Once again I am here to write another fantastic blog post for all my wonderful viewer (non plural). Today’s post will consist of a diary entry written in the perspective of a World War I soldier. The hardest task was to actually pick and choose a soldier, I spent hours trying to find a soldier, one finally caught my attention and his name was Wilfrid Reid “Wop” May. The class had to collect primary sources so that we had more complex understanding of our soldier’s past, this resulted in us using the website, Canadian Virtual War Memorial . The website consists of archives from all the Canadian soldiers that fought World War I, as I searched for Wilfred May his registration form for the army came up.
To me the name Wilfrid May sounded very familiar, because I did a project on him in grade 6 with Spencer and Stanfield, two fellow PLP students. Here is the video (sorry guys)
I chose May for many reasons, most particularly, because he is a Canadian hero and countless medals have been awarded to him.
(Distinguished cross)
For my diary entry I wrote about Wop May’s time during the war. How he felt and what the emotions he was feeling during that period of time.
April 12,1917
It has been many years since the war began. The world, once a place of life has been destroyed and chiseled down to mere craters. As soldiers, we slowly wither away becoming shells of the men we once were. I am broken and have begun to ponder the existence of the human race. Why is hatred intertwined into our very being? Why won’t this dreaded war come to an end? Why must we fight? What is the purpose of all this? I am unsure if I can carry on. When I close my eyes I no longer find rest instead the fear and pain follow me into my dreams.
July 27, 1917
The trenches in where I live are vulgar and unpleasant. The cold sloppy mud is permanently at ankle height, and in some trenches even calf high. There are constant moans from wounded soldiers. There is never silence and their groans ring constantly in the back of my mind, like a pestering fly humming behind my ear.
November 5, 1917
My dear friend, Ray, has been persistent in trying to get me to join the Royal Air Force. Ray, a young and fearless fellow, still does not comprehend the danger of flying. However, I refuse to die in these forsaken trenches and if it allows me to leave this graveyard I will take the opportunity. Although I am petrified, I have always been fascinated with flying and the idea has been floating in my subconscious since I was a little boy. I have not felt joyful emotions since this war begun, but I must admit I feel elated at the idea of being able to fly above the mess of this world and see it lit up with artillery fire knowing I am safer in the sky. Maybe this is all that I need to escape.
March 11, 1918
Many months have passed since my last journal entry. Thankfully Ray and I were both accepted into the Royal Air Force. The joy and relief that flooded my body after I was accepted into Squadron 209 was indescribable. Training was a mere week long and only the bare basics were taught. However, I’ve been told countless times that I have a raw talent and I’m meant to be up above, flying over the ground. When up in the sky I love being able to peer down and see the small dots that resemble human life .
April 21, 1918
Today was one of the most shocking days of my life. The day began like usual, however, later a dog fight broke out like none I had ever seen before. I am unsure how but I managed to survive, part of me believes it was the hand of God. It all began after my battalion and I took to the skies. I felt at home cruising through the vast spacious sky, however, this did not last for long. We were abruptly interrupted by the infamous German triplanes. It all happened very fast but I was given orders to stay on top and to get involved with the fight. Without hesitation, I obeyed my commanding officer. It is a bit of a haze but if my memory serves me right, I remember seeing in the distance a triplane break loose. Deep down, I knew this was my opportunity to prove my worth to the battalion. I chased after him like a dog chasing a squirrel and occasionally took a shot at the him. Unfortunately, my machine guns jammed and in that moment I knew I was dead.
However, Captain Brown, my commanding officer, saw my dire situation and heroically risked his life. While saving my life Captain Brown managed to shoot down the famous Red Barron, a German-operated triplane. Now this is where things have begun to get tricky, my other brothers in the fight are under the impression I shot down the Red Barron. They relayed this information back to headquarters, and since then I have been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, a medal any pilot would be honoured to have. Although Captain Brown has not said anything, I do at times feel guilty for accepting the award, however, it has earned me a considerable amount of respect among my battalion and slight fame.
The research that went into the dairy came from multiple different sources. Those sources really helped put into perspective what May went through during the war.
This assignment improved my interpretation skills when it comes to analyzing primary documents, thus making me more comfortable recreating a dairy entry from the perspective of a World War I soldier.
Bibliography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wop_May
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/wilfrid-reid-may/
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