Love's Not Allowed in the Trenches

2

After about two hours sitting in the trenches watching the Germans we had a break and swapped with the others, heading into the bunker.

"Shot my first German." Niall said, opening his bag and starting to unpack his possessions.

"I had a shot but I think I missed." I replied and I sat down on my bunk, opening my bag.

I pulled out a photograph of my family, my mum, dad and sister and stuck it in a gap in the wood of my bunk. I had a drink from my flask of water.

"Have some bread, it's a bit stale but you better get used to that." Corporal Tomlinson said and he put a loaf of crusty bread on the table.

Niall ripped a piece off with some difficulty and ate it. We followed suit.

Corporal Tomlinson was taking off his overcoat and he hung it on his bunk. His arms were muscly and he sat down on his bed and pulled a photograph out of his pocket.

"Is that your son sir?" I asked.

"Yes, my boy, Freddie. Him and my wife Eleanor are back home in Liverpool. Haven't seen them in months and even then only briefly, I've been here for the past year." Corporal Tomlinson said.

"You don't sound like you're from Liverpool." Niall said.

"I'm not, I'm originally from Doncaster, Yorkshire you know. But my wife lived in Liverpool when she was a girl and we moved there to raise our son. Not that I get to do much raising." Corporal Tomlinson replied.

"I'm sure your boy looks up to you." another of the men said, his last name was Patmore I think.

"Thank you, John is it?" Corporal Tomlinson asked.

"Yes sir." the man replied. John Patmore then.

---

By nightfall I was back in the trenches, watching and sharing a cigarette with another man from bunker #1, Zayn Malik. He was from Bradford and it was his third month at war, he helped me out with advice and tips and he seemed pretty friendly with Corporal Tomlinson, shaking his hand and asking him about his break time coming up.

"Have you got break time coming up Corporal?" I asked.

"Yes, one week to rush back to Liverpool and see my family." Corporal Tomlinson replied.

"Now give me a breath of that cigarette." he said and Zayn handed him the half smoked cigarette.

I was looking through the scope of my rifle and noticed a man jumping out of the trench and onto ground level, then another and another, they starting firing and sprinting towards us. I aimed and shot, hitting a man right in the chest. Then another.

"Good aim lad." Corporal Tomlinson said, lifting his rifle and shooting down a few men as well.

As we shot off their men their number decreased and they shrunk back into their trenches.

"Good day's work." Corporal Tomlinson said and he shouldered his gun and headed back into the bunker.

"I'd better go, it was nice meeting you Harry." Zayn said and he shook my hand and crouched down slightly, walking back along the zigzag shaped trench to his bunker.

"You lads are changing in a few minutes, there's some food ready." Sergeant Payne said, calling across to us in the trench.

After about ten minutes the different group of men came outside and we went back in for a few more hours rest. There was bread, cans of soggy vegetables and tins of meat on the table. We were starving and tipped the food into our tin bowls, sitting down on our bunks to eat it.

"I recommend getting some sleep before you go out there in a few hours. Well done today." Sergeant Payne said and he walked off. 

"May as well." Niall said and he took off his coat, folded it up and laid on it like a pillow, closing his eyes.

Everyone else laid down to sleep too, me as well, and we were woken an hour and a half later to get back outside.

It was very cold and pitch black. I could see distant lights from the German trenches. Now was the time they would attack. I was the furthest away from our bunker, the trenchers were built in the shapes of zigzags so bullets could not go straight down them, so I could see nobody. 

Corporal Tomlinson appeared though and laid down in the trench beside me, adjusting his rifle. I wondered if it was normal that he was around me so much. I wasn't complaining though, he was cute.

Another thing about me, I was gay. Nobody knew except one man from that I'd had sex with a year ago, but I'd never seen him again. Being gay was illegal, gay men couldn't do anything about and we married women and got on with our lives, a lot of us having secret relationships with men, but it was hard because you couldn't speak out. If the other man wasn't gay he would alert the police.

"You have a girl back home?" the Corporal asked.

"No sir." I replied.

"How old are you?' he asked.

"Eighteen." I said.

He nodded.

"When did you get married?" I asked.

"Four years ago, I was eighteen. We had my son just after we were married. That's why we had to get married quickly you see." he said and he winked at me.

So his wife had got pregnant and they had to get married.

I wondered what she was like. I was about to ask but the Corporal got up and said goodnight, walking off.