Nothing of Importance: A record of eight months at the front with a Welsh battalion, October, 1915, to June, 1916Adams, Bernard
History
Nothing of Importance: A record of eight months at the front with a Welsh battalion, October, 1915, to June, 1916
Adams, Bernard
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, English
The Germans opposite us were very lively. One could often hear them
whistling, and one night they were shouting to one another like
anything. They were Saxons, who are always at that game. No one knows
exactly what it means. It was quite cold, almost frosty, and the
sound came across the 100 yards or so of No Man’s Land with a strange
clearness in the night air. The voices seemed unnaturally near, like
voices on the water heard from a cliff. ‘Tommee--Tommee. Allemands
bon--Engleesh bon.’ ‘We hate ze _Kron_prinz.’ (I can hear now the
nasal twang with which the ‘Kron’ was emphasised.) ‘D---- the Kaiser.’
‘Deutschland _unter_ Alles.’ I could hear these shouts most distinctly:
the same sentences were repeated again and again. They shouted to one
another from one part of the line to another, generally preceding
each sentence by ‘Kamerad.’ Often you heard loud hearty laughter. As
‘Comic Cuts’ (the name given to the daily Intelligence Reports) sagely
remarked, ‘Either this means that there is a spirit of dissatisfaction
among the Saxons, or it is a ruse to try and catch us unawares, or it
is mere foolery.’ Wisdom in high places!
Really it was intensely interesting. ‘Come over,’ shouted Tommy.
‘We--are--not--coming--over,’ came back. Loud clapping and laughter
followed remarks like ‘We hate ze _Kron_prinz.’ Then they would yodel
and sing like anything. Tommy replied with ‘Tipperary.’ They sang,
‘God save the King,’ or rather their German equivalent of it, to the
familiar tune. Then, ‘Abide with us’ rose into the night air and
starlight. This went on for an hour and a half; though almost any night
you can hear them shout something, and give a yodel--
[Music]
It is the strangest thing I have ever experienced. The authorities now
try and stop our fellows answering. The _entente_ of last Christmas
is not to be repeated! One of the officers in our battalion has shown
me several German signatures on his pay-book (he was in the ranks
then), given in friendly exchange in the middle of No Man’s Land last
Christmas Day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account