Chapter 9: A Minute Past Three
Charlie, Tommo and their company are sent to a new sector of France. Before they go to the new sector, they spend the night at a estaminet in Pop. The next evening they go into the line and there are big machine guns and rifles shooting everywhere. They had to be silent in case the German machine gunners heard them, or else they would be done for. They find their trench and dugouts left in a mess from the previous company, so they spent a lot of time clearing up the mess. Tommo remembers how everyone despised the lice that got everywhere, their hair, their clothes, the creases of their skin, but, above all, they all wanted to be warm and dry. The only relief they got was sleep and good food. Tommo falls in love with a girl who works at the estaminet but she seems to never notice him so he just drinks away his sorrows. One day their leader says they they are going to try and bring back one prisoner for questioning. As they are crawling through the wire, they hear the sound of a gramophone playing and Fritz laughing and talking.
Charlie, Tommo and their company are sent to a new sector of France. Before they go to the new sector, they spend the night at a estaminet in Pop. The next evening they go into the line and there are big machine guns and rifles shooting everywhere. They had to be silent in case the German machine gunners heard them, or else they would be done for. They find their trench and dugouts left in a mess from the previous company, so they spent a lot of time clearing up the mess. Tommo remembers how everyone despised the lice that got everywhere, their hair, their clothes, the creases of their skin, but, above all, they all wanted to be warm and dry. The only relief they got was sleep and good food. Tommo falls in love with a girl who works at the estaminet but she seems to never notice him so he just drinks away his sorrows. One day their leader says they they are going to try and bring back one prisoner for questioning. As they are crawling through the wire, they hear the sound of a gramophone playing and Fritz laughing and talking.