The Diary of a Trench Soldier

A Poem in His Own Words

June 1915

We did not have much to do today

Left the parade grounds bound for the boat

Got a good send off on the S.S. Northland.

July 1915

Old England at last.

We passed Eddystone Lighthouse,

Sighted a couple of steamships

Trainless through the porthole.

The country is beautiful, but a rotten fog

Came down on us, the church bell ringing

And the echo there.

We received our Lee-Enfields whose bayonets

Were long and can do damage. Folkestone

Is a dead place. Only kids and misfits.

The Minister of Militia

And High Commissioner kept us standing

About for two hours. Tradesmen soak us.

August 1915

Bonar Law inspected us. It rained

And rained.

Nearly everybody had passes for London.

A good assortment of officers

Including some Hindus. I walked the streets

In evening, not crowded. Girls bold

Weather good.

In the British Museum we saw

The Wicked Bible:

Thou shalt commit

And the wicked shall inherit.

Another day: passed chateaux all closed up.

A great country is France. Villages dot

The country. The children are anxious

To know if we are down-hearted.

We passed a gang of German prisoners

Working in the limestone quarry.

Our huts have flowers in the garden.

Nothing doing.

Weather Fine.

A medical inspection that was not.

Train Journey: not so beautiful country

As in England or Normandy.

Carriages rotten. At night I went to sleep

Myself, my leg, my arm. Weather Hot.

September 1915

It is hard to realize we are at war.

A Brigadier-General inspected us

And we showed him how we would take

A German trench. Digging till midnight

Just behind the monastery once under

Shell fire and now only a frame left.

The weather is good for digging.

I saw anti-aircraft fire

Getting right after a plane

That fired more than four dozen

Shots at me. In Dieppe I met a girl.

The Germans bombed Armentières

For an hour.

I saw a great battle in the air. In the night

A fierce bombardment by our lines.

Some scrap: we could hear the machine guns

All at once our plane dived straight down

I thought he had been brought down.

The observer was killed in the air.

We hear that the enemy are going

To flood us out.

Nothing to do all day.

What would some think to see us

Eating under the trees? Not the horrors

Of active service.

We are bivouacked in a field

Shaded by trees, slept under the heavens

In good weather.

Nothing much doing all day: we started

A digging expedition. Behind

Our trenches Fritz sent up a flare.

Some are like a parachute, go up

Like a rocket and shoot out and float

Slowly along the lines. Rain whilst digging.

Some night last night.

We had stripped and slept in underwear.

It started to rain and rained all night.

I slept in a pool of water.

Weather rotten.

We are billeted at a barn. Soldiers

Delight: fleas, mice, flies. British and French gains.

Weather fair.

We moved a bit further up. There I saw

A fine dugout that could hold a thousand men.

We patrol the marches: no trenches here.

I was on the lookout: thirteen hours

On and off. Weather cool.

October 1915

The French know about barbed wire-entanglements.

On duty upstairs. I heard the moan

Of the air as the shell cut through.

I was on duty last night. Today whilst

I was on lookout, three bullets struck

The chimney behind me.

The Germans shelled our billets when I was

On duty upstairs. I heard the moan

Of the air as the shell cut through.

We have installed and cleaned a stove sideboard

Have chairs, tables

Feather mattresses. The rain has come.

We have tea, sugar, bacon, cold roast,

Cheese biscuits, bread, jam, spuds, apple sauce, porridge.

Cushing minor thought the waterfall

Sounded like a Zeppelin.

Yesterday, the Germans dropped eleven

Shells, seven of which did not explode.

We had a good joke on Captain Jones. He stepped

Out of his dugout and saw the men

Wearing their smoke helmets. They told him a gas

Attack was on. He ordered all helmets off.

It turns out that chloride of lime had been

Put in the trench and around the latrines.

Poor chaps were overcome. They were so

Excited, they chewed the mouthpieces and have

To get new helmets.

