Who is Left? Australia in the Great War

Wilhelm VI said:

Maybe we could see a map of the world how the Entente is doing ?

Click to expand...

Nope, unfortunately my screenshots were seperated from my current computer.

Then the shooting began. Turning back to the clearing, William saw how close he was. About thirty yards ahead of him the woods ended, and the clearing began. On the other side of the trees was a wide plain, and on the end of it, the Germans were dug in. They let loose a volley into the charging Australians. The first round was effective, and men all along the line fell. Some stopped to shoot back, but were pushed aside by their comrades who were still charging forward. The Germans had disrupted the charge with their first round, and it collapsed shortly after.

The men turned and fled back into the woods, and out of range of most of the German guns. The officers were able to halt the retreat at the wood line, and the soldiers began to dig once more. Limping forward, William got himself back up to the line and looked around for a familiar face. He couldn’t see one. Someone shouted, and he jumped back down to help dig the trench once more. His ankle screamed with pain as he started, but he worked past it.

A few hours later they had finished, and were tired beyond comprehension. They had been on the move for most of the day, and two failed offensives had drained them. Will was glad for some sleep, even though he was surrounded by strangers. But his rest was temporary. He awoke with a jerk the next morning. At least, he thought it was the next morning. The sky was still black, and he could only see a few feet in front of him. Someone was shaking him violently.

“Get up, we are attacking again.” The man whispered, then moved on down the line. William lurched off his sleeping bag, and struggled to wake up. An hour passed, but to Will it felt like only a few minutes. The rest of the army was up, and the sun was creeping over the horizon. He could see the German line, illuminated against the backdrop of the sun. They didn’t seem to be awake.

By the time the advance was ordered, the sun was up, and so were the Germans. Once again they moved forward, over the open terrain that made up this island’s center. This time though, they had support. A loud barking began down the line, rapidly shouting out its fire in the early morning. A machine gun spread fire at the Germans. Will, and most of the other Australians, cheered up at the sound. He would later learn that the gun was out of range, and the shots had landed uselessly in the dirt. But for now, he was inspired.

The Germans had not been passive during the night. The minor defenses of last night had been built up significantly. They were ready and willing to return what they got again. Will, ignoring the pain in his ankle, pushed forward with the unit he had run into. He didn’t know their names yet, but he was fighting beside them. And soon, they were dieing beside him.

The Germans opened up one volley at long range. It was not as effective at stopping the charge as it had been before. The Australians kept on pushing as a second machine gun opened up, this time in range. A private to William’s right went down with a yelp of pain as a bullet tore away at his leg. The line left him, as they pushed on. Bayonets gleamed in the sunlight, and a battle cry arose across the line. Soon even Will found himself joining in the shout. Then they hit the lines, and the Germans sprung their trap.

A machine gun of their own blasted open a whole in the middle of the Australian charge. William wondered later wondered how many the gun took out in those first few seconds. The battle cry was soon replaced by shouts of pain, as the entire center of the Australian attack collapsed on itself in a bloody mess of bullets and death. The two flanks continued their charge though, and William soon found himself above the German fortification.
Their trenches were lined with wooden planks, holding up impressive mounds of dirt. The drop down was a good six feet. Will paused at the top, firing a shot into the trench blindly. He dropped down, taking cover behind the pile of dirt at the top of the defenses. He grimaced as men who did not notice the lip of the trench toppled over it and fell into the German line. Their shouts of surprise turned into screams as the Germans made them pay for their mistake. Will reloaded and fire another shot blindly into the trench, not knowing its effect. He just wanted out.

Already the charge was retreating. The broken center had already left a bloody trail back to the Australian trenches, and most of the right had scattered back as well. Will slowly pushed himself off the lip and tried to move back towards his lines. As he pulled himself behind a small grassy hill on the plain, he heard the Germans begin shouting. Suddenly the trench erupted with soldiers as they climbed from their lines. Will soon found himself alone, and outnumbered.

He struggled to load another shot into his rifle as the Germans began their charge. He didn’t know what to do, but he heard them coming closer. It was all or nothing, and so he made his decision. Will jumped up and fired at the nearest German. The man was only a few feet away. His eyes went wide as he saw William leap up, and could do nothing but take the shot as it came. His chest erupted as the bullet smashed through him, and he collapsed back, dead before he landed.

Will watched his face as he fell. From surprise, to pain, to an erie calm. It was chilling. The man turned pale instantly as his lifeless eyes rolled back. Will was stunned, and forgot where he was. A shout brought him back to life, a shout in German. Will turned and received the butt of a rifle to the face. The pain was incredible, but it didn’t last long. All he remembered was watching the German club him, then things went black.

