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 435
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[Page 435]
your dixies? & after it is down I will tell you all about it!!
Dixies were passed up & equal distribution made, the envied man's health was drunk & "Good luck" wished to every one. "Over the top with the best of luck"!
After the whisky had been relished a place for this man was found near the fire & he started to explain how he succeeded, where so many had failed. In fact not a man of that section had had a single drop of whisky all the time they had been in France nearly twelve months.
The first words of the mans explanation were, There's going to be a "bally" court martial soon, & I will know all about it! The laugh had scarcely died away when a runner from the Orderly room, came into the circle & wanted to know if Private [dash] was here? Yes! said the private, You're wanted at orderly room at once!!
Right oh! Go ahead! & the two men passed out into the night.
Sympathetic remarks were passed Poor [dash]! but it was worth it! Then the talk became general as to how he managed to obtain it. Men were there who would willingly have faced any Court-martial provided they could have succeeded in securing a bottle of whisky "for the boys".
They were only wondering how he succeeded & were sorrowing because he had not told them. A lapse of about half an hour, brought Private [dash] back again smiling & he sat in the centre & explained what had happened.
When he knew that the officers were having whisky he said his first thought was, If whisky was good for officers, whisky must be good for privates. Privates have to work, whisky is good for men who work, therefore whisky is good for privates! Being so satisfied on this "I was, he said, determined then," "to get some of that whisky at all costs."
Several ways suggested themselves but the plan he decided to follow was: He searched round & found an officer belonging to another Company, not known to the private, & in a very plausible & pleading manner explained that