Mad Jack (Scene 9) Poem by John Fenton Mcleish

mad jack
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scene 9
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Siegfried has arrived at the front line.The horrors which he saw in the reserve lines, pales into insignificance compared to what he will expeience here.
The stench is unbearable.Rotten corpses still lie in no mans land.The trenches themselves, are filled with mud and sewerage from the overflowing latrines.Every minute or so, a german artillary shell explodes.This only augments the confusion, inducing panic.(psychological warfare)
Strecher bearers are continually running up and down the trench.The men, quite often, have to step on the bodies of dead soldiers, squashing their corpses further down into the mud.
A half man lies in mud at the bottom of the trench.His lower torso has been blown away.Huge rats, the size of cats, gnaw on his intestines.Siegfried leans against the side of the trench and vomits.
The front line soldiers only represent a small portion of the total army.Most of the troops are at the rear.Stores, warehouses, supplies, engineering, medical corps etc.
The infantry, usually only spend about four or five days at the front per month.The rest of their time is spent at the rear on light duties.
At night every fourth man stands guard in case of attack.Sleep is nearly impossible in these conditions, and after a few days, the men are totally exhausted.
Siegfried spends the night assisting the medics and wounded, and at first light heads off in search of his battalion.
As siegfried stumbles through this maze of death, a soldier standing guard outside of a dugout calls to him, 'Captain sassoon? '
Siegfried, too exhausted to speak, just nods.The guard pulls the canvas sheet, covering the entrance, aside and ushers siegfried down the steps.
The dugout is only as big as a prison cell, but there are four beds and lots of conveniances.Blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, whiskey and rum.
The enlisted men have nothing.They sleep with the rotting corpses and rats.
The orderly had prepared siegfrieds bunk and left a letter on his pillow.The other officers are sleeping.Siegfried sits on his bunk and reads his mail.
Hamo, his brother, has been killed fighting the turks.He passes out from exhaustion.Siegfried sleeps for two days, he is delerious.
Eventually, the medics arrive.They place some ammonia salts under his nose and he sits up immediately.
They check his vitals, pulse etc.
The medic turns to the other officers, 'He's overexhausted, make sure he eats.He should recover in a couple of days.
Siegfried sits quietly for a moment, eventually his memories return.He looks at the letter sitting on his bedside table, 'Hamo', he speaks to himself.He rests his head back on the pillow and falls back to sleep.
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// this poem may contain copying errors