Starks Field Primary School, Enfield
26 November 2014
LETTER FROM KHUDADAD KHAN STARKS FIELD SCHOOL
Dear Mother,
I’m writing this letter from my post in Hollebeke.
Tomorrow we are moving to the front line.
I’m writing this now just in case…
Writing to you makes my days light up.
Tell me, have you harvested the crops yet?
Oh, and were there very many of them,
After the birds started eating them in spring?
I sleep in a hole and hear raindrops diving.
Instead of birds singing, I hear guns shooting.
Around me I hear thousands of bullets
Flying through the air with exhilarating speed.
I miss you and my family.
I’m determined to survive.
I don’t want to be here anymore.
The sounds;
The squelching of footsteps,
The noise of the crickets,
The galloping horses, closer to me and my brothers.
The cries of the innocent
The pain and the agony.
Explosions from bombs
Screaming from the blameless ones.
I miss you and my family.
I’m determined to survive.
I don’t want to be here anymore.
Dear Mother,
Every time I take a breath,
All I taste is blood.
Forever yours,
Khudadad Khan.
Student letter
Dear Family,
Please only read this letter when the rest of the family are there. I hope your doing fine at home without me. War is not a nice thing, and I have trench hand so it’s very hard to write.
My fingers are corrupting and it’s very painful. I’m trying to stay hopeful and in my free time I try and write to you. I write my friends letters as well because they can’t write, so I just have enough time to write to you before I go out to the front line in France.
My pencil is about 5cm long and I sharpen it with my knife. I hope to see you all again someday. Can you send me a picture of you and the family to keep me going? I wish I could see you right now and give you a big hub. Remember keep your head up (except if you are in the war.)
Yours sincerely,
Subedar-Khudadad Khan
By Aneesa
Student letter 2
Subedar Khudadad Khan
129th Baluchis
Hollebeke Ypres
France
8th August 1914
Dear Mother and Father,
Writing to you makes my miserable days light up in this dark grey place. I am writing this letter from my new base in Hollebeke, France. I needed to write this letter to you just in case … I do not make it back home. Anyways tomorrow is a very important day for our regiment as we are moving to the front line.
How is everyone? What have my dear sisters been doing? I wish I could come home but I have to do this for my king and country. This war is not glorious and has to be done with discipline. Maybe one day I will be able to come home and lead a normal life much like I used to do.
Life in the trenches is very different to life at home. To start with the food it treacherous and the living conditions are very much the same. We live in long, narrow holes called trenches and I think you will be proud to hear that we dug them ourselves. The trenches are water-logged and very muddy indeed. We spend two weeks at the front line, two weeks at the reserve line and one week where we have time to rest and do not have to do any work. We were told that this alternates throughout the year. Rats crawl all over us but we are used to that now. Although we have to live through these poor conditions I am happy to serve alongside my brothers.
The sounds of gunshots and grenades (large explosives) have become like the sound of leaves rustling in the trees. You are always hearing footsteps stopping and starting in an unbearable way. Tell me, have you harvested the crops yet? Oh and were there very many of them, after them pesky birds started eating them in spring? These past few weeks many of our men have fallen and screams of soldiers have also become like it is no different to a laugh.
Every time I take a breath all I taste is blood. There have been so many deaths so the stench of blood is everywhere. I estimate that there have been over 12,000 deaths. What can I say about the fires well, the smell of smoke hangs in the misty air?
Bullets fly through the air with such speed it is exhilarating
A couple of days ago I faced a severe injury while my regiment and I were using the machine guns to keep back the Germans. Everyone in my regiment had been run down. Seemingly I was the only one left. Whilst I was making my way back to the trenches I was unexpectedly shot in the leg. The Germans started to make their way forwards so I had to think of something quickly. I decided that I would pretend to be dead. I had to act dead until night fall. I stayed there until the battle had finished and the bullets stopped whizzing. I am alright now though.
Did you know that there are rats here as big as your fore-arm? And that we sometimes have to eat them. The weather is the opposite to India; cold, rainy and unfortunately the sun doesn’t shine in the same blistering way.
