Hulse War Letters - Book Report/Review Example

Hulse War Letters Analysis It is commonly known, that each division of the British Army kept a war diary in which they recorded a brief summary of events which occurred on each day of the war. Though Sir Hulse wrote not a diary but letters to his mother, through them he has shown us all the harassments and difficulties of the war. He rejects the idea that the war is the noble cause. Sir Hulse shows us the horrors of the fratricidal war since all the men are brothers. Soldiers believed in high ideals and were fighting for a happy future. But as a result, many of them had not returned home not only before Christmas, as they wished. Many were not destined to reconnect with the family. Still, it is rather interesting to recreate the life and customs of military people a century ago. The most horrible part of reading for me were descriptions of the behavior with wounded enemies. It was the most ghastly part of the business that “wounded have so little chance of being brought in, and if heavy fire is kept up, cannot even be sent for”1. Moreover, unfortunately even those who had a chance to survive were killed as soon as they fell into the hands of the enemy. Still, some exceptions occurred before Christmas, when Germans began to “treat prisoners well and did all they could for wounded”2. Hulse writes a lot about mutual assistance between civilians and the military, who largely helped, though “almost every single farm near their trenches was knocked to atoms and blown to pieces and just few poor old cows were wandering about with nothing to eat”3. It proves, that not everybody could be saved. Hulse writes about some of his dead friends whose relatives were glad that their death was heroic. For instance, while saying about “grand old man” Bobs, Hulse admits that “it was a great thing that he not only saw the war, against which he had warned so long and so ardently, but also died within the sounds of the guns of one of the most fiercely contested fights which there have yet been”4. The lack of military skills was one of the reasons to regret about. Hulse writes to his mother, that he regrets “not being able to talk German, as he had heard conversations in their tranches which would be great to report” if only it would be understood5. Moreover, people at the front suffered from the lack of information. This opened up great opportunities for propaganda. For instance, Hulse writes, that they gave the Germans, on each day, all the latest English newspapers, but the Germans still continued to claim, that “British newspapers were grossly misleading them”6. This gave rise to disputes and doubts in the ranks of the military. It was rather interesting to read the description of relations between soldiers of the British Army and the Germans. Though they were enemies, they did a lot of good to each other, which proves the statement that ordinary soldiers do not want the war. Hulse writes: "They are, I am sure, pretty sick of fighting and found the truce a very welcome respite, and were therefore quite ready to prolong it, in fact made us prolong it by continually coming to talk."7 This proves how senseless the war is and that ordinary warriors in reality have nothing to share. The relationship among soldiers is another important part of Hulse’s life. As he became “a sort of Quartermaster”, he began to fill himself responsible for the life and comfort of other people. The most significant problem for Hulse is supplying his fosterlings with different kinds of goods which are important for comfortable everyday life on war. And we may see that Hulse is very interested in his duty, particularly because he and his fellows are of the same sort: most of them were University men (as well as Hulse was) and had many in common8. We may see, that one of the main problems for Hulse is the problem of supply, particularly while soldiers were sitting in trenches. He often writes to his mother about the lack of dry blankets and pays attention on the importance of warm food as the warmth is the main pledge of endurance and men in cold must have plenty to eat9. Nevertheless, the ensuring of abovementioned was regularly complicated with circumstances. In my opinion, the main reason for the lack of supply is that general staffs of the belligerents expected the short war, hoping to complete it by several pitched battles. Incorrectly assessing the extent and duration of the impending war, general staff made significant mistakes on the nature of combat operations, the development of the armed forces and their supply in wartime. The problem of supply was not the only problem in trenches: there was always dump, unpleasant and impossible to put one’s head above the parapet without a little conversation from the “Bosches” in front of them. Finally, Hulse finds accommodation in the trenches very bad and anything but rain-proof. That is why soldiers had to dig over and over again for their own comfort. But what is important to mention is the striking differences between the living conditions of German and British soldiers in trench warfare. Germans lived in well-equipped dugouts made by them own and there were clean floors and draining. While reading I’ve also admitted some communication problems between them and Head-quarters. Hulse wrote, that it is “obviously something wrong somewhere, as 181 men cannot get into any train without someone knowing, and that someone ought to acquaint Head-quarters at the place of destination long before their arrival”10 and I totally agree with this statement. It is really a bad idea to rely just on luck. Still, personally Sir Hulse during all time of war kept confident and soberly made appropriate decisions. Probably, this way he had repeatedly stopped useless panic among his subordinates. They have seen different patterns of behavior and consciously chose that to be strong mentally it is more correct than to panic. So was being laid the foundation of the future victory of Britain. But also the joy occurred in the lives of military. The requests about chocolate and cigarettes and other “comforts”, such as socks, paper, envelopes and plum puddings in a tin look very nicely, thought such request is at odds with a stern image of the military person. Also an ironic self-criticism made me smile, when Hulse said that he was as fat as a pig. For sure, war difficulties are the perfect way to boost self-esteem. Music also played an important role in the lives of soldiers, especially when trenches were only about 25 yards separated. Singing was one of the “legal” ways to celebrate birthdays and other holidays. So, soldiers from both of the conflicting sides could hear the patriotic national songs of each other and trenches turned to become a place of intercultural exchange where soldiers tried “to give the enemy every conceivable form of song in harmony”. Nevertheless, it may be concluded that the most important thing for a man on the war is communication. The letters from Hulse’s mother, as well as the presents from his other relatives and friends provided him with a great support. Moreover, it helped him to feel himself not cut off from “real life”, because, I consider, life on war seems to be like an awful dream. But the main thing which helped them to continue living is the belief that they were “doing things as proud as they could for the men”11. Even communication with enemy helped soldiers to keep “normal”. While reading the description of celebration 1915 Eve, you may admit a kind of mutual respect of both British and German soldiers. At the midnight each side fired star-shells and sang “Auld Lang Syne” being assisted by their enemies, which seems to be something extraordinary12. It was a kind of Christmas Truce, negotiated informally by both troops themselves and that describes them as true Christians why really believed in God and didn’t want to kill each other during Holly Day. It seems that both sides believed that they were fighting for a just cause. Thus, I may conclude the biggest problem of the military people is the extreme fatigue, and that is true at all times. People in such situations are beginning to make more mistakes while performing simple tasks and have trouble in remembering new information. The brain for sure may be restored after some time in a relaxed atmosphere, but Sir Hulse had no such opportunity, though he extremely needed it. In one of his last letters to his mother he wrote that he hoped to have probably a few days’ rest, or perhaps a long one. But he didn’t get it and that is, perhaps, the reason why fatigue, but not the enemy, why he died. Bibliography Hulse, Edward Hamilton Westrow. Letters. Privately printed, 1916. Read More