The Red Horizon

The Red Horizon, by Patrick
MacGill

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Title: The Red Horizon
Author: Patrick MacGill
Release Date: November 4, 2006 [EBook #19710]
Language: English
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THE RED HORIZON

BY THE SAME AUTHOR
CHILDREN OF THE DEAD END. The Autobiography of a Navvy.
Ten Thousand Printed within Ten Days of Publication.
THE RAT-PIT. Third Edition.
THE AMATEUR ARMY. The Experiences of a Soldier in the Making.
THE GREAT PUSH.

THE RED HORIZON
BY
PATRICK MACGILL
WITH A FOREWORD BY VISCOUNT ESHER G. C. B.

TORONTO McCLELLAND, GOODCHILD & STEWART, LIMITED
LONDON HERBERT JENKINS, LIMITED 1916

THE ANCHOR PRESS, LTD., TIPTREE, ESSEX.

TO THE LONDON IRISH TO THE SPIRIT OF THOSE WHO FIGHT
AND TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED AWAY
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED

FOREWORD
To PATRICK MACGILL, Rifleman No. 3008, London Irish.
DEAR PATRICK MACGILL,
There is open in France a wonderful exhibition of the work of the many
gallant artists who have been serving in the French trenches through the
long months of the War.
There is not a young writer, painter, or sculptor of French blood, who is
not risking his life for his country. Can we make the same proud boast?
When I recruited you into the London Irish--one of those splendid
regiments that London has sent to Sir John French, himself an
Irishman--it was with gratitude and pride.
You had much to give us. The rare experiences of your boyhood, your
talents, your brilliant hopes for the future. Upon all these the Western
hills and loughs of your native Donegal seemed to have a prior claim.
But you gave them to London and to our London Territorials. It was an
example and a symbol.
The London Irish will be proud of their young artist in words, and he
will for ever be proud of the London Irish Regiment, its deeds and
valour, to which he has dedicated such great gifts. May God preserve
you.
Yours sincerely,
ESHER.
President County of London

Callander. Territorial Association.
16th September, 1915.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE PASSING OF THE REGIMENT 13
II. SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE 19
III. OUR FRENCH BILLETS 30
IV. THE NIGHT BEFORE THE TRENCHES 43
V. FIRST BLOOD 49
VI. IN THE TRENCHES 69
VII. BLOOD AND IRON--AND DEATH 88
VIII. TERRORS OF THE NIGHT 110
IX. THE DUG-OUT BANQUET 116
X. A NOCTURNAL ADVENTURE 130
XI. THE MAN WITH THE ROSARY 138
XII. THE SHELLING OF THE KEEP 149
XIII. A NIGHT OF HORROR 175
XIV. A FIELD OF BATTLE 200
XV. THE REACTION 209

XVI. PEACE AND WAR 216
XVII. EVERYDAY LIFE AT THE FRONT 228
XVIII. THE COVERING PARTY 249
XIX. SOUVENIR HUNTERS 264
XX. THE WOMEN OF FRANCE 279
XXI. IN THE WATCHES OF THE NIGHT 292
XXII. ROMANCE 300

THE RED HORIZON (p. 013)
CHAPTER 1
THE PASSING OF THE REGIMENT
I wish the sea were not so wide That parts me from my love; I wish the
things men do below Were known to God above.
I wish that I were back again In the glens of Donegal; They'll call me
coward if I return, But a hero if I fall.
"Is it better to be a living coward, Or thrice a hero dead?" "It's better to
go to sleep, my lad," The Colour Sergeant said.
Night, a grey troubled sky without moon or stars. The shadows lay on
the surface of the sea, and the waves moaned beneath the keel of the
troopship that was bearing us away on the most momentous journey of
our lives. The hour was about ten. Southampton lay astern; by dawn we
should be in France, and a day nearer the war for which we had trained
so long in the cathedral city of St. Albans.
I had never realized my mission as a rifleman so acutely before. (p.

014)
"To the war! to the war!" I said under my breath. "Out to France and
the fighting!" The thought