Western Front

Thanks for the box of socks and supplies, I really appreciate them and it is much needed when in the trenches here. Conscripts are my enemy as well as the Germans, I don't believe in this way of war where I was working one day in my town and now fighting in a completely different country with blood all over my face. I wish now i wasn't young for then i would be home and not in these trenches where Heavies blow up everyone i get close too. Last night I thought it was going to be the end of me…

John Keegan, in his article The Breaking of Armies, explains that, previously, in the first battle of Ypres, the British Expeditionary Force aided the French against the Germans in establishing that area of France and of Flanders known as the Western Front. In the second battle of Ypres, the same forces managed to continue to hold the line in spite of intense fighting, and regardless of elevated German resistance that included chemical warfare and the first gas attack of the…

The Western Front: The most important battlefield from World War I was the Western Front. This was home to fighting soldiers from Germany, France, Belgium, Britain and Australia. This battle eventually resulted in trench warfare with 700 kilometres of zig zag trenches spread from the “Swiss Frontier to the English Channel, cutting across northern France and into southern Belgium.” This trench warfare started a stalemate and was home to some of the most gruesome suffering and horrible conditions…

In the Roman Empire, England, France, and the Middle East, ever since people have been around, there has always been conflict and war, a common theme being inhumanity. For example, in World War I, mustard gas produced terrible blisters on soldiers who were exposed to it and those causing this pain felt no sympathy. While war is still ongoing in the world, Europe is much more peaceful today than it was a hundred years ago and people in general are being taught to resolve conflict in a more humane…

By 9:00 am the 36th were holding the Schwaben Redoubt and the surrounding front but if the attack was to continue reinforcements would be needed. Thirty minutes before hand, Major General Nugent asked the headquarters of 107th Brigade to advance, currently unaware of the increasing deterioration of the 32th Division’s advance to their left flank. At 9:15 am Nugent received instructions to halt the 107th Brigade’s advance but with communication lines down, it was too late and the 107th Brigade…

The telephone was impractical and costly to the success of their offensive plan. 50,000 metres of telephone cable was unraveled, however, beyond the front, the cable laid on the battlefield were utterly useless, as they were instantly destroyed by shells. The Germans did not suffer these problems. Even for gunners to distinguish between friend or foe, relied on inaccurate means of communication, where…

During the Great War, there were various fronts that battles took place, the Western and the Eastern being the main ones. On the Western front one example is the Battle of Somme which took place in France in 1916. The Battle of Somme, fought between the British and the Germans, is one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the Great War. The reading we looked over in class called “Voices from the Battle of the Somme,” had original testimonies from young soldiers, or just young civilians…

The letter was written by John Leslie McNaughton, a Canadian soldier who served in World War. John joined the Canadian army in June, 1915, and was appointed overseas for one year, before his capture and imprisonment on May, 1917. 15 of the letters he wrote, including four he wrote after the battle of Vimy Ridge were recovered after the war. This specific letter was written in France, on 21st April 1917, days after Vimy Ridge, a month before his confinement, and later published online on the…

The last few days of my life have been something new to me. I truly know now what I’ve been taking for granted. The war isn’t the great adventure it seemed to be at first. In the past battle at Vimy, I’ve witnessed the death of thousands of young men just like me. During the nights of the battle, the constant deafening noises of the enemy shells, bombs, and explosives made gave me nightmares. The trenches would be infested by rats and maggots who would swarm the dead bodies. This would frighten…

He intuitively brought back his hands away from the line of fire, and hesitantly waved it in front of him. He was so pleased. He leaped back to the ground just as the screeching of an artillery shell drifted above his head. He quickly looked up before grabbing his helmet. “Well, that was bloody close, aye mate?” Jimmy turned around and looked…