5:00 A.M- Last night felt like the longest night since the start of the war. Around 3:00 A.M me and the other soldiers were frightened by a possible attack by the enemy. A few buddies and I were taking a rest and writing letters to our family back home, when suddenly a few fellow soldiers from at the other end of the trench thought a possible attack was about to occur. That’s when I jumped up after quickly putting away my letters and waited. An hour and a half passed by and there was still no sign of the enemies attacking. So, for the past hour we still kept on the lookout because it is what we would usually do on a regular day but again there was nothing.

5:30 A.M – I was blessed to receive a little bit of rum to fuel myself this morning and can I say it was delicious. That ration of rum was the highlight of my week. I finished my letter to my family while enjoying the little rum I had left in my cup and got back to work quickly.

7:00 A.M – The sun has fully risen and the other soldiers and I were able to to eat breakfast. We have gotten bacon and tea for the past few months so it doesn’t come to surprise me anymore when I see it being handed out every morning. Although, it’s the best source of food I get so I enjoy every single crumb.

8:00 A.M – Breakfast is over and we are all assigned a job to do for the trench. Some people clean weapons and others tidy up the trench. My job was to help clean the weapons and get them ready in case of our next battle. I had a feeling I was going to have to participate in the next cycle and move up to the front line. Little did I know the next rotation was to happen soon.

12 P.M- Dinner is served. Cleaning the weapons was a lot of work and when I saw dinner being passed through, a big sigh of relief came over me.

1:00 P.M – Dinner is finished being served and I went back to writing more letters after cleaning up. Some buddies of mine asked to play cards so we played some games for a few hours and talked.

6:00 P.M- After long hours of waiting, resting, and getting extremely competitive in card games, it was time to “stand-to” before dusk came. The soldiers and I waited and watched ready for any possible sign of attack but once again there was nothing.

6:30 P.M – Now as the sun goes down I see some people digging and others putting up barbed wire around the trenches. Another long day has passed by and tomorrow we will do it over again. Now is the time we wait and sit for the next morning.

The soldiers in World War 1 typically fought from inside trenches. Trenches were long, narrow ditches that traveled for long ways where soldiers would live and fight from during wartime. The trenches got muddy and crowded quickly and were often uncomfortable. A soldiers routine started at 5 A.M when they would wake up and be on alert for anyone who would try to attack before daylight came. By 5:30 A.M the men could receive a ration of rum and have another stand-down at 6. Breakfast was served at 7, usually bacon and tea, then they cleaned their trenches, weapons, and themselves. Dinner came at noon and sleep and downtime followed. 5 P.M tea rations were passed out and a stand-to occurred at 6 P.M. From 6:30 and on, the soldiers worked all night with little time for rest. Their were usually three lines built for the trenches and the first line is where the combat would take place. A cycle from all three lines is what combat looked like. Soldiers never had the luxury of home cooked meals or heated food to sit down to after a long day of fighting. They usually received food that came in tins or cans. If a soldier was lucky they would get a food packet from the Red Cross. Soldiers had to rely on stale crackers or unappetizing meat for most days as well. The men could keep themselves entertained by card games or writing letters or a more common one was just doing chores around the trench. Sleeping was something the soldiers would try not to do because you always have to be on the look out of a possible bombardment. Being caught by the commanding officer of the trench would cause you to be severely reprimanded.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/z8sssbk

http://trenches.jynx.ca/?page=routine

The United States entered the world war after noticing how the war was violating the rights of their own people. To try and solve this problem, Woodrow Wilson stepped in and created a document, “President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points”. It was a list of the many ideas Wilson thought would help relieve tensions in the war. After reading through all of Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points, I noticed that he has some valid statements. Although I think it is a lot to be asking for especially at a time of such conflict and tension between major dominating powers. The point I think is the one to most likely be helpful in avoiding future war is point I, “Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view”. I think this because it will not allow powers to be secretly joining together and creating an even bigger alliance only to completely take over the other side when they weren’t able to know about it and prepare. The point I think is the least effective is point IV, ” Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety”. I think this because if weapons are reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety, then people are going to purchase more weapons and can possibly use them in the wrong way and could build up to starting a war.

After viewing all the pictures from the World War 1 image activity, the pictures I saw stood out very much to me. It was very interesting to see pictures from the exact time of when the World War took place many years after it happened. The pictures were very graphic and surreal. The things that stuck out to me were the expressions of the soldiers during the war. You were able to see how their emotions changed from the beginning to the end especially in the first picture we viewed. What surprised me most was how open the fighting grounds were and how if you made one wrong move you would be in the clear for the enemy to attack. Also, the tactic of the soldier in one of the pictures I saw was the mirror on the gun to see above the trench without the possibility of being harmed.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton