Nadzieja( Polish for Hope)

Chapter 15: From Different Points Of View

2 weeks after Christmas Eve everyone was forced to get back into the war as the governments and most officers of the countries fighting in the war deemed the whole Christmas event as temporarily truce and nothing more. As the governments deemed that there need to be a winner Central Powers or the Allies. Most soldiers were angry, depressed and disappointed that they had to continue fighting, but the idea and prospect of the war end on Christmas was just too good to be true.

As Charles and Jason were tightening their helmets and preparing themselves for their captain's orders. Charles started wondering how were all the other soldiers doing and handling the war and what were their thoughts and experiences about the war.

POV= Rajesh Sharma

I am Rajesh Sharma; I am soldier from India, formerly a cook. I joined the British army as my birth place just like Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand were part of the British empire, the British forced the colonies to take part in the war. So, you could say I joined the army against my will as had no interest to help out with the war in Europe but I had to do it for the King and country. The journey to France was long and painfully boring.

Once I got to the trenches in France, I started secretly crying as it remined me of how far away I was from my home which was over 1000 miles away from the current location I was. I also started to miss my wife and children. Luckily my older brother Karan and some of my friends were with me so I wasn't completely alone in this.

The trenches were awful place to be in as they often got muddy of rainy days, there no comfortable place to sleep unless you were a high-ranking officer and the trenches were infested with rats some of which were as big as cats. The worst part was about were the nights as it got colder and the fear of death from things like trench raids, explosive shells and of course gas. Which apparently, I was told was considered a war crime but both sides still continued on with this horrible chemical warfare.

Because me and my companies were from India, we were often told to be night patrol and rarely got any sleep even when we were allowed the trenches were pretty uncomfortable to sleep on. Most European soldiers and soldiers of European background, often treated us poorly because of our skin colour but there were a few who treated us nicely and even gave us some food.

The nights were the worst parts as they were and as we headed for the end of the year 1914, they become longer and colder. And in November it even began to snow something that most troops from hot places aren't really used.

Luckily in Christmas there was a truce made in which everyone got gifts like chocolate and cigarettes and we even got to play football. I still remember it as one of the best moments of my life as me and Karan got to share chocolate and cigarettes. But it was only a temporally truce as 2 weeks later we had to start fighting again.

I had enough of this war that didn't make sense to me as why I should be involved in just because my country is part of the British empire. But I knew I couldn't say as I would be shot for betrayal against Britain so me, Karan and my friend started to prepare ourselves for the next orders by our officers.

Luckily it is now January, the time many days after the winter solstice which is the shortest day of the year. Which means the days will finally get longer and will also get warmer as we approach March. I hope I survive the day once this great war is over as I and Karan can't wait to reunite with my families and the rest of our friends back in India.

POV= Zachary Thompson

I am Zachary Thompson, a former fireman and now a British flame trooper. I joined the British army as I wanted to serve my king and country and also because I wanted make my friends and family proud of me. Many of us firemen were assigned to be flame troopers us many of us were used to fire and were less afraid of it than an average man.

We flame troopers wore protective masks (which were later replace with gas masks in late September, which us of January now they were slightly improved) and gloves. On our backs we had a fuel cannister as ammunition for our flame throwers.

While most of my flame trooper companions loved their job burning enemy soldiers. I myself don't like it as I felt it was inhumane and cruel. Luckily, I wore a mask to hide my disgust at this whole thing. I try to make myself enjoy it to less the pain and disgust but at times I felt I was becoming a fire crazed monster. I was happy when the Christmas truce arrived as I could take a 2 week break from all of this.

But now as of January 1915 we all have to fight back I just hope once I return to Britain that nothing will be wrong with both physically and mentally. I hope my friend and family don't see me as a monster.

POV= Benjamin Wade

I am Benjamin Wade and I am a British pilot. As a child I often dreamed of getting into the sky and being up there with all of the birds up there and flying by their side.

When the whole war began, I joined the army so I could achieve my dream of becoming a pilot and I had a lot of fun doing the training. Once I officially became a pilot, I was beyond ecstatic as the sky was no longer the limit anymore for me and anyone who is a pilot. My plane was one of the finest biplanes my country could offer me as it had decent speed and top-notch pair of machine guns perfect for when you are in a dogfight. My uniform consisted of a brown leather jacket, a cap with goggles and a pair of the thinnest black elbow length gloves

However, at times being a pilot was hard as I could be shot down by other planes from behind our backs or worse accidently crash into something. The good thing was I was pretty good pilot so the risk of crashing was low. The main thing that worries is me is whether I would get back to my beloved wife who I married in June and become pregnant in August a day before I joined the army. As she is now 5 months pregnant as it  is January. I keep the photo of me and my wife's wedding on the dash board of  my plane to remined me of her and how much she means to me.

I was happy when the Christmas truce happened as I hope like many soldiers that it was the end of the whole war but I knew it was just a fallacy, a child's unrealistic dream. Now that I have to get back to the war, I just hope I'll be alive to see my wife again and to see our future child.

The rest of 1915 continued on with the war as both the Allies and the Central Powers were committing to chemical warfare which was considered a war crime luckily gas masks were improved. Germany started to commit more war crimes like bombarding Allie cities with zeppelins and sinking people's ships with their U-Boats. One particular sinking of a ship was the Lusitania angered many Americans as there were many Americans on board that ship. Italy in May of the year joined the Allies as they felt that the alliance that they had with Germany and Austria-Hungary wasn't what they wanted. However, Bulgaria in October 1915 decided to join the Central Powers to get the lands it wanted. Charles along with Jason manged to survive the entire year as did Rajesh and Karan Sharma, Zachary Thompson and Benjamin Wade. To make matters of the war worse there was no Christmas truce in December of 1915 in fact, the Christmas truce like that the one in 1914 never happened again during the rest of the war.

Meanwhile in Heaven, Jacob Miller the former friend of Charles and Jason who died in September 1914. Was watching everything that was going on in the world of the living including the birthdays of his wife and twin children all of which he sadly couldn't attend but he knew that most of his friends and family were soon going to be in Heaven with him. As Jacob was enjoying his life in Heaven doing typical paradise things like eating fancy food and playing a variety of different activities. Jacob looked at the world of the living and at the events that were currently happening, and he hoped that this terrible war would soon end.