Jack Thomas Counter ["Tales of the V.C."], item 2

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Early in the morning of the 16th of April 1918, near BOISLEUX ST MARC, the Germans attacked the 1st Battalion of the  Kings LiverpoolRegiment. Machine guns and rifle pelted death into their rankes, as they crossed No Man´s Land,  but nothing could stay that  missingtide that flowed slowly over the broken ground, and poured at last into the British trenches.

Here and there a post held out, like some sullen rock, surrounded by a sea of enemies. so it was with no 9 platoon of 'B Company. With Germans in front of  them and on each side of them  they battled on, fighting grimly, hoping that help would come to them. They could send no news of their desperate plight back along the sunken road that climbed the ridge behind them, for every inch of it was swept by German machine Guns.


at 9.30, no 7, the reserve platoon of B company, had marched up to the support trenches that ran along the  crest  of the hills,  250  yards  behind .  two hours later the company commander ssent word to the offiver in charge of the 7 platoon, bidding him at all costs to get in touch with no 0 platoon, and to find out whether they still held their ground astride the sunken road.

So from the support tranches went out 6 men and an N.C.O, and began that perilous journey along the sunken road. No sooner had they shown themselves above the crest than they were a target for enemy machine gun in the German lines. The N.C.O. was killed, one man was wounded and the others could go no further for the storm of lead that beat down  between those steep banks.

Then one man went out alone and gambled with death upon the sunken road. and he died. A second followed him, and he, too, feel, as the first man had fallen, when he came to the crest of the ridge. but as is the habit of the British soldier, a third man volunteered to sacrifice himself, then a fourth and a fifth; but the Germans saw them, and they all died the on the sunken road, beneath the eyes of their comrades.

Five men had gone out, and five men had died, but there was still another man who was not afraid to go the way that his comrades had gone. This was  PT  Jack Thomas Counter, a soldier who was not yet 19 years old.

It was then two o'clock.

The Germans caught sight of him as he came over the ridge.  PT  Counter saw




Transcription saved

 

Early in the morning of the 16th of April 1918, near BOISLEUX ST MARC, the Germans attacked the 1st Battalion of the  Kings LiverpoolRegiment. Machine guns and rifle pelted death into their rankes, as they crossed No Man´s Land,  but nothing could stay that  missingtide that flowed slowly over the broken ground, and poured at last into the British trenches.

Here and there a post held out, like some sullen rock, surrounded by a sea of enemies. so it was with no 9 platoon of 'B Company. With Germans in front of  them and on each side of them  they battled on, fighting grimly, hoping that help would come to them. They could send no news of their desperate plight back along the sunken road that climbed the ridge behind them, for every inch of it was swept by German machine Guns.


at 9.30, no 7, the reserve platoon of B company, had marched up to the support trenches that ran along the  crest  of the hills,  250  yards  behind .  two hours later the company commander ssent word to the offiver in charge of the 7 platoon, bidding him at all costs to get in touch with no 0 platoon, and to find out whether they still held their ground astride the sunken road.

So from the support tranches went out 6 men and an N.C.O, and began that perilous journey along the sunken road. No sooner had they shown themselves above the crest than they were a target for enemy machine gun in the German lines. The N.C.O. was killed, one man was wounded and the others could go no further for the storm of lead that beat down  between those steep banks.

Then one man went out alone and gambled with death upon the sunken road. and he died. A second followed him, and he, too, feel, as the first man had fallen, when he came to the crest of the ridge. but as is the habit of the British soldier, a third man volunteered to sacrifice himself, then a fourth and a fifth; but the Germans saw them, and they all died the on the sunken road, beneath the eyes of their comrades.

Five men had gone out, and five men had died, but there was still another man who was not afraid to go the way that his comrades had gone. This was  PT  Jack Thomas Counter, a soldier who was not yet 19 years old.

It was then two o'clock.

The Germans caught sight of him as he came over the ridge.  PT  Counter saw





Transcription history
  • May 29, 2017 15:12:49 Sjaak Fonville

     

    Early in the morning of the 16th of April 1918, near BOISLEUX ST MARC, the Germans attacked the 1st Battalion of the  Kings LiverpoolRegiment. Machine guns and rifle pelted death into their rankes, as they crossed No Man´s Land,  but nothing could stay that  missingtide that flowed slowly over the broken ground, and poured at last into the British trenches.

    Here and there a post held out, like some sullen rock, surrounded by a sea of enemies. so it was with no 9 platoon of 'B Company. With Germans in front of  them and on each side of them  they battled on, fighting grimly, hoping that help would come to them. They could send no news of their desperate plight back along the sunken road that climbed the ridge behind them, for every inch of it was swept by German machine Guns.


    at 9.30, no 7, the reserve platoon of B company, had marched up to the support trenches that ran along the  crest  of the hills,  250  yards  behind .  two hours later the company commander ssent word to the offiver in charge of the 7 platoon, bidding him at all costs to get in touch with no 0 platoon, and to find out whether they still held their ground astride the sunken road.

    So from the support tranches went out 6 men and an N.C.O, and began that perilous journey along the sunken road. No sooner had they shown themselves above the crest than they were a target for enemy machine gun in the German lines. The N.C.O. was killed, one man was wounded and the others could go no further for the storm of lead that beat down  between those steep banks.

