During the play, R.C. Sherriff really shines an intense light on the trenches of World War 1 to show and highlight exactly what they were like and the sort of conditions that soldiers were living in. Part of the reason for this is that the general public did not know a lot about the war as communication systems were not as advanced back then as they are now, this leading to people having a slightly wrong impression of what happened, even though, it was one of the biggest events that have ever happened.
The play is quite a good eye-opener and really gets people thinking about the atrocities of war, especially seen as it is a firsthand account from Sherriff himself.
From what we are told, life in the trenches was at the very least dim, dull and disgusting. There was the fear of biting rats, the constant soaking of feet on the muddy floors and then the thought of dying whilst on duty.
The soldiers try and make the trenches as homely as possible, by having “a few tattered magazine pictures pinned to the wall of girls in flimsy costumes.”
When not on duty, soldiers would try and make the most out of their boring, life in the dark dugouts. When it came to food, it was not the best of quality because of the fact that they were in a war and so they had to make do with what they got, however, the soldiers always wanted to have a good meal and so often made a huge ordeal over something as little as pepper:
“TROTTER [throwing his spoon with a clatter into the plate]: Oh, I say, but damn it!
OSBORNE: We must have pepper.
It’s a disinfectant.
TROTTER: You must have pepper in soup!
[…]
STANHOPE: Go there at once and ask Captain Willis, with my compliments, if he
can lend me a little pepper.”
This shows just how much of a big deal they make of not having pepper, even to the point where they have to report to another trench to get some.
When it came to drink, the quality wasn’t the best, they had a slim choice from either water or whiskey. Neither were of good quality, the water was very strong because of some sort of disinfectant that’s in the water, and the whiskey was of poor quality, so the soldiers would mix the two together to try and counter-balance the other out:
“HARDY [passing the whiskey and a mug]: Don’t have too much water, it’s rather
strong today.
OSBORNE [slowly mixing a drink]: I wonder what it is they put in the water.
HARDY: Some sort of disinfectant, I suppose.”
“OSBORNE [pouring out a small whiskey and adding water]: Whiskey takes away the
taste of water –
RALEIGH: Oh, yes? [He pauses, and laughs nervously.]
OSBORNE: – and the water takes away the taste of the whiskey.”
The fact that they had to go to these sort of extents just to get a drink was something, but over time they would get use to it.
Sleeping, was quite an important part of the trenches, if they didn’t have a good sleep then they would most likely not have a very good time on duty. The soldiers have to get use to the fact that the beds were not the best, the higher class soldiers would chose first so that they got the ‘better’ beds.
The front line trenches themselves were a very tough place to live and so was only done so for six day, and then they would move further back from the front line in order to allow another group of soldiers to have their turn on the front line due to it being so intense.
In terms of the soldiers contacting their families at home, then this could be done so by letter. Soldiers could write to their families about how they were or to ask for some things to be sent to them, the letters were collected daily. However it is quite likely that the letters would take quite a while to get back home due to the low level of transport and communication devices.
Most men, fought in war because it was seen as an ‘adventure’, they thought that it would be a bit of ‘fun’ and a bit different from their everyday lifestyle. If men did not fight in the war then they were seen as ‘cowards’ and were looked down upon by other people. The men that did go to war because the fact that they thought it would be a bit of ‘fun’, clearly had no idea what war was really like, they were probably told a bit about the war which may have been a propaganda view which encouraged them to enlist. When they started fighting in the war, they must have been in for quite a shock. Most men also thought that if they went to war then they would be back by Christmas, however this was not true, the war lasted for four years.
Whilst fighting on the front line, it was very intense, and so would be in time slots of about three hours on and then they would go back to the trenches for a rest.
During Act 1, the talk from the soldiers suggests that there is not a lot actually happening on the front line. They say that there is the odd shot or the odd bomb go off but other than that it is pretty quiet. This is talked about quite frequently and they think that the reason for it is because the German’s were planning a big attack which was going to happen soon.
It was thought that young men that came straight from school were natural leaders. However it is sad to think that the average life of a young man on the front line is just three weeks.
Overall, I think that we must believe R.C. Sherriff’s account because he was there, he fought in the war and he saw it all. I believe that the title is perfect for the play, I think it really reflects over all the characters because it is the end to their journey whether they’ve been there for three years or three days, It also shows the real side of war because not everyone’s a winner, and at that war, England lost, and a lot of people died.
To sum up, life in the trenches was not at all easy, going on the front line with the fear of being shot along with the cramped and dingy dugouts and the low quality of food and drink. All of this must have been a surprise because the soldiers thought it would be a ‘fun adventure’ and that they would be back by Christmas, little did they know, they weren’t coming back at all.
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