Attitudes to war (3) SOURCE 7 a) Lance Sergeant Elmer Cotton I was leaving a wife, home and friends and all I held dear to me behind and departing for an unknown destination with all the apprehension of death, wounds and hardships ahead. Brown (1986: 39) b) Private W T Colyer who was previously a guard at the Tower of London This was indeed a noble adventure, an adventure such as I had never dreamt of in my humdrum life before the war. I felt immediately elevated and inspired, and thanked Heaven for being where I was. Brown (1986: 41) c) German soldier writing in hospital 29 August 1916 I will get along as best as I can, for I no longer have pleasure in anything. We are already sick of the damned war, for I think it will go on through winter. My feeling about it is such that if I am to go back, I shall serve for three weeks and then go sick again, for there’s no object in fighting anymore. The Somme 1916, Jackdaw No 111 SOURCE 1 Poem by Sergeant Leslie Coulson Who made the law that men should die in meadows? Who spake the word that blood should splash in lanes? Who gave it forth that gardens should be boneyards? Who spread the hill with flesh, and blood and brains? Brown (1986: 13) SOURCE 2 British song Far, far from Wipers I long to be, Where German snipers Can’t get at me. Damp is my dug-out Cold are my feet Waiting for a whizz-bang To put me to sleep. Brown (1986: 60) SOURCE 3 Extracts from two letters written by German civilians to soldiers a) It is high time we had peace. b) If only this wretched war would come to an end. The Somme 1916, Jackdaw No 111 SOURCE 5 Letter from a German soldier to his family 10 September 1916 When you read these lines, I shall no longer be among the living. I shall have breathed my last breath before the enemy on the Somme. I could not prevent Russian militarism from driving me to death. Oh, from the very beginning, I had the sad feeling that I should not see my dear ones in this world again. You can form no idea what the poor soldiers have to go through here in this place and how cruelly and uselessly men are sacrificed; it is awful. The Somme 1916, Jackdaw No 111 SOURCE 6 Coppard’s description of a newly-arrived Second Lieutenant The poor devil was paralysed with fear … Not even the urge of nature would tempt him out of the place [the entrance of a collapsed dugout], and he did his business there. He lost his appetite … At times, to my embarrassment, he would burst into tears. Coppard (1986: 118) SOURCE 4 We had now been in France eight months … deep down in me I was scared of the future. For the first few months, trench warfare had been a kind of dangerous fun to me … It was still fun when not in the trenches. Up in the front line, however, anything approaching merriment was dead. Rude jokes, yes, but no merriment … The dreadful winter, coupled with the constant fear of death and insufficient food, produced a yearning for England and home. Coppard (1986: 62)