Letter Home

Dear Mum,

I really miss you. It is starting to get horrible here. Winter has come and gone. Our trenches became swimming pools of mud with the amount of rain we got. They were like quagmires. Every one of us agreed that the war is hopeless. Every time someone dies they seem to ship over a 1000 new privates. I am still a private. At least I’ve got friends in my battalion (41^st). There is no decent food and no decent weather. I hope summer brings a change. When I first arrived I was pumped for some fun and some German bashing but now it just seems hopeless. I have been here two and a half years and barely anything has changed since I got here. I hear the stories of those who survived Gallipoli and wish I could have been there. At least the Turks seem nice, sharing food and stuff. The Germans are just ruthless. They have no feeling or emotions. Just killing and winning. I know that we are willing to surrender but the General wants to sign an armistice so that Britain doesn’t get invaded and Germany rules the world. I feel like Germany will never sign an armistice so I may be here for a while if I don’t die first. The trench warfare is horrible but is pleasant compared to our recreation time. The food is crap and I am grateful that we are on rations. The barracks are overcrowded and there is nothing to do but here the gunfire, watch the horrible weather and hear the screams and shouts of the hospital ward just around the corner. I know I have been writing to you a lot recently but it is the only positive thing I look forward to now. I will write to you soon. Please send a reply.

Love Your Son, Private First Class Charles M. McKinley 41^st Battalion, Infantry Division, AIF