November 22nd 1915
Hello, my name is Seargeant Patrick Grady of the PALS battalion of the Warwickshire Regiment. Having been stationed on the Western Front here in France for nearly 3 months, I am sorry to announce that Lieutenant Hugh Jenkinson, one of the bravest leaders this battalion has ever had, was killed to in action, fighting for King and Country. He died when he was hit by a German artillery shell, fired in an attempt to stop the advancing British troops. He was one of 6 brave soldiers from PALS battalion who died in that attack on the German front line. I am sorry to say that there will be no more entries in this diary. I hope that his memory will live on in the history of this Great War and this country's plight for freedom from persecution and tyrany.
Thursday, 8 March 2007
Just Another Day at War
November 21st
Another quiet day on the front line. Nothing to report - just the usual - a new brigade of troops, and 3 of my best men taken to the field hospital. Another game of Bingo, another loss for me, and another game of cards, and guess what, another loss. I'm hopeless at these games we play out here, I rarely seem to win. One of our snipers blew the head off an important-looking German soldier with a lot of badges on his chest - victory! The food out here really is awful, mostly, we live on canned corned beef. If you didn't like corned beef, you really would be in trouble because that seems to be all we get to eat here on the front line.
Another quiet day on the front line. Nothing to report - just the usual - a new brigade of troops, and 3 of my best men taken to the field hospital. Another game of Bingo, another loss for me, and another game of cards, and guess what, another loss. I'm hopeless at these games we play out here, I rarely seem to win. One of our snipers blew the head off an important-looking German soldier with a lot of badges on his chest - victory! The food out here really is awful, mostly, we live on canned corned beef. If you didn't like corned beef, you really would be in trouble because that seems to be all we get to eat here on the front line.
German Counter-attack
November 20th
With 6 men less than we had the day before, we faced our first German attack for over a week, in which time there had been two unsuccessful English attacks. They came at us early in the morning, hoping to catch us unaware, but we were awake, and we saw them coming. We went to the artillery trenches through the saps and started firing our cannons and snipers shooting from the firestep and the parapet. The Germans didn't stand a chance because there weren't many of them and we were bombarding them with artillery fire. We forced them into a hasty retreat and survived to fight another day.
With 6 men less than we had the day before, we faced our first German attack for over a week, in which time there had been two unsuccessful English attacks. They came at us early in the morning, hoping to catch us unaware, but we were awake, and we saw them coming. We went to the artillery trenches through the saps and started firing our cannons and snipers shooting from the firestep and the parapet. The Germans didn't stand a chance because there weren't many of them and we were bombarding them with artillery fire. We forced them into a hasty retreat and survived to fight another day.
Over the Top
November 19th
Today, we went over the top. We got further than we did last time, we got about halfway across No-Man's Land before they even noticed that we were coming. But then it all went wrong. We were bombarded with artillery shells, machine gun fire and snipers from the front and the wings, the Germans obviously had some machine gun nests they didn't want us to know about, but we found out the hard way. With men getting cut down on all sides, and my best mate Johnny down for the count, I ordered the retreat. It was awful, explosions all around, our friends being shot and horrible bloodshed. Some of the men were moaning all night, it was that bad. We just didn't stand a chance again, the Germans were just too strong.
Today, we went over the top. We got further than we did last time, we got about halfway across No-Man's Land before they even noticed that we were coming. But then it all went wrong. We were bombarded with artillery shells, machine gun fire and snipers from the front and the wings, the Germans obviously had some machine gun nests they didn't want us to know about, but we found out the hard way. With men getting cut down on all sides, and my best mate Johnny down for the count, I ordered the retreat. It was awful, explosions all around, our friends being shot and horrible bloodshed. Some of the men were moaning all night, it was that bad. We just didn't stand a chance again, the Germans were just too strong.
The Day They Died
November 18th
Last night, both men who were seriously injured, Jimmy and another man died before they could be taken to the field hospital. Jimmy was one of the 5 remaining from the original group of men who signed up to PALS battalion. Today we got some more troops to help in the trenches. They came to us from the back lines where they had been stationed and ordered to help in the field hospital, and with forwarding supplies to the front line. Now we have 24 troops, even more than we started with. Other than that, not much happened today. Bingo and cards as usual. I WON!
Last night, both men who were seriously injured, Jimmy and another man died before they could be taken to the field hospital. Jimmy was one of the 5 remaining from the original group of men who signed up to PALS battalion. Today we got some more troops to help in the trenches. They came to us from the back lines where they had been stationed and ordered to help in the field hospital, and with forwarding supplies to the front line. Now we have 24 troops, even more than we started with. Other than that, not much happened today. Bingo and cards as usual. I WON!
Blown to Bits
November 17th 1915
Today, we went over the top into No-Man's Land. Through the craters and the bogs and over the barbed-wire, towards the Germans. Two of my men were blown to bits by a bloody German sniper. We ran forwards, men getting shot down as we ran. We were charging along with 12 other Battalions, each one suffering considerable damage to their ranks. We didn't get very far before the General gave the order to retreat. We turned and reatreated to our front line trenches, still more men getting cut down by the German machine gunners. Eventually, we made it back to the trench. Only 8 of our 19 men made it back alive. Two of those 8 are seriously injured and are going to the field hospital tomorrow, including my mate Jimmy Bradthorpe. We should be getting some more troops to help the cause soon.
Today, we went over the top into No-Man's Land. Through the craters and the bogs and over the barbed-wire, towards the Germans. Two of my men were blown to bits by a bloody German sniper. We ran forwards, men getting shot down as we ran. We were charging along with 12 other Battalions, each one suffering considerable damage to their ranks. We didn't get very far before the General gave the order to retreat. We turned and reatreated to our front line trenches, still more men getting cut down by the German machine gunners. Eventually, we made it back to the trench. Only 8 of our 19 men made it back alive. Two of those 8 are seriously injured and are going to the field hospital tomorrow, including my mate Jimmy Bradthorpe. We should be getting some more troops to help the cause soon.
Wednesday, 7 March 2007
Quiet on the Front Line
November 16th 1915
Today was a quiet day really, we had no missions to do for the Generals, so we just played bingo while two men were on watch on shifts. Playing bingo gets a bit tedious , so we played cards aswell as taking shifts keeping watch in case the Germans launched a charge or an artillery barage. We wrote letters to our families and sent them off, we smoked Woodbines and watched the rats running through the trenches. The boredom does get to you in the end.
Today was a quiet day really, we had no missions to do for the Generals, so we just played bingo while two men were on watch on shifts. Playing bingo gets a bit tedious , so we played cards aswell as taking shifts keeping watch in case the Germans launched a charge or an artillery barage. We wrote letters to our families and sent them off, we smoked Woodbines and watched the rats running through the trenches. The boredom does get to you in the end.
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