Chapter I: Preface

This is my first book. It is also my last. But I have a record to make and a duty to perform. I was five weeks on the firing line; four weeks mourned as dead; and three months a prisoner of war.

I have attempted to make a true record of all that happened. The names alone are fictitious (all except that of Saniez), for those days were too full of stirring events which will long live in my memory to need the aid of fiction. If I have dwelt at some length upon my experience in Germany, it is with the hope that the information may be of interest to those who have relatives and friends still in the hands of the enemy and burn to know the truth.

I do not deplore the loss of my sight, for I can say in all sincerity that I was never happier in my life than I am to-day.

G.N.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. FOVANT 1
ORDERLY ROOM. OFF TO THE FRONT.

II. THE SILENT HEROES 6
THE WOMAN WHO WAITS--AND SUFFERS IN SILENCE.

III. DEPARTURE FOR THE FRONT 9
WATERLOO STATION. LUNCHEON ARGUMENTS. THE BAGGAGE
PROBLEM.

IV. CROSSING THE CHANNEL 15
THE DOCK PORTER. A WHIFF OF BOND STREET.

V. GOING UP THE LINE 24
PERFIDIOUS GANG-PLANKS. D'ARCY STRANDED. GUIDES WHO
CANNOT GUIDE. A HEATED ARGUMENT.

VI. RATIONS 33
I LEARN TO HATE FOOD. MATHEMATICAL PROBLEMS.

VII. ST. AMAND 37
I REPORT AT HEADQUARTERS. THE PROBLEM OF
VENTILATION.

VIII. EARLY IMPRESSIONS 41
BILLETS. A STARTLING INCIDENT. REST CAMP.

IX. DEPARTURE FOR THE SOMME 48
CORBIE. HAPPY VALLEY. PASSING THROUGH THE GUNS.

X. ARRIVAL ON THE SOMME 57
FEEDING THE GUNS. SEPTIMUS D'ARCY ARRIVES. A CURIOUS
KIT.

XI. DEATH VALLEY 66
MOVING OVER BATTLE-FIELDS. ---- BATTALION, LONDON
REGIMENT, IN POSSESSION. THE MYSTERY TRENCH.
FALFEMONT FARM.

XII. OUT IN NO MAN'S LAND 71
SUDDEN ORDERS. THE BEGINNING OF A GREAT ADVENTURE.
DIGGING IN.

XIII. A NIGHT OF ALARM 82
SEPTIMUS IN A NEW ROLE. SAVING THE AMMUNITION. THE
LAST CARTRIDGE.

XIV. NEXT MORNING 87
A COUNCIL OF WAR. OPERATION ORDERS. A BITTER
DISAPPOINTMENT.

XV. THE ADVANCE THROUGH LEUZE WOOD 91
NEW OPERATION ORDERS. "AT ANY COST." LIKE RATS IN
A TRAP.

XVI. THE ATTACK 101
A DESPERATE SITUATION. BATTLE FORMATION. "FOR
ENGLAND."

XVII. AT ANY COST 110
OVER THE TOP. MAD, FIGHTING MAD. THE FINAL ASSAULT.

XVIII. LEFT ON THE FIELD 116
THE MYSTERY OF DEATH. THE SECRET CODE. TWO TERRIBLE
DAYS.

XIX. THE JAWS OF DEATH 123
LONELINESS, DARKNESS, AND SILENCE. A LAST EFFORT. I
PREPARE FOR DEATH.

XX. AT THE MERCY OF THE HUN--AND AFTER 130
A BASIN OF SOUP. HOSPITAL AT ST. QUENTIN. THE "OPEN
SESAME."

XXI. ALIVE 143

XXII. BLINDNESS 147

XXIII. THE WOMAN WHO WAITS 151
THE TELEGRAPH BOY'S RAT-TAT. KILLED IN ACTION. WEEKS
OF MOURNING.

XXIV. WARD 43, RESERVE LAZARETTE 5, HANOVER 156
OCCUPANTS OF THE WARD. CHIVALRY OF THE AIR.

XXV. SANIEZ 160

XXVI. LIFE IN HANOVER HOSPITAL 166
HOSPITAL DIET. INTERVIEWED BY A GERMAN DOCTOR.
DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL.

XXVII. OBSERVATIONS AND IMPRESSIONS 176
EMPLOYMENT OF PRISONERS. PARCELS. MEN OF MONS.

XXVIII. STORIES OF THE HEROES OF MONS 187

XXIX. OSNABRUCK 199
ARRIVAL IN CAMP. THE CANTEEN. DAILY ROUTINE. RATIONS.
PARCELS. NEWS.

XXX. COMEDY AND DRAMA 215
I SALUTE THE WALL. THE STORY OF AN EGG. A NOVEL
BANQUET. JOY RIDE ON A LORRY. THE SWISS COMMISSION.

XXXI. FREE 227
I BLUFF THE GERMAN SERGEANT. AACHEN. TWO BOTTLES OF
WINE. ACROSS THE FRONTIER. GREAT SCOTT! I AM CHARGED
FOR MY OWN DEATH EXPENSES.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Captain Gilbert Nobbs Frontispiece

Captain Nobbs after his release from the German
prison Facing page 164

ON THE RIGHT
OF THE BRITISH LINE