In the Russian Ranks: A Soldier's Account of the Fighting in PolandMorse, John
History
In the Russian Ranks: A Soldier's Account of the Fighting in Poland
Morse, John
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Poland; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, British
All through the 1st May I lay in a hole which I excavated in the bank of
a brook, and hid with bushes when I was in it. I saw nobody at all on
this day, and the only sounds I heard were the ringing of some bells and
a few distant shots.
Most of the fields I passed over were sown with corn; but sometimes I
came to grassland; and there were extensive stretches of marshy ground,
which was often already covered with sedge high enough to completely
hide a man. As, however, it was growing in several inches of water,
under which there was an unlimited quantity of mud, taking cover in it
was attended with much discomfort. I was forced into it, perhaps a dozen
times a day, by the appearance of cavalry scouts and suspicious-looking
individuals. If I found a brook running in the direction I wished to
take I generally followed its course for the sake of the cover its
bushes afforded. Once I passed five or six hours hiding in a hollow
willow-stump.
There was a lot of wild-fowl sheltering in the sedge, chiefly wild
ducks, and water-hens. I succeeded in catching a few of the water-hens;
but the ducks eluded the stones I was continually throwing at them; and
though I saw a hundred rabbits and hares, I succeeded in knocking over
only one hare. I required these animals for food; but having obtained
them I was for a time puzzled how to dress them, as I was afraid to make
a fire in the open. At last I cooked them at the stove of a deserted
house. Bread I had literally to beg; and I entered six or seven farms
and cottages before I obtained a small supply.
I used to show a few kopecs and point to my mouth, an antic, or
pantomime, that was at once understood. The people would shake their
heads to intimate they had no food to spare; and one woman held up a
poor little pinched baby to show how hardly pressed they were. In some
cases I believe the people thought I was a German, as I could not speak
more than a few disjointed sentences of their language. Finally,
however, I obtained about a pound of unleavened bread, for which the
money was refused.
In this way I ultimately arrived near Ostrolenka, in such a state of
exhaustion and suffering that I could scarcely drag myself over the
ground. I was found, and made a prisoner of, by some Russian cavalry,
and taken into the city, which is, also, a third-class or, at most,
second-class fortress. Here I was handed over to the civil police and
promptly put in prison. That night, however, a medical man examined my
feet, which were afterwards dressed by a male nurse.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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