Three to the right and I in front. Schrapnel.

One shot struck a young tree and broke it.

When a shell passes overhead, it makes

A sinister shriek. Macpherson made a splendid

Pudding of dates and biscuits. The weather

Was foggy at night. Late dawn.

The same old thing.

The transports had a time getting down the hill

And one bucked into our billet. We

Loaded stones on to wagons. We had a game

Of lacrosse with shovels and tin of bully

Tied with cloth. The second half was not played.

We took the wood without bloodshed. The weather

Was miserable.

November 1915

Last Sunday was Halloween: we had

Several parcels and celebrated.

Bully Beef works wonders. For a few tins,

We get all the fresh vegetables

We want. A fine sun is out.

We had a bath at a factory. Cushing found

A French family where we go and read and write.

The kitchen was a model of its kind.

In the concert given by our Company,

We had songs, comic and serious,

And a sketch about a veterans’ club

In 1964. The weather was fine.

Pay day: we had a grand feed. Roast Beef,

Potatoes, salad, rum cake, apples, café.

The first snow fell about four inches.

Snow again. Same parades.

A hard frost covered all the trees and fields.

Our billet was a big barn. These French people

Speak good English. There are spasms of sun,

Hail, snow, rain.

Nothing doing.

Weather dull.

General Alderson welcomed us

To Canadian Corp. In the evening

We had a great feed on Norman’s Christmas

Parcels: ox tongue, chicken and so on.

A good rain.

December 1915

I inspected an old windmill here.

Each had carved his name on the beams.

The earliest date was 1532.

Another date was 1763.

The weather is good.

We had a Battalion route march

For about two and a half hours. We had

A beautiful time wading through the mud.

Nothing much doing.

We went joyfully to Bailleul

Only six miles to take a bath

In a Lunatic Asylum

In a pool sixteen times sixteen

And four and half feet deep

Only about six hundred had been

Before us. In all, we had three baths

One going, one there, one coming back.

Two were in sweat. Weather wet.

Nothing doing.

Same.

Lieutenant-Colonel Pelly said good-bye to us.

He is a splendid man, a gentleman

From his head down. The weather is fine and cold.

I had ordered some Oil of Cedar for my lice

But Selfridge and Company sent O-Cedar Oil

For polishing piano furniture. They

Must think that we have pretty jake trenches.

Nothing doing.

We moved up to the reserves. We have to wade

Through mud ankle deep. The Germans this day

Tried to take Kemmel, but were foiled

By our Artillery. We knew the attack

Was coming off, so when Fritz started

His bombardment, our guns were some

Other place. Next came the gas, but the wind

Was treacherous and blew some of it back.

Next came the Infantry’s turn, but

Our gunners were back again and lined

His parapets with shrapnel, so he could not

Get out. The attack ended in the worse

Kind of a fizzle.

Rain all day. Fritz shelled the road and so we turned off

And waded through mud knee deep. We saw

The shells burst close. We could hear the whiz

After we saw the flash of the bursting shell.

We worked till midnight sand-bagging, building up

The parapet.

A fair amount of shelling. We returned through Kemmel.

The church is badly ruined, with large

Gaps in the tower and also the school.

The weather is still wet.

Christmas Day in the reserves. There was

Holy Communion at Bailleul: we went

In motor transports. Norm and I had

Eggs and chips for tea. The weather is good.

When it does not rain, the sun shines. As a rule

We get four hours sunshine. Work Patrol

At night.

Through Kemmel, we were filling sand bags.

The bullets began to whiz around.

Weather fair.

Pulling up barbed wire, we came home

Soaking wet.

Fritz was shelling the village. One shell landed

Just ahead of us at the cross road. If we had

Been a quarter of a minute ahead, it would

Have landed in our midst. We were issued

With waterproof capes.

We moved off and came back to our same

Old Billet. Jenny was glad to see us,

Also Belgium. We have back our little room

With five table lamps.

