Branches Book

BRANCHES

has been snow on the ground for a month here so it will give you something of what France is like in the winter.”

Worst Place I Been (17 August, 1918) The Battle of Amiens was a massacre of Germans. The Allies threw all of the possible forces they could at Amiens. The Allies pushed the Krauts all the way back to Belgium. However it came at a dire cost. Reggie wrote, “The place I am at now is the worst place for shells and bombs that I have been in since the Infantry. By hell it’s murder at times... It is hard but it’s no use growling.” Reggie had spent an unimaginable “four Christmases” away from home, and he was hardened. This would be his last battle, but he was still a long way from going home as he didn’t return until July 1919. He wrote one final letter home before returning. For the first time in five years, he was positive an end was in sight. At this stage, forty percent of all New Zealand males between the ages of twenty and forty-five had lost their lives in the war. Reggie was one of the lucky men who could return. Interestingly, Reggie ended this final letter with “I am” instead of the usual “I remain.” He no longer had to think that he might die at every turn. He had survived every major battle New Zealand soldiers fought in WW1 and he was going home.

Author’s Statement: Conor Grice

At my age, 100 years ago, my great-grandfather Reginald Stevens had already signed up for the First World War. Unlike me, he had never been outside the province he was born, Canterbury in New Zealand. Unlike me, he left middle school to work on his family farm with his uncle. Unlike me, he was about to fight for his life, his family, and his country. He, along with his comrades, fought against militarism and imperialism. My greatest challenge, as of 3/21/17, is getting into university. He wrote home every chance he could,

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