Monteagle School Group 2, Barking and Dagenham

2 December 2015

Mother dearest, Mother dearest,

I’m writing from hottest Salonika.
We were sent to Greece to fight.
I hear the constant sound of shelling in my head, in my head, in my head.

I’m scared!
I’m scared of gunfire and always feeling frightened.
I’m petrified! I’m petrified!
Terrifying images flash through my mind, through my mind, through my mind.

My gun is my brother,
Ammunition is my sister,
The trench is my home.

Surrounded by the vast field of trenches,
Like an everlasting nightmare,
The smell is putrid!
The smell is putrid, putrid, putrid, putrid.
The floor full of dead bodies.

Group 1: And sleep never comes.
Group 2: Sleep never comes.
Group 1: Sleep never comes.
Group 2: Sleep never comes.
Group 1: Sleep never comes.
Group 2: Sleep never comes.

My gun is my brother,
Ammunition is my sister,
The trench is my home.
The trench is my home.

I’m awfully tired but must fight for my country.
I miss everybody, but must not give up hope.

My gun is my brother,
Ammunition is my sister,
The trench is my home.

Your loving son,

David Louis Clemetson

LETTER FROM David Louis Clemetson                 MONTEAGLE PRIMARY SCHOOL GROUP 2

You were able to handle the artefacts and we learned lots of facts about WW1. – Class 6C

We liked getting the opportunity to create our own song. It was good to explore how to sing the lines. We learned some good singing techniques from our composition session. – Class 6C

We enjoyed the role playing and marching and it was interesting seeing what the soldiers in the Indian Army wore. – 6K

We liked meeting the actors and puppeteers, and we liked the professional puppet – can we do something more similar to that? It was a long and wonderful journey! Thank you Trench Brothers! – Class 6C

Getting a chance to handle real artefacts was fantastic for the children. They are more engaged and responsive, and for one child, who never speaks about what he has done at home, his mother has said that he couldn’t stop talking about how much he has learned and who came in to work with them. – Staff at Monteagle Primary School