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battle of arras
British military band playing in a town square in
Arras, 30
th
April 1917.
Trench repartee
Despite the fear and the turmoil, in the midst of the fighting there
were moments of black humour. Commanding 1/6
th
Gordons at Arras was
the Hon William Fraser, a regular officer with high standards, who
asked a Battalion runner from the front line where he had come from,
only to receive the answer, “Aberdeen”. With the battle raging, the
conversation became more surreal.
“No, no, where do you come from now?”
“Yonder,” replied the runner.
“Well,” said the Colonel, “what’s happening yonder?”
“Well, a Boche officer comes up to us and says surrender.”
“Well?”
“We told him, to hell with surrender.”
“Where’s the officer now?”
“Yonder.”
“What’s he doing yonder?”
“Doing?” said the runner. “Doing? He’s deid.”