1st July 1066
I am writing this because, when I go back to the future, I want kids to know, how it was like for example I want them to know how it felt, smelled and what you could see all around. Oh my bad I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Claude Papon. I have dirty blonde, not too long but not too short hair; my eyes are brown and greenish color. I am medium sized and I am fit so I can fight as long as I have too. I am really nervous but excited to fight in the war against the Anglo-Saxons, I am grateful that I know that we are going to win, so then I can think about how I am going to escape if I need too. I am anxious and nervous because to know how to escape if anything goes wrong.
10th July 1066
I am in the coast of France; we have been here weeks waiting for the wind to turn the other direction so we can go to England in boats. We have made our time waiting useful. We have been practicing all summer so we can fight our best in the battle against the Anglo-Saxons. Some of the soldiers are exhausted from all the practicing that William had made us do. I have a break right now, so I am taking the time to write this. I am guessing that I do miss my village, but I am really proud to be fighting, it’s a real honor. Well now I have got to go and practice some more.
24th September 1066
It has been two months and 4 days and still the wind hasn’t turned the other direction. Now you can see all the soldiers exhausted, the smell around is horrific, nobody has showered in a long time, there are some people that have been in the water since it is summer, but the ocean really doesn’t help that much because it only makes us smell like sweat with salt water. So if you know what I mean good, and if you don’t, I think you really don’t ever want to sweat go to the beach and sweat some more. The wind has turned a bit to the other direction, but not enough to take us across the channel. I am tired and I want to do something more interesting then practicing, but the practicing part is for a good reason, so I better get on with it.
26th September 1066
Finally the wind changed direction, I am on the boat accompanied but about 700 more boats, if you were wondering if they had a big army no you know that they do have a small army. I am wondering if the Anglo-Saxons will be there when we arrive and we will have to fight directly when we get there, I am nervous to know, I know it is strange for a soldier to be nervous but I am I mean I don’t want to be killed, then who will be able to send you this, but the good thing is that I have my way to escape. Well I have to keep rowing, I’ll write later.
1st October 1066
Well when we got here the Anglo-Saxons weren’t here yet, we found out that they were fighting the Vikings and they had to march 250 miles down to where we were. In the mean time we started to burn villages and kill people to provoke Harald. It’s the night and still we haven’t seen anyone from the army of the English, the good thing is that we can have a rest here before the Anglo-Saxons come from Stanford Bridge. The villages here are small, everyone seems so poor I feel bad for them, the clothes they were are rags and there are so many holes in them, they’re misfortunate, they smell like they have been living in their own waste. It is repulsive. I feel really big I have about 20 kg. of all thing I wear. I am wearing a basinet which protects the side of your head and neck. The basinet has a metal plate which you can pull down and it would protect your face. I am also wearing a Hauberk which is a long shirt that gets up to your knees. When I put that on I feels like I am wearing wood on me it is utterly heavy for it to be a long shirt. I also wear something called a kite shield it is shaped in a triangular formed and it would protect your body and legs, that would be made out of iron, leather and wood. I wear of course chain mail all over my body to protect myself.
26th October 1066
Guess what?!?! We won! We won the battle against the Anglo-Saxons we had a lot of luck because they were tired from the other battle and they only fought with fury, not with tactics or anything. The bad thing was that we were down hill, so we had to run uphill, but that didn’t stop us. We won because we threw arrows up, and one of them went in to Harald Godwinsons eye. We were proud of our selves for fighting the way we did, it was also relieve for me that I know that I didn’t die. But now the battlefield is quite. During the battle you could see heads flying around there was the clinging of swords the scream of the army’s the banging of spears on shields, the noises of our horses, it was all crazy. You can barely hear yourself scream. I knew that when we saw the English coming we all got as ready as we could to fight, my heart was pumping and I felt like if I was going to die even before the battle started. The people next to me were also nervous you could see it in all their faces, but we had to remember that that wouldn’t bring us down at all. We knew we had to fight our best, and the good thing is that I knew who was going to win, but I can’t imagine how hard it would’ve been for them since they didn’t know. Still the thought that I might’ve gotten killed still comes to my head. I also can’t seem to get the images and screaming of people dying out of my head, the blood that crippled through the grass and mixing with dirt gave my shivers through my back, but I had to realize that, this is what they lived for, fighting. I was positioned in the middle with the Normandy part I was more towards the middle then from the back all the people that were in the back didn’t really know what they were doing since there was a lot of peasants and didn’t get practice like we did.
29th October 1066
Now that the battle is over I am back to what I work on. I work as a blacksmiths making tools and things like lanterns for people. It isn’t that real hard of job, but it is much harder then it’s back in the future. I am struggling a bit more to make money since before I made a lot of things for the battles. I am gaining a bit of money to keep me from dying of hunger.
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