Rise

September 20, 1917.

We had been transferred yet again, this time to the 58th Brigade. We were moved back further behind the lines in Belgium to the Menin Road Ridge. The Germans had been making worrying advances in Flanders and retaking parts of Verdun. The generals have been trying a new tactic called leap frogging. We split into two teams that switch off between suppressive fire and advancing the front line of battle.

We've been marching through the rain as it poured down on us. My feet ache badly and my boots are beginning to tear, my socks already having holes in them from walking so much. We've to wait in the rain since midnight, right now it is four thirty-two. I don't know how much longer I can handle being in the cold. I'm wet, I'm cold, I haven't slept in days, and I miss my family. Captain Davies says we have to wait maybe another hour before we begin the attack on the Germans.

We're stationed at a small town in Belgium that I'm not entirely sure what the name is. We finally managed to find shelter in a run down building, broken and desolate from artillery fire. I sat down and exhaled, relieving my chest of pressure. As soon as I had sat down, I had drifted off to sleep, only to wake an hour later.

I was shaken awake by Paul rocking my body viciously. He saw me wake and walked away and I checked the time. Five thirty-seven. I assumed our attack would begin soon. I rose to my feet and rubbed my eyes, stretching my arms, legs, and back. I joined my squad mates at the charge point, ready to charge the enemy in our leap frog tactic.

I mounted my bayonet to the end of my rifle. I loaded the two stripper clips required to fill the ammunition well of my rifle. The poor thing has been through so much, been with me for almost two years now.

I checked my knee to adjust my bandaging and make sure it was secure and snug around my knee before we charged. I crouched behind the tree line awaiting the signal to charge. This was the first urban battle I had been in during my year and a half of service. The whistle blew, and we peaked our heads from the behind the tree like ready to defend the charging group. The charging group sprinted forward from behind the tree line for about a minute, then crouched down ready to fire.

We charged forward and passed by them and readied ourselves to fire at the enemy. Shots began to ring out as we took our positions, the Germans cutting some of us down by the numbers, one by one. We continued the strategy until we had reached the city limits, as which point the strategy had fallen apart and we had to spread out to avoid death.

I stuck with my squad mates and moved from building to building, the German artillery raining hell down on us from above from a hill just a few hundred meters in front of, or at least I judged to be. One of the demolitions crewmen was running up the middle of the street before his head was cleanly removed from his torso by several bullets.

"Damnit, Benny's down!" I yelled to Captain Davies.

"We need to get those explosives to those batteries! Andrew, get the explosives, Paul watch his arse!"

I nodded and ran to an opening in the disheveled building, a place where a corner of a wall had been taken out entirely as though a giant had taken a bite of it. I waited for the machine gun fire to pause before vaulting over the rubble and debris to the explosives. He was wearing bandoliers with the explosives, so I had to pick up his body to remove them. I struggled for a moment, but I removed the bandoliers only to have use my ally's lifeless corpse to defend myself from a sniper shot. My timing was impeccable as I had just caught the glint of the scope out of the corner of my eye a split second before he pulled the trigger.

I grabbed the bandoliers after dropping the body and slung my rifle and dove back into the destroyed building. I scrambled to my knees then clambered to my feet, using one of the destroyed walls to stabilize myself.