Gilbert Nobbs

Name: On the right of the British line
Author: Gilbert Nobbs

Summary

“On the right of the British line”, is a work by Gilbert Nobbs. It explores elements such as trench, prisoners and Saniez.

Quotes from On the right of the British line (Gilbert Nobbs)

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ Here it is that a thousand dramas are acted daily. It is one huge scene of bustle and excitement. The khaki of the soldier, the blue of the sailor; the mother, the wife, the sweetheart; the sad partings, the joyful greetings. The troops entraining, spick and span in their new war kit; the war-worn soldier home on leave, bespattered with the soil of France; troops from the near-by camps on week-end leave, tumbling out of the carriages with the spirits of schoolboys, or looking for standing-room in the overcrowded compartments on the last train back. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ You, who would throw down your tools and strike, look upon this sight!
This is the voice of England. This is the stupendous effort which is protecting you. On your right, that dark, creepy, silent place, is Trones Wood. Look across to your left, those sticks showing on the sky-line, across the valley. In those woods, churned up in the soil, lie the rotting bodies of your comrades, your brothers, your sons. They have sacrificed all; they have suffered untold deaths. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ Machine-gun bullets were spraying backward and forward; 6-inch shells were exploding in all directions; and the din was intensified by the crashing of trees uprooted by the explosions, and the dull thud of the missiles striking the ground.
Through the dull light of that filthy wood we frequently cast an anxious glance towards the red rockets being sent up from the German lines, directing the fire of their artillery towards us.
Sometimes, in leaping forward, we would land beside the dead and mutilated carcass of a German soldier who had fallen a week before. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ Those men, however, who have faced death in many frightful forms, and dodged it; suffered the horrors of its approach, yet cheated it; who have waited for its inevitable triumph, then slipped from its grasp; who have lived with it for days, parrying its thrust, evading its clutch; yet feeling the irresistible force of its power; men who have suffered these horrors and escaped without more than the loss of even the wonderful gift of sight, can afford to treat this affliction in a lesser degree, holding the sanctity of life as a thing precious and sacred beyond all things. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ But when the time came for the civilian to take up arms and supplement the professional fighting force, there fell into our hands an industrial fighting machine in the guise of a military prisoner.
We have the impression that a military prisoner is an individual whose one desire is to escape and jump at our throats; and that the safety of the nation compels us to stand over him with a bayonet and regard his every movement with suspicion. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ Yes, I do not deny that a very large number of prisoners in our midst would be glad to get back to their homeland, especially if there was no further prospect of having to face the British in the firing-line. But keep a man idle for months behind barbed wire, like an animal in a cage, and you encourage his desire to escape far more than if you diverted his mind by industrial employment. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ Was I not shot through the head and left to die? Well, this was the proper place to [126] die. But what surprised me was that the thought of dying seemed so comforting. I was so weary, and death seemed so peaceful.
I have heard people say that when a person is drowning, after the first frantic struggles are over, a delightful sensation of peacefulness comes over him, and he ceases to desire to help himself. That was how I felt at that moment. This shell-hole was my grave. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ The Southampton train was rapidly filling, and I just managed to secure a seat and take a last look round. It needed a minute before the train was due to depart. Every window was filled with soldiers, and small groups were standing round each carriage door.
Porters were hurrying backward and forward, trying to find seats for late arrivals. Women were sobbing, men were talking earnestly. Presently the shrill whistle of the guard; hurried farewells, spontaneous cheers, and the slowly moving train gradually left the station, carrying its human freight to an unknown destiny. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ Then we drew our chairs round the fire, and heating the coffee which was left over from breakfast, we bathed our thoughts in the aroma of two cigars which Cotton had thoughtfully provided for the occasion from the canteen.
Yes, people of England, living at home in luxury, by the protection of a thin line of khaki; when you become anxious at the prospect of one meatless day per week, try living for a fortnight on slops, and then appreciate the glories of a tin of tripe and onions. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ We were facing the inside of the square trench, which was a mass of shell-holes, and as though anticipating our intention, shells were bursting and bullets whistling on all sides.
