10
The artillery barrage began before dawn, just as the drums woke the men.
“I hate these bloody drums,” Parnell said. “If this war ever ends, I’m going to buy myself a military drum and hang it on my wall.”
“Why?” Butler asked.
“Because every day, I will pass that bloody thing and hit it as hard as I can, to get even for all the times it wakened me at some God-forsaken hour in the morning.”
“Get ready, lads!” Kennedy shouted. “Sergeant MacKim, ensure every man has forty rounds of ammunition and his quota of bread. Fill your water bottles, boys, for God only knows when we’ll see fresh water again.”
MacKim checked every man, inspecting their flints and spare flints, ensuring they had a bayonet and hatchet—and that they had water, not spirits, in their canteens.
“All ready, sir,” MacK
