SOLDIERING AND AFTER.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 June 1917, Page 6

SOLDIERING AND AFTER.

SNORKY OF THE INFANTRY. (By C. G. Nicol in Auckland Bferald.) Snorky was a healthy city hoy of two and tventy, more or less educated, more or less dogmatic, and quite a good fellow. H,e was the pride of an indulgent mother, and he could take afternoon tea gracefully, which is an achievement, When the war broke out he took exactly one day to become Snorky of the Infantry. To do anything else never occurred to' him. The training camp was a trial to him. He was the pride of ar« indulgent specimen he had thought he was. The hard, unrelenting drill and exercises, to say nothing of the fatigues, found out his flabby places. He discovered that playing tennis was one thing and humping a pack and rifle for miles and miles on boots that would not bend puite another. He ached, and his soul groaned within him, and he became doubly anxious to leave his eternal grind and get off to the fighting. Snorky found himself in a tent of strangers whom he didn't understand. They "ragged" eternally, and he didn't like "ragging" or being "ragged." He had to shave while a couple of his mates continued an eternal struggle to see who could "push the other's nose into the ground." It was so silly and rude this barrack and horse-play, he thought. After the troops had sailed and Snorky had ceased to feel miserable over his mother's farewell tears, a change began to come over him. The homo atmosphere of sheltered comfort was left behind, and for the first time in his life he felt thrown upon his own resources. This changed his outlook, and he made fast progresi towards becoming one of the rollickjng, ragging soldiers. He lost his old feeling of superiority towards his non-coms., and he became a smart, keen soldier, quick to grasp things and quick to obey. In Egypt he was "dressed and drilled and frizzled and grilled and peppered and salted until he was done to a turn." He didn't know, what fine physical specimen he had become'. Concerning life, he made some amazing discoveries, and,he marvelled that such things should be. When at last his regiment sailed for actual war Snorky was immensely elated, .like all his comrades. He felt a thrill, which he 'had not felt since, as a young ster, when he saw the South African contingent depart THE TIME OF TESTING. Snorky lived through the Landing and made good. Not having any standards to judge by, he didn't realise that he had helped to make history. It was his first introduction to danger and death, and the first time he had given a thought to his tenure of life. At first toe couldn't think much, for his mind was numbed at the death of many of those ragging comrades whom he had grown to love as brothers. His days were strenuous and hard, with death lurking at every turn, and it took him some time to grasp the reality of it all. Unconsciously, he became a fatalist, which is a good philosophy for a soldier who has any imagination. If it a safety valve in times of extreme stress. He agreed with the others that if he was "booked he was booked," and that his life was his until the particular missile meant for him came along. They were wont to say that they would not be "pushing up the daisies until their name was carved on >a bullet." And so they struggled and laughed and endured. Slowly the weeks dragged and Snorky's bullet was still to come. He was now a very different being from the boy of two-and-twenty who had enlisted. He had seen into the very heart of things. Death and pain, war's grim realities, disappointed hopes and chances lost, had removed from his eyes the film placed there toy many generations of ease and comfort. He had learned the great lesson in unselfishness and sacrifice. Life for Snorky had now developed into one long test of endurance, physical endurance, mental endurance, endurance of heart and soul. He had found out where lay his strength and where his weakness, and he doggedly did his duty without thought of what the morrow might hold for himi, sometimes prajying that ha would never be found wanting. Then a change came over ' Snorky. Slowly at first, but surely and inevitably, this dread spectre bone down "i" 1 ' him, and a great fear possessed him—the fear of toeing afraid. He didn't know why, and he didn't dare to ponder it. But there it/Was, like some evil spirit dogging his footsteps and casting a shadow in his path. Sometimes he would make it fly with his old fatalistic laugh, but always it came back to torment him. He didn't know that the strain was at last telling on his nerves which had begun to play him false. He might have been able to shake off the trouble if he could have had 9 rest away from the .firing-line, but such rests did not occur in this particular war zone. So he grew worse, and he suffered tenfold, because he did nob know what was affecting him. He dreaded the approach of the •long nights, with their watches and and he sometimes wished the end would come. One day he got his wound, a severe one, but not mortal, and Snorky was carried away. He was not in a fit state to analyse his feelings, but he was conscious of a sense of great relief at» getting away from the scene of the nightmare of the previous weeks. He also felt pleased that ho had managed to "stick it out" without the dread of feai being translated into a disgrace. NERVES. Snorky spent some months in hospital, where they patched him up as well as they could and sent him home as a piece of wastage. When he readied the bosom of his over-joyed family his wounds had quite healed, though he walked with a stick, and everybody seemed to think that his weakness was only physical. It did not fnttr their heads that Snorky's big frame might hold nerves that had to he gripped and gripped hard, nerves that sometimes made him scared on a train, and made him wonder if something was going to snap in his head. So he was rushed around and fed on things that didn't agree with him, and given the company which he had begun to hate. His indulgent mother asked her friends to come and see him, his fond sisters took him from one social spree to another, and his father invited in some of his friends really to show oil' his long-suffering son, but ostensibly to hear about the war. Snorky did his best to bo agreeable, and lie tried to feel charitable towards his well-meaning, tormentors. But he was on the losing side from the start. His temper became uncertain, and he said harsh things-which he immediately regretted, and which *""4» ,hU. indulgent Blether .wonder whej

had taken possession of her boy He decided that his only tope to pull himself together was in the country. He got a land-for-soldiers' section, away at the back of beyond. He didn't care how Jar it was away, as long as he got openair and peace, and no patcrnllv-minded Government official suggested to him Mat a bush section was not suitable for a lame man with nerves. And there bnorky is now, '-building Britain's greatness oer the foam." ills health is still :ndiffen.nt. The solitude and isolation are as baa for his nerves as, the clatter of the city. He" sometimes wonders if the land is a reward or a penalty for going to war. and then the old soldier spirit comes'back, arid he laughs a fatalistic laugh. What does he care what happens? Ho expected no reward, and has got none, and he decides to stickit out on the 'bush' section. Improved convenient land, lie knows, is for' those who stay at 'home.