How peaceful England must be at this moment; how pretty the villages! And how wicked this hell seemed in front of us! And these were the men of England—nice chaps, only Territorials.
One used to meet them in the city every day. Some were awful nuts. See them at lunch; watch them pouring out of Liverpool Street Station between 9 and 10 o'clock in the morning, with newspaper and walking-stick ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ The ship sped onward, carrying its human freight. Greater and greater grew the distance from loved ones left behind. Nearer and nearer we sped towards the unknown future.
[22] How many of those lying around, silent companions of their thoughts, were thinking the same as I?
What was the future? Horror, anxiety, success, failure, mutilation, death; which was it to be? And what a change this was to the times we had had in the past.
We were all civilian soldiers: lawyers, merchants, bankers, and tradesmen. Fighting was not our profession nor desire. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ In the orderly room he holds you from him; in the mess he pulls you to him. You have the feeling that you can sit in an armchair, with your feet on the coal-box, and talk to him round the corner of your newspaper, like the very ordinary human being he really is.
"Well, good-bye, and good luck." We shook hands, I came to the salute, and the next moment I found myself once more outside the orderly room door.
Have you ever experienced the feeling? Yes, thousands have, for the despatch of reinforcing officers to the front in this abrupt manner was taking place daily throughout the empire. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ When Saniez sang he seemed to lift himself into a different atmosphere; he was back again in France; his songs all seemed about his country and his home. He seemed to rouse himself into [163] a sudden spirit of defiance, and then his voice would grow soft and pathetic; and then slop, slop, slop, in his slippered feet, he would hurry off to a bedside to fix a bandage or administer a drink of water.
Every morning German soldiers could be heard marching past our windows, singing their national songs. We listened; Saniez would stop his work. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ My sentry groups were firing. Again the rattle of rifles, this time all along the line of sentry groups.
"Stand to!"
Every man seized his rifle and crouched in the pit he had dug and faced his front. We waited: the bombardment had stopped, and the crack of the rifles alone disturbed the night.
I drew my revolver and waited in breathless suspense for the sudden rush which seemed imminent. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ German airmen seem to make a practice of [159] waiting until a single English aeroplane appears in sight; then they ascend in a flight of five to attack, and woe betide the English airman who happens to be soaring above in a slow machine.
Deeds of pluck are common on land and sea; but the heroic combats in the air are a new sensation, with unknown terrors realised in a single gasp; and the youth of our country defy it. Yet, who is there to tell their deeds if they fall? ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ I forget his name, but he was a fine fellow, that sergeant; quite cool, and evidently pleased at his new responsibility.
So poor old Chislehirst was hit; fine fellow; very young, only about twenty; good company in the mess; reliable in the field. Just like him to give his water-bottle to some one else when he could go no farther.
Farman was my only subaltern left. Suddenly he gripped my arm and pointed into the wood:
"Look over there. Who are those fellows creeping along that trench?" ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ The idea of getting back to life after suffering so many deaths seemed very unreasonable. My sensations were those of one who had awakened to find himself buried alive. To be alive at all was cheating death, which held me firmly in its grip. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ The company on my left had disappeared; the trench just in front of me was occupied by the Boches. I had with me three runners, one of whom was helpless, and in the next shell-hole about six men, the sole survivors of my company.
Where were the supports? Anxiously I glanced back toward the wood; why did they not come?
Poor fellows, I did not know it at the time, but the hand of death had dealt with them even more heavily in the wood than it had with us.
My position was desperate. I could not retire. My orders were imperative: "You must reach your objective at any cost." ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ I gradually began to realise that another attack was taking place over my head. This time the fire was coming from both sides. A stream of bullets seemed to be pouring over the shell-hole. The meaning was obvious: a machine-gun had been placed in the trench ten yards away, and its deadly fire was pouring over the shell-hole in which we lay. Loud explosions were taking place all round us, and with each explosion the earth seemed to upheave, and I felt the thug, thug of pieces of metal striking the earth close by ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ Who are the true heroes of the war?
Our fighting men are cheered in the streets; every newspaper and magazine sings their praise; every shop-window reflects their needs; in theatre, pulpit, and workshop their praises are sung. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ The nations of the world are at war. But the armies of to-day are civilian armies, comprising men of industrial and commercial education, and the prisoners of to-day are men of commercial and industrial value.
