Notes of a Camp-Follower on the Western FrontHornung, E. W. (Ernest William)
History
Notes of a Camp-Follower on the Western Front
Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives; World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Young Men's Christian Associations
Nor is there very much left to tell that bears telling here. In Ypres I
did not find my great unknown friend; he had warned me, when it was too
late to alter plans, that he might be called home on a private matter;
and this had happened. But he had told me I should find his 'trusty
Sergeant,' who had taken part in the investigations, ready to help me in
every way; and so, indeed, I did. The man was, among other things, an
enthusiastic amateur gardener; he had known exactly what to do with the
bulbs and plants, which he had unpacked on their arrival and was keeping
nice and moist for next morning. But this was not the first thing we
had to talk about. The first thing was to impress upon the Sergeant the
importance of not letting my witness know that a new cross had been put
up, and so to ensure absolutely independent identification of the spot.
He gave me his promise, and I know he kept it.
Next morning, under a leaden February sky, the three of us drove north
in the car, accompanied by a second Sergeant with digging tools, in case
the bandsman located the grave elsewhere and I was bent upon some proof.
At the time I did not know why he was with us; later, the quiet little
fact above spoke volumes for the good faith of the party. It was
completed by a young Catholic Padre from Ypres, so that the only office
which the boy had lacked at the hands of his dear men might now be
fulfilled.
I am following the course we took upon a military map given to the boy's
father by one of the many officers who had befriended him in his
trouble; and I had been prepared for the thickening cluster of
shell-holes further on by more than one aeroplane photograph sent from
Army Headquarters. O that all whom this war has robbed of their hearts'
delight could know, as this father knows, how the huge heart of the Army
is with them in their sorrow! There was the Army Commander, who had
done what he could for a man he met but once by chance; it was not much
that even he could do, but how more than readily it had been done! And
now here in the car, itself a tangible sign of infinite compassion, were
these N.C.O.'s and this young priest, with their grave faces and their
kind eyes! One's heart went out to them. It seemed all wrong to be
taking men, who any day might be in theirs, to see a soldier's grave in
cold blood. So we fell to discussing the sky, the mud, and such
landmarks as remained, quite simply and naturally, as the boy himself
would have wished.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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