Lost Souls

To France Men

I heard the Sirens go off, so we all knew we were going to France today, I got up with all the other men and put on my uniform, Strapped on my round-hill helmet and loaded my rifle, i got my backpack on and my 'violen case'strapped on the front, i put on my combat boots, cleaned my bayonet and rushed to the dock yard, "Alright men, today we disembark to the War, You will be fighting alongside the British and The Australian tunnelers, so fight well and kill every last Kraut you see in your way" We all rushed on the Barge and heard the Engine start, we knew this was going to last a while so we got some shut eye, "ALRIGHT MEN GET OFF BEFORE THE KRATZ KNOW OUR POSITION!!!!!!" We rushed off the barge as the artillery started to go off all around us, we ran and ran until we finally saw the ramp to run into the trenches, There was mud and barbed wire everywhere, we ran and slipped all over the place, we Heard Maxin M.Gs shooting at us and We finally got into the trench,"Oi, watch where you goin ey lad!"Bellowed one of the Maxin Gunners,"Sorry Bruv i was just tryin to not get shot at"I said proving a point, the man nodded and loocked back to no-mans land and carried out a pattern of shooting rounds at the Germans, we walked along the trench and saw a man from our squad climbing up the trench to get a good look at no-mans land,"PETER, GET DOWN FROM THERE YOU STUPID BLIGHTER!!!!!!"shouted Seargent Birmingham as he ran to him, But when he was five paces away peters head was shot clean off. All was silent, we looked at his lifeless body lying in the mirky mud-water and then we heard "STRETCHER BEARER!!!!!!"Shouted Steven,"No medic can help him Steve,"Said William, we were all shoved to keep on moving,"ALRIGHT LADS, NEXT MAN TO DO THAT WILL BE SHOT BY ME OR PULLED DOWN AND BEATEN TO ABSOLUTE SHITE!!!!!!"shouted a British Officer in the officers-dugout, "And for heavens sake Private Connolly, get your pathetic Irish arse out of my sight man!" I walked to me dugout in shock, no one had ever hated me that much, as i got to my dugout, i found a corpse with half an arm and no legs,"That was your old Commanding officer men", Said Seargent Birmingham,"Whos the new one searge?" I said with worry. "None other than me"He walked away to his officer dugout and told us to get food and clean our socks, I washed my Bayonet and dried my shoes to prevent Trench foot from getting to me,"Hey John!"shouted Steven,"Yeah mate!"I replied,"Theres a rumour going around that if you stick your hand above the trench youll get to go home!"steven said,"Yeah its true, once the Krautz shoot your blighter hand off ya silly bugger" we both laughed and went back to our dugout. The air smelt of rotting corpses and bomb residue, we had to continually duck and dive to avoid shrapnel to get a lucky shot and hit us, The war will be fun they said, Youll have a parade they said, and hundreds of thousands have already died. They constantly tell us that we will go home in one piece, one of our squadron stretcher bearers were already hit by a bomb shell from a German Big Bertha. "Dont worry mate, tomorrow will be a new day" said Steven,"Doesn't make a bloody difference in buggery bruv' ".I said in frustration. I knew this war was going to be a long war, thats the reason i didnt want to join in the first place. "But youre right in one way and one way only, tomorrow is a new day."