As I write this letter I am thinking of what I must be missing at home, particularly as it will soon be Christmas. I am missing you both of course and the conversations we used to have. I can picture the warm glowing fire in the living room and the wonderful smell of stew simmering on the cooker. I am certainly looking forward to coming back home and enjoying some good food for a change as all we have here is corned beef and hard biscuits and our water supply is usually from the puddles of muddy water from the rain- not to be recommended! All that I have had today is a slice of bread for my breakfast and some hard biscuits. These hard biscuits were so tough to break that we had to use a stone to smash them. It’s very hard to prepare hot food but we’re sometimes able to enjoy the luxury of the corned beef!
I can’t pretend that conditions here are good. I miss my own bedroom and a comfortable bed to sleep on. We have to sleep in a dugout. It’s a kind of hole made in the side of a trench covered with tarpaulin sheets. It’s sometimes hard to get to sleep and I lie awake looking at the stars wondering what the next day is going to bring. Sometimes I can hear the sound of shells pounding in the distance. I know I should be proud to be here doing my bit for the country but sleeping on the hard ground with the occasional rat crawling by is not really what I had in mind when I signed up. These rats are huge and I might say quite repulsive. We call them corpse rats in the trenches. This is because they go round eating away at dead soldiers or severely wounded soldiers who are totally defenceless. I’m sorry if that sounds unpleasant but that’s the grim reality of war I suppose.
I would love to have a lovely, long, warm soak in a bath. There is a lack of washing facilities so we all feel really dirty and the lice are a nuisance. They make our heads itch. We try to crack them with our finger nails and sometimes we throw them into a candle flame and listen to them crack. What fun!
Sometimes I wish that I had never embarked on this. What I thought would be an exciting adventure is proving to be rather more than that. I am missing all of the things that I took for granted at home. I must admit that I sometimes worry that I will not come back alive as there are so many people dying here in the trenches.
A few mornings ago, bombardment started at about 5 a.m. Then in the afternoon time a big high explosive shell was dropped on our dugout by the enemy. This shell killed one man outright so the rest of us in the trench ran for our lives. We only just got away before they shelled this corner constantly. At the end of the day it seemed as if we had made no head way on our front. We were just letting our enemy attack us and we weren’t advancing. We (our company) came back on the road and rested in assembly trenches. After a few hours we were shelled out of this position also. At night went out to put some wire entanglements in front of our trenches and we saw some terrible sights. There were wounded men crying for water and for stretcher bearers to come and collect them.
So far I’ve managed to escape serious injury and so I want you to try not to worry. I received a slight wound in my shoulder from some flying shrapnel but I was treated at the hospital with some others and we were given clean shirts, hot tea and cigarettes. It’s not all bad! Just remember, what we are doing here is important and I hope you will take pride in my contribution to the war effort.
I do hope to come home at Christmas. I want to be able to wake up on Christmas morning and see the Christmas tree, open our presents and then go to church like we always do and sing some carols. I can picture it all now.
Well, that’s all for now. Please give my love to everyone in the village. Hopefully this war will be over soon and then life can get back to normal. I love you both dearly.
Your son,
David.
