Combed Out

Combed Out

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Combed Out, by Fritz August Voigt
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Title: Combed Out
Author: Fritz August Voigt

Release Date: July 24, 2005 [eBook #16355]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMBED
OUT***
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Transcriber's notes:
The author is listed as F.A.V. on the original title page. His full name
was Fritz August Voigt, although he chose to be called Frederick.
Footnotes, being quite brief definitions, have been moved inline [like
this].

COMBED OUT
by
F. A. V.
The Swarthmore Press Ltd. 72, Oxford Street, London, W.1.
1920

CONTENTS
PAGE. I.--SQUAD DRILL 1 II.--THE FATIGUE PARTY 9 III.--ON
DETACHMENT 42 IV.--THE CASUALTY CLEARING STATION
53 V.--WALKING WOUNDED 74 VI.--AIR-RAIDS 90 VII.--THE
GERMAN PUSH 109 VIII.--HOME ON LEAVE 127 IX.--ACROSS
THE RIDGES 143 X.--THE ARMISTICE 155

"The silent, colossal National Lie that is the support and confederate of
all the tyrannies and shams and inequalities and unfairnesses that affect
the peoples--that is the one to throw bricks and sermons at."
(MARK TWAIN).

COMBED OUT

I
SQUAD DRILL
Our Sergeant looked at us contemptuously and we looked anxiously
back at him. Then he gave his first instructions:
"Now I'm goin' ter show yer 'ow ter do squad drill. It's quite
heasy--yer've only got ter use a bit o' common sense an' do hexac'ly as I
tell yer. Now we'll start wi' the turns. When I gives the order Right
Turn, yer turn ter yer right on yer right 'eel an' yer left toe. When I
gives the order Left Turn, yer turn on yer left 'eel an' yer right toe. Now
just 'ave a try an' see if yer can do it.--Squad!--now when I shouts
Squad it's a word o' warnin', an' it means I want yer ter be ready ter go
through yer evverlutions. Now then, yer s'posed ter be standin' to
attention. That's not the way ter stand to attention--yer want ter use
some common sense--when yer stand to attention, yer stand wi' yer
chest out, yer stomach in, yer 'eads erect an' facin' to yer front, yer
shoulders straight, an' yer 'ands 'angin' down by yer sides wi' yer
thumbs along the seams o' yer trousers. Now then, Squad! Stand at
Ease!... When I gives the order Stand at Ease, yer places yer feet about
eighteen inches apart an' yer clasps yer 'ands be'ind yer backs, yer right
'and inside yer left, but yer mustn't look round or talk until I shouts
Stand Easy! Now then, Stand at Ease!"
We obeyed the command with fair smartness, only a few stood
awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do with their hands or doubtful
whether their feet were really eighteen inches apart.
"That ain't so bad for a first shot," said the Sergeant, to our great relief.
"Now, remember what I told yer about standin' to attention--when I
gives the order Tshn! yer all springs smartly to attention. Now then,
Squad--Tshn!... No, no, I wants it done smarter'n that. Stand at Ease!
Now then, try agin: Tshn!--No, no, that ain't 'alf smart enough. Try agin.
Stand at Ease!--Tshn! That's a bit better, it wants a lot o' improvin'
though. Still, yer only a lot o' rookeys [recruits] an' yer can't learn
everythink all at once. Now we'll 'ave a bit of a change an' try the
turns."

We turned to the right, the left, and the right-about. We were all
depressed or resentful and thinking of home. We performed the
movements mechanically and repeated the same mistakes time after
time. The Sergeant was losing patience. He glared at us and bawled out
his orders. But the hour came to an end and we were dismissed for
breakfast.
The breakfast interval seemed to pass like a flash. We were back on the
parade ground, standing at ease. Another Sergeant approached us and
yelled "Number Four Squad--Tshn!" We sprang to attention and stood
rigidly erect, not daring to move. The roll was called and then the
weary round of drill began again.
We marched up and down in response to commands that were barked at
us in a sharp ringing voice. As the minutes and hours crept along we
became sore-footed and thirsty, for the ground was hard and the sun
very hot. From time to