The War Stories of Private Thomas Atkins — John Shaqi
The War Stories of Private Thomas AtkinsMilne, James
History
The War Stories of Private Thomas Atkins
Milne, James
World War, 1914-1918 -- Anecdotes
The Uhlan prisoners created some amusement as they were being marched
along, for, as they are not used to marching, and were wearing great
jack-boots, it nearly kills them, but they were pushed along by the
infantry. While the Uhlans were thus being urged along the Frenchwomen
tried to get at them and shouted to the soldiers to cut their throats.
Fortunately for the prisoners, they were strongly guarded: _A Gunner of
the Royal Field Artillery_.
Grave-digging
We were told off to bury German dead, but we couldn’t get through,
there were so many, and we sent into their lines under a flag of truce
to ask if they would come out and help. They sent a lot of men out,
and they were quite friendly. They were well supplied with cigars,
which they most likely looted from some French houses, and they offered
us some, which we were glad of: _Pte. Brady, Irish Rifles_.
A Barber in Lambeth
I went to a village by motor with an officer to dress some German
wounded, about forty all told. I was doing two German brothers, and
they spoke very good English. One said, “Where are your good people
going to send us?” I replied that I thought they would be sent to
England, and he said, “That’s good. I hope it will be somewhere near
Lambeth Walk, for I have a barber’s shop there, and then my wife can
come and see me”: _Pte. Flaxman, Army Medical Corps_.
Berlin “Nuts”
I am writing this on a lady’s glove-box. I picked it up here, but how
it got here God only knows. These German officers are awful “nuts,” and
carry as many beautifiers as an actress on tour. They use their gloves
for another purpose. They put a bullet or stone in the finger of a
loose glove and flick the ears of their men. We found a wounded German
who had been a clerk in London. His ears were extra large and were both
swollen and skinned by the flicks he had got from his officers: _Pte.
F. Burton, of the Bedfords_.
“Collies?”
It’s my opinion that you couldn’t find greater collies between the
seven seas of the world than these Germans, not if you were to walk
about for a month of Sundays, with all their bragging and bantering
and bullying of the plucky little Belgians, and any Christian might
be ashamed to use our wounded the way these sausage-faced German pigs
used them. The “parley-voos” treated us right decently from the first
day that ever we set foot in their country: _A Private of the Connaught
Rangers_.
The Track of the Huns
One of the worst features of the war has been to witness the plight of
the refugees in the stricken countries. I have seen many a strong man
in our ranks with tears in his eyes when we have passed poor women and
children flying from their homes, their only food being that which our
soldiers gave them. Every village through which the Germans had passed
in their retirement was practically blown to pieces. It is also tragic
to see thousands of acres of corn and vines rotting, with no one to
gather them in: _Sergt. Walker, King’s Liverpool Regiment_.
Got the Guns
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