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and after the battle, the lull
Nov. 15th, 2012 02:45 amBy nightfall they've succeeded in taking the woods and can conduct their prisoners back behind the line and collect their dead. Davies goes back to look for the NCO he fell on, but can't find him. Stretcher bearers must have picked him up, or he managed to make his way back to the casualty clearing station, or even just a dressing station, on his own feet. Either way, he's not dead. Davies takes this as a good sign.
The Germans continue to shell the battalion, although the heavy fighting seems to shift north and west. They stay in the front-line trench another couple of days, contending with the shelling and the mud and, after it rains, some flooding down the trenches. They deal with rats and occasional reminders to change their socks and let their feet and boots dry out whenever possible – "With all this rain, not bloody likely," Powell mutters – and of course, the constant threat of mortars and shells and the possibility that the Germans will gather themselves together and hit back.
Davies is surprised that by the time the battalion is relieved, he's almost gotten used to the never-ending noise of the shells. They don't keep him awake as much as they did in the beginning.
( It's back to the support trench )
words: 1752
total words: 23,636
note: the women who worked in munitions factories in britain did turn yellow - they were called canaries - from the toxic chemicals they put in the explosives. apparently the money was good, tho, compared to whatever wages they could make doing non-war work.
The Germans continue to shell the battalion, although the heavy fighting seems to shift north and west. They stay in the front-line trench another couple of days, contending with the shelling and the mud and, after it rains, some flooding down the trenches. They deal with rats and occasional reminders to change their socks and let their feet and boots dry out whenever possible – "With all this rain, not bloody likely," Powell mutters – and of course, the constant threat of mortars and shells and the possibility that the Germans will gather themselves together and hit back.
Davies is surprised that by the time the battalion is relieved, he's almost gotten used to the never-ending noise of the shells. They don't keep him awake as much as they did in the beginning.
( It's back to the support trench )
words: 1752
total words: 23,636
note: the women who worked in munitions factories in britain did turn yellow - they were called canaries - from the toxic chemicals they put in the explosives. apparently the money was good, tho, compared to whatever wages they could make doing non-war work.
