Quote:
Originally Posted by Tenchu
Ronin, I know you're jealous of everyone who's got shit more sorted than you do, but it's no excuse to go posting gay poems everywhere; the views of a few people do no reflect an Army as a whole.
Anyway, you fail to explain why people went to war when they didn't have to before, where as now they don't, so I'll simply assume you can't.
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What are you talking about? Who's got more of what shit sorted?
Also such morbid poetry was commonplace. Of course only the best ones became classics and worth studying.
Furthermore if you bothered to read the second link :-
Quote:
Life at the front
The majority of British soldiers still had little idea of the problems that they would face when they arrived in France. Digging the trenches often proved to be the first experience of these volunteers who had expected a quick and glorious march to Berlin before Christmas 1914. Trench life formed the main experience of the war for British soldiers, and the three things that characterized this were boredom, dirt, and death. Most days in the trench consisted of routine tasks such as collecting food, standing guard, collecting ammunition, and trying to clean out the trench. Many hours were spent doing very little once these basic chores had been fulfilled. Huge swarms of rats lived in the trenches, devouring the corpses of dead soldiers, as well as trying to eat the soldiers' food. Trenches collapsed regularly under the weight of the wet soil or artillery bombardments, and when new lines were dug in the same area, the rotting corpses of dozens of soldiers were frequently unearthed. Some trenches were dug across what had been graveyards, and parts of coffins and skeletons would be discovered. Duckboards were fitted to the bottom of the trenches to stop the soldiers getting trench foot, a condition caused by prolonged standing in mud and water, but these often proved ineffective when it rained and the water level rose.
Once the soldiers had served for a few weeks in the trenches they would be moved to the rear of the lines for a rest. Here their uniforms would be cleaned and deloused in huge steamers, and they would have their first bath in weeks. Unfortunately the steamers were unable to get rid of the lice eggs, and these soon hatched with the soldiers' body heat on their return to the trenches. The soldiers spent many hours delousing themselves either by crushing the eggs by hand or using their cigarettes to burn them off.
Battle stress
Cases of shell shock, a mental disorder related to extreme stress and exposure to heavy explosions, were common during the periods of bombardment on the Western Front, and multiplied after the great offensives. Those who were traumatized were unable to carry on as soldiers. The symptoms included mental confusion, inability to follow orders, and hysterical terror. Soldiers who had previously shown bravery could experience shell shock after seeing friends blown to pieces beside them or being close to a shell on impact. The British Army's response to cases of shell shock at the front would be judged barbaric by modern standards. Many men suffering from shell shock were shot as cowards or deserters. Officers and some doctors were ignorant of the psychological condition known today as post-traumatic stress disorder. They did not recognize the symptoms of shell shock as a mental illness caused simply by exposure to battle. On one occasion, a man sentenced to death for cowardice caused by shell shock had his appeal rejected by Field Marshal Haig himself. Haig wrote that to allow this appeal would create mutiny in the ranks as the men would believe that cowardice was acceptable. In the conditions of World War I the treatment of shell shock in ordinary soldiers was considered an unacceptable waste of time and resources. At the time the general attitude was that if others could cope under pressure, so could those who claimed to be suffering from shell shock.
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