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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1979-11-07, Page 7Acres of Memory BY D.A. CAMPBELL It wasan hour before the'dawn. The second It was stili dark, but a thin streak of grey had a battalion of the Caledonian Scottish, fresh from a brief emerged in the eastern sky. They carne out of the leave in. Paris,. stood once more in the trenches, a line., burrows in .the earth and climbed up and onto the of shadows against an earthen wall. They had open ground of no man's land. Passing through the gaps which had previously been cut in the defensive barbed wire, they walked with rifles at the trail. At this point they conserved all their strength, until they would be discovered by the enemy and forced to run the gauntlet to the German positions. They did not remain undiscovered for long, A star shell lit the predawn sky. It reflected on the stagnant water in the shell holes, flashed from bayonets and revealed an extended line of dark.figures advancing across the battlefield. This was the signal for the rolling barrage. There were intermittent booms of heavy guns in the rear, the ominous whistle of shells experienced only one brief skirmish with the enemy - one mad dash across the few hundred yards of shell holes, mud and., tangled wire. They had suffered casualties - a few dead and some wounded sufficiently to be removed from the line. These were the lucky ones. Here, men .waited in quiet desperation and pondered on their fate. They held cigarettes in°cupped hands and spoke in whispers to each other, about things as far away from the present reality as.the mind could concoct.. Mostly reflections of other fields where grain reached to greet the warmth of a Tate June sun, where cattle !owed in the meadows and the smell, of which exploded ahead of the advancingmen, and fresh cut. hay was carried on the warm wind across the caused,. earth and shrapnel to be rl d in all rolling land. Some talked about the dreams they had built in Canada, which, when they returned, they had directions. Between the thunder of artipllery .and been assured, would be fit for heroes to live in. Brave somewhere to the right, came the skid of the words from politicians, spoke in the hallowed halls of government, and written by men who knew nothing about the reality of war, Patriotic journalism conveys only the glorious exploits, but the truth is felt when bagpipes. To some it was just another noise, but •to Angus it was the blood stirring call of his ancestors. He screamed at the top of his voice as if to compete with the noise of the guns. hands grasp the cold "butt of a rifle, just before the "Come on, let's go - double, dammit double!" dawn which opens the gates of hell. Men ran in that' half bent body fashion, as if to - The gaps in the ranks of the battalion were filledminimize the target they presented.. The enemy with new -young faces, who looked to their more_ opened fire with small arms and machine guns. Ahead, ' a young officer stopped and waved his, revolver in the air, urging his men forward. He paused too long and fell to the ground - the .victim of well aimed fire 'power. . Just ahead of Angus, the young lad who had spoken to him about fear, charged' onwards. From time to time he glanced back at the reassuring figure of his sergeant. Men were fallingall around, and the advancing. line the Caledonian Scottish wavered but pondering on fear. There was a needfor..,.truth, but a still pressed on. The young lad reached the enemy greater need for the only weapon against fear,,and barbed wire and became utterly confused - he had no this, Angus knew, was discipline. The sergeant from idea how to get through it. This was the limit of -the Redtrees tried to stare through the darkness at the lad young soldier's advance. Mortally wounded, his body who looked to him for leadership. fell across the wire. He was never to know how much "Ever body's scared, so they are. A man who says he helped his comrades - he was the bridge on which 'e ain't sared is either a liar or a lunatic. We just does they crossed in their final dash to the enemy trenches: what we Wave ter do we does it by the book and we Encouraged by the success'of finally reaching their `'gives it. to "em before they gives it to us." As if to objective, the Canadians resorted to a desperate soften the blow, he said sharply.hand-to-hand struggle to gain the enemy position. "You'stick by me lad, I'll show yer, so I will. There Angus fought for his life amongst the grey uniforms, `ain't no Jerry born who can beat 'a MacCrimmon!" thrusting at every figure which appeared before him. A captain came down the trench and spoke quietly, : He did not escape unscathed. A glancing, half parried to Angus thrust from a German bayonet, sliced through the "We havethe orders now, Sergeant. it is going to bottom part of . his tunic and cut into his abdomen. be a surprise attack. There will be no shelling until .'Angus brought the butt of his rifle crashing into the . we're over the top - then the artillery will put down a face of his enemy. . rolling barrage. Let's hope we can catch them with When the lightay of dcarne to the battlefield, the Caledonian Scottish were preparing to consolidate their newly won position. The captain found Angus. You spearheaded the attack, Sergeant: I've made a note of it it won't be forgotten,believe me.. Now we'd better get things organized. These prisoners scabbards and the familiar clicksof bayonets being have to go to the rear - better get the stretcher bearers. fastened to rifles. It seemed like an eternity before the out andsh. ''scuse me Sir - I'll do it, so I ill, but can yer give attack'.tt ill blast of a: whistle signalled the start of the 'me a few minutes tet' get a dress' n` on mi belly - I'm . bleedin' some!., -F; iis Ns ■ISI mu um N SIL r EN um u um g as No conditioned comrades for consolation for their fears. One such lad stood beside Angus, and seeing what appeared to be a calm and com f3osed soldier asked. "Sergeant, ain't you scared?" Angus felt a soft pity for .the boy who should perhaps still have been on the farm instead of in the trenches. His total experience had been.a few weeks foot slogging and his bayonet had been baptized,only in a sack of straw. This was, however, no time for their pants. down!" A few minutes before the appointed time of the attack, Angus told h,s men. "Pass :the word along - fix bayonets!" There was the sound of steel beiog drawn from » ra 1 1 A Management Seminar 1 I at THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION, WINGHAM on THURSDY, NOV. 22r 1979. REGISTRATION: 8:30 A.M. 111 Would you like to attend? 'If you are interested, please complete the registration coupon, and mail it along with your cheque for $30.00 per person. For further information, e : e contact: I PETE HU.. TABU 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.i r • ,:. Management Seminar, Federal Business Development. Bank, 1036 Ontario Street, Stratford 1 • 1 at tel.: 271-5650 Collect , I will attend the business management seminar on NOVEMBER 22, 1979 at WINGHAM . Address Postal Code Registration Fee of $30.00 includes luncheon 11111 IOW 101 WM NMI Mill MIN all all IMO Millv Lackuow Sentinel . Wethieedey, November 7, 1979,-14p 7 r' Noawaugsoo John Strong reportstha news, and tacks with jhe newsmaksra Monday thru Friday et 12;0D noon. (People `Cush /sOn.. uwners ofsmaller businesses... weprovZde: * Financialassistance * 1Vlanagenz ntcounselling (CASE) * Management training Information on government programs for buszne. Cann be0you See our Representative Bob Furtney at: The Bedford Hotel, Goderich ' EVERY TUESDAY on: ' Next Visit: November 13th !FEDERAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BANK (Branch Office, Address) For prior information call 271-.5'650 [collect] or write 1036 Ontario St. Stratford MANAGEMENT SERVICES FEDERAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BANK Taxation: An Introduction Case Study Income Taxes e kept to a m namumly rightfu1 • about N Is the time to fi nd.out /nIncome Calculat, . Tax Year Calculation; ela Incorporatio DivI• n Dividends. Specialist questions, on hand to answer 1