Grapes of wrath

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Boyd Cable. Grapes of wrath

BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC

AUTHOR’S FOREWORD

CHAPTER I. TOWARDS THE PUSH

CHAPTER II. THE OVERTURE OF THE GUNS

CHAPTER III. THE EDGE OF BATTLE

CHAPTER IV. ACROSS THE OPEN

CHAPTER V. ON CAPTURED GROUND

CHAPTER VI. TAKING PUNISHMENT

CHAPTER VII. BLIND MAN’S BUFF

CHAPTER VIII. OVER THE TOP

CHAPTER IX. A SIDE SHOW

CHAPTER X. THE COUNTER ATTACK

CHAPTER XI. FORWARD OBSERVING

CHAPTER XII. A VILLAGE AND A HELMET

CHAPTER XIII. WITH THE TANKS

CHAPTER XIV. THE BATTLE HYMN

CHAPTER XV. CASUALTIES

CHAPTER XVI. PLAY OUT THE GAME

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It is possible that this book may be taken for an actual account of the Somme battle, but I warn readers that although it is in the bulk based on the fighting there and is no doubt colored by the fact that the greater part of it was written in the Somme area or between visits to it, I make no claim for it as history or as an historical account. My ambition was the much lesser one of describing as well as I could what a Big Push is like from the point of view of an ordinary average infantry private, of showing how much he sees and knows and suffers in a great battle, of giving a glimpse perhaps of the spirit that animates the New Armies, the endurance that has made them more than a match for the Germans, the acceptance of appalling and impossible horrors as the work-a-day business and routine of battle, the discipline and training that has fused such a mixture of material into tempered fighting metal.

For the tale itself, I have tried to put into words merely the sort of story that might and could be told by thousands of our men to-day. I hope, in fact, I have so “told the tale” that such men as I have written of may be able to put this book in your hands and say: “This chapter just describes our crossing the open,” or “That is how we were shelled,” or “I felt the same about my Blighty one.”

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The tornado of shell fire beat the rifles down again to silence after some minutes. The rolling rifle fire and clatter of machine guns died away gradually, to no more than an occasional splutter, and then to single shots. After that the artillery slowed down to a normal rate of fire, a steady succession of bangs and thuds and rumblings, that, after the roaring tempest of noise of the past few minutes, were no more than comparative quiet.

“I’m glad we came out,” said Larry; “it was quite a decent little show for a bit.”

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