School Stuff

Trench Diary

           This is based on tommo from the book private peaceful, by michael morpurgo. Wrote this for english. It's a diary of his first night in the trenches.   

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12TH September 1916

Dear Diary,

                Night has come and the only sounds that can be heard are guns and bombs going off. As I lay here trying to fall asleep, I think of home and I think of my dad; he once told me ‘life is a battle against a higher enemy’. I thought it was just a metaphor but being here now, fighting against the Germans, I realise the harsh truth of his words. Today has been a very eventful day, so much things have happened; so much that you won’t even believe it. Now I’m in the trenches, it’s my first night here, I don’t know what I expected the living situation to be like but I definitely didn’t think it was going to be like this. Okay let’s start from when I first stepped foot in the trenches.

                The first thing I noticed was the horrible, hideous, horrific smell; I thought I’d get used to it after a while but that is definitely not the case, because I’ve been in here for about 4 and a half hours and  every time I inhale the odour it feels like I’ve been hit in the face with a fish. I can’t fathom what has been combined to make such a putrid smell, but my guess is rats, human waste and mud and let’s not forget the decomposing bodies. Not a very good combination if I do say so myself. The mud is repulsive, it just looks disgusting, I can’t even begin to explain how sickening it looks or how it feels; yes I have felt the mud but of course I have, after all, I’m a soldier, if I didn’t get dirty then there’s no way I’m doing my job correctly . Anyway the mud feels slimy, slippery and slithery; it’s hard to get it off your hands as it is sticky; these are the times that you appreciate a wash, when you can remove all the mud from your body, but it isn’t long before you have to go back in the mud again.

                Upon coming to Belgium, I was told I would be able to wash at least once a week, so before coming into the trenches that’s what I did; I had a ‘wash’, if you can even call it that, I still feel dirty, it’s probably impossible to feel clean in a place like this; I guess that’s something else I have to get used to. Walking towards the trenches, what I saw was shocking, dreadful and unpleasant. This is also another thing I should have been expecting and have to get used to, but if I’m being honest, I don’t think anyone can ever get used to it. You’re probably wondering what I saw now aren’t you? Well I think it’s pretty obvious but I’ll tell you anyway; upon my arriving at the trenches, I saw piled up corpses, it was nauseating and repulsive, I am now 100% sure that these dead bodies have contributed to the smell that keeps intensifying by the minute. On the topic of corpses, I forgot to tell you something, this morning Bobby Yester was found lying dead in the mud. There have been speculations on what happened seeing as there weren’t any wounds on him that could have caused his death and it has been confirmed that he drowned in the mud while he was asleep. I knew the mud was deep but I would have never imagined that it could actually drown someone. We only noticed the body because there were rats as big as cats surrounding the area and it sparked some curiosity. So we went to check it out; Taylor was the closest to the rats, and as soon as one of the rats noticed him, it lunged at him; lunged, sprung, leaped, whatever you want to call it, either way he’s in hospital now. I guess it’s true, curiosity killed the cat but Taylor isn’t going home yet, so it’s also true that satisfaction brought it back.

                Seeing as I’m a newbie, I’m not accustomed to this kind of living condition, unlike the more experienced soldiers, but Charlie seems to be doing just fine so why can’t I? I’ve looked over at where Charlie is lying a few times and it seems to me that he is asleep. How can he fall asleep in this cold and wet place so easily? Charlie just never ceases to amaze me. This seemed like the perfect moment to tell Charlie about dad, but he’s already sleeping so there’s no use. Anyway, like I said, I’m a newbie and I’ve never experienced trench foot before, my feet swelled up to twice it’s normal size and I lost all feeling in my feet; I still can’t feel my feet now actually. Another thing that comes with living in trenches is lice; I’ve only been here for a day and I’ve already got them, some soldiers shave their hair off to get rid of them, maybe I’ll do that.

                Before bed, the soldiers were just hanging out; I know, who would have thought soldiers had free time to talk. Anyway they told us stories of other soldiers and what they’ve experienced. One soldier, I think his name was Jerry, he told us about a gas bomb the Germans like to frequently use; it’s called chlorine gas, it turns your insides to liquid and you choke to death; on your own insides! Stifling, smothering, suffocating you; until you die. You can avoid it though, if you put on your gas mask in time that is.

                I’m quite anxious for morning to come; actually we wake an hour before dawn for the ‘stand to’ with the enemy, then we have breakfast. I wonder what we’ll eat; I hope it’s something edible. The soldiers I talked to told me the food tastes bland and bad; they said it tastes like something scraped off the toilet seat. They also said that there’s one soldier here, who would eat anything, his name is Tobi, he apparently demolishes his food like it’s a turkey drenched in gravy. I’m making myself hungry thinking about turkey, but someone once told me, hunger is the best sauce in the world, I didn’t get it but I’ll just go along with it. Damn, I’ve got myself thinking about Christmas now, I wonder if I’ll be home for Christmas.

                Still trying to get to sleep, I think about the time we spent training to come out here. I think about Sergeant Hanley. I think about how cruel he was to Charlie and how he sometimes was cruel to me. I think about how Sergeant Hanley has a heart made of stone, I think about how Charlie stood up for me, how some of the newbie soldiers like me look up to Charlie. I think about mum, Molly and Big Joe. I think about how life has a tendency to come back and bite you in the bottom. Is this pay back for what I did to dad? I think about dad, and before I finally drift to sleep in the muddy, uncomfortable and cold trenches, I think about life.

The last thing I hear before I’m completely out is a grunt and a scream, probably from one of the soldiers on guard. That’s another one lost and that could be me one day, I really hope that day never comes, anyway until next time, wish me luck.

Goodnight xx

Signed

TOMMO PEACEFUL