Lest We Forget: World War StoriesThompson, John G. (John Gilbert)
History
Lest We Forget: World War Stories
Thompson, John G. (John Gilbert)
Readers -- History; Readers -- World War, 1914-1918
The behavior of our own lads I shall never forget. Crippled as
many of them were, they tried to stand at attention while the
more serious cases were being looked after. And those who could
lend a hand hurried below to help in saving friend or enemy. I
have never seen so many individual illustrations of genuine
chivalry and comradeship. One man I saw had had a leg severed
and his head was heavily bandaged. He was lifting himself up a
staircase by the hands and was just as keen on summoning help
for Fritz as on saving himself. He whistled to a mate to come
and aid a Prussian who was unable to move owing to internal
injuries. Another Tommy limped painfully along with a Prussian
officer on his arm, and helped the latter to a boat. It is
impossible to give adequate praise to the crew and staff. They
were all heroes. They remained at their posts until the last man
had been taken off, and some of them took off articles of their
clothing and threw them into the lifeboats for the benefit of
those who were in need of warm clothing. The same spirit
manifested itself as we moved away from the scene of outrage. I
saw a sergeant take his tunic off and make a pillow of it for a
wounded German. There was a private who had his arms around an
enemy, trying hard to make the best of an uncomfortable resting
place.
In the midst of all this tragedy the element of comedy was not
wanting. A cockney lad struck up a ditty, and the boat's company
joined in the chorus of Raymond Hitchcock's "All Dressed Up and
Nowheres to Go." Then we had "Take Me Back to Blighty," and as
a French vessel came along to our rescue, the boys sang "Pack Up
Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile." The
French displayed unforgettable hospitality. As soon as they took
our wounded on board, they improvised beds and stripped
themselves almost bare that English and German alike might be
comfortable.
The destruction of the _Llandovery Castle_ was as bad or worse than
those already described. For a time the Huns ceased to sink hospital
ships running from France to England, but when they learned, through
spies, that the _Warilda_ carried no Germans, she was sunk early in
August, 1918, with a loss of one hundred and twenty-three doctors,
nurses, and wounded. After the _Llandovery Castle_, after the Warilda,
there could be no further German pretense that Germany was waging any
other than a barbarian war.
Such inhumanity seems like the work of madmen. Is the Kaiser insane?
Are the German war leaders insane? Or are the German people, all,
entirely different from the people we consider sane?
Let us remember that a Roman writer said many centuries ago, "Whom the
gods would destroy, they first make mad."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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