Creative Writing student Beth wrote this piece after reading about the plight of soldiers in the First World War. Photo: Thomas Jackson and Alice Philadelphia Rose Matthews were married on November 19, 1916 in St Michael’s Church, Stoke Newington Common. He was a Private in the 22nd London Regiment (Queen’s). He was aged 24 when he married and Alice was 23. Although Thomas survived the war, he sadly died in 1921 of a cerebral embolism. The photograph was sent to us by his relative Karen Kidd.
The morning air was sharp and cold.
Cutting through my clothing.
Deep into my skin.
In the distance I could hear a gun firing.
The fog and snow clouded my vision as I trekked through the blanket of sleet. All around me I could hear bullets going off. The sound of bodies hitting the ground. Melting slowly into the wintery abyss. I kept struggling through the snow, hoping to reach the end. Every second another gunshot would go off. Fear rippled through my heart and paralysed my body. Suddenly, something red appeared in the distance. At first, I thought it was blood, but as I grew nearer it spread further and further until I was in a field full of them.
Poppies. Millions of them.
I felt my knees grow weak and buckle, causing my body to drop to the ground. Pain radiates through my body from my bleeding chest but all I could feel was the comforting touch of tiny red petals on my haggard, cold face.
Finally, I was free from the agony.
Finally, it was over.