Clive Ward - Trench 31

‘Come on sis, leave the poor lad alone, it’s his last night of freedom. I believe it’s your round, Archie,’ said David.

‘Go on Archie, go and enjoy yourself. I’ll be ok for a while,’ said Charlotte.

The evening went well, full of high spirits and lots of singing, the atmosphere crackled with excitement at the prospect of what lay ahead. Charlotte remained seated in the corner, feeling sad and worried at the thought of what might happen to her Archie. However, she put on a brave face and joined in with the revelry.

The church bell rang out to signify midnight. Archie was a little drunk but determined to walk his sweetheart home.

‘How much have you had to drink, are you sure you don’t want me to take you home Archie?’ said Charlotte giggling.

‘No, I won’t have you walking home on your own Charlotte. I don’t want your father reaching for that shotgun.’

‘Father will be in bed by now, and anyway he wasn’t telling the truth about the guns.’

They both walked past Parker’s Piece and the spot where they had both lay together in the grass a few weeks earlier. Charlotte stopped and pulled Archie towards her.

‘I don’t want to go home just yet Archie. I want to spend the rest of the night with you.’

‘But Charlotte, what about David and Bertie?’

‘Did you see them? They were in no fit state to worry about anybody… please Archie.’

That night, under the stars, in the long grass, they made love for the first time and then fell asleep in each other’s arms. At around five in the morning Charlotte was woken up by the sound of the birds chirping, announcing the onset of dawn.

Charlotte began to panic, ‘Archie, wake up we need to get home, it’s getting light.’

Archie woke quickly, the sound of alarm in her voice brought him fully awake. He jumped up and brushed himself down before offering Charlotte his arm. They hurriedly walked the short distance from the field to Charlotte’s house just before the dawn broke.

‘Will I be seeing you tomorrow Archie, before you go? I could take the day off work, I’ll tell them I’m ill or something.’ Before Charlotte could say another word, Archie put his hand up over her mouth gently.

‘It’s best if we don’t meet tomorrow Charlotte, let’s say our goodbyes now shall we. I’ll only be stationed a few miles away, at Normanton Barracks. I’ve been told that after a few weeks of basic training we’ll get a night off so don’t look so sad. I promise I’ll write straight away, on my first day.’

Charlotte just smiled because she was lost for words.

‘Goodnight Charlotte.’

Charlotte started to cry and reached for her handkerchief.

‘Don’t cry, I’m sure I won’t be away for long, it’ll be over sooner than you think.’

‘Alright Archie, I’ll see you soon. I’ll miss you.’ They embraced and kissed for the last time before parting.

Archie stood and waited until Charlotte was safely inside her home. He gave her a final wave as she closed the door. Her mother, who had waited up for her return, also waved from the bedroom window.

Normanton Barracks opened on the 1 stDecember 1877, and was initially the headquarters for the 54 thand 95 thRegiments, who later became known as the Sherwood Foresters. During the Boer War and World War One it was an important training and deployment depot. Nearly all of the men who enlisted in the Regiment were from the counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. During the War, the Regiment expanded to thirty-three Battalions. War was declared against Germany on the 4 thAugust 1914 at eleven o’clock that evening. The British Army was not prepared for the number of volunteers who came forward in those first few months.

Archie, David and Bertram joined the newly formed 10 thBattalion of the Sherwood Foresters. Happy and excited about what the day may hold, they said goodbye to their families and travelled together to the barracks, arriving early. It was just after nine o’clock when they arrived at the barracks but their actual reporting time was at ten o’clock.

‘Wait over there, you’ll be escorted to where you need to be when the rest arrive,’ said a guard commander, who then disappeared back inside his guardroom to be reunited with his cup of tea.

‘It looks like we’re the only three joining up,’ David said, noticing a distinct lack of other men.

‘That’s good, I hate crowded places. Eh, you don’t think the others have had second thoughts do you?’ asked Bertram.

The three young men weren’t on their own for long. Within half an hour, it went from three to three hundred, there were volunteers everywhere. It seemed like everybody knew somebody, old friends from school or from work, family friends and cousins, which in some way, made the men feel at home. From there they were all escorted to a large hall, where they were informed about the events of the next few days, should they make it that far. They were told that they would have to undertake fitness, medical and eye tests, carried out by medical examiners, but before all of that, all new recruits were required to show proof of age.

‘Come on you lot, form an orderly queue!’ barked the training Sergeant, whose name was Sergeant Shirley, a rather fat and unfit looking man, who must have been in his late fifties.

Bertram, David and Archie, joined the growing line of men. The air buzzed with excitement, as though the men in the queue were heading off for a day at the seaside, not preparing to go to war.

‘What an unhealthy, ugly bunch we have here, how the hell you cretins are going to pass your medicals I can’t imagine. Christ knows what the enemy will think when they see you lot coming. Right gentlemen, start stripping off, leaving your undergarments on, we don’t want to see your dangly bits do we. Come on, move it, I haven’t got all day, nor has the British Army, there’s a war on you know God help us,’ Sergeant Shirley shouted.

To pass the medical at the outbreak of World War One, you had to be the right height and weight and be sufficiently intelligent. Your eye sight was expected to be up to the required standard. You were also expected to have good hearing, speech without impediment, no glandular swellings, chest capacious and well formed, heart and lungs to be sound, limbs well formed and fully developed, free and perfect motion of all the joints, feet and toes well formed, no congenital malformation or defects, not bear traces of previous acute or chronic diseases and in the possession of a sufficient number of sound teeth.

David and Archie had completed their medical and were passed fit. Now it was Bertram’s turn to go in front of the medical examiner. Everything was going well until it came to the procedure that all new recruits dreaded, the examination of the scrotum to see if the testicles were descended and normal.

‘Ok drop them private,’ said the medical examiner.

Bertram didn’t move and looked a little unsure.

‘Come on, don’t be shy what’s up with you man, I haven’t got all day. I need to examine your trunk. Stand with your arms extended above your head please. What is it man? Spit it out.’

‘Sir, I just want to say something before I do this, there has to be an element of trust here.’

‘What are you talking about man?’

The Sergeant realised that the queue of recruits being examined had slowed down and so he wandered over to see what the problem was.

‘Problem sir?’ Sergeant Shirley asked the examiner.

‘Yes, Sergeant, can you tell this man that we’re all men here, and if he doesn’t complete the medical he won’t be able to join up.’

‘That’s ok, I’ll be off then,’ said Bertram as he started to walk away.