Group+5+Soldier

November 10th, 1915    Dear Journal,

This morning was one of the worst mornings that I have encountered in a long time. When I awoke in the middle of the night, I woke up to more rain, which put me in a foul mood. The trenches were filled with mud and the air was cold. Only to find out later that the rations were delivered after dawn. Those blasted cooks kept the carriers late again! Which means that the rations would arrive far later then I had hoped for. All the while, when I was waiting for the rations to come I was worried about the carriers. It is only peaceful after dusk and before dawn here. So since it was already after dawn and there were still no rations I feared for the carrier’s lives. If they were spotted they would be killed on the spot, their killers not giving a second thought to the young life that they just ended. When the rations arrived the rest of the men and me were filled with joy. The rations that we wait for every morning were finally here! Even though we never receive large quantities of rations, the food satisfies us until the next day. Receiving rations is about the only thing that has remained constant in this war. 

July 12th, 1916 Dear Journal, Today was a sorrowful day for my men and me. We ran out of rationed water, and quickly became dehydrated. My men insisted on traveling to the stream to get some water. But I warned them that it was far too dangerous, and that the water wasn’t sanitary. They persuaded me otherwise, by telling me that if we didn’t take the risk that we may start to hallucinate, in this dreaded heat. Temperatures were at an all time high today so I agreed to travel down to the stream to get more water. Once we reached the stream I warned my men to be on their guard at all times. But of course there is always one that never follows orders. When he was bending down to drink some of the precious water he was shot by what appeared to be a machine gun. He went down without a sound, the only sound that I heard was the gunshot and some of my men crying out to warn him. But it was too late he was already dead. I warned the rest of my men to stay back and I cautiously approached one of my fallen men. He was covered in his own blood and his eyes were beginning to glaze over. His eyes were fixed on something far away, and I will never forget that day, the day that I looked death straight in the eyes.



August 6th, 1917

Dear Journal,

Another day has come and gone and here I am again writing about today’s “adventures”. Today is the end of the three-week rotation schedule for the trenches. Which means since I was previously in the reserve trench, I now have to move to the front trench for a week. Before I can go to the support trench and then back to the reserve trench, before I start the schedule all over again. The weather always affects the trenches terribly. If it isn’t cold and muddy, then you cannot breathe without inhaling a mouthful of dust. Since it is August it is the dust season now. Why today I didn’t even walk halfway across the room with my food before there was already a layer of dust coating my food. I do not believe that I can stand this weather one more day, not even one more minute! When will this blasted war end? It has been going on for three years, three long dreadful years!



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Interesting Soldier Facts
 * Around 7,000 soldiers were killed or wounded each day in each of the countries armies
 * Each soldier could not exceed more than 20 ounces of tobacco per a week.
 * The battle that took place at Mesopotamia had over 21,000 causalities.
 * Traveling to streams to retrieve more water was a very dangerous task.
 * On November 5th 1914 Britain declared war on Turkey.
 * World War I lasted just a little bit over four years.
 * Dusk to Dawn was the only peaceful time most soldiers had.
 * The Spanish Flu killed many soldiers towards the end of the war

Bibliography

“ARMORY.” __Troops__. 17 Dec. 2009. <[|www.worldwar1.com/arm007.htm]>. “The Trenches symbol of the stalemate.” __The Great War.__ 17 Dec. 2009. .

“Memoirs & Diaries.” __First World War. 18 Dec. 2009__. <[|www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/]>.