Act III
Scene i
The soldiers receive confirmation that the raid is still going ahead, with the stipulation that a German soldier must be captured. Osborne discusses fear of death with Stanhope, and asks him to look after some of his possessions and send them to his wife if he does not come back after the raid.
Raleigh and Osborne then talk about their respective homes before going over the top- Lyndhurst and The New Forest.
Preparations are made, and the order to go over the top is made. During the ensuing conflict, a young German soldier is captured- although Osborne dies. Stanhope reacts with anger and sarcasm to the Colonel’s concern over the success of the mission.
Conflict then erupts between Stanhope and Raleigh when Raleigh sits on Osborne’s bed.
Scene ii
Scene ii begins with a conversation between Trotter, Stanhope and Hibbert on women.Stanhope becomes furious when Hibbert takes a joke too far- suddenly Stanhope pulls rank, ordering Hibbert to bed. Stanhope also becomes angry at Raleigh who did not eat with the men that night but preferred to eat with men below his rank- which Raleigh claims is because of his concern for Osborne’s unrecovered corpse. Stanhope becomes angry because he believes he feels more for Osborne’s death. Stanhope then claims that his drinking problem is associated with Osborne’s death, before telling Raleigh to leave.
Scene iii
The final scene of the play centers on a German attack on the Dugout, which the Sergeant Major tells Stanhope they should expect. When the order arrives, Hibbert is hugely reluctant to leave the trenches.
Stanhope receives a message informing him that Raleigh has been paralyzed by a shell. After having Raleigh brought to his dugout, Stanhope comforts him while he lies in bed. Raleigh asks for a blanket and a candle, and by the time Stanhope returns he is dead. Stanhope is then called away by an urgent message, and after he has exited, a mortar hits the dugout and it caves in on Raleigh’s corpse.
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