It was a sunny day in August 1917. From where he lay, Tom Mansfield could see part of the sandbagged parapet of the frontline trench and, beyond, tufts of grass on no man’s land. The midday meal had just been served out and he could smell onions and stew above the scent of wood smoke from the company cooker. Here, the day was unusually quiet, but from ten miles north he could hear the endless rumble of artillery from the Ypres salient. From not far away, a bird he took to be a lark was trilling its way upwards. Tom…
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