January 1916

We had a great New Year’s feed. Jenny fixed up

Two chickens with rice, pickles, rolls, tomato sauce,

Plum pudding, cake, apples, cigs, coffee.

A full feeling afterwards. Weather fine:

It rained for about two hours.

Mess orderly today, I had to go

To Flêtre to get up rations. We had

A hot argument about Russia.

Had she done anything in this war?

The weather is good.

Fritz started it. He started to feel out

A battery and put his shells about three fields

Away from us. He put about six shells over

When about a dozen of our Batteries

Opened out on him. It was pretty hot

For an hour. About two dozen whiz-bangs

Skimmed us, just dropping over the barbed wire.

Weather Bon.

An Alleman aeroplane came right over

Our camp. Parts of anti-aircraft shells

Dropped near us. Weather good.

We are on ground level: our trench

Is made of sandbags banked with earth in front.

Instead of digging in, we build up. Weather fine.

Gas alarm: gas was expected, so had to have

A steel helmet handy.

February 1916

We have our cooks up with us this time.

The Glory Hole is on our right.

The trenches are rotten, can be enfiladed

And are only thirty-five yards

From the Germans. Fritz’s favourite

Pastime is sending over sausages.

I am happy to say that he never

Gets anybody.

A quiet day. Parlett was killed on patrol

With Perc. Ham. The weather was good.

Corporal Millen was killed in our trench

By a sniper about eight hundred yards away

To our right. The weather was gloomy.

We were relieved by the Forty-ninth.

We came back to Locre

In the Divisional Reserve. We had

A big feed. And we were inoculated

For I don’t know what. Whilst in the trenches

We had a Prussian Guard opposite us.

They had some snipers. Their favourite pastime

Was breaking our periscopes.

We have been recuperating

From inoculation. Cold, snow and frost.

Same old thing. Kemmel is a pretty place,

Well wooded with green fields around it.

Out in morning carrying sixty-pound bombs.

Out again in evening for digging.

Fritz sent over about two dozen

Sausages and shells into

The Glory Hole, but did not get

Anybody. He knocked down three parapets.

We are back to our huts in Kemmel.

Yesterday an aeroplane dropped six bombs

Near the chateau. They were probably

After the battery, but it was too close

To be pleasant. They make a terrific

Explosion.

We were out making dugouts. It was

A beautiful day. The sky was full

Of planes and little white puffs of shrapnel.

Two bombs dropped three hundred yards away

From us

And shook the ground where we were.

March 1916

A beautiful day. No Work Party

Was out for drill. We moved off at Two

And we relieved the Forty-ninth

At the Glory Hole amid much rain.

I was on patrol with Morgan to the trenches

On our right. It was snowing all night.

The trenches were up to our calves

In mud and water. This was the hardest night

We have ever put in.

We slept most of the day, making up

For lost time. Heavy shrapnel

Dropped yesterday, which we saw

Bursting, from the trenches.

Very quiet.

The weather was gloomy.

A great day. The monastery at Mont des Cats

Was built in 1026, rebuilt three times.

Payday. I consumed five eggs and sundry

Chocolate.

Heavy shelling. In the front line

The Forty-second and Forty-ninth

Got it badly. Fifty-seven passed through

The dressing station. We were not hit

Although shells burst around us. Weather good.

Heavy shelling in the morning to our right

At Saint-Éloi where we took six hundred yards

Of trenches. I could smell powder and see smoke.

I thought it was a big wave of gas at first.

Miserable weather.

We were relieved in the morning

At 12:30. Fritz was relieved last night.

We have not had much sleep during our three

Days in the trenches. It was a long march

To the train, which took us to near Poperinghe.

We arrived at our huts at 7:30

In the morning. It was a rotten night

For relieving. It was hailing and blowing

Like fury so it was hard to keep balance.

