Читать книгу The Other Side of the Trench - G. S. Willmott - Страница 11

Chapter 7

Cairo, Egypt, July 1916

Harry senior was playing a game of desert cricket with his cobbers from the Battalion on a balmy Egyptian Sunday afternoon when young Harry wandered up and started cheering his Uncle on. Harry senior was a bloody good sportsman all round. After the game they got together for a chat.

‘Are you alright mate?’ asked Uncle Harry’ ‘Well, we just got our orders to pack up and be ready to move out tomorrow morning.’ ‘Bloody hell, scowled Uncle Harry, we have been waiting around for what seems eternity and you bastards are on the move again.

Young Harry embarked on the troop ship with his mates and steamed off to France, they landed in Marseilles and were then transported to a place called Fromelles in Northern France.

They were allowed to rest for a day then they were instructed to start digging their defensive trenches. This was no easy task as the water table was very close to the surface so the troops were constantly standing in water. They could not go as deep as they had hoped because of the water level so that had to pile sand bags as high as they could without stopping them from going “over the top” when they were to attack the Germans.

The Germans had been entrenched in their bunker system for two years; they were watching every move the Australians were making. Once the trenches were finally dug, it became a waiting game. On the 16th of July 1916 they were told that that they would be attacking the German trenches in a few days. They were also assured by the officers that the aerial bombardment would last three days and it was highly likely that no living German would be left to fight them.

The worst day in Australia’s wartime history was about to begin.