As you may already know war is violent and harsh. There are many corpses (dead bodies) but at least they do not have to be part of atrocious warfare.
As I say again I wish I could come back home to where I belong, in India.
I send all my love to the family
Lots of love Khudadad
-x-
Student letter 3
Sabedar Khudadad
129th Buluchis
Hollebeke
Ypres
France
8th August 1914
Dear mum:
I am writing this letter from Ypres. Mum I want you to know how I am doing.
Mum I can hear grenades booming everywhere and machine gun fire as loud and continuous as a hurricane. I sleep in a hole and I can hear rain drops diving onto the ground. When I wake up instead of hearing birds singing I hear guns shooting rapidly.
Every time in the trench you taste dirt in your mouth, the food is bitter and I just miss all your home made food. The smell is strong and you can smell horse poo and you can smell other strong smells.
Mum I can see wounded men crying in pain, every time I look around me and I just run for my life sometimes I try to help people but I can’t sometimes people drown in the mud but I can’t do anything.
I feel pain and I miss you and I just want to come back home, wear clean clothes and eat nice food. It did not look like this on the propaganda posters they sent us, the men the posters were happy but I’m certainly not happy.
Mum I want to ask you something, how are the children? Love and kisses mum, tell the young ones I love them, write back soon mum.
Your son Khudadad khan. Sabirin
Student letter 3
Subedar Khudadad Khan
129th Baluchis
Holebeke
Ypres
France
8th August 1914
Dear Mother,
I am writing this letter from my post in Hollebeke. The officers say that tomorrow will be an important day for our regiment. I am writing this now because I might not get to write again any time soon.
All around me I can hear thousands of bullets being shot. Grenades booming across the battlefield. The sound was almost deafening. The squelching of footsteps in the mud, the noise of the crickets chirping in between gun fire, the galloping footsteps of horses coming closer and closer to me and my brothers, the cries of the innocent and wounded soldiers lying in pain and agony in the mud, loud explosions from the bombs, rapid machine gun fire, screaming from the blameless ones. The badly wounded ones slowly dying, slowly saying their last words.
I can smell the smoke from the bombs. I can smell the gun powder and taste the gun powder and dirt from the trenches. I can taste the bitter taste from the food.
I can see the dead bodies from the soldiers as young as 16. Bullets flying past me, killing my brothers, the smoke and fire from the hand grenades, people hiding from the Germans because they are scared. They don’t want to die and neither do I. People are being carried away in stretchers, tears rolling down their faces. There is blood everywhere.
Mother I feel scared of moving in to the front line. I’m petrified. It wasn’t what I expected it to be. They said the war would be over by Christmas. I feel like I’m going to get blown to pieces. I want to be with my family. I want to go home. I miss you and my family. I’m determined to survive. I don’t want to be here anymore.
I hope to speak to you soon
Love from Khudadad Shae
A great presentation from the Army museum – the children were all engaged. – Staff at Starks Field School
The learning zone has improved my subject knowledge greatly. It has enabled me to teach lessons in a fun and creative way, yet still meeting all the objectives set out in the National Curriculum. – Staff at Starks Field School
The puppetry session was so interactive. The final puppets are amazing! The whole school has been commenting on them! – Staff at Starks Field School
The song was owned by the children. They led the direction that the song would take and have been singing the song ever since. It has given them pride! – Staff at Starks Field School
The project went beyond my expectations. I didn’t expect the children to get as much out of it as they ended up getting. It has made the students very respectful of all that happened in WW1 and it has opened them up to the history of the British Empire and their involvement within the war. – Staff at Starks Field School
I learnt how different cultures adapted to the war e.g. Sikhs and their beliefs. – Kaya, student at Starks Field School
I learnt how to hold a rifle correctly. – Bartek, student at Starks Field School
I learnt about the different commands given in the army. – Khadijah, student at Starks Field School
We learnt how to walk like a soldier. – Oyku, student at Starks Field School
I gathered lots of information about Khudadad Khan and realised just how hard it was in the war. – Ellisia, student at Starks Field School
We really enjoyed it. Thank you Trench Brothers! – Student at Starks Field School
