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 99
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[Page 99]
in position for deadly work. Transports Motor & horse waggons were passing & repassing. Many were the times, when a halt would be called to allow whole strings of artillery to pass us on the move to the front.
Our personal feelings, naturally, gradually became more & more changed, from cheerily singing marching songs & hilariously greeting each & every unit large or small or any body of men out of curiosity watching us pass, to absolute quietness & with it to a more solemn & stern manner & mood. Eventually as evening darkness drew on, we were halted in the middle of a road, & told to sit down & make ourselves as comfortable as possible but on no account must any noise of any kind be made.
After waiting about an hour, during which the working of the minds of most of the men could be fairly accurately judged by the tenor of the low murmured conversations going on all round. By this time shell bursts were now very plainly heard, indicating clearly that our destination was very near at hand. Gradually out of the darkness on the other side of the road, could be seen the leading men of the troops whom we had come to relieve, marching like spectres, silently away.
Shortly afterwards a whispered order was passed to "prepare to move" & that all pipes & cigarettes were to be put out. Orders were quietly given & passed from man to man in a whisper.
The indistinct forms of the men relieved, continually but silently kept passing on the other side of the road but no information could be obtained, or given, as every man must keep in his place & remain silent. After watching the movement of the ghostlike figures gliding by, for some time, a movement was made in our Company, slowly & steadily, we found on reaching a certain point our Company had been formed into single file and an advance was being made, five men at a time with an interval of 25 yards between