Congratulations to Alex Scadden who was the winner of the Upper Waitaki RSA Dawson Trophy Primary School Essay Competition. Tino Pai Alex we are very proud of you!!!!
Have a read of Alex's spectacular Essay.......
Armistice
11 NOVEMBER 9:57 1918
Today is the armistice. The 11 month of the 11 day of the 11 hour, 1918 is when this will end, the war will end. I fly above it all. I watch through slitted eyes hoping I don’t get shot down from the sky, free falling down to the ground, doomed to die. I fly for the Germans. I take messages tied tightly to my talons from one group to the next. The Allied powers are who we are fighting. We requested a armistice, we knew we could not win because all our allies have been defeated, our soldiers were starting to protest against continuing the war, we couldn't do it anymore.
11 NOVEMBER 5:45 1918
The deafening noise of gunshots is one I have gotten used to. The past four years has been hectic, so many have fallen dead on the ground. Down below I spy 6 weird people walking into a railway carriage. So as the sneaky beaky bird I am I swooped down from the sky and landed on top of the carriage. My claws were barely able to hang onto the slippery surface, and I couldn't get a whiff of what the men were saying. I leaned down and poked my head through the window. They were talking about a armistice. From my knowledge a armistice is a agreement to stop fighting, our Germans were requesting a armistice! Where were we again? Oh yes, Compiegne Forest. I have to remember this day, it will be called, the end of WW1. The Allied Powers were requesting all of our weapons all our tanks, submarines, and many other things. We would be able to see our families again! On the 11 month on the 11 day at the 11 hour we would be able to escape this nightmare. I flew away, unable to contain my excitement. I flew faster that day, faster than ever before.
11 NOVEMBER 7:15 1918
Flying over the landscape was too painful to do. I knew that the war would end in no less that 4 hours but I’m scared. What if I die? What if I don't make it? I kept on flying, shaking these thoughts from my mind as another message was tied tightly to my talons. Gunshot dead, gunshot dead. That cycle was repeating, I was watching it. I thought about all those poor men, knowing that they could of been going home only if they survived 4 more hours. I shivered as I watched our tanks driving across the sea of dead bodies. So many tanks, I flew over to the sea, there were German submarines everywhere, the Allied Powers were watching closely to make sure no one pulled the wool over their eyes when handing them over. I flew down and a man untied the message tightly wrapped around my claw. He tied another one on and sent me away. I dove down to the ground and saw our machine guns being handed over to the Allied Powers, this was crazy I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. I delivered the message and went on my way, searching for my destination once more. The time was coming closer, the end of the war.
Armistice day was signed on the 11 month of the 11 day of the 11 hour 1918. This was the armistice that stopped the war between Allied Powers and Germany; it stopped the needless deaths that would have been guaranteed to carry on if the war continued. It was able to stop the war for a period of time until WW2 started 20 years later. Armistice day is a special day to remember those who fought and perished in protecting our country.
By Alex Scadden
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