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
The other sergeant was just stepping up to take the glasses, when a
bullet came through the hole and went clean through the hand that
still held the glasses, putting our sergeant out of action. We took him
to the dressing-station, and he was not long before he was back in the
firing-line, which is more than would have happened if the sergeant had
been still bending down and had got the bullet in his head. He was a
nice chap--a station-manager from Queensland.
In about two hours volunteers were asked for to bring in wounded
Colonials from the front. There were a good many casualties by this
time, and plenty for the stretcher-bearers to do.
We got to two men who, we saw at once, were very badly wounded.
They were pretty well sheltered, and it was thought better to leave
them where they were for the present, and not try to move them. One
man had his foot blown off by shrapnel, and he was otherwise very
badly wounded. A stretcher-bearer had bound him up roughly and put a
tourniquet on to stop the bleeding; and another chap had carried him on
his back to shelter. Several of the stretcher-bearers were killed and
wounded at this time, but I do not think that the firing on them was
deliberate.
The other man was a trumpeter. He was a little chap, and we called him
“Scottie,” because he had gone out to Australia from Scotland. He was
wounded in the abdomen, and was in agony, but we managed to relieve his
suffering with half a grain of morphia. The flies were swarming and
were terribly troublesome. I tried to keep them off with a wet towel--I
had to wet it in salt water--so that they should not annoy him. I
noticed that his boots were torn, and I took them off. I then saw that
his legs had not been dressed--and he had been lying there for some
time. I put iodine on the wounds.
[Illustration:
_To face p. 74._
THE DARDANELLES: CARRYING WOUNDED TO A HOSPITAL SHIP.]
Scottie was rather cheery, and when the padre came up and said, “Well,
how are you?” he answered, “I’m feeling pretty good now.”
When the colonel went up to him, Scottie said, “I’m going to die!”
“Oh no, you’re not,” said the colonel. “You’ll get all right again.
Don’t let that worry you. You’ll soon be playing Christmas Calls for
us.”
To that Scottie made a reply which I shall never forget. “Yes,” he
said. “I _shall_ die! _I can smell ut!_” That was his real expression,
and I suppose he meant that he could smell death.
Scottie wanted the colonel to take charge of some little trinkets and
things: his pay-book, and a photograph of two children. “Give these to
the wife,” he said. Then he broke into “Annie Laurie,” and sang a verse
of it. He sang the song fairly well. It was a good attempt for a man in
the straits that he was in.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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