No. 30
We were recently looking into the subject of British POWs when we came across the book No Heroes No Cowards and the oral history tapes made by Hawtin Mundy. On May 3, 1917, he sheltered alone in a shell hole beyond the second German line after a successful attack by the 5th Ox and Bucks Light Infantry near Arras. He then made a terrible mistake: “Not 200 yards away I saw a German walking about! I slid my rifle over the side of the shell hole, took aim and down he went. It was some time before I dared put my head up, then I was blowed if I didn’t see another German. I couldn’t miss, and down he went. A machine gun opened up – they’d been waiting to see where my first shot had come from – and dirt flew up in front of me, but I was just low enough. I was scratching like hell to chuck more dirt up in front of me.
Those two had been stretcher bearers coming out to pick up their wounded. Now there’s a blasted dirty trick – I hate myself for doing it.”
Mundy saw a line of Germans approaching, so darted back to the former German positions behind him:
“I jumped headfirst into this trench.
When I looked round there were four British officers and three privates. I heard one officer say, ‘What are we go…
