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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.

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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.

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

in a body at the end of the platform, and as each truck
     passed waved and wished us good luck. The noise we made was
     deafening; we cheered and cheered until the little group of
     England's unknown heroines on the platform passed from
     sight. Our hearts were very full.

     "And so we passed down into the Somme district, the first
     English soldiers to hold that part of the line."

Here are a few typical extracts from Sydney Baxter's letters about
this time.

     "We are at rest after some days of trenches, and of course
     are not sorry to be able to walk about and get a brush
     up--apart from the catering side, which you can realise is
     no small item. The weather has been very good of late; and
     while we were in the trenches it was fine but cold, which
     makes life more comfortable. We had a new system of guards
     and work last time, and it was a treat. _I never enjoyed a
     spell of trenches as I did that_, although the time spent in
     work and other duties and guards was nearly twelve hours.

     "Thanks for chocolate, which found a ready home. Girls are
     not the only ones who like chocs., judging by the amount
     that disappears here. Sorry my last letter was censored. I
     am ignorant of what information I could have given; possibly
     I had a grumbling mood on and was somewhat sarcastic about
     the many defects and inconsiderations in army life."

                                             _Later._

     "MY DEAREST MOTHER,

     "Just a line to tell you I'm A1. By the time you get this
     our rest will be over, and we shall be entrenched. Thanks
     for socks. The stove is going a treat. We finished a fatigue
     at 4 o'clock this morning and made some porridge. It was
     great, and of course up in the trench it will be trebly
     handy. We are taking up two big packets of Quaker Oats, and
     with the tea, cocoa, coffee, and oxo we ought to do well.

     "Glad to hear about Herbert's wound. Sounds funny, no doubt,
     but he's lucky to get back at all, for he was at Ypres and
     it's hot there."

From a letter to a cousin in the United States.

     "I have sent you one or two photos which may be of interest,
     and which may be useful to check the 'strafe Englands' of
     the German who comes to your office. Ask him, if in these
     pictures the Huns look as if they believe they're winning,
     and then compare them with those of our boys and of the
     Frenchies in the trenches, and with those of our wounded.
     My! there's just all the difference between them!

     "I also send a French field service card, so you now have an
     English and a French one. I'm afraid a Russian card is out
     of the question, unless I get sent near them in the Balkans;
     and when I think of that I also think of a ditty that we
     sing, which runs:

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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