Private Peaceful

Chapter 8 Fourteen Minutes Past Two

1. Tension amounts/arises at the beginning of the chapter as Tommo

concludes that ‘we were living on borrowed time’ meaning that time
was running out and they should have already died.

2. Tommo tells us that time is passing: “It tells me there are three
hours and forty-six minutes left.” What do you think this means?
Left to what? Let’s look at the clues so far –

• He’s alone
• He’s got no appetite
• There’s a mouse there with him
• It’s no good wishing for the impossible
• He’s lost his belief in God
• Time is precious

3. Notice the way in which Sergeant ‘’Horrible’’ Hanley treats Tommo:

‘You horrible little man’, ‘you nasty little worm.’

4. Tension between Hanley and the Peacefuls – Charlie defies Hanley.

4.1Reality of war –
‘Before we ever came to Etaples, all of us, including Charlie and me,
had had an easy ride, a gentle enough baptism into the life of
soldiering.’
 ‘The boots they gave us were stiff and far too big – they hadn’t got
any smaller sizes.’

4.2 Camaraderie (a spirit of familiarity and trust existing between

friends) notice the terms of affection which are used to describe
Tommo’s friends – simple rustic folk. They are not murderers but
people who used to lead a usual life in the countryside:

‘how to make believe we were soldiers’ – notice the term make

believe – they are still young and inexperienced: sarcasm – ‘We
learnt how to wear our khaki costumes’ – metaphor standing for
uniforms –

5. Training vs Experiencing the real thing

6. Lack of privacy = uniformity
‘No matter what the officers and NCOs told us of the hardships and
dangers of trench warfare, we still all believed we were simply in
some kind of rehearsal, actors in costume. We had to play our part,
dress our part, but in the end it would only be a play.’

7. Reality sinks in when Tommo and the rest land in France.

8. There is little physical detail in his description of Etaples…what
he concentrates on is: -
• What people are doing – notice the repetition of the verbs
• The noise of the place
9. Tension between Sergeant Hanley and Charlie – Hanley picks
on Tommo on purpose to instigate Charlie’s anger. Charlie is
crucified due to insubordination.
 Chapter 9: A Minute Past Three

As the troops march into Belgium they are encouraged to sing.

Singing was good for the morale and the songs of World War
One have been well documented. Sometimes they had their
own tunes but sometimes they were well known tunes set to
different words. Often instead of cheery marching tunes they
made wry comments on what the average British soldier
(Tommy) was experiencing.

‘I want to go home’

I want to go home; I want to go home.

I don’t want to go in the trenches no more,
Where whizzbangs and shrapnel they whistle
And roar.
Take me over the sea, where the Alleyman (Allemand –
German) can’t get at me.
Oh my, I don’t want to die, I want to go home.

I want to go home, I want to go home.

I don’t want to visit la Belle France no more,
For oh the Jack Johnsons1 they make such a roar.
Take me over the sea, where the snipers they can’t get at me.
Oh my, I don’t want to die, I want to go home.

1
Heavy shell/bomb ( form a boxer of the same name)
Life in the trenches –
The daily routine for the men in the trenches was for the most part
miserable. It was much like going camping, but with no opportunity
to go home to clean up and relax.One of the biggest problems facing
the men was the mud. Mud was everywhere including clothes, food
and weapons. Muddy water also became a serious enemy to the
soldier.
‘the trench, when we reached it, was half-full of mud and water. We
set to work to try and drain it. Our efforts were hampered by the fact
that the French, who had first occupied it, had buried their dead in
the bottom and sides. Every stroke of the pick encountered a body.
The smell was awful.’
Private Pillard – Memoirs

Men were required to stand guard in water that gathered at the

bottom of their trenches as deep as their knees or higher. This led
to many men developing condition called trench foot. This condition
caused the foot to swell up. You would also lose all feeling in your
foot. The most painful aspect of trench foot came when the swelling
started to go down.

If you have never had trench feet described to you, I will tell you.
Your feet swell to two or three times their normal size and go
completely dead. You could stick a bayonet into them and not feel
a thing.
If you are fortunate enough not to lose your feet and the swelling
begins to go down. It is then that the intolerable, indescribable
agony begins. I have heard men cry and even scream with the pain
and many had to have their feet and legs amputated.

As well as mud there were rats.

‘I saw some rats running from under the dead men’s greatcoats,
enormous rats, fat with human flesh. My heart pounded as we edged
towards one of the bodies. His helmet had rolled off. The man
displayed a grimacing face, stripped of flesh; the skull bare, the eyes
devoured and from the yawning mouth leapt a rat.’’
Report of patrol in no man’s land

‘They call God by the same name’ – meaning that humans

are connected – why should they kill each other?
And
‘Funny that,’ Nipper said when he had gone. ‘Seeing him
standing there with not a stitch on. Take off our uniforms
and you can hardly tell the difference, can you? Not a bad
bloke for a Fritz, that is.’

‘I didn’t even know his name, yet, after that night cowering
in the shell hole with him, I felt somehow I knew him
better than I’d ever known Little Les.’’

Solidarity with Wilkie, everyone pitches in his efforts to help Wilkie.

Appreciation on his part – he hands down his watch to Charlie.