"Over There" with the AustraliansKnyvett, R. Hugh (Reginald Hugh)
History
"Over There" with the Australians
Knyvett, R. Hugh (Reginald Hugh)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, English
There was one senior officer that Nipper suspected was a German, and
every chance he got he would sneak up and, without preliminary warning,
take a good hold of the seat of his trousers. This major returned
Nipper's dislike with interest, and had it not been for the protection
of the colonel Nipper's career might have been cut short before we left
Australia.
Nipper never seemed to entertain much respect for the Army Service
Corps, and sometimes he would attack one of their wagons with such fury
as to clear the men off it and start the horses bolting.
These were his dislikes, but his one and only hate was a military
policeman. Perhaps he had a guilty conscience; but the very sight of a
red-cap would make him foam at the mouth, and they sent in several
requests that they might be allowed to shoot him for their own
protection. The boys in camp had no special love for the M. P.'s
either, and there was very nearly a pitched battle when Nipper appeared
one day with two raw welts across his back, suspicion being immediately
laid at their door.
Nipper always appeared on parade, and considered his position to be the
right flank when in line and right ahead of everybody when in column of
route. If motor-car or horse vehicle was slow in giving way to us,
Nipper informed them who we were, which was one of the few occasions on
which he was heard to bark. At first he had some narrow escapes, but
soon discovered that "heeling-up" a horse or the rear wheel of a moving
automobile was more risky than nipping at the heels of sheep or cow.
Once our adjutant had an argument with the owner of an automobile for
breaking through our column. Nipper objected to a certain remark of
the slacker in the car, and without joining in the conversation leaped
into the car and dragged out his overcoat into the mud, not
relinquishing it until it was well soaked.
On board the troop-ship Nipper pined for the smell of the gum leaves,
and it was the only time when we lost patience with him, for every
night he would stand in the bow and howl.
The smells of Egypt disgusted Nipper, remembering the scents of the
Australian bush. Only once did he make the mistake of heeling-up a
Gyppo, after which he made a great pretense of being very sick. On
other occasions when he wanted them to keep their distance, he found
mere growling to have the desired effect.
The atmosphere of Egypt had a bad effect on Nipper's morals, and he
would sometimes disappear for days. After a while the old reprobate
acquired the disgusting habit of eating sand, which not only showed how
far he had fallen from grace, but also had a serious effect on his
health. On several occasions he had to be taken to the army medical
tent, and only the most drastic remedies saved his life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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