Dark as the blazes. The flash of guns firing

Made matters worse. I found every hole

To be found, including one up to my knee

Filled with soft mud. Our travels were made joyful

By the hail blowing in our face.

We travelled along a trench along a lake

That gave a strange eerie feeling as the waves

Lapped the side of the trench.

April 1916

All muchly disgusted. Canon Scott

Of Montreal came in to see us and made

A great hit with the fellows. He told us last time

He was up at Ypres, he was staying

At a place called Hell Corner. Weather Hot.

We were inspected by a Russian Prince

And also by the Generals Alderson

And Plummer and about a million staff

Officers. We moved away that night.

We were shelled out in the evening

And took to the trenches for about

An hour. None of our chaps was hurt.

An artillery man was killed releasing the horses.

The weather has been good.

I left for Blighty, left Poperinghe for Boulogne

Where I arrived and then sailed,

Arriving at Folkestone, and got to London

Four hours later. I was put up

At the Maple Leaf at 5 Connaught Place.

I had a bath, bed, pajamas, dressing gown

And slippers. I hardly recognized

Myself. The weather was good.

I saw changing of the guard at the Palace

And the Cheshire Cheese, a haunt of Dr. Johnson

And Dickens’ Royal Exchange,

The Old Curiosity Shop

Through Petticoat Lane and Covent Garden,

Saint Paul’s. I left for Chistlehurst. Weather Good.

I knew the place well. It was easy to find

My way about. When I was a kid,

I used to think the distance between two points

Long. Now find them very short. Miss Foster

Gave me a great welcome. One of the most

Enjoyable meals was a cold supper

The first night here. The weather was good.

Noticed the striking difference between here

And Sanctuary Wood. Here all green

There all shell strewn and battered up.

I saw Mrs. Powell. I enjoy

My meals immensely. Quite Homelike. Weather Bon.

I went to Woolwich. The model housing

For munition workers there was very fine.

I did not recognize grown-ups but knew

All my old chums. Names came easily. Weather same.

I left for London and did a little shopping.

I felt very lonely in evening.

The weather was the same.

I left Victoria Station for Folkestone.

We sailed, a rough passage across, one wave

Caught us broadside, sweeping the deck.

I stayed at Boulogne, then entrained

And left for Poperinghe after midnight.

The weather was wet.

A beautiful day. The birds sang. Easy

Digging. A shell fell about ten, after Fritz had

Put over about thirty high explosive bombs

Within a hundred yard of us. We were almost

Under one of his balloons, and in sight of three.

Hence the shells. We cleaned out the dugout,

Which was in a fearful mess. Bon sleep

As we put in new sandbags.

May 1916

Night Patrol on Hell Street: good digging,

We heard the cuckoo and the skylark.

About four naval six-inches landed

About a hundred yards away. No one hit.

I heard nightingale. The trees were all out in bloom

It is hard to realize that a war is on,

On a quiet day.

A six-inch shell came over. The Forty-ninth

Was badly shelled and had between seventy

And eighty casualties. Fritz put up

A sign that Kut had fallen and that the war

Would be over in two weeks.

Fritz put up a sign that no British troops

Would be in the salient by May 10th.

Work Party: we have had a jake time.

There was hardly any shelling and only

Two casualties in eight days.

One killed. One wounded.

We moved up to supports on Hell Street.

A good dugout. A shell landed near us,

A piece caught me in the back only making

A bruise. I dropped the wine and ran like anything

For the trench. I wanted to get away

From the place. I suffered a little from shock.

I felt very nervous. I am sorry

That it was not a blighty one.

On guard at night—rather wet.

Today is the anniversary

Of Pat’s participation in the Second

Battle of Ypres.

Fritz searched for Batteries: he must have put

Over three hundred shells in the morning.

We moved off in afternoon to camp.

Tramp. The weather was hot in day. Rain at night.

I was mess orderly. No mail for a long time.

Weather rainy and cold.