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 485
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[Page 485]
objected saying No! Let the [dash] Hun get all that is coming to him,! he wanted it! now he has got it!
He gave his last dying kick at 3 Oclock, having dragged his shattered leg about 100 yards. The men gave him his "send off" or requiem when they saw he was dead:– You are just now, where you ought to be You [dash].
As soon as the Huns' work of destruction of the village of Doinez had been completed, the men in the attack on Louverval knew they would be immediately under torturing shell fire.
The screech of the very first oncoming shell sent them all "ducking" into the trench. Those men stationed along the "Wood" front had to dig in as quickly as possible & keep down
The Battalion objective having been gained & the attack proved a success the attackers knew that they would have to hold the position for 24 hours & notwithstanding how tired wet & weary they were nor how hungry & thirty, they would have to "stick it" out for 24 hours before being relieved. Under these conditions the first thing the men in the trench did after fully inspecting & thoroughly examining it, was to post themselves in "posies" then posting one man on Sentry work the others commenced pulling down portions of the lower walls of the parapet, to mix with the water so that in the form of mud the water could be shovelled out of the trench.
The men undertook this work themselves for at this time not even an NCO was present.
After working very assiduously for over an hour the bottom of the trench began to look as if it would be possible to stand thereon without water coming over the boot tops, but just when another half an hour would have made a good job of it, the Captain in charge of B Coy came into the trench making his Headquarters on the left flank Near the gate, and one of his first actions was to remove 5 or 6