Descriptive Essay: All Quiet On The Western Front

I have finally found the opportunity to send you a letter. I’m sure you have received many postcards from me, saying that I am well. I am not allowed to tell you much news as all outgoing mail is being censored by our officers. Presently, the censoring is quite strict. During the day, my fellow soldiers and I see either one of our airplanes or one of the German's shelled by the antiaircraft gun. The shells burst all around the airplane; however, I have yet to see one make contact. As the shell bursts, we can see the fire and the smoke making a dark cloud that stuck around for fifteen minutes. Since the airplanes fly at high altitudes, they are considered out of range.
We created a routine for troops to take turns in the front lines of trenches. One regiment takes a certain number of sections of the front trench for three days then moves to the second line for another three days. Afterwards, they move

There was barely room for two men to brush by each other. In the front of each trench is a parapet made of sandbags. These are almost bulletproof, but they provide little to no protection from shell fire. The trench was about seven feet in height from the top of the parapet and about four feet wide. There is a small ledge along the front that is used to fire over the sandbags. In the rear are the dugouts. The dugouts are basically small caves with just enough room for two men to lie down in. Our job in the trenches was to continuously fire at the German lines. which are about 200 yds. away, and to attack any of their men that showed up. Every night, we all must be on standby. No one is allowed to sleep or be in the dugouts. During the day one out of a group of three has to be on duty, taking their turn in shifts of two hours. This gives each man four hours to cook and feed themselves, clean out the trench, and do any other work. There is seldom time for sleep. Please send love to Mother and the others. I hope to see you all