February 15th 1915
My beautiful and loving wife Emma
It was Valentine’s Day yesterday and I wish I could have been with you on that special day of love and passion instead of this tormenting hell that Belgium has become. (Bolotta)
How are you and little Sophie doing? Please pass on my love and give her a kiss for me. Is mother taking her medicine? How’s father’s back? Make sure he doesn’t overwork himself...again. I miss you all so very much, I pray for the time that this Great War would end and I could be by your side.
Forgive me my darling for not writing to you for so long for I have not had an opportunity to do so until now.
I must start by saying that this war is not as exciting as I once thought it was and it is not what I was expecting at all.…show more content… Raw sewage from the open cesspit, dead bodies of soldiers rotting in the earth of no mans land, the smell of gunfire, tobacco and cigarette smoke and body odour from men who haven't had a decent wash for weeks all add to the unpleasant stench of the trenches. (Paterson)
We were told that we would get used to the smell but it feels like it would stay with me forever.
The smell attracts rats almost the size of our cat Gilbert. With all the waste to feed on it’s no wonder that they’re so big.
I shaved my hair a few days ago. You would be happy my darling, as you have never been too fond of me having long hair. However, the reason was my hair was crawling with lice and nits. Most of the men had been scratching and itching almost as soon as we got here.
It also rains constantly and the trenches are flooded, turning the dirt floor into a river of mud. Some men even have sores on their feet and can hardly walk because of the pain. Others' were swollen and bruised.
Sleep in the trenches is almost impossible with the consistent shelling and shooting from both sides.