The adventures of an ensign, Valentine Williams

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by Valentine Williams · 1883–1946

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The adventures of an ensign by Valentine Williams is a novel written in the early 20th century. It follows a young Guards subaltern—referred to as “our Ensign”—through his first experiences of World War I, from departure at Waterloo Station and the Channel crossing to training at the Guards’ Base, service in the Ypres Salient, and movement toward the Somme, blending camaraderie, routine duty, and the stark reality of trench warfare. The opening of this novel traces the Ensign’s journey from London to France in the summer of the Somme offensive, his wait at the Guards’ Base with vast parade-ground training and bayonet lectures, and his first baptism of shellfire on arrival in Belgium. Separated from his friend “The Lad,” he joins No. 2 Company, learns ration runs and night moves, sleeps in dug-outs, and witnesses his first casualties. Rotating into reserve, he discovers the double-company mess, long night fatigues of wiring and parapet work, and occasional patrols, before the unit marches south through French villages to an orchard encampment overseen by a kindly local baron, with river baths, church parades, and even a royal visit. Sent at last to the Somme front, the company’s task is to “clean up” shattered trenches—wiring, repairing, burying the dead, salvaging equipment—culminating in an eerie walk through an abandoned, corpse-strewn line, after which they withdraw to rest in a forest camp.

Summary generated automatically by Project Gutenberg.

Read time
241 min
Words
52,947
Chapters
20
Paragraphs
857
Price
Free
  • Somme, 1st Battle of the, France, 1916
  • World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, British
The adventures of an ensign

“Four Minnies into No. 1 Company, sir,” he said, putting down the receiver and addressing the Commanding Officer; “Barnard thinks he’d like some retaliation.

«Cuatro Minnies para la Compañía nº 1, señor», dijo, colgando el auricular y dirigiéndose al Oficial Comandante; «Barnard cree que le gustaría alguna venganza.

Shall I ask for it?”

¿Debería pedirla?»

The Commanding Officer nodded and offered the Transport Officer and our Ensign a drink.

El Oficial Comandante asintió y ofreció una bebida al Oficial de Transporte y a nuestro Alféipe.

Then he told our Ensign that he would be attached to No. 2--Peter’s company,--the latter was commanding in the absence of the regular company commander who was on leave.

Luego le dijo a nuestro Alféipe que sería adscrito a la nº 2, la compañía de Peter, quien mandaba en ausencia del comandante regular de la compañía, que estaba de permiso.

The company was at present in support in trenches close at hand.

La compañía estaba actualmente en apoyo en trincheras cercanas.

The battalion was coming out of the line the next night.

El batallón saldría de la línea la noche siguiente.

Then they talked of the general situation, the advance on the Somme, the situation in the Salient, what the Russians were doing, whether the Rumanians would come in.

Luego hablaron de la situación general, el avance en el Somme, la situación en el Saliente, lo que estaban haciendo los rusos, si los rumanos entrarían en guerra.

Finally, our Ensign took his leave, and the Transport Officer escorted him along the trench to a small and extremely evil-smelling dug-out,

Finalmente, nuestro Alféipe se despidió, y el Oficial de Transporte lo acompañó a lo largo de la trinchera hasta un pequeño refugio de olor extremadamente malo,

where they found a Grenadier subaltern working out chess-problems on a travelling chess-board, by the light of a candle stuck in its own grease on the table.

donde encontraron a un subalterno Grenadier resolviendo problemas de ajedrez en un tablero de ajedrez portátil, a la luz de una vela clavada en su propia grasa sobre la mesa.

He explained to the Transport Officer that he was in command of two platoons left behind to help with the carrying work at night.

Explicó al Oficial de Transporte que estaba al mando de dos pelotones dejados atrás para ayudar con el trabajo de carga por la noche.

That night our Ensign slept in a low narrow hole, scraped out of the parados of the trench.

Esa noche nuestro Alféipe durmió en un agujero estrecho y bajo, excavado en el parados de la trinchera.

On turning in, he found that his servant, whom he had brought up with him from the Base, had spread the dug-out with nice clean sandbags.

Al acostarse, encontró que su sirviente, a quien había traído desde la Base, había cubierto el refugio con sacos de arena limpios y agradables.

With his haversack for a pillow, and his rain-coat spread over him as a wrap, the new-comer, who had never spent a night out of bed in his life before, slept solidly for eight hours.

Con su alforja como almohada y su impermeable extendido sobre él como manta, el recién llegado, que nunca había pasado una noche fuera de la cama en su vida, durmió profundamente durante ocho horas.

When he awoke the trenches were flooded with sunshine, and a most comfortable smell of hot bacon stole across the clear morning air.

Cuando despertó, las trincheras estaban inundadas de sol, y un olor muy cómodo de tocino caliente se filtraba a través del aire matutino claro.

About the author

Valentine Williams1883–1946

George Valentine Williams (1883–1946) was a British journalist and writer of popular fiction.

The Valentine Williams page, and where to start →

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Book details

Original language
English
Translation
Spanish, machine translation
Source text
Project Gutenberg #78078
Licence
Public domain worldwide

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