Saturday the 31st of July, 1915
Gallipoli
Dear Journal,
It is so hot. Swelteringly so. Yet just two weeks ago we suffered through torrential rain. The sun shines right above us today, burning bright in the sky. It leers down at us pityingly.
The ground burns beneath my feet and sweat drips down my back. I am desperate to take off my shirt but I know it will provide for at least a small amount of protection if I am to get shot.
I still can not get used to life without Thomas, but life must go on and I have had a lot to go on with. I have been on the front line far more often, and I have suddenly realized the seriousness of the situation we are in. I am going to do my best not to let any more of my friends die. Well, I won’t let anyone from our troops die if I can help it. I am sick of this war, sick of the killing and of the misery in the air.
Besides all this, we are SO hungry. We have almost completely run out of food and Sergeant says that there must be a hold-up on the seas so we can’t get any supplies in from home. This morning, we were all allowed one plain cracker for breakfast. That is it.
Our food supplies have well and truly run out.
My stomach feels completely empty, as though someone has scraped every last crumb out of it with a spoon. My throat is dry and parched, and my head is pounding painfully. I need to sleep, but it has been almost three days since I last dozed.
This is going to sound ever so stupid, but I really do wish it would rain. As uncomfortable and tedious as the downpour was last week, I honestly think I would prefer that to the scorching heat that we are being forced to endure right now. Although at least the trenches are stable.
We have been in Gallipoli for months now. Six days ago marked three months. We arrived on April 25th. A day that once meant absolutely nothing to us. Now it marks the day that our lives changed. The day some of us entered our death, and the day the rest of us decided to survive. Or tried to. Survival isn’t exactly something you choose to do. But I know that I will do my very best to win this war, to end it for everyone who is suffering. I will go home to my family one day, marry Annaleise, have children, watch my sister grow, tell them all I love them…
It will happen, if it is the last thing I do. Because fighting in this war will be just one of the first…
Yours determinedly,
James
YOU ARE READING
Determined to survive.
Historical FictionThis is a piece of work I did for my creative writing class at school. It is the diary of a soldier in Gallipoli in World War 1. It's not the sort of thing I'd usually write, but hope you like it.
