Page 8 - Walking Back Through Time

There are sleepless nights beneath mud and rain, Artillery bombardments that drive one insane. The shells feared most are those primed with gas, A deadly mist that brings horror in a blast.
At the dead of night a sniper digs in,
As "Tommies" share cigarettes from a ration tin, First light is good as the assailant takes aim,
But taking the third will be the end game.
The cold winter days bring frostbite and flu, Sometimes trench foot, and skin that turns blue, The dugouts are waterlogged, muddy and dire, Like no man’s land above - a bloody quagmire.
The stench of death is always near,
It stings our nostrils with numbing fear. There are colonies of rats and lice here too, We all think of home and a decent brew.
This may seem to many an unusual job,
And yet people sign up to join this mob;
There is little comfort along a muddy frontline, It's where the "Tommie" lives and serves his time.
The Great War was one that massively changed the world bringing about new innovations and technology required to affect victory - albeit a good while later than first predicted.
For the greater part it was little short of catastrophe - a modern war of artillery and attrition led by generals on horse back still basking in the glory of the Victorian Age.
The Great War thus became known as an industrial conflict which pushed each country to its absolute limits. It saw unnatural deforesta- tion, the dreadful use of poison gas as a weapon and underground war- fare tactics using explosives to blow up enemy positions on a colossal scale. Then, ultimately the tank arrived and ended the deadlock of trench warfare which in turn witnessed the final days of the war horse.