CHAPTER X
We have dropped in for a good job. Eight of us have to guard a village that has been abandoned because it is being shelled too heavily.
In particular we have to watch the supply dump as that is not yet empty. We are supposed to provision ourselves from the same store. We are just the right people for that;—Kat, Albert, Müller, Tjaden, Detering, our whole gang is there. Haie is dead, though. But we are mighty lucky all the same, all the other squads have had more casualties than we have.
We select, as a dug-out, a reinforced concrete cellar into which steps lead down from above. The entrance is protected by a separate concrete wall.
Now we develop an immense industry. This is an opportunity not only to stretch one’s legs, but to stretch one’s soul also. We make the best use of such opportunities. The war is too desperate to allow us to be sentimental for long. That is only possible so
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