Lawrence Attwell was one of the lucky ones, surviving over four years of trench warfare on the Western Front. During that time he had two short periods of leave. In his extraordinary series of letters to his family he graphically recounts what life was like for the ordinary infantry soldier on active duty. We learn of the conditions, the discipline, the courage, the fear and the reactions of the writer and his fellows. Attwell was in the Prince of Wales Own, Civil Service Rifles.