The Soldier's Song by Alan Monaghan

Author:Alan Monaghan [Monaghan, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780330533348
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers UK

VIII

19 November 1916

I don’t think Devereux was pleased to see me the other night. I wasn’t very happy to see him either, but there it is. He has number five platoon and I have number six. We’re stuck with each other.

From what I’ve managed to winkle out of Hollis, I gather that Devereux has only been here a month, and this is his first stint at the front. Apparently, his illustrious uncle managed to get him a cushy job on the staff that kept him out of harm’s way until now. This begs the question: what is he doing here, where people are trying to kill him, when he could be in a nice safe office ten miles behind the front? Devereux says he volunteered, but everybody else thinks he was sent. He’ll need some frontline experience if he wants to get ahead on the staff, so he’s been sent here to get it. Better still would be a medal or a mention in dispatches, but the chances of either of those are very slim indeed.

It wouldn’t be fair to call him a coward – even after what I saw when we were shelled that night. We’re all cowards at some time or another, and I wouldn’t hold it against him. The real test is how he conducts himself day after day. How he stands up to it, how he handles his men, and how he gets things done. The trouble is, this is where he’s sadly lacking.

Wilson has a very low opinion of him. Devereux had the watch when my predecessor, Ingram, was shot by our own sentries, and it was his responsibility to make sure they knew there was a patrol out. Wilson doesn’t trust Devereux to lead a patrol himself and since there probably won’t be any major actions until next spring, that means he has almost no hope of getting a medal.

It doesn’t help that Devereux is such a snob. He resents being under the command of an officer who was commissioned from the ranks and he looks down his nose at Hollis and Gardner because they are temporary officers like myself, while he has a regular commission. This certainly isn’t warranted because they’re both fairly decent chaps, and far better soldiers than he is. Things would be much smoother without Devereux, but the situation is pretty sticky. Normally Wilson could get rid of a bad officer by dishing him in his monthly report, but with Devereux’s connections he must tread carefully. He has come here for glory, and glory he must have.

Needless to say, Wilson is very curious about my relationship with him. He hasn’t said anything, but I know he’s watching to see if I’m tarred with the same brush. To prove my mettle, I’ve volunteered to take a patrol out tonight. Somewhere opposite us the Germans have a contraption for throwing those big bombs they call ‘rum jars’ and I am to take half a dozen men out to see if we can steal it or at least get a good look at it.

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