Osborne is second in command to Stanhope, he is first introduced at the beginning of the play as the first officer to arrive to take over from the previous company. He is the oldest member of the company and acts as an uncle to the rest of the officers, using his age and previous experience as a schoolmaster to support and advise the other soldiers to help them cope with the war. In his conversation with Hardy he demonstrates that one of the ways that he deals with the stress of war is by using humour to create a more relaxed atmosphere, for example when Hardy describes the damage caused by three minnies all he says is 'there is nothing worse than dirt in your tea' even though the men could have been seriously injured or killed. Osborne also deals with war by reminiscing about his life before he joined the army and was sent to the trenches and distracting himself from the reality of the situation, for example before the raid to capture a German soldier he is involved in a conversation with Raleigh. It is in this conversation that he reveals to Raleigh where he lives and things that he used to do, this helps him to relax and cope with war because Raleigh also lives in the same area “My home's down there”. It also helps him cope because it makes him think of all the things that he can do and can have when he leaves the trenches after the war has ended and gives him a reason to carry on and fight. Osborne also tries to cope by keeping positive and not thinking that anything bad could happen however this does not always work because before he takes part in the raid he he leaves his ring in the dug out because he doesn't “want the risk of losing it”. It is not only before the raid that he tries to stay positive and make things seem better than they actually are, one example of this is when he describes the flares or very lights as “romantic” even though they are there to look out for enemies. Another example of this is when he is talking with Trotter and they talk about how it is a “wonderful morning” even though they are in trenches that have previously been described as a “blasted mess” and smelling “like cess-pits”.
Raleigh is the newest and youngest of the five officers in the company, he has come straight from school and is very inexperienced but very eager to serve his country on the front line. The audience finds out that Raleigh knows Stanhope from school and that Stanhope was his hero while he was at school, the audience also finds out that Raleigh has a high ranking relative able to get him into the company because he still looks up to Stanhope. When Raleigh first arrives in the trenches he doesn't deal with the stress of war because he has no knowledge of what to expect and admits to thinking that there is something 'romantic' about war. Raleigh continues to have a positive outlook on the war and in one of his conversations with Osborne describes the Germans as being “really quite decent” until the point of the raid where he and Osborne consider the possibility that one or both of them might die in the raid. After the raid Raleigh starts to develop his own ways of coping and starts to try and become more friendly towards the other soldiers in the trenches so that he has more of a connection with them and will reduce the amount of tension in the trenches. In trying to develop his own ways of dealing with war he increases the amount of stress and tension in the dug out because he angers Stanhope by eating with the men instead of the officers. This changes his perception of war because before this point he has idolised Stanhope and has always thought of him as his friend and as well as someone who would always be strong and isn't affected by anything. It is at this point in the play that he starts to take the war more seriously and starts to concentrate on the war more and offers to go on duty before the big attack. He continues to take the war seriously even when he is hit by a shell and tries to stop being sent home because of his injury which he later dies because of it.
Trotter is a middle aged second lieutenant, he does not share a close bond with any of the other officers apart from Osborne, however it is obvious that Trotter respects and looks up to the other officers, especially Stanhope. This is obvious because Trotter has started to imitate the actions of Stanhope to cope with the war, for example in the same way that Stanhope drinks to cope Trotter eats for comfort. The audience can tell this because his tunic is described as “bursting at the waist” and Stanhope says “you never stop eating”. Unlike Stanhope, Trotter does not have anyone that he tries to hide his problems from and therefore does not have a reason to stop and it works effectively to help him cope. He also tries to cope by making jokes to lighten the mood and to make ease the tension in the dugout an example of this is when him and Mason are discussing cutlets and he says “well it won't let me cut it” this is also an example of him using food to try and cope. As well as being an example of how he also uses food it is also an example of him imitating Osborne who also uses humour. In addition to using humour to cope he further copies Osborne by talking about his life before the war, this reveals the most about him to the audience, especially when he is drunk after the raid and heavily involved in a conversation with Stanhope and Osborne. It is at this point that he says “I never 'ad no motor car” and “legs is good enough for me” suggesting to the audience that he has lived a somewhat sheltered life compared to the other officers and has never had to deal with a lot of stress like he is experiencing in the war and that is why he copies the other officers to help him cope.
Hibbert is also a second lieutenant, he is not particularly well liked by the other officers because they view him as a “worm” and an “artful little swine”. He doesn't like the idea of fighting in the war or the idea of having a war. He is shown to the audience as someone who does as little as possible to help win the war and is only to happy to share any rewards that the company gets such as the special food and drink after the raid. It is made clear that Hibbert is suffering psychologically from the pressure and the strain of war through the argument he has with Stanhope, however Stanhope says that “I feel the same – exactly the same” and does not let him use it as an excuse. Hibbert doesn't really have any tactics for coping with war except to claim that he has neuralgia so that he can be sent away from the front line. This does not work very well as the other officers suspect that he is faking the illness and even go as far as calling him a “funk” or coward because of his determination to leave the front line due to his supposed injury. However this helps Hibbert to cope because it gives him hope that he may be able to leave the trenches at some point to go home but still help his country and not be seen as a coward. Another way that Hibbert copes with the reality of war is by thinking and talking about what he has done before the war however he does not have anyone except Osborne to discuss it with because of the other officers dislike for him. When he does talk about his past in front of other officers he is drunk after the raid and he talks about his exploits with women, making him more unpopular with the other officers and isolating himself from them making it harder for him to cope and making feel the strain more.
R.C Sherriff shows the audience that the reality of war is very harsh and unexpected things can happen at any time to anyone and that life on the front line is very different to anything that they can experience away from the front line. This is most effectively demonstrated through Raleigh and in the ways that his impression of war changes over a short period. He also shows that living in the trenches can affect even the most experienced soldiers like Stanhope and Osborne as well as showing that in some way everyone is affected by war. Journey's End shows that those who are involved in a war have many different ways of dealing with it and that some of the methods work better than others and actually help soldiers cope like Osborne's reminiscing about the past helps him cope but Hibbert's neuralgia doesn't. The whole play gives the audience the impression that war and the front line is a very bad place to be, and because the play is inspired by Sherriff's experiences, that he does not like war and that no one should be forced to fight, not only because of the effects on the enemy and the area that the fighting takes place in but because of the effects on the allied troops who do not deserve to be injured or killed for fighting for justice.
