Grandad and the Angel

John Gwynant

John Gwynant

When Granddad Henry Birkin and Great Uncle Tom set off along the lane from Windy Ridge, the sun was just lifting clear of the horizon. They set a leisurely pace, 12 bore shotguns broken under their arms and the smoke from their roll-ups drifting lazily into the windless day 

"Partington church steeple is clear today," Tom observed.

"Aye, that'll mean rain afore tea," Granddad replied.

"Aye, usually does," Tom agreed

They walked on past the bend and started the gentle climb towards the top of the lane. As they passed a gate, Great Uncle Tom reached over and pulled an ear of corn.  He rubbed it between his forefinger and thumb, ridding it of the chaff before chewing it. "It'll nay be long now 'n' we'll be cutting this."

"Aye," Granddad Henry agreed, "The taters'll not be far be'ind."

"We'll need to get them in afore the wet weather comes," Great Uncle Tom nodded.                                   

Walking on, Granddad Henry stopped, prepared his 12 bore and started to level his aim at the horizon. Great Uncle Tom stood behind him and waited; he knew his brother seldom missed what he aimed at.

But this time something was different. Granddad Henry took aim, slowly eased the trigger back and fired. Then, instead of lowering the shotgun, he stood frozen to the spot, his unfocussed eyes staring into the distance. 

* * *

In the distance, a man fell dead in the German trenches. Corporal Henry Birkin saw him fall; he looked at the muddy field of no-mans land. The barbed wire, shell holes and dead bodies seemed normal to him. As a sniper, he moved about over the battlefield, never taking a shot from the same place twice, giving the enemy snipers no chance of spotting him

* * *

The British Expeditionary Force was isolated and had no strategically defensive position. II Corps positioned on the left of I Corps, the BEF was deployed from roughly west of Mons east to Binche.

Later the eastern end of the line was reduced, leaving the BEF some miles from the nearest French unit. Tactically, the units were scattered along a defensible straggle of mining villages and water courses, with some restricted fields of fire. The loop on the Mons-Conde Canal would first prove a hornets' nest for the Germans attacking it, but later it would become a death trap for British forces trying to escape.

II Corps in the Nimy Peninsula would suffer the heaviest attacks at Mons. The line of II Corps was so thin that it was little better than an outpost line, a chain of small groups lying on the coal bank, almost invisible. The most stressed part of the British line would be held by the 4th Royal Fusiliers, the 4th Middlesex, the 2nd Royal Irish and the 1st Gordon Highlanders. In the west section the Royal Fusiliers were holding the Nimy Bridge, the railway bridge and positions about Lock 6 and the Ghlin-Mons Bridges. The Gordon Highlanders on the far right were entrenched on the eastern slope of Bois la Haut. Officers of all the battalions were on every elevation, peering north and east through glasses, looking for the first sign of the enemy.

* * *

It was still dark when the German guns stopped, and they knew an attack would follow at first light.

When it came, it was with a ferocity that no-one expected. A sea of grey rose and moved towards the BEF, little knowing they were attacking some of the best riflemen in Europe.

To Henry the time seemed to go into slow motion; he was firing his Lee-Enfield as fast as he could; only pausing to reload, he made every bullet count. Grey helmet after grey helmet fell before the British guns. His gun felt hot and he was beginning to wonder if it would keep working.