Our adversaries have been quick to recognise this. We seem to be still imbued with the idea that the German soldier in our midst is simply a fighting machine! ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ There are many people who would say they would prefer death to blindness; but the nearer the approach of death, the greater becomes the comparison between the finality of the one and the affliction of the other. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ Such men, and you can pick them out by their looks and expression, who build an artificial wall of trouble, to shut out the natural paradise of existence; these men who juggle with the joy of life until they feel they would sooner be dead, do not know, and do not realise the meaning of the life and death with which they trifle. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ Each time we jumped into a shell-hole, we turned to watch the men leap in. Each time it seemed that a new face appeared, and the absence of those who had jumped into the last shell-hole was only too significant. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ They were not very trim just now; their hands are grimy as they clutch at their rifles, undaunted by the terrors they have already passed through and the sight of their fallen comrades left groaning in the wood. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ At 7 o'clock on the following evening motor-cars, each with two trailers, went towards the station, filled with totally disabled soldiers, en route for England.
Even their captors thought it was not worth while to keep them.
War is a monstrous machine of the devil. At one end the manhood of Britain was pouring into its fiery cauldron; and here at the other end the devil was raking out the cinders.
My story is drawing to a close.
The hospital-train, bearing its human freight, passed through Namur, Liége, Brussels, and Antwerp to the Dutch frontier. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ There seems to be only one thing to do if you are going to travel with a trunk, and that is either to paint it in rainbow colours, so that it will stand out in striking contrast to the mountainous heap of baggage thrown topsyturvy out of the wagon on arrival at a terminus. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ During the time I was at Osnabruck, there was a good commandant in charge. He was a gentleman, fair-minded, and considerate, notwithstanding the fact that he was a professional soldier of the old school.
When I speak of the old school, it leads me to express an opinion that the brutalities perpetrated upon our soldiers who fell into their hands in the early part of the war were due to professional military hatred more than to popular intention. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ I replied cautiously:
"Well, I suppose the big cities, London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, must all be full of soldiers these days."
"But what do the English people really think about the cause of the war?"
"Well," I replied evasively, "it's difficult to say, because people in England who talk, don't think; and people who think, don't talk." ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ Even the loss of God's great gift of sight ceases to become a burden or affliction in comparison [148] with the indescribable joy of life snatched from death.
There are men, and we know them by the score, who are constantly looking out on life through the darkened windows of a dissatisfied existence; whose conscience is an enemy to their own happiness; who look only on the dark side of life, made darker by their own disposition. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ It was a joyful day when my first parcels arrived in camp. I was too excited about it to eat alone that day; and I invited young Martell of the R.N.A.S. to come and dine with me in my room.
There was a tin of soup and a tin of tripe and onions, and some biscuits and cheese. What a banquet! Martell and I decided to do ourselves in style. We even went so far as to send Cotton to the canteen for two glasses of what we [220] indulgently patronised the canteen manager's humour by calling port wine. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ A few yards along this trench it emerged into the open, where it was in possession of the Germans.
Farman and I sat down, side by side, breathing heavily from our exertions.
"That was hell, Farman," I said, hardly daring to trust my voice.
"Awful!"
"I hope the men are still following."
"Those that are left."
"Have a cigarette; it will buck the men up to see us smoking."
"Thanks, I will, though I'm as dry as a bone."
[102] "Save your water; we've still got the attack to do. We've got an hour yet; that will give the men time to recover." ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Gilbert Nobbs, On the right of the British line

“ The other officers of the company were Second Lieutenant Farman, who had just received his commission in the field, Second Lieutenant Chislehirst, and Second Lieutenant Day.
They were all splendid fellows, the type you meet and take to at once; all as keen as ginger when there is serious work to be done; and when work is over are as light-hearted as schoolboys. ”

Gilbert Nobbs

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