The post of honour : $b stories of daring deeds done by men of the British Empire in the Great War — John Shaqi
The post of honour : $b stories of daring deeds done by men of the British Empire in the Great WarWilson, Richard
History
The post of honour : $b stories of daring deeds done by men of the British Empire in the Great War
Wilson, Richard
World War, 1914-1918 -- Anecdotes
About a fortnight later, Bombardier Horlock of the Royal Field
Artillery won the Cross by a wonderful display of fortitude,
persistence, and a kind of disobedience a little akin to that of Lord
Nelson at Copenhagen. His battery had not been long in action when a
shell burst under his gun and he was wounded in the right thigh. He
was told to go to the hospital, but went first to a dressing-station
where he was bandaged and sent on to the rear. But he went back to the
battery and five minutes later was hit again.
For a second time he came before the doctor, was given first-aid, and
was then placed in charge of an orderly who was told to take him to the
field-hospital farther back. On the way Horlock told his companion that
there were many poor fellows who needed help much more than he did, and
that he could find his way alone with perfect ease.
The orderly fell into the trap, and no sooner had he gone out of sight
than Horlock limped back again to his battery and went on serving his
gun. A little later, he was wounded in the arm, but, brave as he was,
did not dare to face the doctor for the third time. He stayed with his
comrades until the end of the day, and was at last picked up and taken
to hospital.
Drummer Bent of the East Lancashires was the kind of soldier who is
“good at need,” ready for any job which comes his way, and the more
dangerous the work the better worth doing. The man who brings up the
ammunition to the firing line seems to be merely a kind of porter; but
when his work is carefully considered he is easily seen to be very
important indeed. And when he does that work in the open under heavy
fire without the excitement of taking a hand in the fighting, he is
surely among the bravest of the brave. And this was the kind of work
which first drew attention to Drummer Bent, who was only twenty-two
years of age.
Having learnt that the oft-repeated sentence “every bullet has its
billet” is merely a silly saying, Bent was quite ready to face fire on
another occasion. Several wounded men were lying in the open and he
went out to bring some of them under cover. This heroic action alone
was worthy of the highest reward, for it showed that disregard of self
which is the root of all true heroism; but Bent was to do still more
than this.
One dark night in November, a portion of his regiment was holding a
certain position of some importance. The enemy made a fierce attack and
the three officers in charge were struck down. Then Bent took command
and, under his cool direction, the position was held until relief
came. The young soldier had nobly earned the Cross which he afterwards
received.
You will remember how Indian troops came to the help of Britain in the
Great War and how some of them fought very bravely in Northern France.
It is said that there was great rejoicing in India when news reached
that country that two of the native soldiers had won the Victoria Cross.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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