He had to leave his children and go to the front knowing very little of what war was all about. Germany had to be stopped as soon as possible. The song the soldiers sang as they went to the front was…

I’m going to hang out my washing on the Siegfreid line

If the Seigfreid line is still there.

The Tommies, as the English soldiers were called, really believed that it was just a matter of them showing up to fight, and the Germans would run. Little did they guess how hard the next 4 years would be.

In those days, horses were used to pull the wagons and cannons through the mud up to the front-line. They would be under gunfire whenever they did this work. Granddad said the screams of injured soldiers and horses at the front still remained with him those many years later.

Unlike, World War 2, the war was fought mostly in the trenches. One side would launch an attack and win a few yards, then the other would reverse the procedure and win the few yards back. In the meantime, the soldiers were dying in that “no mans land" between the two sets of trenches. Because of snipers who would kill anyone venturing out to help the wounded or to collect the bodies, many of the dead were just left to rot. Granddad said the rats would come out in droves to eat the bodies soldiers.. He said it was terrible to see buddies of his, lie there, for he could do nothing to help them.

After months in the trenches, the rain came down in torrents, the trenches filled up with mud. In order to get out of the mud, the soldiers dug slots in the walls of the trench, just enough so they could slide in, and lie down. They lived in these conditions for months on end. Historians say the war of 1914 to 1918 was much more severe on the common soldier than World War 2, as so many perished due to the terrible conditions, as did by the enemy. All soldiers, the enemy included suffered so much.

After the war Granddad was reunited with his family. He believed wholeheartedly, that as the war had been won by the Allies, they would receive a wonderful welcome back as conquering heroes. They felt they would be better appreciated, they also believed they would receive a better wages and better conditions at the pits.