The War Stories of Private Thomas AtkinsMilne, James
History
The War Stories of Private Thomas Atkins
Milne, James
World War, 1914-1918 -- Anecdotes
I felt as if someone had punched me in the back. A regular Jack Johnson
it was, and I went flat on the ground. There I lay for about twelve
hours. Then an officer came by and wanted to know where I was hit. I
told him, and he said the best thing I could do was to lay there for
a bit. Then I found that there was a man on each side of me, quite
dead, so I felt quite comfortable with them. Night fell and I must have
dozed off, for when I woke up it was stone dark, and I could hear the
wounded Germans crying out in agony. I felt like it myself, for I had
been lying on my stomach all the time, and it never stopped raining. I
happened to raise my head, and I saw a large fire about 500 yards away,
and I thought if I could get beside it I should feel better. I tried to
get up, but I could not. In the end I had to crawl over the dead body
on my right, and I crawled on my stomach for 500 yards till I came to
the fire. When I got there I must have fainted, for when I came round
it was just getting light. Then I heard voices. I called as much as I
could, and they heard me. I saw it was the Northampton outpost. I had
nearly gone off again when they picked me up. When they moved me I knew
the bullet had gone through my lung. They took me to the hospital and
dressed my wound: _Pte. H. L. Hook, Royal Sussex Regiment_.
IX. CORNERS IN THE FIGHT
_Deeds
Above heroic, though in secret done,
And unrecorded left through many an age._
MILTON’S “Paradise Regained.”
_Who, doomed to go in company with pain,
And fear, and bloodshed, miserable train!
Turns his necessity to glorious gain;
This is the happy warrior; this is he
Whom every man in arms should wish to be._
WORDSWORTH’S “Character of the Happy Warrior.”
An amusing thing was to hear an officer of the Royal Irish shouting
at the top of his voice, “Give ’em hell, boys, give ’em hell!” He was
already wounded in the back by a lump of shrapnel, but it was a treat
to hear him shouting: _Pte. R. Toomey, Royal Army Medical Corps_.
Footsore
I pinched a German’s “bike” and tried to escape, but could not. So some
Belgian people gave me civilian clothes, and a Belgian soldier, also
a prisoner, helped me through the German patrols, and by a miracle I
escaped. I am footsore with walking in a pair of boots three sizes too
big for me: _Pte. V. Cohen, R.A.M.C._
Couldn’t Miss
The Germans rushed at us like a crowd streaming from a cup-tie at the
Crystal Palace. You could not miss them. Our bullets ploughed into
them, but still on they came. I was well entrenched, and my rifle got
so hot I could hardly hold it. I was wondering if I should have enough
bullets when a pal shouted, “Up, Guards, and at them!” The next second
he was bowled over with a nasty knock on the shoulder. He jumped and
hissed, “Let me get at them”: _Private Whittaker_.
What Ho!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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