collection - WAR & MILITARY SCENES: 20TH CENTURY - 1915 - lithograph

"Ypres." Trenches on the Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2010.
     <http://www.worldwar1.com/foto/fww2352.jpg>. Soldiers in trenches in
     Ypres

Links

www.worldwar1.com/reflib.htm