# XIV: The Last Time Over the Top explained — A Yankee in the Trenches

> Chapter companion for A Yankee in the Trenches by Robert Derby Holmes.

## What happens

The narrator describes his final assault, a chaotic and disastrous charge into overwhelming machine-gun fire. He is wounded, evacuated through a series of medical stations, and finally shipped to England, experiencing a profound sense of relief and homecoming.

## Themes in this chapter

### Horrors and Absurdity of War

The chapter vividly describes the chaos, machine-gun fire, and the narrator's mental anguish during the hopeless charge.

### Comradeship and Camaraderie

The narrator's bond with Mr. Blofeld, Smith, and other soldiers is highlighted through shared suffering and mutual aid.

### Survival and Daily Life

The narrator's focus on his mascot, the search for cover, and the mundane details of tea, rum, and fags amidst the horror.

### Dehumanization and Brutality

The narrator's fetish worship of his mascot and the sheer brutality of the attack illustrate the dehumanizing stress of war.

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator

Leads the charge after officers are killed, is wounded, and evacuated to England.

### Mr. Blofeld

Killed by an explosive bullet; the narrator mourns him as a friend and ideal officer.

### Captain Green

Wounded early in the attack and dies a few days later at Rouen.

### Smith

Helps the narrator after he is wounded, despite having a bullet through his own thigh.

### Corporal Collins

Wounded with an arm clean off, shares a shell hole with the narrator and Smith.

### Dinky

The narrator's mascot, to whom he prays during the attack.

### The Germans

Depicted as packed on the fire step with machine guns, and later as wounded prisoners aboard the hospital ship.

### Blighty

The destination of the wounded; the narrator rejoices at seeing the coast of England.

## Key lines

> I was actually praying—to my mascot. I realize that this was plain, unadulterated, heathenish fetish worship, but it shows what a man reverts to in the barbaric stress of war.

The narrator admits to praying to his mascot, acknowledging it as primitive idolatry but a sign of how war reduces men to superstition.

_Highlights the psychological regression caused by combat._

> Never shall I forget that wonderful morning when I looked out and saw again the coast of England, hazy under the mists of dawn. It looked like the promised land.

The narrator recalls the profound joy of seeing England's coast, which felt like a paradise after the horrors of war.

_Emphasizes the emotional relief of returning home._

> It was Friday the thirteenth. And don’t let anybody dare say that date is unlucky. For it brought me back to the best thing that can gladden the eyes of a broken Tommy. Blighty! Blighty!! Blighty!!!

The narrator declares that Friday the 13th, traditionally unlucky, was actually lucky because it brought him back to England.

_Shows the narrator's ironic reversal of superstition in the context of survival._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_yankee_in_the_trenches_se/chapters/xiv-the-last-time-over-the-top
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_yankee_in_the_trenches_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_yankee_in_the_trenches_se/chapters