III
Mentioned as a dead boy seen by the narrator, kneeling on the fire-step of a trench as if in prayer, symbolizing the loss of young soldiers.
IV
A pale young subaltern leading a body of men under shrapnel fire, who asks for advice and is told to put his men in a ditch.
XI
The soldier who, after drinking and suffering the horrors of the Ypres salient, attempts to assault a girl and is arrested.
XII
The condemned soldier, described as a 'damned coward' who could not endure shell-fire, is led away manacled.
XIII
A man shot for cowardice, initially sullen and silent, who refused prayers and claimed to have no relatives, but later sang hymns with the chaplain, including 'God Save the King,' before his execution.
XIV
A young Wiltshire lad with apple-cheeked face and blue-gray eyes, suffering from severe shell-shock, shaking and slobbering.
Part II: The School of Courage
A sensitive young soldier who expresses deep disillusionment, describing the loss of excitement, the sense of being under a spell, and questioning the purpose of the war.
The New Army Arrives
A Sussex volunteer from Burpham, homesick and fearful, who whispers about possibly never seeing his village again.
IV
A boy in Ypres asks the narrator, 'What's patriotism?' with hard scorn in his voice.
V
A boy from Fleet Street who served as a cobbler in Dickebusch village.
VI
A gloomy young soldier who expresses despair about the conditions and the mines.
VII
A young cobbler friend from Fleet Street is mentioned as crouching low in Dickebusch, expecting death.
VIII
A young sentry from Kitchener's crowd who admits to having the 'jimjams' and seeing Germans in the dark.
IX
A young Irish officer commanding the garrison at Hooge, described as handsome but melancholy, who takes a brief respite before returning to the front, expecting to be killed.
X
A timid soldier initially shrinking from killing, but after being forced to kill a prisoner, became a man-eating tiger for German blood.
XI
A young Guardsman is embraced by an old lady upon returning from the trenches, causing him embarrassment.
XVI
A new soldier who naively thinks a sergeant's concern is kindness, unaware he is the subject of a betting pool.
XVII
Refers to the young officers attending the course, who later face death in battle.
The Endless War
A sensitive young soldier who reveals his bitterness about the length of the war, the loss of excitement, and his existential questions about its purpose.
II
Two young brothers of an old family, Grenadiers, play cricket in the garden, appearing as schoolboys yet aware of life's brevity; one is killed, the other maimed.
Béthune: The Black Country Capital
Referenced as 'boys' who are starved of love and seek counterfeit affection from prostitutes, paying with their bodies and souls.
VIII
A young London officer of nineteen shouts 'Give 'em hell!' during the assault.
The Price of Victory at Loos
A young Londoner so badly wounded that only his eyes are visible between bandages, glazed with death.
XIII
Boys among the troops who were cursing and weeping in the chaos.
III
Refers to the young soldiers suffering from trench-foot, carried pick-a-back to dressing stations.
Christmas in the Trenches, 1915
A girlish-looking Yorkshire lad in the front-line trench, who flushes at the mention of home and is chaffed by his comrades about Christmas.
VIII
A Yorkshire soldier who climbs into the German trench and later lies across the parapet as a German officer passes.
XIII
A young French lieutenant named Edouard, with a delicate Latin face, reports losing men daily and expresses despair: 'It is not good at all, at all!'
XV
A wounded soldier with a smashed hand cries but then shows resilience, saying he is lucky to be alive.
XVI
The young chaplain who waited through the night for survivors, providing tea, rum, and comfort, and was deeply moved by their return.
XVII
A young gunner officer, formerly a Fleet Street journalist, who cheerfully describes targeting a German pumping-party and later suffers shell-shock.
XVIII
A young officer who 'chanced his luck' to check on a damaged trench section, returning covered in blood but unwounded.
The Heart of a City
Young officers and soldiers, fresh from the Somme, reveal their shattered nerves and fear of death in the hotel garden.
XI
A young British officer who gets drunk in Amiens, loses his colonel's horse, and reveals his fear and trauma from the front. The narrator helps him and lets him sleep in his room.
XV
A young subaltern in the Coldstream Guards, a promising poet, who behaves childishly and expresses fear of war and death.
XVI
Referred to as 'boys who had revealed their souls' in the garden, representing the young soldiers under strain.
Part VI: Psychology on the Somme
The soldier-artist, a normal man, expresses fear of death, contrasting with the officer's exaltation.
VII
A wounded boy soldier stops the narrator, saying 'A bit of luck! I'm off, after eighteen months of it.'
The Butcher's Shop of Corbie
A young soldier with gas gangrene, sitting up in bed and smiling at the nurse, but expected to die before the next day.
XIII
A young surgeon from Barts' who imitates animals and a general, roaring like a lion under the mess table.
VI
A young officer sentenced to death for cowardice, blindfolded with a gas-mask, and shot twice by the A.P.M. after the firing party missed.
V
Young soldiers are described as being blown to bits, representing the doomed youth.
VIII
Implied as the gentle boys whose nature was perverted by training.
