Diary Entry: Conditions in the Trenches
21st September 1915
Today is my 3rd day in the trenches. On the first day we arrived here, everyone was so excited to finally be holding a gun, instead of the broomsticks we had been practising with for so long!
Yesterday was our first proper day, and one of our men has been killed already, and he was only sixteen like me. It was his own fault really, he ran out into No Man’s Land during the night, and got shot by one of the German patrols. There’s talk of why he did it flying around the trench faster than the German bullets! Some men say he was trying to be a hero, but others say he took one look at the trenches and decided to commit suicide that night. Can’t say I blame him really. It’s disgusting here.
The main problem is rats, they scurry about eating whatever they can find, often human remains. They crawl over you in the night, carrying about their dirty diseases.
War isn’t really what I had expected if I’m honest. I thought it would be better than this. It’s already gone on much longer than the government said, so I guess they lied about the conditions, and everything else.
Today was hard work, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It might be horrible here, but I am proud to be fighting for my country.
22nd September 1915
I am more tired than I have ever been in my life! We were up at the crack of dawn for ‘stand to.’ No shelling today though, the Germans must have slept in! Some of the other men are calling it ‘the daily hate’ which is a pretty good name for it if you ask me! Then it was ‘stand down’ and we all got to eat our breakfast of bacon and bread, which was better than I had expected! After we’d eaten we began our duties.
Today I had to fill sand bags to be placed around the trench. Once I’d finished that, we all got to write a letter home. Most of the guys have wives to write home to, but I just have mum and dad. I miss them so much already, but I guess I would have left home in a year or two anyway. I wanted dad to come with me out here, but he’s too old.
Everyone says that the letters home are checked, I don’t know what for, but I don’t want to get in trouble so I didn’t put in much detail. I hope mum and dad don’t mind, no doubt they’ll just be glad I’m still alive!
We’ve just finished a second stand to, and it’s now stand down. Some of the more experienced soldiers are going out into No Man’s Land to get information about the Germans. They’re very brave!
23rd September 1915
I had a terrible night’s sleep last night. The rats were squeaking and scurrying all night long and the ‘beds’ are so uncomfortable. We sleep all squashed up in the dugout at the back of the trench. Not only does it smell in there, everybody’s snoring and moving about, trying to keep away from the puddles and rats!
We experienced our first shelling during the daily hate this morning. A trench not far from us got blown to pieces. It is now a massive crater full of water and blown up, mangled bodies. It’s disgusting and the rats are already all over it. I think I had better get used to this though.
On our duties, some of the men were talking about trench foot; it’s when your feet rot inside your boots, while you’re still alive. The mud, rats and waste cause it. You can’t take off your boots here to give them some air, so you can’t even stop it from happening! We put up duckboards today to try and prevent it, but they’ve already been destroyed after a few hours! I really hope I don’t get it, but in these conditions, it’s inevitable.
24th September 1915
We were given the news this morning that tomorrow we’re ‘going over the top.’ Some men from another sector said that we’d most likely be shot or shelled the second we left the trench. God knows why they picked us group of amateurs! The Germans will have us dead in the blink of an eye! I wish they’d told us sooner though, so I could have told mum and dad. But we only get to write home once a week and I’ll be dead by tomorrow.
I don’t even understand the point of all this. The Germans are suffering as much as we British, no doubt, so why are we constantly showering each other with an endless rain of bullets? I’ve only been here a few days, and already I’m being sent out to my death, and for what reason? I didn’t even want to sign up for this, but if you don’t, you’re a coward. And who wants to be called a coward?
I’d better get some sleep, it’s going to be a difficult day tomorrow...
Poppy Apter, 3B2. November 2011.
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