Memoirs of an Infantry Officer by Siegfried Sassoon -- Summary

The following is a summary of chapters 1-5.

Chapter 1

The narrator George Sherston is sorry to be leaving the Marais (France, probably) with his battalion. The narrator is an English officer of rather high rank. They move to Morlancourt. The morning after they arrive they receive the plan for their battle that week. George and Durley go investigate the front line in preparation for some fighting the next day. They note how the countryside has changed because of the war.

The day of fighting arrives but the attack is postponed 48 hours. No one is sure why. George feels empty about the upcoming battle. They settle into New Trench. He is thinking about England and supposes that it is for home that he is at war. George is informed that gaps in the wire have to be widened to let their battalion pass through from the trenches quickly to attack. He and eight men set off after midnight to cut wire after artillery fire had slackened a little. It is not entirely over however and two men are wounded. They work for hours but hardly make any progress on the fences. When daylight comes they have to go back in the trenches.

The next day the C Company moves into battle positions. George is determined to have another go at the wires (why? Didn't they leave the trenches…? Will they need them again?). He widens the gaps properly but later realizes he would have helped save more lives at headquarters helping to plan the course of the battle. George receives a Military Cross medal of which he is very proud.

Due to a mistake, the men left at the wrong hour to attack and were "badly cut up" (killed?) by the artillery support which was supposed to have helped them.

Chapter 2

On July 1 during breakfast their trench gets bombarded. They are not too concerned until some shells land on the roof of their dugout. Burton and George act as the lookouts of the battle and must observe it and report. George attaches his time-stamped observations of the battle:

The men approach the German front line. There is a lot of gunfire. Runners and ammunition parties go across. Retaliation abets. Groups of twenty and thirty of his men continue approaching the line. "Manchesters" attack at 2:30. There are about forty casualties, and some wounded. Manchesters take Sunken Road Trench, and the rest of the objectives are achieved. Prisoners are taken. 

Chapter 3

The next day the Division leaves the trenches and joins the battalion. They feel pretty satisfied because they did well in the battle. They are glad to be resting. At the end of the day they get orders to dig a trench near Mametz. On the way there, at night, they see the British dead. They move on toward the old German front line and see three day old dead- "the horrors of war". They move slowly, lingering on dead bodies and tools that could be collected. 

They move through a wood which they were told by HQ were unoccupied. However, they began to be shot at. George feels nervous and incompetent, and realizes that a few scouts sent ahead would have saved dozens of lives. They arrive at their camping ground in the morning. That night they have to attack again. As the bombardment begins Kendle, of whom George is fond, and George make their way to HQ. On their way they meet a new officer who doesn’t know which way the Germans are. Everyone at HQ doses off until a runner announces that George's men were to go fight. A second runner rescinded this message but George decides to go on anyway, with Kendle, to Quadrangle Trench.

George goes to investigate what happened. He observes a lot of weapon fire and chaos and arrives at the conclusion that they should deepen the trench. He orders everyone to do so. He feels sorry for a young handsome German soldier whose body is lying around. He goes to explore the length of their trench with Kendle, Fernby and a few others. They are filled with a sense of adventure and Kendle decides to shoot a German. He lifts his head out of the trench and is shot in the head. George is determined to get revenge on the sniper. He extracts the pin from two grenades and approaches the German trench. To his great surprise there are tons of Germans in it. The Germans, unaware that it was just two men attacking, retreat from the trench. Fernby covers George's advance with a gun. Thus George has captured a German trench, which is valuable because their own men can clearly be seen from it. After exploring the trench and its surroundings he runs back to the English trench. He encounters more dead and dying soldiers. He is filled with fatigue- and helplessness-driven rage and a desire to kill.

George is summoned by HQ, expecting to be congratulated on his trench performance. Instead he is berated for not returning to HQ with his soldiers like he had been ordered.

In the evening they are relieved by a battalion of new, inexperienced soldiers. They seem to George like children. 

Chapter 4

The men are given a brief holiday at Heilly. They are enjoying the lack of battles. Some are writing letters, and others were reading. George is inclined toward small talk. He daydreams of home.

Chapter 5

They leave Heilly. The troops are rather refreshed and optimistic. George is on reserve during the Battle of Bazentin Ridge. Durley and George have an afternoon off so they find used ammunition and blow up some old German trenches. The deserted battlefields make the war seem an irrelevant memory.

George meets Cromlech, a good friend from the Second Battalion which is bivouacked near George's. He has only recently come to France and he brings news from England. They are reluctant to discuss battles. They feel it may be the last time they see one another. They talk about the things they will do after the war.

George hears some fellows talking about Cromlech. He was liked by some and disliked by others. Some officers find him too clever and cheeky. He always offers his unsolicited opinion. Durley remarks that Cromlech has a bright future if he survives the war.

 George is afraid of being sent to battle. He ponders the futility of war, how doomed everyone seems. He pictures his friends as dead. He is glad that if he can't save his friends he can at least share in their pains. He feels a great affection for his friends and tranquil in the face of the war, though he cannot find a purpose for the war.

Time passes slowly. He feels hopeless and helpless.

The division is to be relieved the next day. George busies himself putting up tents. The soldiers return from battle, wounded and tired and almost ghostlike.  He feels as though he saw the war as "it might be envisioned by the mind of some epic poet a hundred years hence".

Siegfried Sassoon