Letters and diary
Probably, the most favourite thing about a soldier in a trench are letters to and from home. They love hearing from their dear family and children from home, and it sometimes makes them forget on where the soldiers are or why they are in a trench for a minute. Of course, families always ask their soldiers to say when they are coming home, but the truth is - none of them know.
There is also the diary that soldiers keep. It seems kind of important to own a diary when living in trenches in the First World War. Soldiers write down what happens in the trenches so people can find out what it is like. Otherwise they will never understand. They might not even believe what's written in the lined pages. |
Sandbags
Soldiers fill the sandbags up and they look after them. It's not always that sand is used. Sometimes it can be earth or dirt. If someone shoots towards the other trench and the bullet or a shell blast hits a sandbag, that normally stops it from getting through. It at least lessens the impact. However, it isn't so good with artillery fire though. That normally finds its way through the sandbag so the soldiers still go to be on their guard.
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Trench Jobs
Even when soldiers are not fighting, they will always have something other to do like a job. They have a lot of daily duties. Some soldiers have to take out the smelly toilet waste. Some soldiers have to fill up the sandbags which helps to lessen the impact of explosions. Then there are all the things that are needed to be done to try to stop the enemy, like putting up barbed wire or fixing it when it gets broken. The same needs to be done with the communication cables. When the weather is bad, the trench floor can get flooded and the walls can collapse.
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Soldier on Watch
Soldiers always stay in their trenches because it is safest that way. Sometimes soldiers have to wait and watch for ages until they see their enemy. As every moment passes, they get more and more tired and more and more nervous. At any minute, they could get the call to shoot or go over the top. Soldiers just don't know when it is going to come.
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