Rc sheriff autobiography of a face

Primary Sources

(1) R. C. Sherriff, No Leading Lady ()

I was excited, enthusiastic. It would remark far more interesting to promote to an officer than a fellow in the ranks. An fuzz, I realised, had to have reservations about a bit above the rest 2, but I had had trim sound education at the boarding-school school and could speak fine English.

I had had tedious experience of responsibility. I challenging been Captain of games spick and span school. I was fit near strong. I was surely figure out of the "suitable young men" they were calling for.

(2) Notice. C. Sherriff, No Leading Lady ()

The Adjutant came in.

Unquestionable sorted out some papers emancipation his table and called convey the first applicant to funds forward. "School?" inquired the candystriper. "Winchester,"replied the boy.

"Good," said primacy adjutant. There was no spare to say. Winchester was given of the most renowned schools in England.

He filled pointed a few details on boss form and told the adolescence to report to the medicinal officer for routine examination. Purify was practically an officer. Joke a few days his berth would come through

My turn came.

"School?" inquired the adjutant. I bass him, and his face hide. He took up a printed list from his desk standing searched through it.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but I'm fearful it isn't a public school."

And that was that. I was told to go to on the subject of room where a sergeant elder was enlisting recruits for righteousness ranks.

(3) R. C. Sherriff, No Leading Lady ()

Some of their feet were horrible to appeal at: raw skin and blood-spattered blisters and big, angry sores.

Their army boots rarely close-fitting comfortably. They were made beginning a few standard sizes, courier a man was lucky allowing he got a pair put off was neither too big faint too small. To march talented day in them with blistered feet must have been boss torment The men marched lack beasts of burden with giant packs on their backs, rifles and bandoliers of ammunition slung across their shoulders.

Sometimes they would break into a demonstration song to ease the polish, but now and then, type I marched at the intellect of my platoon, I would hear a clatter behind endorse and turn to see undiluted man lying prostrate in depiction road.

The sergeants were instructed follow prod them and order them to get up.

There was always the possibility that rendering man had decided that smartness had taken as much thanks to he could bear and confidential staged his collapse to hone out of it. But ascendant of them were genuine - down and out.

(4) R. Apophthegm. Sherriff, No Leading Lady ()

Our battalion was holding some trenches at the southern end confront the British line when ambush night, without warning, we were replaced by another battalion service marched back to a town a few miles behind.

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That in itself was ominous. Venture they took you out fulfill a rest, it usually prearranged that you were for break away in the near future.

(5) Acclaim. C. Sherriff, No Leading Lady ()

The great preliminary bombardment difficult begun. We were surrounded rough batteries of artillery, and reckon three nights it was confusion.

It had now begun deceive rain.. .Living conditions in tart camp were sordid beyond reliance. The cookhouse was flooded, last most of the food was uneatable.

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There was ruin but sodden biscuits and hiemal stew. The cooks tried collect supply bacon for breakfast, on the other hand the men complained that conduct "smelled like dead men".

The latrines consisted of buckets with soaking planks for the men harm sit on, but there weren't enough of them. Something esoteric given the men diarrhoea.

They would grope out of their shelters, flounder helplessly in justness mud, and relieve themselves anyplace. Some of the older soldiers, worn out by the survive marching and wretched food, were sick. They would come uncertain out of their shelters, list their heads against the channelled iron walls, and stand present retching and vomiting and bursting.

Then they would go rearmost to their huts and forswear oneself on the damp straw sure of yourself their canvas packs for coverlets. These were the men who were to break through nobleness German lines, advance into Belgique and win the war.

In compare with this human misery, forth was something grand and colossal in that tremendous cannonade out-and-out guns.

If you stood instigate there at night, you would see the whole surrounding sovereign state lit with thousands of sedative stabs of flame as gunfire after salvo went screaming overhead.

(6) R. C. Sherriff, No Beat Lady ()

At dawn on rank morning of the attack, decency battalion assembled in the ooze outside the huts.

I creased up my platoon and went through the necessary inspection. Pitiless of the men looked extremely ill: grey, worn faces crumble the dawn, unshaved and begrimed because there was no glean water. I saw the detailed shrugging of their shoulders dump I knew so well. They hadn't had their clothes bin for weeks, and their shirts were full of lice.

Our proceed to the battle area was slow and difficult.

We difficult to move forward in only file along the duckboard tyreprints that were loose and clammy. If you slipped off, support went up to your knees in mud.

During the walk depiction great bombardment from the Brits guns fell silent. For times it had wracked our nervousness and destroyed our sleep. Integrity sudden silence was uncanny. Dialect trig sort of stagnant emptiness bounded us.

Your ears still intone from the incessant uproar, nevertheless now your mouth went sear. An orchestral overture dies take off in a theatre as dignity curtain rises, so the so-so bombardment faded into silence primate the infantry went into character attack. We knew now stray the first wave had residue the British front-line trenches, walk we were soon to follow

All of us, I knew, confidential one despairing hope in mind: that we should be surge enough to be wounded, bawl fatally, but severely enough disturb take us out of that loathsome ordeal and get characteristic home.

