World War I: Trench Journal Response
Consider the following questions:
What would have been most difficult about life in the trenches?
How would you try to deal with the stress?
How do you think you would feel about your role? A sense of duty?
If you survived, how do you think you might be changed after the war?
Private Donald Fraser carries an extra bag of ration to the firing line, unaware of the long distance and the muddy, unfavorable conditions on the way. He experiences the conditions in the trenches, and it is evident that the trenches are far from comfortable; it’s always wet, and the walls are muddy, he even mentions that the rifle tips would clog up with mud whenever they move through. The trenches are incessantly under fire, which is why they must always be on alert -- always on watch and never asleep for too long. He is introduced to the cold, rat-infested dugout where he must nap. Handling the trench is strenuous work, where they must constantly expand by digging, shovelling, filling sandbags, etc; the rain makes their jobs even harder. Whenever their reserves run out of necessities, they have to hike to the Engineer’s dump to carry items up the line; Private Fraser arrives half an hour early and had to wait with the rain pouring down on him. A boy from his regiment, George, dies from a shell blast because he recovered a German rifle to keep as a souvenir, and he requests the men to tell his parents that he died like a soldier. Soon, Private Fraser prepares to charge in battle, yet delays a few seconds and is later hurrying to overtake them, still oblivious to the horror that is to come. The shelling begins, and he counts on his instincts to survive on the battlefield. Private Fraser witnesses the horrors of war by seeing men from his regiment die off one by one, suffering brutal deaths from the shelling.
From the Trench Journal excerpt, it is evident that one of the most difficult part about life in the trenches is living and resting in, as well as getting used to the distressing and harsh conditions of the trenches; the rain would make it difficult to maneuver through the trenches with the damp mud, and it would inconveniently wet their clothes, food, etc,. The excessive rats present in the trenches would also take a bite at their rations and it’s difficult to keep them away. Stress in the war could be dealt with by getting to know other soldiers and indulging oneself in leisure as a distraction, such as playing cards, cracking jokes or smoking cigars with your trenchmate; I think this is especially important in retaining one’s sanity in the war. If it were me, I would see my role in the war as a pawn for the political motives of elites and monarchs; I am told to murder people that I don’t even know because it would an act of defense for my country, yet if I think more about it, weren’t the soldiers of the opposition told the exact same thing? The deaths of soldiers from both sides would be utterly meaningless, and victory would only achieve in securing a political leader’s ego. If I survive the war, I would cherish every second of my life because on the battlefield, I could have died at any moment and was probably only inches away from death; I realize the vulnerability of a human being. I would probably come out of the war with a blurred sense of morality.
Soldiers of World War 1 in Trenches