BRITISH SOLDIER: ARCHIE BENNET

Sofia Iossini and Jazmin De Virgiliis

Age: 19 years old.From: South of England

Family: A brother who is 21 years old (in the army)

A mother A father (Angus): had been a soldier who fought against Africa.

Our family was the typical British family trying to get through war. I used to work on the fields; feeding the cattle and helping mom and dad to get

through this tough times. I remember receiving letters from my beloved brother, which said he was doing great at war and that we shouldn’t worry

about him, that it was a matter of time till we see each other again. But something about those letters seemed so fake to me. I feared waking up and receiving a letter saying that my brother had died at war. But I always tried to leave my thoughts aside because of my parents. I was really never forced to go to war, I felt it was my duty and I also thought I could see my brother

again. So I volunteered. I joined “Kitchener’s army”. Months before the attack we arrived to the trenches.

Life in the trench was terrible, it was all full of mud, dead bodies all over the place and also rats and lice. I was

bored most of the time because of the long wait between major battles. Seeing my brother in the trench was both

the happiest and saddest feeling; happiest because I haven’t seen him for a long time and saddest because he was transformed into another person, someone I didn’t

recognized. I thought that General Haig’s plan was a suicidal plan. I knew I was going to die so I sent a letter to

my parent telling them that my brother died and that it was a matter of time till my death. All people I care about were devastated. I saw my brother die in front of me, and the only friend I had caught trench foot and wasn’t able to walk properly. The 3d of July of 1916 I walked to death in

honor of my country and my family.