Forgotten Voices of the Somme Read Online Free PDF

simply got down to it and you were asleep, any time of the day.
    At night-time, if there was any suspicion of activity, Very lights would go up. Each platoon sergeant had a Very light pistol and he also had his cartridges, and if the sentry reported any activity in front, the sergeant would send a Very light up. This pistol was like a brass starting pistol, and you'd cant it at what angle you think you want the light to drop, and plop! And that would go up in the air and light everything up.
    Second Lieutenant W. J. Brockman
    15th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers
    If you were in no-man's-land when a Very light went up, your instinct was to lie down – but that was wrong. You should stand absolutely still. There were all sorts of things you could be mistaken for in no-man's-land – wire and stumps of trees.
    Sergeant Charles Quinnell
    9th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
    Wiring was always done in the dark and it was done by a party who had been trained. It sounds peculiar I know but there was a certain amount of waltzing to it. Barbed wire used to come on a wooden framework with a hole through the centre, and a pole used to be put through that framework, one man on either side. The man who did the actual wiring was always issued with a pair of very thick leather gloves because barbed wire can be very, very vicious.

    Taking wire up to the forward area.

    A working party ready to dig.
    Private Harold Hayward
    12th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
    The first time I went over wiring, we were told to go quietly, not a word to one another. We were going to make a proper continuous line. I happened to step to one side, and I fell into an old French latrine. I thought to myself, 'I am not going to die like this!' They pushed their rifles down, and I caught hold of two of them, and they pulled me out. No one would come near me for the rest of the time in the line.
    Sergeant Charles Quinnell
    9th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
    Another duty at night was to man the listening posts . A shallow trench would be dug from the front line out into no-man's-land – perhaps a hundred yards in front, depending on what distance the two opposing lines of trenches were. The listening party would consist of a corporal and two men, and their job was to just lay in this listening post with their head above ground level, and just watch and listen. For example, if they heard any barbed wiring going on or a German patrol they would return to the line and report it and we'd open fire on wherever this activity was.
    Rifleman Robert Renwick
    16th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps
    The listening post was a very dreary do. I went out with an officer one night, and I had an idea that the lad on the listening post was asleep. Somehow, I got in front of the officer, in case he was. And when I got there, the lad was just dozing off. I woke him up. It would have been a serious crime if he'd been found asleep.
    Sergeant Charles Quinnell
    9th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
    And at night, there'd be trench raids . We knew these were a waste of time, we just hated them. But some general about thirty miles behind the line wanted to know who was in the trenches opposite, and he would send up a message 'Raid and get prisoners'. He ought to have had the job himself. And you'd have artillery preparation to destroy their wire, and perhaps a whole division of artillery would put down a barrage on the German wire to smash it down,
    and then they would put what they called a 'box barrage' down. Twelve guns would fire on one point of the German trench line to seal off everything from there. But by doing that you're sending an open postcard to the Germans, aren't you, that you're coming over? Oh God, the men just hated it.
    Corporal Don Murray
    8th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
    We were supposed to go over with the sole intention of bringing a prisoner back. We had to black our faces up. As a matter of fact, we blacked ourselves up once for a raid – and it snowed like