ANZAC

I had to put myself in James Martin's shoes who was the youngest Australian soldier to fight in WW1. I had to write a letter to his parents pretending that i was him.
 25.4.015

Dear Mum and Dad

My troop has just landed in Gallipoli. It is such a beautiful site, apart from the trenches and all the weaponry it looks fantastic! The smell is horrible though there are already quite a lot of dead bodies from the trip and the smell of smoke is everywhere i go. My mate that i room with is such a good bloke his name is Liam and he is such a good bloke, i think that you would love him. He is from New Zealand and he is quite craftsy. He made me  little pockets inside of my coat so i could sneak a little extra food for both of us. We have been marching forwards to keep on making more territory. The men that dig the holes look really strong and the they can dig trenches in under a minute. There have been some close calls when me and Liam have been joking around and we almost got ourselves killed from keeping a broomstick and throwing it to each other. The Major told us off but we were in hysterical laughter afterwards. Oh and a broomstick is one of the Turks bombs. I know that you didn’t want me too but i joined the Imperial force without you knowing and that’s why i have been gone lately. But don’t worry i am perfectly safe. The food here is horrible all it is is canned beef straight out of a can and sometimes stale bread with jam on. The jam tin’s are really useful for making homemade bombs. Liam taught me how to make those and they're really fun to throw. They make a sort of fizzzz! Sound then when it explodes sometimes the leftover jam comes over to our side. We keep on moving closer which makes me feel more scared each time because the guns are getting louder and i can smell this really weird smell which is kind of like the gas  we use on the BBQ except worse. Every time we’re marching we have to step over dead bodies with either bullet holes in them or paper white eyes from a new weapon that the Major hasn’t told us about. The Major has told us about the new weapon which is deadly gas and that if one bomb gets into our trench that we have to soak a handkerchief in urine and put it up to our mouths. I will have to stop writing now because I have to charge toward No Man’s Land which is the middle part which splits up the allied trenches and the enemy's trenches. I'll do my best to stay alive, just joking i have lots of friends that will help me get through this dreaded war.

With love from your son

James Martin

Writing

This week Room 9 had to make a poem based on ANZAc. Miss Fisher gave us a certain thing to write and we had to describe it in a certain amount of lines. I wasn't feeling that good about it because i'm not very poetic but to me i thin that it turned out pretty good.

It says                                                                A Soldier's Time

My soldiers are almost dead. We all have a nasty chest infection. Our trench has been taken over and we were the only ones that flead. I step too close on a mine, bad detection.

Running as fast I; can. The bullets and shells are all behind me. I trip over a rusted pan. I am finally back with my soldiers i know it was bad of me to flee but my squadron needs me.

All of the men in my group are struggling to live.. Can’t see where they're going half of them are blind. Some of them only have socks on that are as thin as a piece of thread. Gas bombs behind we enter a new trench with gas almost all over it we each find a gas mask, a lucky find. There are a lot of soldiers falling to their feet, almost at our original base even though we've left about 52 behind.

“PSHH. GAS boys! Put your masks on and get into cover now! “

We are covered in a massive cloud of green smoke. Most of us have put on our gas masks, except for one, one tired stupid man who could not be bothered putting it on. He runs around and around like a headless chicken. Then the sound of a thud, a dead hand scrapes the edge of my boot. He is gone.

The gas is as thick as a black sky. It is the colour of dark pea green soup. All of us huddle in a bunch to keep each other warm and safe. When it’s all over we have still got the same amount of as before. We are lucky, that was close.

A blood curdling scream. Hands grasp my shoulders and a bad coughing fills the air. My comrade has run away from his gas mask team. To die from the enemy’s gas, it’s just not fair.  

Try and imagine just imagine walking behind that death cart. You are looking straight into a dying man's eyes. They are an airy cloud colour white and his breathing is shallow. But the man who is in the cart making sure that the dead men don’t fall off. Talks to you with a voice soft and mellow. He is dying but still in shock. When he said that it gave you a shiver down your spine. You wonder what his wife would say. His children crying while he is slowly dying.

What does the man sound like? We throw him into the wagon. He is unconscious but he is still breathing, breathing disgusting gurgling shallow breaths. His eyes are burned and white as white. His breathing stops his lungs have stopped and popped.

If you had experience all these things that the soldiers had experienced what do you think you would feel like. Digging trenches,staying up late with the risk of bombs falling on your head and fearing the fact you might never be able to go home again. Never getting to see your families again.Now once you had experienced that, could you say it was sweet and glorious to die for your country.