Letters From World War One Trenches

Letters from WWI Trenches

Soldiers wrote letters to their families back home. They didn’t talk much about how scary and awful it was in the trenches because of a rule called the Defence of the Realm Act. This rule said officers had to check their letters first.

Harold Chapin wrote a letter to Calypso Chapin on May 23, 1915. He was very busy helping hurt soldiers. He hardly slept because there were so many soldiers needing help. He talked about how hard it was to carry injured soldiers across muddy fields. He didn’t like the mud because it made everything harder.

In the 1930s, Guy Chapman wrote about his time in the war. He remembered the soldiers he knew, some who didn’t make it. He talked about how he used to check their letters and how he remembers their faces and stories.

Arthur Savage remembered the war as very scary. He saw soldiers crying because they were so hurt, they might lose a leg. He also talked about how itchy lice were, the big rats, and the never-ending mud. He was shocked by how many dead bodies were around.

Philip Gibbs was a journalist who wrote about the war. He saw soldiers who were so scared and shocked by the explosions that they couldn’t stop shaking or talking. At first, people didn’t understand how serious this was and thought they were just scared. But it was a real and very scary thing for the soldiers.