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"Goal"! I shouted as I ran around the pitch swinging my 

shirt above my head madly. My team mates jumped on 

my back excitedly.

This was awesome, getting together again playing soccer 

with all my best friends.

We used to go to school all of us, we were the best 

soccer players then, well, we still are, but we don't get 

together as much now that we all have jobs. 

It is 1913 in my English village and this is how we spend 

our weekends. I've just read in the newspaper that 

Germany is lining up its troops and tanks and people are 

starting to feel worried. 

War was declared and we're on the ship in 

Southampton. It's kind of weird because the 

last time we were together we were playing 

soccer.

All I can hear is men talking and mums and 

dads shouting their goodbyes from the dock. 

The smell of tobacco and smoke from the 

ship's chimney are sickening.

Me and my mates are thinking, this is going to 

be so much fun and it's going to be an 

adventure.

This truck that's driving us to the front in 

France is bouncing me around like a joey in a 

kangaroo. 

I can hear the faint sound of gun fire and 

bombs and the butterflies in my stomach tell 

me I'm feeling worried. I wonder if my friends 

feel the same.

The smell of mud and diesel from the trucks is 

really strong. Dead and injured bodies are 

being pushed in carts the opposite way. 

I hate it here in the trenches. I really want to 

go home. I'm sure everyone else does too.

We've got a three week timetable, which is 

one week at the front, one week at the support 

trench, and one week resting away from all the 

fighting.

The stench of dead bodies is horrific. Rats 

crawl everywhere. They eat our food if we 

don't shoo them away.

Some of the men carry homing pigeons in a 

cage. If we get to the German trenches, they 

let them fly back to head quarters.

I feel scared. Some men are puking, and when 

the officer said "fix bayonets", many couldn't 

do it because their hands were shaking. 

When the whistle blew, we climbed the ladders 

and, screaming, ran towards the barbed wire. 

I've just seen two of my friends drop to the 

ground.                                                                                                  

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