Personal Narrative-All Quiet On The Western Front

Words: 823
Pages: 4

Here we are, in the middle of this brutal battle. It’s nothing like I expected. It seems like we’ve been here for years and have achieved nothing. The dark and gloomy battlefields that we now call home are infested with rats and the constant odour of dead soldiers that are lying beneath us. The deafening sound of blood-filled screams leave me tormented: I start to welcome the continual barrage of shells, wondering which one is finally going to end this traumatic experience that is now my life. The tempting thought of suicide hammers at my mind every time I get a glimpse of a gun. I look to my left and I see my best mate pull the pin of the grenade that is about to plummet into the enemy trenches and kill half a dozen people. This is the reality of war. …show more content…
I think of the shame of returning with only defeat to show for our efforts, and fear it will haunt me forever. My boy looks up to me greatly and I can’t imagine the guilt I will feel when he has no hero to look up to. It is another torture within the war itself. Throughout each night the horror doesn't stop as the merciless war continues. I am desperately trying to sleep, but the vast numbers of stars distract me: I see in their numbers the extent of the casualties of war. A thud interrupts my thoughts, another casualty of war, another star in the sky. The pain in my feet grows as the trench foot infection becomes more intense by the minute. I start to doze off but am suddenly woken by the Corporal barking orders at the top of his lungs,
“Righto you lot, with your Aussie convict blood, the General has a mission for you.”
As we line up in formation the Corporal paces around giving us the briefing for the horrific task being laid upon