Somme, 1st Battle of the, France, 1916 -- Fiction; World War, 1914-1918 -- Fiction
He climbed up the rear wall of the crater, halted and spoke hurriedly
to the officer. “I won’t be ’alf a mo’, sir,” he said. “Something there
I want to pick up an’ bring in,” and without waiting for any reply
turned and bolted across the open towards his helmet. The officer was
consumed with a quick gust of anger at such disobedience. “Here,” he
shouted and scrambled out of the pit. “Hi, come back you”; and as Pug
gave no sign of having heard him, he shouted again and ran a few paces
after him.
And so it was that about a dozen Anzacs rising sullenly and grumblingly
out of a big shell crater in reluctant obedience to the order to
retire, saw a khaki figure rise into sight and go charging straight
forward towards the enemy, and a second later the figure of an officer
bound into sight and follow him.
Two or three of the Anzacs voiced together the thought that rose to all
their minds.
“Who said retire.... What blundering fool twisted the order ... retire,
Gostrewth, they’re advancing ... us retire, an’ them goin’ forward ...”
To them the position required little thinking over. They could see some
men advancing, and distinctly see an officer too at that. And how many
more the smoke hid----
In an instant they were swarming up and out of their crater; there was
a wild yell, a shrill “Cooee,” a confused shouting, “Come on, boys ...
at ’em, Anzacs ... Advance, Australia,” and the dozen went plunging off
forward. Out to right and left of them the yell ran like fire through
dry grass, the coo-ees rose long and shrill; as if by magic the dead
ground sprouted gleaming bayonets and scrambling khaki figures. Every
man who looked saw a ragged and swiftly growing line surging forward,
and every man, asking nothing more, taking only this plain evidence of
advance, made haste--exactly as Kentucky’s companions made haste--to
fling into it. Straight at the flashing rifles and the drifting
fog-bank of shell smoke that marked the German position the shifting
wave swept and surged, the men yelling, shouting and cheering. Bullets
beating down upon them, shells crumpling and smashing amongst them cut
them down by dozens, but neither halted nor slowed down the charging
line. It poured on, flooded in over the wrecked trenches and dug-outs,
the confused litter of shell holes big and little, piled earth heaps,
occasional fragments of brickwork and splintered beams that alone
remained of the village. The flank attacks that had been launched a few
minutes before and held up staggering under the ferocious fire that
met them, found the weight of their opposition suddenly grow less,
took fresh breath and thrust fiercely in again, gained a footing, felt
the resistance weaken and bend and break, and in a moment were through
and into the tumbled wreckage of a defense, shooting and stabbing and
bayoneting, bombing the dug-outs, rounding up the prisoners, pushing
on until they came in touch with the swirling edges of the frontal
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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