Colonel Berry

Chapter Four

Wednesday, 22 March 1916

David quickly settled into the routine of the course, and by Wednesday, he had gathered a lot of interest from others. As he walked toward the mess for dinner, another recruit stepped beside him and asked, "Why are you being treated differently? You're not on the drill square being tortured by incessant orders and criticism. All you do is watch."

"I was selected for training as an instructor, and my task is to observe the teaching process and to learn from it."

"So, you've already been through this torture?"

"Yes. And as the course progresses, you'll increasingly see reasons it is structured this way." David chuckled. "You may not appreciate it now, but you will later."

"And they've allowed you to keep your beard? I had to shave mine off."

"I have a medical exemption for it."

The young man nodded toward David's crotch. "And is it true what they call you; Pferdemann? You're hung like a horse?"

David shook his head. "I prefer to keep this quiet."

"Impossible now. The entire course is talking about it."

"I feared that after the fuss in the showers on Sunday."

"Why fear? Why not pride?"

"It's not who I am." David shook his head. "It doesn't define me any more than the colour of my eyes, the size of my feet or the angle of my nose. Individual bits don't determine who we are."

The man nodded as they walked around the quadrangle. "True. But I would be proud if I were like you."

"I think you'd soon tire of the strange attention. Some seem obsessed with it, and you'd be surprised by the odd perceptions and by the way conversations are taken off on tangents into prurient interests. We're more than just bits and pieces." He extended his hand to shake. "I'm David."

"Heinz." He shook hands as he continued, "Yes, some certainly are narrow-minded. Like the ones who say France and Britain are extending everyone's suffering by resisting the inevitable."

"Opinions such as that show there is no analysis behind them. They're simply repeating what they've read or heard. But yes, it's true the killing and suffering have continued because France, Britain and others took a stand against Germany's violent aggression. But the same argument holds true on the other side. The suffering continues because Germany refuses to back down. It's now a matter of pride and honour."

"But, the newspapers all support Germany."

"No, not all. Away from the German borders, the papers take a more neutral stance, and in the south and west, they favour France, Italy and Britain. In Bern, we have both sides of the story published."

Heinz nodded. "So, you're from Bern?"

"No, from Schaffhausen. But I've been working out of Bienne the past while, and my sister is in medical school in Bern. Being there allows me to see a completely different aspect of the war than is presented to the people here."

As David and Heinz moved slowly along the food line, they continued the conversation with others joining. "My father says the Schaffhauser Zeitung has been bought by a German company, and its stories distort reality," a man ahead of them said.

"The Zürichsee-Zeitung and the Zürcher Post each twist their stories in different directions. One is now German-owned," another added.

"I find Der Bund from Bern gives the most balanced view," David said. "Even though the President and head of the Army both lean toward the Germans, the official Swiss policy is neutral, and so is the newspaper."