In the Line of Battle: Soldiers' Stories of the War
History
In the Line of Battle: Soldiers' Stories of the War
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
We had managed to crawl to a bit of shelter which was given by some
burnt-out scrub, and here we tried to snatch some sleep, for we were
both worn out. We went to sleep, for the simple reason that we could
not keep awake; but I suddenly awoke, because the cold was intense and
I was nearly frozen. Luckily there were a lot of empty sandbags lying
about, and I got two or three of these and put them on top of us; but
they were really no protection from the bitter air.
When the morning came we made a move, and for the first time we were
able to get some water; but only by taking the water-bottles from the
poor chaps who had been knocked out.
Then we crept back to our shelter, finding immense relief from drinking
the water we had got, though it was quite warm and was, I fancy, from
the Nile.
We slept, or tried to sleep, there for the rest of that night, and
stayed in the place till next morning. We must have been in what is
called “dead ground,” a region which cannot be seen or touched by
either side, and so it proved to be, for in the early morning there was
a real battle and the bullets were singing right over our heads.
“There’s more lead flying about than there was yesterday,” said
Andrews; and really some of the bullets were splashing quite close to
us--within six feet, I think, though there were not many that came so
near.
Andrews was bleeding terribly--every time he moved he bled; but I did
the best I could for him with my iodine--I dressed him with mine, and
he dressed me with his, and splendid stuff it is. Though we had nothing
to eat we did not really feel hungry now--we were past the eating
stage. I was very lucky in having four cigarettes and some matches and
I risked a smoke, the sweetest I ever had in my life.
Again we stuck the awful day through.
I was terribly anxious to move and get out of it all at any cost;
but still Andrews was very cautious. “No, we won’t try till it gets
dark,” he said. I felt that he was right, and so we waited, as
patiently as we could, for the night. Three or four yards from us
was an inviting-looking bush, and we crawled towards it, thinking it
would help us to get away and give us shelter; but at the end of our
adventure we discovered that we had done no more than crawl to the
bush, crawl round it, and get back to our original hiding-place; so we
decided to give up the attempt to get away just then.
When the third night on the hill came we were fairly desperate, knowing
that something would have to be done if we meant to live, and that
certain death awaited us where we were. We had nothing to eat, and the
only drink was the water, which was frightful stuff--I believe it was
Nile water which had been brought. But though it was, we were thankful
to have it. The water was warm, because of the heat, and was about the
colour of wine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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