Off To War

• Emma McNamara, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2015

My fingers gripped my suitcase as I blinked back tears. I was going to war. Not as a soldier but as a war nurse. I bravely opened the door and slid into the kitchen. My mother, father and my four siblings were waiting to say goodbye. “Bye, Clara,” my eldest brother Charles said.
“Bye, darling,” my parents said with tears streaming down their face.
“See you soon,” my twin sisters, Rosie and Jane, whispered sadly.
“Look after yourself and those troops,” said my youngest brother Elliot. I picked up my hat and said a final goodbye to everyone. Then, began the long journey to the dock.
We lived in the country so we didn’t have access to many things. I felt worried that my family would not survive without me. After a couple hours of walking I reached the dock. Thousands and thousands of men were boarding huge ships. I looked around and found women standing in their uniforms. They were nurses too.
Eight weeks later, I was settling in on the boat. It wasn’t the best living quarters but it was ok. I made a few new friends. A girl called Ruth and a lady name Hillary. It’s amazing how most of the men looked happy and were looking forward to fighting for their country. I was very nervous about going to Gallipoli. What if I couldn’t heal someone or they died.
Suddenly the boat stopped. We had arrived. We had actually arrived at our destination! An eerie silence fell over the boat. The soldiers headed towards the shore. The nurses remained on the boat.
Bang! Bang! Bang! “What’s going on?” Hillary whispered. The sound of guns being fired from the shore was awful. Cries of pain followed.
“What happened?” I called to Ruth as I looked out the boat window. Men were on top of the hill shooting down at our troops! Our soldiers had found Gallipoli but they weren’t alone.
The boat was buzzing like a beehive. Soldiers came back to the boat. Some wounded men tried to swim back. Many of our troops had been shot and killed.
Suddenly, I had an awful realisation. THIS was only the beginning!