A Soldiers Diary...

26th April 1915

Dear Diary,

I went to enlist for the Australian army. Everyone was applying for it so I decided why not? It would be adventurous, fun and exciting. Ð'Ñ"Ð'Ñ" And travelling somewhere other then home? Oh it just gets better. If IÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦m lucky enough and fight hard enough I might even be famous. Famous, imagine that. There was actually no choice because if u didnÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦t apply you were considered as losers. You were considered as not having a heart because you were not caring about what was happening in the war. IÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦m sixteen years old and Barren LorryÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s my name. Like any other sixteen year old IÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦m not a fully grown man, therefore I donÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦t have the muscles I need. I thought it was the end of the world if I didnÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦t pass the medical. People were failed for a lot of different reasons. When I went to get my chest measured I took a deep breath and puffed my chest as far as possible. Luckily I just got through and it was joyful to hear. I ran home happily that day and I wondered if my friends enlisted and pasted. 6 shillings a day for my pay! Wow thatÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s excellent I thought. It would help my family and mother and father would be pleased. Well, IÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦m here in Gallipoli. On Sunday 25 April 1915 we landed at Beach X, Gallipoli. As the ships drew a shore, I had a sinking feeling that we wont supposed to be here. It wasnÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦t our plan to land at beach X (As you can see we donÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦t even know the name of it.) but unfortunately there were miscalculations. We landed one and a half kilometres away from the shore. We were meant to arrive at Gabe Tepe. It didnÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦t matter because in 45 minutes we had gone into three success ridges. Thousands of us were tired and by the end of the day many of us fell asleep were we landed. News arrived to us that 2000 men were killed and 1800 were wounded. 12 miles away from the ships and the bombings can still be heard.

7th June 1915

Dear Diary,

Rose at 6.30am and had a shave and a wash. ItÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s a glorious morning but a waste for what the day brings for us here. Stretcher bearers are in great demand at the moment. The conditions here are awful. The general condition of the Trenches is terrible. The trenches are constantly filled with mud, water, blood, urine, shrapnel, body parts and other such disgusting items. Other conditions include shell shock, lice, illness from poor hygiene and most commonly, death. We never get a good night sleep because of the shelling, the smell and uncomfortable conditions. Despite these terrible conditions, most of us would try and keep the spirits up and be thankful for the protection it would bring us. The wounded and killed had to be thrown to one side. I felt guilty leaving them there and seeing them die was worse. I am losing most of my friends. We were in the support trench at the time