Passchendaele Page #5

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- You're engaged?

- That's the whole reason he joined up.

'Cause my father has his 'ways'

and David had to prove himself.

- Is that why Dunne signed him up?

- You mean that Sergeant?

God, no.

He had nothing to do with it.

I- I don't understand.

He wasn't going to sign David up

come hell or high water.

I had to get my father to write

this medical thing saying.

- So it wasn't Sergeant Dunne?

- No.

It was the other one.

The British one.

Oh, my God!

I'm sorry, I... I don't...

What have you done?

What do you mean?

Your father doesn't want

David to come home.

He wants him to stay over there

with a white cross to mark his spot...

- ... for the rest of time.

- What are you saying?

"Dearest Sarah,

I'm not sure if you'll get this.

"I don't know if I'm only good

at painting these pictures,

"but I am trying.

In this picture there is a river

"and there is a horse

and there is a man sitting that horse,

"and all these things

are in the Foothills...

"And when this man

closes his eyes

"he can see a woman kissing him

"as like as to smother him.

"And this man knows

that kings may die

"and countries may crumble,

but if people look close enough,

"they just might,

as I have, Sarah,

"they just might find

something to believe in.

"I have to go now,

but before I do,

"remember that rule:

don't die. "

Hia!

Go on.

Hia! Hia!

Let him go!

Let him go!

Wait up!

Okay, sound off!

- What's in the bag, Lieutenant?

- In a minute. Sound off!

Johnson.

- Mann.

- McRea.

Here we go!

A little gift from the C.O.

A "Last Supper" kind of thing.

Let's get yourselves

together, gentlemen!

Get that bird plucked.

I need to check in with H.Q.

Ah, what is this?

Nice form. Had practice with that?

Just around the house.

You want me to give you

a hand with that?

For the last goddamned time:

I don't need your help.

Hey, MPs.

The RSM's with them.

Form up!

McRea!

H.Q.

Private McRea, sir.

Last time I met you,

your name was Michael Dunne.

April 22nd, Kitchener's Wood.

820 men went in;

174 came out.

Lieutenant Hanson,

Second Field Artillery.

Immediate response.

We were getting mauled,

Major Bingham.

Dunne here had a bullet

in his thigh.

Crawled across a field of corpses

to get us support.

Should have been a V.C.

Unacceptable.

I want a 'yes' within the hour.

- Mr. Watchman.

- Sir.

You mind having that conversation

with Lt. Maxwell?

- Outside, if you could?

- Yes, sir.

Major,

you want to step forward?

Turns out you falsified

some records.

Somewhat aggressively,

according to Dobson-Hughes here.

And he wants your head,

so... what do I do?

- You have to turn him in, Col.

- I wasn't asking you, Major.

What do I do with you,

Dunne?

I suppose he's right, sir.

Alright, then.

That's what I'll do.

But I'm not going to turn you in

to the military police.

I'm going to turn you

into a platoon leader.

And you will hold your tongue,

Major.

Maxwell will come back

to H.Q. with us and Dunne.

You're going to take over

'Number 2' platoon.

This party we call Passchendaele...

...started three months ago,

but it's been raining ever since,

...so the battlefield's

like a bowl of stew.

And the whole thing's stalled,

so the job of breaking out...

...falls to the only outfit in this entire

circus that seems capable...

...of getting anything done,

and that's us,

...the Canadian Corps.

You know they got a name for us?

The enemy?

They call us 'storm troopers. '

Major Bingham?

The assault has two thrusts.

On the right,

brigades from 2nd Division...

...will clear the village

of Passchendaele.

On the left, the Little Black Devils...

...and the 7th Battalion,

with us in support,

...will attack along

the Mosselmarkt-Meetcheele Road.

This is the assault front;

this is our support line;

...and this is battalion headquarters.

And we have three objectives:

Venture Farm,

Vindictive Crossroads...

...and Hill 52.

That's where we stop and dig in.

These are your battle orders.

You got any questions?

- No, sir.

- Well, I got one.

You were free and clear

of this freak show.

Why'd you come back?

For love, sir.

- That's a sorry bastard reason.

- Good luck, Dunne.

With respect, sir,

I feel compelled to lodge

a formal complaint!

This is no time

for personal vendettas, Major.

In case you haven't noticed,

we're neck deep in hell...

...and Currie's projecting

16,000 casualties.

The General's never

wrong so I need soldiers.

Now I'm not sure

I count you as one.

But I'm going to keep you close.

It might improve your chances.

I bow to your superior

judgment, sir.

Not sure

what I should say to the men.

- You know, sir, I didn't ask for this.

- I know.

It's funny, though.

You come all this way...

You got a light?

Aah!

We need a stretcher bearer here!

- I need a doctor!

- We all need a doctor.

Here.

Put him down here, soldier.

Oh, my God.

We have to take his jacket off.

What are you doing here?

It's what I'm good at.

And where else was I going to go?

Anywhere but here, Sarah.

Jesus.

I volunteered out of Regina.

Royster helped me.

How'd you get here?

It took me a month

to catch up to you.

It's okay. You'll be fine.

- How's David?

- Okay. He's with me.

- We're keeping our heads down.

- Oh God...

They're going to make you leave.

My shift is over soon.

Okay. Picadilly and King's Cross.

I'll meet you there.

You can go now, soldier.

Clear the truck!

We've got enough for everyone here!

Make way! Coming through!

- Fall in!

- Yes, sir!

- Are you worried?

- Yeah.

Don't be.

We're just a support company.

We won't even see action.

What about David?

If I could get you to him I would;

it's not safe past here.

But I promise you this:

I will bring your brother home.

Look what I made you

come back to.

It wasn't you, Sarah.

I was going to end up back here

one way or another.

All companies A through F,

battle muster, we're heading in!

Men, fall in!

I have to go.

Can you give this to David?

And remember the rule.

You're gonna see me again.

- All right, this is it.

- This is what?

- This is our trench.

- Where?

- Right here.

- Here?

String out.

Tudor, Crader, let's go!

Oh!

- Sh*t. You got any matches?

- I gave them all to you.

- What?

- I gave them all to you.

Yeah, but don't you have

like a reserve?

Well, they're reserve matches.

- Those will do.

- Okay.

Uh, they're wet too, though.

I just don't understand

you can say you don't like Sudbury...

...when you've never

even been there.

I don't have to go there.

I'm a Skin. Skins just know.

F*** you and the stolen horse

you rode in on.

Oh! Goddamnit!

F***!

- This is insane!

- Yeah.

It's what you signed up for.

No. Sir.

Wrong.

I signed up to kill Germans.

No, you didn't.

You signed up to kill your father.

Hey, I've been carrying this around

since Calgary.

Your sister wanted me

to give it to you.

What the hell's wrong with me?

I haven't even written her.

And my own sister?

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