"On the way, I caught up with another man staggering along and we clung to one another, each holding the other up. I was shocked to see that the top of his head was a mass of blood and the crown seemed to be missing. I marveled that he was still conscious and still able to use his limbs. Encouraging one another to keep going, we finally stumbled into an advanced 1st aid post and dropped exhausted.
I looked around and my nostrils were assailed by the sickening odour of suppurating wounds and soiled bandages. There were badly disfigured man, pale-faced lads from whom life was ebbing, heavily bandaged stumps indicating this or that limb missing.
Saddest of all was a youngster who had been reduced to a trunk minus arms and legs. How could it be possible that he was not only alive but that his spirit seemed undaunted? Glancing at the bandages swatting his stumps, he challenged his nurse in a strong Scottish accent, 'How about 3 rounds with me tonight, Sister?' Humor even in extremis.
Mercifully, before day dawned, the spark of life went out of him." - Private Norman Cliff, 1st BN, Grenadier Guards, 3rd Brig., Guard Div. Somme, France, 1916 #reality #ww1 #stayzero #zerofoxtrot #war #account @stayzeroactual