CHAPTER XXIV[ToC]
HANGING ON
"Stretcher for Captain Cory."
A cry went along the line of the trenches, and two stretcher bearers jumped up on the parapet and ran towards the Poelcapelle Road, along which Captain Cory's platoon held the trench.
A groan went up from the whole line. We all thought Cory had been hit. He was a universal favorite.
Only a few minutes before as dawn broke my officers in the front trenches came to me to report and have a cheery word. Captain "Bob" Cory, Captain Alexander, Lieutenant Barwick and Lieutenant Jones all reported and stopped for a moment's chat.
While we were at Cassel, Captain Cory had obtained leave of the general officer commanding, the blessing of his own commanding officer and the good wishes of his brother officers, and had gone to London for two short weeks and there married Miss Telfer of Collingwood, Canada. She reached England with her sister, Mrs. (Major) Porter, too late to become a bride before the regiment started for France. Captain Cory would not transfer and stay in England, so the first opportunity that came he was granted leave. Marriage had quieted him down a lot and I kept cautioning him, for the sake of the wife he had left behind, to be careful.
Barwick and Jones wanted leave to take their platoons down to the forward trenches to assist Major Osborne. Cory said that with the Turcos, and the other two platoons of the company, he could hold the trenches at the northeast angle of the village, so I consented to their leaving. It was a very brave offer, and it showed excellent spirit on their part to wish to go and participate in the defence of the peak of the salient which was considered the most dangerous part of the whole line.