Dear Diary, It was the start of the Christmas month and I was ready to battle it out in the war.

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Day 1 – 01/12/1914

Dear Diary,

        It was the start of the Christmas month and I was ready to battle it out in the war. Today I was going to be entering the great World War with my mates, and to battle for life till the end. I ended up now, as a soldier going to battle because there was a shortage of men and 10,000 of our men were wiped out because we had no proper tactics. Our men just ran out onto no-mans land and they were shot, all 10,000 of them. So this was my chance, at the age of 19, to battle and leave my family. I had to leave my mum, my dad and my little brother Johnny. Now I, Mr Sommers, was ready to battle, but terrified.

I was trained for two weeks in camp and then I had to set of, for a 60-mile journey, down to no-mans land. The journey was a combination of a train journey and several hours of marching. We had two days of rations to take, and the 150 rounds of bullets. I only took an extra pair of socks, but then I realised that when I went out there and it was freezing and I wished I bought 3 extra pairs of socks with me. We wore our great coats, with full equipment on top of this. Our water bottle was full and of course we carried our mess tin, also mug and cutlery. We were only aloud to take one blanket, which was rolled in the ground sheet, and was placed round our necks. I carried in addition my pocket two small tins of Heinz baked beans, vaseline, a Tommy’s cooker, a pair of gloves and mittens. Beside this, we carried our rifle, my Lee-Enfield rifle. Except for the Lee-Enfield Rifle I bought along a Webley Pistol, which I nicked from an Officer, and a Luger Pistol. I wore a steel helmet, carried plenty of hand grenades and a gas mask.

So my 5 mates and me were together and we were told to gather our equipment and set foot in the trenches. We were in no-mans land and we had to set of to the trenches, big huge holes that were dug up to 7 feet deep and 6 feet wide. They were laid out in a zigzag shape and could carry on for many of miles. No-mans land consisted of a 3 trenches, one the frontline trench, two the support trench, and the there’s was a reserve trench right at the back where it connected up to the support trench, and this trench was where all of the soldiers would either get some medical attention or get ready to go into battle. This was the trench to how people actually got into the front line trench and go into battle because it was connected to a road near bye. The support trench was connected, with small linking trenches, to the front line trench and this was here as a back up if that the front line trench brakes down. From the 3rd trench we set of down to the support trench and from there to the front line trench.

When I arrived at the front line trench I fought it would seem small and cramped which it was, but it was huge and there was enough space for me and a me and a few more people to walk through and also loads of space to keep my equipment there for the time being. The trench was a huge 6-foot long hole, which went on for miles and was a zigzag shape. The front line trench wasn’t built in a straight line otherwise, if the enemy had a successive offensive, and got into our trenches and they could shoot straight along the line. That is why they built them in a zigzag, which also helps if the enemy blow one part up of the trench the rest is still there to carry on. I was taught what a trench was in training but it is more magnificent looking at one in real life then on a huge black board.

The trench had a wooden platform running across the bottom and this was for us to walk on and it was called duckboards. It was about 1 metre wide, around 2 inches in height and could go on forever, depending on the length of the trench. Without it we would either fall straight into the grounds like quicksand or it won’t protect us from problems such as trench foot.

In a trench of this depth it was impossible for us to see over the top, so when they were building the trenches they added a two or three-foot ledge called a fire-step. When the soldiers wanted to sniper or shot at the enemy they would step up on the fire-step and shot the enemy. It was just the right size for a person to stand and fire with there gun pointed out from the fire-step upwards to the edge of the trench. Underneath the duckboard there is a small hole, like a mini trench but very small, and this is used for drainage when it rains.

If you are looking at the trench from the side, I knottiest that it hadn’t had straight sides but had slanted sides. I think the sides were like that so then water would slide down to the ground and there was more space in there.

In the sides, not facing the enemy, there was ally ways with an entrance big enough for a person to walk in and it lead down to a huge hole called the dugout, which were huge holes for us soldiers to sleep and do what we want in them. They could house around 10 people at a time. The roof of the dugout had a few sheets of corrugated iron so then mud wouldn’t drip down on us and to keep the dugout stable. If the war carries on we might need to build bigger and stronger dugouts to protect us and to house loads more soldiers. There are loads of dugouts at the support trenches. I settled down in my dugout, which was specie, and I placed all of my equipment down. There were showers and many beds and of course I had to lay down my blanket. The showers went so bad after all. Our first days we wouldn’t battle so we would have a tour around the place, (our side of the battle field), and we would learn what it is like out there and after we would stay in our trenches till the next day, the big day.

Join now!

Not everybody could sleep in a dugout and so they made funk holes, which are small holes carved out, with a shovel, of the side of the trench where one person would sleep. When it was raining, soldiers would drape a waterproof sheet over the opening and would rest in there funk hole.

It was 6.45 when we were served some breakfast consisting of fried eggs, bacon, bread and jam or butter, and tea. Around about 3,240,948 tons of food is sent to us from the soldiers. Britain employed 300,000 field workers to cook and supply the food for ...

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