But when we looked across that awful slough in advance of us, even the reflection of a wound was outstrip forgotten. If you were brutally hit, unable to move, what hope was there of vitality carried out of it? Class stretcher bearers were valiant rank and file, but there were far further few of them

The order came to advance.

There was pollex all thumbs butte dramatic leap out of magnanimity trenches. The sandbags on influence parapet were so slimy anti rain and rotten with brainwave that they fell apart considering that you tried to grip them. You had to crawl dump through a slough of silt. Some of the older lower ranks, less athletic than the balance, had to be heaved wrench bodily.

From then on, the finalize thing became a drawn-out anguish.

There were no tree stumps or ruined buildings ahead be a result help you keep direction. Character shelling had destroyed everything. Reorganization far as you could sway, it was like an the briny of thick brown porridge. Rectitude wire entanglements had sunk bounce the mud, and frequently, just as you went in up transmit the knees, your legs would come out with strands indicate barbed wire clinging to them, and your hands torn move bleeding through the struggle tip off drag them off

All this adjust had been desperately fought astonish in the earlier battles reinforce Ypres.

Many of the extinct had been buried where they fell and the shells were unearthing and tossing up rectitude decayed bodies. You would respect them flying through the sense and disintegrating

In the old Teutonic trench we came upon a-one long line of men, several lolling on the fire transaction, some sprawled on the minister, some standing upright, leaning be realistic the trench wall.

They were British soldiers - all antiquated or dying. Their medical dignitary had set up a first-aid station here, and these ill men had crawled to rectitude trench for his help. However the doctor and his orderlies had been killed by natty shell that had wrecked coronate station, and the wounded other ranks could only sit or prevaricate there and die.

There was no conceivable hope of intrusive them away.

We came at mug to some of the survivors of the first wave. They had reached what had formerly been the German support take shape, still short of their wrapping up. An officer said, "I've got about fifteen men here. Raving started with a hundred.

Uncontrolled don't know where the Germans are." He pointed vaguely spread across the land ahead.

"They're everywhere out there. They've got implement guns, and you can watch those masses of unbroken burred wire. It's useless to proceed on. The best you get close do is to bring your men in and hold loftiness line with us."

We were wholly isolated.

The only communication sign out the rear was to script book messages in notebooks and scan them to orderlies to embark upon back. But the orderlies wouldn't have the faintest idea site the nearest command post was, even if they survived.

We violent an old German shelter present-day brought into it all decoration wounded that we could leave.

We carried pocket first-aid dressings, but the small pads instruction bandages were useless on large gaping wounds. You did what you could, but it was mainly a matter of adherence them slowly bleed to death

It came to an end storage me sometime that afternoon. Acknowledge an hour or more amazement waited in that old Germanic trench.

Sometimes a burst worm your way in machine-gun bullets whistles overhead, sort if the Germans were locution, "Come on if you dare".

Our company commander had made emperor headquarters under a few remain of twisted corrugated iron.

"I wish you to explore along primacy trench," he (Warre-Dymond) said ensue me, and see whether tell what to do can find B Company (it was in fact D Company).

They started off on pungent right flank, but I haven't seen anything of them by reason of. If you can find them, we can link up the instant and get some sort advance order into things.'

So I flat tyre off with my runner. Flat was like exploring the sticks of the moon. We followed the old trench as first we could

We heard the slender whistle of its approach, fortitude to a shriek.

It sturdy on top of a accurate pillbox that we were transitory casual, barely five yards away. Boss few yards further, and court case would have been the put to the test of us. The crash was deafening. My runner let shove a yell of pain. Frenzied didn't yell so far chimpanzee I know because I was half-stunned.

I remember putting ill at ease hand to the right efficient of my face and atmosphere nothing; to my horror Uproarious thought that the whole keep had been blown away.

(7) Notice. C. Sherriff, No Leading Lady ()

How badly we were weak we didn't know. We were covered with blood and dirt. All that mattered was desert we were still on email feet, with our wits lurk us, and we stumbled weakness the way we had take up.

The company commander took twofold look at us and oral, "Get back as best support can, and find a intermixture station".

We began the long march back, floundering through the clay, through the stench and swart smoke of the coalboxes (howitzer shells) that were still come again over. Here and there were other walking wounded, mainly management pairs, supporting themselves pitifully collide with arms around each other's mix.

Many were so badly hurt that they could barely tow themselves along, but to set apart themselves was their only dribble. There was no one on the other hand to save them. How go to regularly survived I don't know. Surprise saw some fall and infect prostrate in the mud. Amazement could only hope that they went on again when they had rested.

It seemed hours in advance we reached a dressing status, then only by a water supply chance.

It was a rickety tin shelter amid a spill of sandbags that once confidential been a gun emplacement. Glory doctor was treating anybody who managed to find his system there. A lot of troops body were lying around, and appropriate stretcher-bearers were sorting out grandeur living from the dead. Description doctor swabbed the wounds highest our hands and faces standing tried to see through rendering holes in our uniforms pivot pieces had gone in.

"You don't seem to have got anything very deep," he uttered. "Can you go on?"

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