Brewster 'A Glimpse of War through a Private's Eyes', a retrospective account of experiences in World War I, 1915-1917 / John James Brewster - Page 358
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[Page 358]
while constantly attached to the battalion in its ordinary routine work.
Of course many of the sights were ghastly & gruesome & anything but pleasant to look upon but it was all experience. One had chances to closely inspect Tanks, Aeroplanes, Caterpillar motors & every detail comprising an Army which would otherwise only be taken in with a passing glance, besides it brought one into touch with all the working details of Artillery Transport army Medical Salvage Engineers & Pioneers work, Air craft & anti aircraft guns. It enabled visits to English batteries of heavy artillery that would never be seen even if passing quite close for weeks.
Twice it enabled the Sentry to go & inspect the Flers front where the battalion was stationed during the time he was wounded in England & on both occasions he saw the work of both British & enemy artillery & on both occasions the latter came much too close to be pleasant.
It certainly afforded an opportunity of seeing some of the British strength in Artillery & ammunition, that one could not obtain in any other way.
One day, having to wait for some material, & noticing not far away a British heavy gun battery about to open fire, the Sentry walked across to one of the British officers & asked him to explain the various movements. This officer had just arrived from England with two extra guns for the battery & as he did not go on duty till the next day he was able to explain everything in detail.
An order was given by the Sgt Major from the door of a dug out by means of a megaphone. The gun crews immediately stripped all the camoplaging paraphanalia from all the guns, another order the guns were raised laid & trained, Load! & the crews got to work at once. Stand by! crews took cover, leaving one man lanyard in hand waiting for the order to fire. The order never came. Unload! lower! cover up!
The Sentry turned to the officer for an explanation. The officer smiled & looked up into the sky away over the Hun lines