Free Zero Hour by Leon Davidson Page B

the
    best of times…I did 3 hours work laying wire at night, and had the rest of the 24 hours to myself… We also had splendid tucker.
    EGGS AND CHIPS
    Moving to and from the trenches was often very dangerous. The German artillery had the approaches and the communication trenches well marked, so the men were relieved at night for safety. Two or three hours’ walk would bring them to their billets, often in farms, and still within shelling range. ‘ Madames ’ ran the billets, as well as the farms, while their husbands and sons were at the front. Unlike the officers, who got clean sheets, and breakfast at a kitchen table, the troops slept on straw, crowded into barns that stank of compost and manure.
    At nearby villages like Armentières and Fleurbaix, the soldiers crowded into estaminets —cafes or bars—where madames and unmarried mademoiselles sold them coffee, wine, beer and eggs and chips. One tree-sheltered courtyard converted into a cafe was given the nickname ‘Spy Farm’ because it was only one kilometre from the front. The men flirted with the mademoiselles and joked about romance, but were always given the same answer: ‘ Apres la guerre’ —after the war. For many, these were the only women they saw or spoke to for weeks on end. Sergeant Cecil Malthus came to view one mademoiselle and her mother as his best friends.

    A Maori soldier buying cakes from a local woman.
Alexander Turnbull Library G- 12755-1/2
    THE CRUCIFIX
    It was strange for the soldiers: one moment they were ducking from Parapet Joe, the next they were drinking watered-down beer, laughing, singing and briefly forgetting the war. The closeness of the estaminets to the front-line caused problems. At the beginning of the war, the humiliation of being sent home for misconduct was deterrent enough, but this threat wore thin after months at the front. Men went missing, fought, stole or turned to drink. New Zealander Sergeant John Russell drank to dull the memory of a raid he’d led:
    The yells were really pitiful and haunted me for some weeks…those blood curdling yells for which I was responsible, they made me feel most depressed for a long time.
    At first, persistent troublemakers among the Australians and New Zealanders were sent to Field Punishment centres to do military training all day, often at a run. More serious offenders got Field Punishment No. 1—nicknamed ‘the crucifix’—although the Australian commanders used it less. Early in the war soldiers were tied, spread-eagled, to a gun wheel for several hours a day over three days. Later on, they were tied to a pole. New Zealander Private Douglas Stark, considered a ‘problem soldier’, was tied to a wagon wheel in hot weather but still managed to raise his head to abuse any passing officer. Once, when a group of Australians tried to untie a man enduring Field Punishment No. 1, the major in charge threatened to machine-gun them down. At other times, rescuers were more successful.
    In France, as in Egypt, the Australian soldiers quickly gained a reputation as larrikins with little respect for authority. They often refused to salute officers they didn’t respect and had the highest rate of desertion among all the Allied troops. The Australian commanders responded with harsh prison sentences of up to 15 years long, but for some men this was a relief from the trenches. Small groups of Australian soldiers, often deserters, ran illegal gambling dens and looted, even using guns to resist arrest. Some Australian officers wanted the right to execute their soldiers, but the government, which wanted to introduce conscription, was afraid that people would oppose it if they knew there was a possibility the conscripts could be executed.
    The New Zealand Army, under Major General Russell, on the other hand, did have the authority to execute soldiers, and Russell was prepared to do so, especially after an increase in disruptive