It's important not to assume that all soldiers thought the same thing. Some were totally disillusioned about the futility, the waste of it all. Others were sorry all the excitement was over. My grandfather found it the most important thing in his life. The government had taken him from a poorly paid job, sent him on a free trip overseas for the first time, he'd seen many strange countries and shot at people. After the war, many found it very difficult to fit back into civillian life. The camaradery of the trenches was so intense, that the afterlife was lonely, and my father remembers that often there would be a ring on the doorbell, and it would be an old soldier, looking up his father, and they would spend the evening in whistful remeniscence of the great times they had had. The visitors would just be wandering the country, jobless, and at the end would be given a couple of shillings by my grandfather, who also had little money. My father says that the best thing that happened to my grandfather was the starting of the Second World War. Hope this helps.