The trenches we dug out are incredibly narrow; I can barely get through with all my equipment. The trenches were cleverly designed. At the bottom, is a drainage which prevented the predicted rain flooding the trenches. Above that is a duck board about one metre wide which allowed us to walk on. When we attack from the trenches with our rifles, we will step onto a fire step and rest the gun on the parapet. Something which I thought would be quite useful is the ammunition boxes, quite handy. The dugout is two metres high and lined with barbed wire and sandbags from the outside.
A slight disadvantage is the weight of all the equipment I have on me: the rifle, eating tin, bayonet, water bottle, ammunition pouch, spade, boots and puttees. It can get tiring, carrying all of it, all of the time.
Hope you are all well.
The Allies will win this war.
Yours sincerely,
Stuart Dolden
LETTER 2 – 2nd OCTOBER
Dear Family,
It's awful! I was told the war would be over by Christmas. What utter rubbish that was…it dragged on for four miserable years. The conditions are horrific, horrendous and hideous. Food and water… gone. Friends who fought along side with me… gone. Innocent lives …lost; I will never forget them. It is so horrible; I can hardly bring myself to write about it. I’m very lucky to be alive.
Here I am, surrounded with wet mud, lice, flies, rats, dead bodies, injured soldiers ;the stench of which hung over no man’s land and the powerful rain which pierced our faces.
I want to kill myself, but the only thing holding me back is you back in England. Now, I and the remaining soldiers are almost certain we’ve lost the war.
The lice are awfully, incredibly, dreadfully irritating. Along with the rats of which I loathe; the infinite number of flies buzzing in the trenches and the moan of dying soldiers.
The sleeping conditions aren’t any better. We have to sleep fully dressed, of course, this is very uncomfortable with the pressure of ammunition on one’s chest restricted breathing; furthermore, when a little warmth was obtained the vermin used to get busy, and for some unexplained reason they always seemed to get lively in the portion of my back, that lay underneath the belt and was the most inaccessible spot.
There’s more to tell you but I am exhausted.
Keep safe. Do not worry…
Yours sincerely,
Stuart Dolden
