BATTLEFIELD ORDERS

Hey...this is Paul...my first entry...yeah There is so much to tell about the war; truths that you will more than likely only see here. Most of the things I speak of in this journal will not be admitted to the common citizen, in fear of causing problems. But I've got the truth about this war; the facts, and the feeling to back them up. I'll cover the basics. Please ask questions if you want to know anything else. I'll start with the weaponry. There are new weapons being introduced to us soldiers constantly. Sometimes we're trained to use them; and other times we learn about them the hard way - they kill a few of us, or rain down on our heads. If we don't apply them to our strategies, we will be eaten alive. I've seen men fried with flamethrowers; a dangerous device that shoots fire. Mortars aren't much nicer, as they fire projectiles at steep angles, leaving no time for cover and ultimately no survivors. Machine guns are also becoming more common because of their usefulness; they fire many rounds at once very quickly. Our modes of transportation even include weaponry. There are tanks, which can shoot long distances and handle most any terrain; airplanes, which are very useful for surprise air attacks and speedy retreats; and even submarines, which maneuver underwater, creating a very useful way to infiltrate enemy lines and maybe even launch a missile or two. All this is quickly changing the face of war. It doesn't much help the number of casualties decrease, but it does provide soldiers with new tactics to overcome obstacles that may be easier or more destructive to enemies than those of previous ages. I can't help but wonder, though; why create technologically advanced warfare when it would be more beneficial to stop warfare altogether? Moving on, I must discuss the oh-so-common term here on the front: no man's land. The term means just what it says; there are no men on that land. It's basically the strip of land between your trench and the enemies' trench. No one wants to be there, and most of those that do end up there do not return. I tried to find an accurate picture, but i'm afraid there is no way to actually depict the gunfire, grenades, and feeling of death that truly is no man's land.

Gas is one of the worst weapons of war. It's the silent killer. By the time you realize it's there, you've already breathed it in, and more than likely, it's the end for you. Small amounts may not be fatal, however. Poison gas in the form of grenades has become a successful way of defending territory and wiping out mass amounts of enemy troops in a single throw. The gas most commonly used is chlorine, a deadly substance. When inhaled, it begins attacking and destroying human organs, and causes choking fits.

Life in the trenches for a German soldier is something that cannot truly be put into words, but I will do the best I can. When you go to war, you expect to come back home and continue your life as if war was just one more thing you had to do. But that's never the case. Not too long after being out on the front, you start to lose your passion for life. After seeing countless deaths and gruesome scenes, the mind must lose some consciousness to maintain it's sanity. The basics of trench life are pretty dreary; little food, plenty of rats, spreading disease, loss of friends on a daily basis, and uncertainty of how much longer you have to live are among them. It's amazing how much we take advantage of before we go to war; because pretty soon you realize how little it really takes to live.

As previously mentioned, food was most of the time scarce; and when we had it, it wasn't exactly appetizing. We soldiers have come up with quite a few ways, however, to transform tasteless rubber and mush into edible cuisine. For example, we break all our food up, add water, and boil it in a sandbag. Also, when condensed milk was available, some soldiers would crumble up the rock-hard biscuits and soak them in water overnight, and then cover them with the milk in order to force them down. I'll tell you one thing...the only thing nice about being a soldier is that you can't possibly be fat, no matter what you do.

A notable figure during the war was definitely a man who was called "The Red Baron". He was credited with 80 kills before he was shot down in his vermilion triplane on April 21, 1918 in front of the Sainte Colette brickworks. He was known for his amazing flying skills.

One thing about the war that backfired was the Schlieffen Plan. This plan was created by Alfred Graf von Schlieffen. It was the German General Staff's overall strategic plan for victory on the Western Front against France. Unfortunately, it was executed to near victory in the first month of World War I until a French counterattack ended the German offensive and resulted in years of trench warfare. Yeah...talk about depressing, right?

Of course, there have been catalysts during this war. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, on the 28th of June 1914, started a series of diplomatic events that led to the outbreak of war in Europe. Ferdinand was considering such things as the idea of a federalism made up of 16 states, which was not popular among the ruling elite.

Even women have been affected by this war. It's horrible. We try to keep as much as we can from the women; they do not deserve this war, but then again, niether do we. Most, if not all, of the nurses that tend to the wounded and dying soldiers are women. One particularly noted and dedicated one was Helen Burrey. She went to work at age 14 at a department store in Pittsburg and worked there until she entered nursing school. When the war began, she volunteered to serve as an army nurse. She was one of the first to be sent to France. How sad. She worked the hospital trains, saving countless lives, when she didn't have to.

Luckily, there are some parts of the war that I have not been unfortunate enough to get involved in. One of the major things right now is dogfights. This is basically air-to-air combat. People from one plane shoot or throw things at an enemy plane. Sometimes they even tangle rope in the other plane's propellers. Regardless of what happens up in the air, one plane or the other almost always ends up falling to a fiery death. It's an awful form of combat; but then again...fighting really is awful altogether.

Our trenches in France look something like this...

There's only one more thing I'd like to talk about today; Pal Battallions. These were comprised of soldiers raised in the same locality with the promise they would serve with their friends for the duration of the war. I believe that this is a good strategy during the war. It's a way to guaruntee a certain number of recruits/soldiers. And when fighting in war with friends, you also have someone there to help you get through. I always seem to use my friends to stay sane. There you have it...the beginning of the things you don't know about this war that's tearing the earth apart. It's not the first, and it won't be the last. But I just feel a need to let those of you outside the warfront know that you may think you're suffering a lot from the war...but don't forget about your soldiers. I'll write more later...