I’m crouching and almost frozen,
Know idea what to bloody do,
The Sergeant said, listen for my signal,
And follow my every cue.

The noise was deafening, horrific,
Nothing like I’ve ever known,
And the whistling of artillery shells,
Just chilled me to the bone.

I prayed to god that my Sergeant,
Would get me on this phone,
And my thought of panic was ill founded,
That I haven’t been left alone.

Four frightened hours on my own,
No signals and no cue,
The panic of hearing foreign small fire,
What the hell am I to do?

Sit tight and do not dare to move,
Without a clear signal from me,
Was the last thing my Sergeant said?
But now it’s up to me.

I disobeyed more out of fear,
The order that he gave,
To move without his signal,
That this trench would be my grave.

I raised myself in godly fear,
My Sergeant’s direction I would head,
Running a mile better than Bannister,
And hoping my leader wasn’t dead.

Smoke dust, noise, fear and stench,
Somehow a miracle got me through,
The bullets, shells and mayhem,
Just things a soldier had to do.

The Sergeants’ trench was collapsed,
I risked life and limb for mate,
But nobody needed saving at all,
They’d already met their fate.

At home they said you’re our hero,
You were so brave right to the end,
But I never did anything for any one,
Except the Sergeant, who was my friend?