Tom stands up “let’s go and find out, eh?”

The troops get the train to Rouen.

“Well then” says Tom “wasn’t the view worth it”

“It was alright I s’pose” replies Charlie

“What’s the matter with you man? The view was fantastic”

Archie pipes up “yuh, but all those stairs? I’m worn out now”

“I don’t care” says Tom “it was worth going up the tower”

At Rouen, the soldiers get off the train and begin their long march up to Arras.

“Me legs are killing me” says Archie

“Quit complaining” Tom scolds the soldier “we’re on our way now, to the trenches. This is it lads, the war”

Once the soldiers reach their destination they begin their trench training immediately. Digging holes, rifle training and most importantly, gas mask training. That all important seven seconds.

Thursday June the seventh, orders are to get up at two-thirty in the morning. The soldiers are to wait with their guns at the ready. Tom looks across the clearing at Ed, Archie and Charlie who are all poised for anything. He can’t see Frank and Joe but he knows they are nearby somewhere.

“What time is it?” asks a young soldier who looks too young to be here.

Tom pulls his watch out of his pocket “a minute to three”

“Oh” says the young man. Young inexperienced soldiers often attach themselves to older more experienced soldiers who are known as ‘Old Sweats’, although Tom isn’t so he gives the impression he is to the lad.

“Me name’s Cecil” says the young man “Cecil Barton from Wisbech”

“Tom” comes the reply “Tom Lane…from Kilburn”

Cecil continues the conversation “I was a postman, thought I’d join up, see some action”

“Humm!” replies Tom as if put out by the young lad’s reason for joining up.

“You know” continues Cecil “I want to kill some Germans, especially after what they’ve done to our country”

Tom can see soldiers are standing around behind whatever solid object they can find. No one knows what to expect, an attack perhaps.

“Tom, what…”

“Five past three” cuts in Tom without looking at his watch.

At ten minutes past three, just as Cecil is about to ask the time again an enormous explosion is heard the ground shakes. At the same time the soldiers witness a huge flame extending into the air, over 200 metres high. At the base of the flame is a bright white light. In less than a minute, the Germans respond with a barrage of shell fire.

As the explosion dies down, a Commanding Officer shouts “get ready, prisoners will be coming in soon”.

As the sun starts to rise, the barrage continues off in the distance and although a few miles off, the noise is horrendous. Within the hour, the commotion dies down and lines of German soldiers arrive with their hands on their heads. Many look dishevelled, some are bleeding. Tom and his friend stand there ready with their guns. This is the first time either of them have seen German soldiers and the hatred wells up inside them.

“There they are Tom, the devils themselves” says Cecil

But Tom just carries on looking while the enemy soldiers are led away to the internment camp and the order comes to stand down.

June the thirtieth. News has reached the platoon what had happened that day. Apparently, an engineer force had dug tunnels underneath the German trenches and laid thousands of pounds of explosives in the tunnels. The explosion tore through the German defences sending bodies flying for hundreds of metres. Those that had survived, the men Tom had seen being marched in, were so demoralised that they just gave themselves up. Now the British are winning and Tom feels happy, he may be going home soon. He is busy moving jerry cans full of water when a formation of four planes flies overhead high in the sky.

The planes are Gotha bombers. The Germans are using a new tactic instead of the zeppelins, which are slow and inaccurate. These planes are bigger and heavier, and can carry a larger load. They are also faster and can therefore fly during the day. Tom has seen a Gotha in action before last Christmas; his heart sinks because he knows where they are going and what they can do. The planes fly over the white cliffs, over Kent and head for London. The formation splits into two, one set of two flies to South London while the other heads north.

Ellen decides this day she will go shopping in Paddington, there are some grocery stores she knows of that will have some food on their shelves for certain. She first hears the Gothas and stands wondering what they are. Luckily she is way down the street when the bomb hits the grocery store. Glass and rubble flies quite a distance across the street. From the dust staggers a woman who is coughing and spluttering. Ellen rushes to her aid as other people gather around.

She gasps “my husband and children are in there”.

Ellen tries to comfort the woman as a man comes out with a dead child in his arms, quickly followed by another man, also with a dead boy. The woman cries in anguish, a man standing close by says “damn Germans, they should all be killed”

Another man replies “that’s alright, our boys will see to them in Belgium”.

Of course, none of this helps the woman who Ellen tries desperately to comfort.

Back in Arras, Tom and his platoon are moving supplies again when a platoon of soldiers march wearily into town. They are the remains of the 8th London Regiment who Tom will be joining on the Front. The army consists of a few hundred soldiers marching past, the new soldiers knowing that this regiment should be a few thousand strong. It started of as two regiments and this is all that is left, the first and second regiments joined together to form just the 8th. Tom recognises one of the soldiers from five company of the Post Office Rifles, it was William Harvey. They greet each other.

“How are you” says Tom

“Tired, you’ll see, when you get there, you’ll see” says Bill

Tom replies “never mind that, we’ve managed to get a band together. We’re playing tonight. Are the others with you?”

Bill hangs his head “dead. All dead”

“Yeah, all of them. Dead” complains a soldier behind Bill

“This is Andy Beal” says Bill

“Pleased to meet you” says Andy sounding like he didn’t mean what he said.

“Pleasure” says Tom

Bill continues “and this chap is Harry Mansfield”

“How do?” says Harry shaking Tom’s hand