Memories from the trenches - World War One

“Whilst asleep during the night, we were frequently awakened by rats running over us. When this happened too often for my liking, I would lie on my back and wait for a rat to linger on my legs; then violently heave my legs upwards, throwing the rat into the air. Occasionally, I would hear a grunt when the rat landed on a fellow victim.”

(R L Venables)

“If you have never had trench foot described to you, I will explain. Your feet swell to two to three times their normal size and go completely dead. You can stick a bayonet into them and not feel a thing. If you are lucky enough not to lose your feet and the swelling starts to go down, it is then that the most indescribable agony begins. I have heard men cry and scream with pain and many have had to have their feet and legs amputated. I was one of the lucky ones, but one more day in that trench and it may have been too late.”

(Harry Roberts)

“The water in the trenches through which we waded was alive with a multitude of swimming frogs. Red slugs crawled up the side of the trenches and strange beetles with dangerous looking horns wriggled along dry ledges and invaded the dugouts, in search of the lice that infested them.”

(unknown)

“To get a ‘cushy’ one is all the old hands think about. A bloke in the Camerons wanted a ‘cushy’ bad! Fed up and far from home he was. He puts his finger over the top and gets his trigger finger taken off and two more besides. “I’m off to bonny Scotland!” he says laughing. But on the way down to the dressing station, he forgets to stoop low where an old sniper is working. He gets it through the head.”

(Robert Graves)

“We slept in our clothes and cut our hair short so that it would tuck inside our caps. Dressing simply meant putting on our boots. There were times when we had to scrape the lice off with the blunt edge of a knife and our underclothes stuck to us. “

(Elizabeth de T’Serclaes– a nurse on the front line)

"We must looked out for our bread. The rats have become much more numerous lately because the trenches are no longer in good condition. The rats here are particularly repulsive, they are so fat - the kind we call corpse-rats. They have shocking, evil, naked faces, and it is nauseating to see their long, nude tails."

Erich Maria Remarque

Memories from the trenches

The memories of soldiers who fought in the trenches in World War One are a fascinating source about life in the war.

“Whilst asleep during the night, we were frequently awakened by rats running over us. When this happened too often for my liking, I would lie on my back and wait for a rat to linger on my legs; then violently heave my legs upwards, throwing the rat into the air. Occasionally, I would hear a grunt when the rat landed on a fellow victim.”

(R L Venables)

“If you have never had trench foot described to you, I will explain. Your feet swell to two to three times their normal size and go completely dead. You can stick a bayonet into them and not feel a thing. If you are lucky enough not to lose your feet and the swelling starts to go down, it is then that the most indescribable agony begins. I have heard men cry and scream with pain and many have had to have their feet and legs amputated. I was one of the lucky ones, but one more day in that trench and it may have been too late.”

(Harry Roberts)

“The water in the trenches through which we waded was alive with a multitude of swimming frogs. Red slugs crawled up the side of the trenches and strange beetles with dangerous looking horns wriggled along dry ledges and invaded the dugouts, in search of the lice that infested them.”

(unknown)

“To get a ‘cushy’ one is all the old hands think about. A bloke in the Camerons wanted a ‘cushy’ bad! Fed up and far from home he was. He puts his finger over the top and gets his trigger finger taken off and two more besides. “I’m off to bonny Scotland!” he says laughing. But on the way down to the dressing station, he forgets to stoop low where an old sniper is working. He gets it through the head.”

(Robert Graves)

“We slept in our clothes and cut our hair short so that it would tuck inside our caps. Dressing simply meant putting on our boots. There were times when we had to scrape the lice off with the blunt edge of a knife and our underclothes stuck to us. “

(Elizabeth de T’Serclaes– a nurse on the front line)

"We must looked out for our bread. The rats have become much more numerous lately because the trenches are no longer in good condition. The rats here are particularly repulsive, they are so fat - the kind we call corpse-rats. They have shocking, evil, naked faces, and it is nauseating to see their long, nude tails."

(Erich Maria Remarque)

WW1 - LONELY SOLDIER'S POST BAG

"One lonely soldier in the trenches, said Mr. Hobhouse. Postmaster- General, speaking at Bristol last night, advertised for correspondents in a newspaper, and three days later 3.000 letters, 6 bags of small parcels, and 90 large parcels were delivered to him. If all soldiers did the same the postal system would break down."

“As I -write, a telegram comes to hand from the Director-General asking if the British Post Office have allowed free postage or postage at a lower rate than to the public on parcels sent by any Red Cross or other institu- tion in United Kingdom for members of the British Expeditionary Force. I have never heard of any such concession and hope to find that the British Post Office has not done anything of the kind, as our parcel post service is already overtaxed and from the statistics given at the beginning of this diary it will be clear that there is no need to give the troops any further facilities for receiving parcels.”

“Mr. Roderick informs me that he has been given two months leave, and to his regret will not get back to work until the 5th of May. He has asked me to move the medical authorities to reconsider his case and let him back sooner, but I have replied that nothing I can say or do is likely to influence the decision of a medical board. “

“Barton Wright has been given one month's medical leave. He will return to India at the expiry of it.”

“B. N. Karve. who was wounded in the arm by a bomb thrown from an aeroplane is still in hospital in France, but continues to make good progress and should soon be well enough.”