Weapons

April 30th,1915

Dear Diary,

When I enlisted they issued me a Ross Rifle. It is simple and accurate, but I find it so frustrating!  Once the rifle gets heated after shooting a little, it jams! How can a soldier fight with a jammed gun? I heard a rumor about some business deal,  in which Sir Sam Hughes received money and allowed this company make these useless rifles. Why are the armament makers willing to ask men who are already sacrificing their lives to accept these faulty weapons?  How can someone try to make money through war. These thousands of innocent young Canadian men are dying. Because of these immoral people, my friends and I are at extreme risk! While shooting a German running at me with his bayonet, my rifle jammed! Thank God, there was a dead British soldier’s Lee-Enfield, in the mud! It saved my life! Those British rifles are so much better! They do not jam, but maintain their accuracy, although I sometimes think the Ross is more precise. Finally , they trained me to use the famous Maxim machine gun! This gun shoots  over 500 rounds per minute. It was truly amazing as hundreds of men fell in its death path. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones with these fantastic weapons. Those cunning Germans used chlorine gas on us at Ypres. They are  truly evil. I saw thousands of French men dying of burning lungs. The only way to survive through the gas attack was to cover my face with  a urine-covered rag. The face of war has changed. This was is not a war of men, but a war of weapons. These weapons are monsters that don't die. These never-before-seen weapons of mass destruction have changed the face of war.

Photograph of Maxim Machine Gun

Picture of the famous Maxim Mashine Gun

Lee-Enfield 303 Rifle

Citation

Scott, Adam. "The Soldier's Room for the First World War." World War I Museum 
     Feb 2010. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2010. <http://sites.google.com/a/
     adamscott.ca/world-war-i-museum-feb-2010/the-soldier-s-room>.

"The Ross Rifle Scandal." Canadian History. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
     http://www.canadahistory.ca/vimy/Background/weapons/rossrifle.htm.

Lee Enfield 303 Rifle, C 1917.. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 8 Dec 2010. style:

"Maxim machine gun." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.
Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010. Web. 7  Dec.  2010.
<http://school.eb.com/eb/article-9051542>.

"Guns." Trenches on the web. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2010. <Wounded Soldier.
     Photographer. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 8 Dec 2010.>.
     Picture of Maxim