Under heaven

Chapter 16: The Raid

New Years came and went with little fanfare at the front. Our little hole in the ground was occasionally subjected to the odd blast of high explosive and gas shells but we had become so used to it that we all instinctively jumped into the dugout at the sound of a trench mortar being fired or a large shell flying in. They came close a couple of times and Stephen lost a chunk of his ear to shrapnel. When he returned from The dressing station Taylor merely joked at it saying "Now you're pretty head is as ugly as the rest of us."

The gas seemed less of a bother as well. We had all been issued respirator masks by that time and kept them on our bodies to be used at a moment's notice. We got used to the sound of a gas shell. It would explode with a hollow and deep sounding pop. Then we always had a few seconds to slip our masks on.

February of 1916 brought a new set of challenges for us. The allied high command wanted more and more information about the German positions to help in their offensive planning for the coming months. Arial pictures and intercepted messages didn't seem to be enough and it soon fell to us to go over the top and perform our very first trench raid.

Word came down that a forward command post had been set up across from us in the enemy lines. It was our job to try and capture one or a couple of the enemy, preferably a comissioned officer or a signal operator.

The day before the raid we peered out from our trenches to plan our best route through the wire. We took note of every major shell hole along the way for cover if we ran into problems.

That evening was spent stripping off all buckles and buttons that shined or made noise. We painted our faces black and removed our helmets, leaving only our woolen toques. Only Tom and Stephen would carry a rifle. Sergeant Taylor and I would only carry our knives and two .38 calibre revolvers on loan to us from headquarters for the raid.

Sergeant Taylor was told the raid would begin at midnight. Two battalion snipers would position themselves on opposite sides of our target to quell any enemy that tried to fire on us upon our return, or if we ran into any trouble. It was well known to us that the greatest risk came while crossing no man's land. Once a man entered an enemy trench he was at his most secure. This was because his only threat was hand to hand combat. As grisly as that prospect seemed, machine gunners were far more efficient killers than a man with a bayonet.

Two weeks before, a raid just south of our positions had ended in tragedy. Twelve men went over and successfully captured two enemy corporals. Upon their return however, the Germans let up a flare and let loose with machine gun fire from two positions. Nine men were killed just ten yards from reaching safety, along with both prisoners.

Two minutes to midnight and we were waiting at the fire step. The night was cloudy and black and a light, fine snow lofted about us in the chilly winter breeze. With a nod from Taylor we slipped through a gap in our sandbags and slowly pushed under our wire. Taylor and Tom had spent the previous night painstakingly moving It around to move under it with more ease, but it still took a good ten minutes. The rock hard frozen ground saved us from crawling through mud but froze our backs and stomachs as we crawled forward. All the while in full view of the enemy.

Once through the wire we huddled together in a shell hole, waiting for the flare we knew would come and gazing toward the German breastworks. They were not low to the ground like ours. They seemed to command a line of sight over the whole battlefield, a feature that had always intimidated us every time we peered out from our trenches. Now, within forty yards, they seemed even more impossible, but we soon began crawling forward once more and to slowly cut and lift the enemy wire to pass under.

The wire was at least twenty yards deep but after another fifteen minutes the four of us were crouched tight against the enemy works.

We stopped to listen for a few moments while another flare rose and fell out of the sky. Everything seemed quiet on the other side and I was surprised to find only one sentry at his post as I peered through a small gap at the top of the trench. The position we occupied at the inward corner of their trench gave me a good view down the length of it.