"I went round one of the traverses, as far as I remember, and somebody hit me on the head with a rifle butt. I was wearing a tin hat, fortunately, but it didn't do me much good. A chap came at me with a bayonet, aiming for a very critical part naturally and I managed to push it down, I got a bayonet wound in the groin. After that I was still very dizzy, from this blow on the head presumably. I remember wrestling with another German and the next thing I saw, it appeared to me that my left hand had gone. After that, I was unconscious. I always remember my disappointment the next morning when I found that my hand was still on because I thought, well, if I lost my hand I'm all right, I shall live, they can't send me out without a hand again. At 20 years old it's not altogether a right thought for a young man to hope that he's been maimed for life. I had the feeling that they were trying to kill us off to save our pensions." - Arnold Ridley, Somerset Light Infantry, September 15, 1916, Battle of Somme. #stayzero #reality #war