At Dawn

By Will Hall

Narrator – Paris Ferguson

Private Edward Grace – Will Collins
Sergeant Hanley – Ethan Lake
Field Marshall Haig – Will Hall
‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’ plays

Audio dips for narration

Narrator: “The year was 1916, the height of world war one, and
to take pressure off the French at Verdun, the
British general Field Marshall Haig devised a plan
to decimate the German forces at Somme.”

Audio fades to silence

The word “fire” is heard loudly, followed by several

explosions, as of artillery fire

As the noise of the explosions fades, splashing is heard,

breathing with shouting gradually fading in

Hanley: Right! The order to push has come down from on high!
On my command, you will walk at the enemy lines, do
not run or you will be shot!

Shuffling in mud and muttering is heard

Edward: You ready, Thomas? It’s almost time. Don’t worry,

they’ve been softening Kraut up for the past week.
We’ll be fine.

The whistle is heard

Edward: stay back with me, we’re going last. I want to keep
an eye on you.

The sound of many people struggling up a muddy hill is heard

The sound of machine gunfire is heard, with shouting

2
Thomas: Shouts with pain

Edward: Thomas!

He jumps back into the trench

Hanley: Private Grace! If you do not walk at the enemy then

you will be court marshalled, found guilty and shot!

Edward: I can’t leave my brother, sir!

Hanley: It wasn’t a request you maggot, get your arse out of

that trench!

Edward: No, sir.

Machine gunfire fades away

Narrator: with that, everything changed. Edward was put into a

holding cell pending his court martial after the
battle. When it finally came three days later, it
was over in fifteen minutes.

Haig: This is a hearing into the matter off Private Edward

Grace, the charge is disobedience and cowardice in
the face of the enemy. How do you plead, Private?
Edward: Guilty of disobedience, not guilty of cowardice,
sir.
Haig: Would the prosecution please give their case.

Hanley: The private has shown on many occasions utter

disregard for authority, and a persistent belief
that his own interests are of greater importance
than obedience, discipline and...

3
Edward: Sir, with respect to the Sergeant, he appears to be
exaggerating my consistently high morale while
training...”
Haig: Private Grace! When I want your side of the story, I
shall ask for it! Go on Sergeant.
Hanley: I believe my point has been made for me, sir.
Haig: Very well, and we have already heard the Private's
story, haven't we. Private Edward Grace, I find you
guilty of disobedience during wartime and cowardice
in the face of the enemy. I sentence you to death by
firing squad two mornings from now.

Narrator: “And now here I am, honourably discharged on grounds

of injury and sent home. I'm waiting in a barn near my
family's home, as my brother is executed in some field in
France for trying to protect me. They wouldn't even let me see
him before I was shipped home. It's almost dawn, almost time
for the story of the greatest, most kind, most selfless man I
ever knew to come to an end. My father's watch slicing away
the seconds until six o'clock from its perch on my wrist.
Thirty seconds.

Drum roll

Narrator: “Tick. Tick. Tick.”

Ticking sound mixes with drumroll

Sound of many rifles firing at once. The drums and ticking

both cease

The Last Post plays

End credits