THE COVENANTER
carry. There was a peculiar smell, in fact a of our bren guns. One dead German soldier
stink when the slight breeze wafted over the slumped in a heap against the hedge, his
hedge. It turned out to be five dead cows, steel helmet slipped forward covering his
blown up, with thousands of flies buzzing face: Evidence that a lot of others had been
all over them, no doubt enjoying their here, judging by the empty tins, rubbish
meal. Better than us as things turned out. and smell.
After digging our slit trench we were told We moved on to the edge of a woods to
that the rations and a meal were coming up. our front. Then it started. With the swish,
It did, smelling somewhat better than the whistle and noisy bang of incoming shells,
one over the hedge. But we, the new draft, shells and more shells falling amongst us,
had turned up too late to be included in the ‘Stretcher Bearers’ was the cry. ‘Dig in’! It is
rations, so we just watched the rest of the surprising how quickly you can get below
platoon devour the grub. Luckily I had a tin ground level when there are a few, or a lot
of Sardines in my pack, so with some hard of shells about. Having dug deep enough to
tack biscuits, my mate and I shared a sparse sit in and keep your head down sergeant
meal. It turned out that it had to last us shouted for myself and the platoon runner
until the following evening to our next to move down the bank into the woods and
meal. report back anything we heard or saw.
Came the darkness - the order - ‘get There was a path along the bottom of the
dressed’. Marching through the night, steepish bank, the trees thick and dark on
gutted villages and guns blazing away all the far side. We were sizing up the situation
around us. It was very dark. Turning into a when some shells exploded, hitting the tops
field, the order - ‘dig in’. We each scraped a of the trees and shrapnel falling like rain.
hole in the ground, laid in it covered over Scraping a hole each in the bank I said the
with a gas cape. Trying to sleep. An odd first of quite a few prayers that day. Shells,
shell or two fell in the next field to disturb. shells and more shells. Making the hole a
our slumbers. bit bigger, dig or die. The roots in the bank
Came the dawn, there I was, one didn’t make our task any easier. I had no
infantryman in a long line of shallow watch. Time meant nothing, except to dig
trenches like graves in a cemetry. Before the deeper, try to stay on this earth a bit, or
day was out some of these bodies would be hopefully a lot, longer. An officer came
in one, others very near. down the path from a company over on our
Sunday, 6th August, 1944. ‘Get dressed’ right. He passed us with blood pouring
was the now familiar order. Falling in in through the fingers of his left hand, which
sections, moving off, passing a troop of was holding a wound on his right arm. We
tanks. On reaching a crossroads on high shouted to him to ask if he wanted help, no
ground, with some very weary looking answer he just passed us by down the path.
infantrymen dug in on the sides.There was There was a lull from the shelling. A
a high pitched moaning noise coming wounded Lance Corporal was passed down
towards us, a new sound to me. Bombs the bank with a foot wound. We were told
landed very near to us. My first experience to take him down the path to the road.
of ‘Moaning Minnie’ a six barrelled German there was no blood so we left his boot on,
mortar. Throwing ourselves to the ground, he couldn’t walk. It was a cumbersome job,
the smell of cordite, shrapnel buzzing almost carrying him. After some time we
through the air. Yet another sound that I came to a farm with six or so dead cows in
was to get used to. Another, the shout the yard that had been caught up in the
‘stretcher bearers’ for the wounded. shelling. There was a wheelbarrow amongst
The Platoon Sergeant shouted for us to them, So putting our comrade in it, we
‘move on’. Turning left down a high hedged drove on down the path. On reaching the
lane we eventually came to a small deserted road there was a lot of activity. It was
village with a very large orchard at the end. battalion H.Q. with the radios chattering
We spread out in a line. This was the start of away. The shells started to arrive - again. We
the attack. took shelter against the hedge, getting as
Moving off, all was quiet. Out of the close as we could, almost asking the hedge
orchard into a long grass field. It was a fine to swallow us up. Fortunately the shells
sunny day and this could have been a crashed onto the other side of the hedge.
manouvre somewhere in Devon, the terrain Then there was a break in the shelling. A
being very similar. An automatic weapon Red Cross jeep came up the road, loaded
fired, breaking the silence, answered by one with wounded, two stretchers with bad
44
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