    Then one man went out alone and gambled with death upon the sunken road. and he died. A second followed him, and he, too, feel, as the first man had fallen, when he came to the crest of the ridge. but as is the habit of the British soldier, a third man volunteered to sacrifice himself, then a fourth and a fifth; but the Germans saw them, and they all died the on the sunken road, beneath the eyes of their comrades.

    Five men had gone out, and five men had died, but there was still another man who was not afraid to go the way that his comrades had gone. This was  PT  Jack Thomas Counter, a soldier who was not yet 19 years old.

    It was then two o'clock.

    The Germans caught sight of him as he came over the ridge.  PT  Counter saw





  • May 29, 2017 14:53:24 Sjaak Fonville

     

    Early in the morning of the 16th of April 1918, near BOISLEUX ST MARC, the Germans attacked the 1st Battalion of the  Kings LiverpoolRegiment. Machine guns and rifle pelted death into their rankes, as they crossed No Man´s Land,  but nothing could stay that  missingtide that flowed slowly over the broken ground, and poured at last into the British trenches.

    Here and there a post held out, like some sullen rock, surrounded by a sea of enemies. so it was with no 9 platoon of 'B Company. With Germans in front of  them and on each side of them  they battled on, fighting grimly, hoping that help would come to them. They could send no news of their desperate plight back along the sunken road that climbed the ridge behind them, for every inch of it was swept by German machine Guns.


    at 9.30, no 7, the reserve platoon of B company, had marched up to the support trenches that ran along the  crest  of the hills,  250  yards  behind .  two hours later the company commander ssent word to the offiver in charge of the 7 platoon, bidding him at all costs to get in touch with no 0 platoon, and to find out whether they still held their ground astride the sunken road.

    So from the support tranches went out 6 men and an N.C.O, and began that perilous journey along the sunken road. No sooner had they shown themselves above the crest than they were a target for enemy machine gun in the German lines. The N.C.O. was killed, one man was wounded and the others could go no further for the storm of lead that beat down  between those steep banks.

    Then one man went out alone and gambled with death upon the sunken road. and he died. A second followed him, and he, too, feel, as the first man had fallen, when he came to the crest of the ridge. but as is the habit of the British soldier, a third man volunteered to sacrifice himself, then a fourth and a fifth; but the Germans saw them, and they all died the on the sunken road, beneath the eyes of their comrades.

    Five men had gone out, and five men had died, but there was still another man who was not afraid to go the way that his comrades had gone. This was  PT  Jack Thomas  Counter , a soldier who was not yet 19 years old.

    It was then two o'clock.

    The Germans caught sight of him as he came over the ridge.  PT  Counter saw





  • May 29, 2017 14:37:06 Sjaak Fonville

     

    Early in the morning of the 16th of April 1918, near BOISLEUX ST MARC, the Germans attacked the 1st Battalion of the  Kings LiverpoolRegiment. Machine guns and rifle pelted death into their rankes, as they crossed No Man´s Land,  but nothing could stay that  missingtide that flowed slowly over the broken ground, and poured at last into the British trenches.

    Here and there a post held out, like some sullen rock, surrounded by a sea of enemies. so it was with no 9 platoon of 'B Company. With Germans in front of  them and on each side of them  they battled on, fighting grimly, hoping that help would come to them. They could send no news of their desperate plight back along the sunken road that climbed the ridge behind them, for every inch of it was swept by German machine Guns.


    at 9.30, no 7, the reserve platoon of B company, had




  • May 29, 2017 14:26:43 Sjaak Fonville

     

    Early in the morning of the 16th of April 1918, near BOISLEUX ST MARC, the Germans attacked the 1st Battalion of the  Kiups  Duivenpoot Regiment.

     

     Machine guns and rifle spelled death into their rankes, as they crossed No Man´s Land,  that nothing could stay that  



  • May 29, 2017 14:09:07 Sjaak Fonville

    Early in the morning of the 16th of April 1918, near BOISLEUX ST MARC, the Germans attacked the 1st Battalion of the  Kiups  Duivenpoot Regiment.

     Machine guns and rifle spelled death into their rankes, as they crossed No Man´s Land,  that nothing could stay that  



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    Boisleux St Marc

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5416 / 60108
Source
http://europeana1914-1918.eu/...
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Jeremy Arter
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
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  1. The items four and five are transcripts of both this text and the handwriting on item 3. Item 4 interpreted some details of the handwriting of the piece that I tried to decipher. I have taken the liberty of relying upon item 4 to transcribe the sentence “250 yards behind.” In the original piece there is a tiny drawing between the word hills and the start of the next sentence. This drawing seems to represent a hill, the numbers 250 are written on the lift slope of the hill. Given the fact that the writer is an Englishman, the additive “yards” is, to my way of thinking, sensible and essential to understand the text.
    The info that goes with the word ‘them’, this word is added to the original letter, with distinctively other colour then the rest of the handwriting. This is also the case with the sentence: “of men which” .
    The last point that needs attention is the abbreviation PT. In Item 4 the text says private. PT and private basically mean the same, however, in my opinion it is unnecessary to replace the quite common abbreviation with the word private.