William awoke in pain. His head ached, and he couldn’t open his eye. He failed in attempting to lift his head from the pillow it rested on, and fell back with a quiet groan. He struggled to open his eyes and look at his surroundings. Something wasn’t right. He pushed himself up once again, and realized what was wrong. He could only see through one eye. Fear suddenly gripped him; he had lost an eye! He struggled violently with to remove the blanket that covered him, moaning as he swung his legs out of the bed.

He needed to find a mirror. His face felt so swollen, and he couldn’t see. He had to know what had happened. He heard a muffled voice call for something, but he could not make out what was said. He brought his hand up, fearing that he had lost his ear as well. The side of his face felt rough, and odd. It wasn’t his skin he was feeling, but something else. He looked around for a mirror, but felt dizzy once again. William began to fall back, but was caught on the way down.

“Easy you go lad.” A man said, laying him down onto the bed. Will struggled in vain to get back up. The man held him down as others approached. Will couldn’t figure out how many there were, the sounds were all so muffled.

“Well, well, our patient is up I see. Lets get those bandages off and see how your eye looks today…” another man said. Will let out a sigh of relief. It was a bandage covering his eye that was why he had been unable to open it. It would also explain the muffled sound; the bandage covered both his left eye and his ear. Slowly he felt it begin to unwrap. The sudden rush of light as he opened his eye came as a bit of a shock. The light was artificial, he was inside.

“Much better, a day or two and you will be good as new.” The second man said. Will got a better look at him now. He wore a long white coat over an unkempt uniform. He was a doctor. To his right stood a nurse, a young woman who had to be in her twenties at most. Then, to his left was the first man. He wore a long white robe, the same robe that Will noticed himself in.

“Trying to run before you can walk I see.” He said, as the doctor and nurse left to bring him fresh bandages. “Don’t imagine you could walk all that well after the beating you took, especially on a boat.” That explained the artificial lights. They must have set up a temporary hospital inside the boat once the fighting went bad. Will wondered how it was going.

“How are we doing?” He asked, his voice still weak.

“We? We are doing fine my friend, far from the battle.” The other patient said smugly. “You with your roughed up face, and me with my...” the man lifted his leg and dropped his foot beside Will. “Stab wound.” He said with a grin. “Got it on Tuesday I did, someone dropped their bayonet, and crunch, down I go. Hurt it did, but it got me out of that mess.” The man said pointing towards one of the walls.

“So, we are loosing?” Will said. Suddenly his thoughts flashed back to his fellow engineers. They must think him dead. He hadn’t seen them since the failed landing. Then something struck him as odd. “Tuesday? Did you say Tuesday?”

“Yessir. Tuesday, the 27th, in the year of our lord 1915.” The wounded man suddenly drew his foot off the bed and looked around. “I wonder when they are going to be bringing us lunch, usually they aren’t late.”

“Lunch.” Will muttered. It felt like an eternity since he had eaten.

“Yessir, hey you get to actually eat this time. Been a while, you’ve been out for at least four days. I know on account of the fact that that’s how long I’ve been here.” He looked around again. “I want my lunch, this is upsetting…” Then as an afterthought he turned back to Will. “Oh, forgive me. I’m so rude. Paul.” He said, extending his hand to shake. Will weakly lifted his arm and let Paul shake his hand.

“Boy I tell you what, this hospital food could be a lot better.” Paul said when the food finally arrived. He lifted himself up on his crutches and hobbled over to his bed, which was to Will’s right. Will rolled around, to see his left. A man lay in silence, wrapped in white bandage. He did not move, or even seem to take notice of Will. He seemed lost to the world.

“Glad you’re not that fella right?” Paul said with a laugh. He had already dug into the meal that was laid in front of him. Will turned without an answer and looked at his own food. He suddenly felt much less hungry. “Go on, eat up friend. This is much better than what they get out on the island.” Will shot him an angry look, but Paul took no notice. He was too engaged in his own meal.

Will wanted desperately to be back with his friends, to let them know he was still alive. Instead he was stuck in this hospital ship for god knows how long. With men who were either glad to be away, or unable to move. After a few days the number of people in the room grew, and Paul gave each of them the same speech. He told them of his wound, and of Will’s. He told them how he was glad to be out of the fighting, and how they should be thankful to be alive. By the end of the week a few other were joining him in the greeting. Then the man to Will’s left died.

The mood changed quickly. What was once a room full of soldiers just glad to be off the island was now a room of scarred young men. No one had noticed when or how it had happened. A nurse, taking his temperature, began to cry. Paul’s guffawing stopped suddenly, as did the fellows who hung around him. James, James and Robert, all three had clung to Paul’s philosophy, and mannerisms. But the sudden sobs of the nurse silenced all four. Another nurse asked what was wrong.

“He’s dead…” she said quietly between sobs. A few moments later men came in a removed the body from the room. From then on, the laughing was gone, the happiness as well. No more did the men of the hospital boat feel removed from death, safe from harm. Will went to sleep every night and dreamt of the man to his left.