The Great Push

s the

lamps were

d the top of

grew pale to

gleamed by the

ern sky was

r feet the d

ed Loos in

ht hundred comrades had done, that I[73] felt I could carry through the work before me with as much credit as my code of self respect required. The maxims went crackle like dry brushwood under the feet of a marching host. A bullet passed very close to my face like a sharp, sudden breath; a second hit the ground in front, flicked up a little shower of dust, and ricochetted to the left, hitting the earth many times before it found a resting place. The air was vicious with bullets; a million invisible birds flicked their wings very close to my face. Ahead the clouds of smoke, sluggish low-lying fog, an

of them carried a box of rifle ammunition. One of the bearers fell flat to earth, his two mates halted for a moment, looked at the stricken boy, and seemed to puzzle at something. Then they caught hold of the box hangers and rushed forward. The man on the ground raised himself on his elbow and looked after his mat

ised the

t, matey?

e to get in

a dressing on

itting the blood from his lips. "There are others out at t

said, as he crawle

7

on the ground. I put it on again, and at that moment a shell burst near at ha

!" I muttered, in a burst of realisation, "it was that shell passing." I breathed very deeply,

re now charging parallel to their own trench, or perhaps he got killed.... How strange that the Highlanders could not charge in silence, I thought, and then recollected that most of my boyhood friends, Donegal la

outed,[76] "Lie flat, boys, for a minute, until we see where we are. Th

inting upwards and the palms pressed close to the sword which was covered with rust.... How hard it would be to draw it from a dead body!... The se

Steady on to the foot of the Cross an

h went f

ound bleeding at th

got hit,

in a very matter-of-fact voice.

id. "But I want someone to help me. H

ce, stared tensely at me.[77] He sat in a crouching position, his head thrust forward, his right hand gr

low into a shell-hole,"

was no

orne to me that the man was dead. I dragged the w

und in front, burrowed

leg, cut off at the hip. A finely formed leg, the latter, gracefully putteed. A dummy leg in a tailor's window could not be more

barren of pity; fear went down into the innermost parts of me, fear for myself. The dead and dying lay all around me; I felt a vague obligation to the latter; they must be carried out. But why[78] should I

and muscle, came running towards me, his arms in ai

shouted when I came up. Blimey! I couldn't stab 'im, so I took 'i

halt, reached for a

od still, pant

e puff of smoke through his nose. "Over to our trench you

ur. I felt as if walking on air, my head got light, and it was with difficulty that I kept my feet on earth. It would be so easy to rise into space and float away. The sensation was a delightful one; I felt so pleased with myself, with everything. A wounded man lay on the ground, clawing the earth with frenzied fingers. In a vague way, I remembered some ancient law w

" I said to hi

drunkenly, but

foe were gone, and I could not tell whether he was an Englishman or a German. As I watched him an impartial bullet

sitting in a shell-hole, a[80] bullet in his leg bel

uted, on seeing me. And I fumbl

a smile. "There are others needing hel

here seven or eight figures in khaki lay prostrate, faces to the ground. The shell burst and the wounded and dead rose slowly

solution of a question which diplomacy could not settle, I su

seen advancing, picking their way through the wires which had been cut to little pieces by our bombardment.[81] The Irish were now met with harrying rifle fire, deadly petrol bombs and hand grenades. Here I came across dead, dying and sorely wounded; lives maimed and f

His bearing was never soldierly, but on a march he could bear any burden and stick the job when more alert men fell out. He always bore himself however with a certain grace, due

y approach. I knelt down beside him and cut his tunic with my scissors where a burnt hole clotted with blood show

8

ain, chumm

red. "Wife and two kiddies, too.

ng, but I had seen a line of bayonets draw

ll along,"

said. "Is there

morphia tablets and lie quiet. We'll take you in after a whi

to get up and gripped the wire support with such vigour that it came clean out of the ground. His legs shot out

d already done for two of our men as they tried to cross, but[83] now his rifle seemed to be unloaded and he waited. Standing there amidst his dead countrymen he formed a striking figure. A bullet from one of our rifles would have ended his career speedily, but no one seemed to want

ich they carried. One got hit and fell to the ground, the maxim tripod whi

ome along," his mates

?" asked a little fellow

came th

it," said the little fellow

ered. "Get the blurry

tle fellow. "Someone else carry

8

id Marney. "It can stick th

over without it," s

xtra weight would have made no app

fe in scratching with inky pens on white paper, and their hours of relaxation in cutting capers on roller skates and helping dainty maidens to teas and ices,

M'Crone shout, looking approvingly at a dead

a green hill far away." I never heard him swear before, but at Loos his language would make a navvy in a Saturday night taproom green with envy.[85] M'Crone was not lacking in courage. I have seen hi

bags and earth. Wreckage was strewn all over the place, rifles, twisted distortions of shapeless metal, caught by high-velocity shells, machine guns

articles of clothing were scattered about pell-mell. I noticed an unexploded shell perched on a sandbag, cocking a perky nose in a

r dead lay in peace with their fallen enemies on the[86] parapet. At the bottom of the trench the dead lay thick, and our

ype="