My regiment was in action on the Marne on September 20, 1914. We had
been hammering, and had been hammered at, for some hours, until there
were very few of us left, and those few, being almost all of them
wounded or short of ammunition, were eventually captured and taken
behind the German lines.
As we passed their trenches we saw a great number of German wounded
lying about.
One of our lads, a reservist, who was a billiards marker in Stepney,
although badly wounded, could not resist a gibe at a German officer.
"Strewth, Old Sausage and Mash," he cried, "your blokes may be good at
the cannon game, but we can beat yer at pottin' the blinkin' red. Look
at yer perishin' number board" (meaning the German killed and wounded).
And with a sniff of contempt he struggled after his mates into
captivity.--_T. C. Rainbird (late Pte., 1st West Yorks), 41 Cavalry
Crescent, Eastbourne, Sussex._