A Long Long Way

Word spreads that Willie Redmond, who was fighting in the war, has died. Father Buckley grieves openly about the news, and one day, Willie offers the priest his condolences. Father Buckley wishes that Willie Redmond could have seen northern and southern Irishmen celebrating victory together at Wytschaete.

In August 1917, rains pour down in Ypres, making soldiers miserable. After days of being in reserve, Willie’s company marches toward the front lines for an attack on Langemarck. Along the way, bombs fall around them, and dismembered body parts of dead soldiers and horses litter the muddy roads. Willie tries not to think about such gruesome sights. He can’t imagine trying to describe what war is like to Dolly.

During the march, Willie jokes with Timmy Weekes that Dostoevsky would be frightened by their current circumstances. Then Willie, Timmy, and Joe Kielty wonder if battles portrayed in novels are like real battles. Willie says they must be different, because there are victors in stories, whereas so many men die in real-life war that nobody seems to win. Willie’s happiness drains away, and his head throbs.

Willie’s company arrives at a series of ditches. For two days, the men work to improve the trenches in the pouring rain without fresh water or food rations. While bullets fly overhead and bombshells explode, Willie’s despair grows. On the third day, men of the 16th and 36th Divisions once more lead an attack. The soldiers advance across a field so muddy that it’s a struggle to move forward. A great number of soldiers fall, dead or wounded. Willie, Christy Moran, Joe Kielty, and Timmy Weekes successfully reach the allotted line and stop. A second wave of soldiers arrives behind them to push on to Langemarck, but countless German troops are waiting to oppose them.

Suddenly, Willie sees Father Buckley burying a corpse out in the open. Willie calls out to the priest, but Christy Moran tells him to shut up. The soldiers who led the attack are officially relieved, and Willie and his fellow soldiers turn back the way they came. By the following day, casualties have risen terribly high, and yet the battalions’ orders are to keep up the attack. One soldier informs Willie that Father Buckley died when he was hit with shrapnel in the aid post.

After the attack, Major Stokes visits the soldiers in the trenches near Langemarck. He approaches Willie in particular to make sure there are no “hard feelings” between them. Surprised, Willie answers no. Major Stokes thanks Willie for his forgiveness, although Willie can’t tell if he’s being sincere or not.

For the next 15 days, Willie’s company is left to the pouring rain and muddy trenches. The soldiers feel forgotten and abandoned by their own officers. They receive no food or water rations. Finally, Christy Moran tells Willie that he can go home on furlough. Willie rejoices gratefully. Before he leaves, Christy gives him his own medal, insisting that Willie has earned it. Christy hopes the medal, which is decorated with a harp and a crown, will help keep Willie safe.