Mud, Cold and Terror

 

cover by H. C. Murphy

I've now written often enough about J.D. Newsom's Foriegn Legion stories, I wish I'd given these posts a clever series name. 

A few months ago, I declared Newsom's 1935 tale "Grenades for the Colonel" my favorite. But now I may change my mind. "Mud," published in the December 30, 1925 issue of Adventure, is fantastic.

Most of Newsom's Legion stories are set in North Africa, though at least one  ("Soldiers of Misfortune") shifted its setting to Southeast Asia for the second half of that story. "Mud," though, is set in the trenches during the Great War.

Two privates, Withers (British) and Curialo (American) are serving in the trenches, a cold, rat-infested environment in which you are ALWAYS knee deep in mud. Their sergeant--a martinet named Verbuken--orders them to move out into No Man's Land during the night and repair some gaps in the barbed wire. While at this job, they spot a German crawling towards them. They jump the guy, knock him out and bring him back. Unfortunately for the two privates, the "German" they captured turns out to be Sgt. Verbukon.

This opening sequence sets up the tone of the story. There is humor here--the fight with Verbokun includes some near-slapstick elements in which Withers getting his ear snagged on barbed wire and then accidentally slams Curialo several times with a mallet while trying to knock out the "German." 

But there is still the sense of danger--the terror inherent in being out in the pitch-black night and not knowing from when and where the enemy might come--and the constant cold, sticky, thick presence of mud everywhere.

The next morning, the two privates are sent back under guard for court martial. Along the way, a sudden artillery barrage kills their escort and the two are suddenly facing a German breakthrough. From here, the humor drops off (though never completely disappears) as Withers and Curialo find themselves in a bombed-out village, using a machine gun and hand grenades to hold off the Germans. When night falls, after a French counter attack fails, they decide to sneak back to their lines. Along the way, they meet (of course) Sgt. Verbokun. The three have to ditch their clothes to swim a canal. This leaves them near-helpless from freezing while there are still Germans they have to bypass to get to safety.

Newsom's vivid prose puts us right at the side of the Legionaries. Here are some prime examples of that prose:

It was unreal and fantom-like, a ghostly imitation of maneuvers carried out a hundred times on the burning sands of the Sidi Bel Abbes parade ground. It had gone on since the beginning of time and would go on forever — the noise and the rush of the bullets and the staggering impact of shells, and the race across upheaved ground where dead men lay with their heads thrown back in muddy pools, or curled up as if they slept and were cold, or flung out spread-eagled and gutted, grinning at the sky where the black shrapnel burst.

and

From their point of vantage Curialo and Withers saw a fresh counter attack start from the wood on the hill crest and reach the calvary, where it withered and was blown away by machine gun fire. Another fine followed on the heels of the first, and a third came close behind. At one point they reached the houses, broke through, swarmed down the street. For a minute they were everywhere, running swiftly and throwing bombs with the splendid poise of Greek gods, and dying in ungainly, squirming lumps on manure heaps in stinking yards.

and

Bayonet in hand Curialo staggered along the road neither knowing nor caring whether he went up it or down it so long as he got somewhere, either among Germans who would be good enough to kill him, or among his own people who would put him to bed. In either case he would get a long rest. The others followed close at his heels. Whenever they heard the warning scream of a shell they broke into a shambling run.

"Mud"  is an intense, vivid war story--one of the best I've ever read. Withers and Curialo are wonderful protagonists--in fact, Newsome used them in several stories, both before and after "Mud.". You can read "Mud" for yourself HERE.