After all I have been through in the these camps I am still looking forward to the war, the excitement of seeing of traveling over seas and seeing all parts of Europe, experiencing a real war first hand and when I come back home everyone is going to love me. These were the reasons I didn’t meant going to war and plus is sounds exiting.
Your Mate,
458 British road
April 17th, 1917
Dear father,
I am writing to you with my greatest joy; about 3 day ago we captured the Vimy Ridge with our greatest pride as Canadians. It all started around February 2nd when I heard that the allies wanted capture Vimy Ridge under any condition and our great Canadian commander, Sir Arthur Curry, was up to the challenge. Then on the 9th of February we started our training, Sir Arthur Curry did thing in this battle that was never done before, first he gave all of us maps. Secondly, Sir Arthur Curry and the allies built a fake ridge in a rearward area, an exact copy of the one at Vimy, including an identical maze of caves and tunnels. Then from there all the Canadian tropes had to practice for the battle day-in and day-out nonstop for the next two month until we all memorized our roles. Finally on the morning of April 9th the attack began at 5:30 a.m. with the roar of artillery fire. The infantry marched behind, doing the Vimy Glide - a 100-yard advance every three minutes, protected by a curtain of artillery fire. They moved along increasingly dangerous terrain, then Shoulder to shoulder, we advanced up the ridge. We fought through three lines of trenches, until they reached the top. Four days later we had captured all of Vimy Ridge. The only bad part about this battle was before Sir Arthur Curry’s plan; we had to fight trench warfare. Trench warfare is when we dig a trench in the ground and face our enemies and the enemies would do the same thing, I didn’t really like the trenches in fact I hated them and the conditions of living in them. The Conditions were horrendous. The trenches were extremely narrow, often damp or wet this gave some of us something they call trench foot. In the trenches there was mud, bodies, and rats and lice. We had no protection from the elements, Constant danger from the enemy, and from going over the top into the area in between known as "No Man's Land. Not only that, I also heard that the filthy Germans would sometimes use chlorine gas, I was told it is the worse because if a gas bomb made it into the trenches the men were often-times trapped with it. I am really horrified by everything I’ve seen, but fear is the worst thing of all. I am exhausted, I can’t sleep with all the noise and I feel as if I am in a dream the whole time. I don’t know how I am going to make it through this alive or without going mad.
Your eldest son,
458 British road
February 5th, 1919
Dear Joe,
Hey Joe I miss you a lot I have been back home now for about a month. I am getting used to limping around after those two bullets tore the ligament in my right leg. After coming back home and working on the farm for a couple of month, I started to think about the time I spent fighting in the war and realise now that war is such curl and evil thing and now that I reflect now at it , it felt completely useless to fight in that war. When I was at home before going to the war, I imagined it would be exciting, fun to see new people and new places, but the fact remains that the war was like fell it isn’t fun as we were told at all. It was dirty, it was terrifying, and you can never imagine the number of people that you would see die right before your eyes. One of the worst scene was when we were in the trench and the officer blow the whistle, then you have to run across no-man’s land knowing that the enemy will shot you down at any moment, but as you turn your head, you see your friend getting shot and you can’t do anything about it.we never slept at night because of the noise of the guns and the screams of those who had been wounded and were dying.
One good thing I remember was after we captured Vimy Ridge and the enemy retreated. The look of joy and relief on all our faces was something I shall never forget. That night the guns were silent and we slept well, something we had not done in a long while. After everything that has happened I would never have joined up if I had known what it was going to be like. And if I was ever given a chance to talk to every young Canadian man and woman I would say NO don’t ever volunteer to fight in any war, Don’t believe anyone who tells you that war is a great experience, it will leave you with unforgettable scared for the rest of your life.
Your Mate,
Bibliography
- Bolott, Angelo. Canada faces of the nation. Toronto :Gage,2000
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Turner, Alexander. Vimy Ridge 1917: Byng's Canadians Triumph at Arras. New York:osprey,2005
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