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 336
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[Page 336]
been posted. After this the sergeant was sent for and another hour was wasted to enable the officer in charge to send word to every man on post in the line, that four men belonging to the 56th Battn were going out into No Mans land & that not a single shot was to be fired by any of them, until the 56th men had come back, no matter what happens. The Officer stated he did not want any mistakes or misunderstandings to occur while he was in charge, & therefore he refused to let the four men into the trench till the runner came back with the message that every man on post, in the "holding" Company, had been "warned".
The four 56th men then dressed in white trousers, & a white shirt While this was being done the cold (it seemed intenser during the last wait) almost prevented one of the men from speaking his teeth kept up a constant chatter. The Sergeant & the Sentry were the first to go. When putting on the white clothes each man had to take off his sheepskin gloves & the Sentry also took his woollen ones for being dark blue they would appear very plainly against the white background, his gloves he placed inside his tunic before putting on the white shirt to prevent them being lost.
Both men then proceeded along a shallow trench to a bombing post from which they were to go over the top & start on their journey.
The arrangements were for the Sergeant & Sentry to go on till almost out of sight, when the Corporal & the other man were to follow. Pass words were given & it was left to the descretion of the men themselves, how far they would go & where they would come back, both parties had to try & see whether the other could be seen.
Much to the surprise of the Sentry when the Sergeant went over he saw that he started to crawl. The Sentry then protested, if he crawled his hands would be frozen for his gloves had