Newcomer to the trenches
New Zealander George Lee was born in Canada and served in World War I with the British Army. He was shipped to the trenches near Antwerp in April 1918. In this excerpt from an hour-long radio programme about his war experiences, he gives a vivid account of his first experience of being under fire. He contrasts his own visceral reaction of terror with that of a hardened comrade who had already been in the trenches for four years, and for whom such events had become commonplace.
Year:1918 (Recorded 1981)
Location:Western Front
Newcomer to the trenches
New Zealander George Lee was born in Canada and served in World War I with the British Army. He was shipped to the trenches near Antwerp in April 1918. In this excerpt from an hour-long radio programme about his war experiences, he gives a vivid account of his first experience of being under fire. He contrasts his own visceral reaction of terror with that of a hardened comrade who had already been in the trenches for four years, and for whom such events had become commonplace.
Year: 1918 (Recorded 1981)
Length: 2:52
Production Company: Radio New Zealand
Credits: Producer: Jack Perkins
Source: Radio New Zealand collection, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Catalogue Reference: Spectrum 383/384, Career by the King’s shilling
People: George Lee, Jack Perkins
Location: Western Front
Image Title: Entrance to a sandbagged dugout
Image Source: By Australian official photographer. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Entrance_to_a_sandbagged_dugout.jpg
Canadian George Lee was too young to join the Canadian Army with his three older brothers when war broke out in 1914. After he finally came of age in 1918, his father forbade him to go to war, saying three sons was enough for one family. However, eighteen-year-old George defied his father’s wishes, caught a ship to England and joined the British Army instead.
He undertook training in England and then was shipped to Antwerp. Like most new recruits, he was apprehensive but optimistic. By the time he arrived, trench warfare was well established. He was horrified at the state they were forced to live in, having expected barracks similar to those on the training ground.
The newcomers were overwhelmed by the squalor, stink, mud and gore, but there were those for whom trench life had become ordinary. In this recording, he describes his first experience of being under heavy fire in the trenches and the sheer terror he experienced as a newcomer. He contrasts this with the kindness shown to him by one of the seasoned trench-dwellers, proving that humanity can prevail in even the worst circumstances.