A "Temporary Gentleman" in FranceDawson, A. J. (Alec John)
History
A "Temporary Gentleman" in France
Dawson, A. J. (Alec John)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, British
Well, having been so far successful, we decided to resume our patrol,
the main purpose of which--examination of the Boche wire--hadn't been
touched yet. So off we went again down Stinking Sap; and I could see
that Hankin and Green, the scout, bore themselves as victors, with
something of the swank of the old campaigner and hero of a thousand
patrols. A great asset, mind you, is a reasonable amount of swank.
These two had not been out before this night, but already they climbed
over the parapet and moved about in No Man's Land with a real and
complete absence of the slightest hint of nervousness.
Now I must cut this short because I have to go an errand for "the
Peacemaker," to have a little talk with a Battery Commander. We had a
pretty good prowl up and down the Boche wire, and made an interesting
discovery on the extreme left of our sector. There was a shade more
light then; not from the moon, of course, but from stars; the sky
having become less overcast. I ran my nose right up against a miniature
sign-post; a nice little thing, with feathers stuck in cracks near the
top of it, presumably to give Boche patrols their bearings. I should
have liked to take it away as a souvenir, but I didn't want to arouse
Hun suspicions, so left it. The interesting thing was that this little
sign-post--about eighteen inches high, planted among the front wire
stakes--pointed the way in to the Boche trenches by an S-shaped lane
through their wire entanglements; so shaped, of course, as to prevent
it from being easily seen from our line.
We crawled along this lane a bit, far enough to make sure that it was
a clear fairway into the Boche front trench. Then I got a careful
bearing, which I subsequently verified half a dozen times; and we made
our way back to Stinking Sap. I haven't time to tell you of our cunning
plan about this discovery. That's what I'm to see the Battery Commander
about. But if we can make the arrangement we want to make with the
gunners, we'll bring off a nice little bombing raid to-night, and I'll
let you know all about it in my next letter. Meanwhile I must scurry
off, or I shall miss the Battery Commander in his rounds, and there
will be a telling-off for your
"_Temporary Gentleman_."
AN ARTFUL STUNT
Out of trenches again. I wanted to write you yesterday to tell you
about the bombing raid of our last night in; but we had a full day, and
were not relieved till late evening; so I got no chance of writing till
this afternoon. But I can tell you we came out with our tails well up
this time, and "A" Company putting on more side than ever. I dare say
"D" Company, our closest rivals, will put up something pretty startling
when we go in again. They're very determined to beat our record in
every kind of strafing, and I'm bound to say they do put up some good
shows. They've two more officers than we have now, and the Boche has
discovered that they are very much out for business.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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