Soldiers in World War I were normal people too. They had their own love lives and wanted to get a proper job in their home country. They previous job occupation could have been a painter or poet. All we know is that they are at war and we should understand what they thought during these hard times. For this project, the teachers have assigned us to write a diary entry based on the experiences of a dead soldier of World War I. The diary was to try to emulate how the soldier wrote, this meant including his voice and other things.
My first steps was to find a soldier to write in. The soldier profile I found included some of his diary entries so I was able find most of what he did. The soldier’s name was Bernard James Glynn. A second lieutenant in the Canadian Royal Flying Corps, he flew planes with the 34th squadron. He was born in 1897 and dies in 1917.
As I began writing, I also read through his diary entries found out some details that made this soldier interesting to write on. I included how he had a girlfriend in London and treated her very well and also how he was religious tried to find time to go to masses. He writing style was short and at times, incomplete sentences like he was listing things he did throughout the day write after doing it instead of writing about it at the end of the day. He also likes to look at the churches and cathedrals of Europe of which he finds very beautiful.
I learned somethings about an officers life in World War I. Glynn, who flew reconnaissance for years he was alive, had a creaky consistent social life. I suppose his status as an officer gave him perks in getting leave and going out with other officers. He was constantly meeting new people in the army as he moved around and regarded almost all of them with a very positive outlook. Another thing was the general entertainment back then was talking with people over a luncheon or tea. Movies was also very popular as Glynn say a lot of them with his newfound friends. Also, I learned that there was still time for the soldiers to go to churches.
Overall, this project gave me a lot of insight on the life of a soldier, especially of the pilots. It seems that their social activities kept them being overexposed to the horrors of war and that their lives seemed a little easier than the frontline soldiers even though most were killed within three weeks. What I mainly took away from this project was the soldiers of any side sometimes had a peaceful background where there were family and loved ones that cared for them. The soldiers also found ways to entertain themselves and find others to support one another.
The things I feel I need to work on in this assignment is the interpretation of Glynn’s text. I feel there is a deeper context from what I could discern for now. I could have also found a paper background to write the diary entry on but everything was watermarked, I will search harder next time. Below is the diary entry that I wrote to emulate Glynn. Hope you enjoy!
