and we have another wee battle!

While the battalion is in the reserve trench, Davies and Powell and the rest of their platoon (or what's left of it) get word that Lt Fiske is alive but has been sent to a base hospital in Amiens to be treated for his wounds. The men are relieved. They know two other platoon commanders are dead – Patterson and Putnam – as well as Captain Bradford's second in command. Of the forty-one men in the platoon on July 1, twenty-three are now waiting in the reserves to be sent forward again. Several men have been sent to the casualty clearing station or a base hospital, so the platoon has not been quite as decimated as the numbers might suggest. But the fact is, only half of them survived their first major offensive intact.

( But the ones who remain feel closer than ever. )

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note: uh... i hate writing battle scenes. can you tell? :D