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One young man : $b The simple and true story of a clerk who enlisted in 1914, who fought on the western front for nearly two years, was severely wounded at the battle of the Somme, and is now on his way back to his desk. — John Shaqi

History

One young man : $b The simple and true story of a clerk who enlisted in 1914, who fought on the western front for nearly two years, was severely wounded at the battle of the Somme, and is now on his way back to his desk.

World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, British

"Much to our surprise we did not stop there, but went right
     through and came within view of the Boches. Immediately we
     were under the special care of their artillery, and within a
     short space of time lost half of our numbers. We had to dig
     ourselves in with entrenching tools, but after having got
     fairly decent cover, had to move on again over to the left.
     We got right forward into the front line, and found it held
     by a mere handful of the Canadians, who received us with
     enthusiasm and were so heartened by our reinforcements that
     they were more determined than ever to hang on to the last.

     "Meanwhile between the two lines our wounded lay unattended,
     those who were able made their way, crawling and rolling
     through the barbed wire, into our lines. At dusk half of the
     Canadians occupying the trench made one rush after another
     to bring in their wounded and helpless comrades. It was a
     wonderful sight. Again and again these fellows went out,
     each time carrying back a wounded man. I was the extreme end
     man of our regiment, and so was right next to the Canadians
     themselves. Their officer, who was hit some time during the
     evening, came back with his arm in a sling, refusing to go
     down the line to the dressing station, as he preferred to
     stay with the remnants of his company. He was a most
     encouraging chap, and it was here that I noticed the
     difference between the companionship of these officers and
     men and those of our own army. The ordinary private would
     pull out his small packet of Woodbines and offer one to his
     officer, who would accept it with the same feeling of
     gratefulness as he would a cigar from a brother officer.

     "We stayed with these Canadians for two days. For some
     reason or other the transport had failed to bring up our
     rations, but we did not suffer for lack of food, for
     whatever the Canadians had, we had too. They shared with us
     all their rations and kept us for those two days.

     "At the end of that time, during which we had witnessed
     several attacks on the right, we were relieved from those
     trenches and marched back to the farm on the other side of
     the Canal. But it was not for a rest; for every night we had
     to go up digging and consolidating the trenches regained and
     digging communication trenches.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

One young man : $b The simple and true story of a clerk who enlisted in 1914, who fought on the western front for nearly two years, was severely wounded at the battle of the Somme, and is now on his way back to his desk.

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