Jane ’s Reviews > Goodbye to All That > Status Update

I now had a trench periscope, a little rod-shaped metal one, sent me from home. When I poked it above the parapet, it offered only an inch-square target to the German snipers; yet a sniper at Cuinchy, in May, drilled it through, exactly central, at four hundred yards range. I sent it back as a souvenir; but my mother, practical as usual, returned it to the makers and made them change it for a new one.

By this time I had caught the pessimism of the First Division. Its spirit in the trenches was largely defensive; the policy being not to stir the Germans into more than their usual hostility. But casualties remained very heavy for trench warfare. Pessimism made everyone superstitious, and I found myself believing in signs of the most trivial nature.

A soldier came rushing in, his eyes blank with horror and excitement. ‘Gas, sir, gas! They’re using gas!’ ... Gas had become a nightmare. Nobody believed in the efficacy of our respirators, though advertised as proof against any gas the enemy could send over.

A most unusual charge, against the regimental goat-major (a corporal): in that he did prostitute the Royal Goat by offering its stud-services for a fee to —, Esq., farmer and goat breeder, of Wrexham. Though the goat-major pleaded that he had done this out of consideration for the goat, to which he was much attached, the Colonel reduced him to the ranks and took away his job.

Prisoners resented being interned, particularly family men who had lived in England for years. Anti-German feeling had begun to run high. Besides, we pointed out, in Germany they would be forced to join the army. At this time, we could make a boast of our voluntary system, and never foresaw the time when these internees would be bitterly envied by forcibly-enlisted Englishmen for being kept safe until the war ended.

The average life expectancy of an infantry subaltern on the Western Front was, at some stages of the war, only about three months; by which time he had been either wounded or killed. The proportions worked out at about four wounded to every one killed. Of these four, one got wounded seriously. The three lightly wounded returned to the front after a few weeks or months of absence, and again faced the same odds.