Kalmon says his father never spoke about the war, but did tell him and other family members one or two stories.
One of those stories was how he survived being accused of cowardice whilst in the trenches in France.
David and his battalion were ready with fixed bayonets to be called to go over the top. Along the trenches there were small ladders to help the men to climb up and out, but there were never enough for everybody. As David was one of the last to be called by his sergeant to go over, there were no ladders available, so men were having to clamber up the side of the muddy trench. David was so small, that he couldn’t even see over the top, and when he got the order to go, he couldn’t physically haul himself out of the trench. His sergeant repeatedly told him to go, even getting his gun out and pointing it at him, and David kept saying that he simply couldn’t do it.
Meanwhile the Officer was watching this unfold, and called David into his office. Despite having his gun out ready to shoot him, the Officer was convinced by David’s story that he was too short to clamber out of the trench without a ladder. As a result, the Officer said ‘you won’t be much use to us out there then’, and made him his batman. This was a privileged position in comparison to being an ordinary private, as the Officer’s orderly/batman got first food rations etc.
This is how David managed to survive the war where so many that had been in his position, including his brother Barnett, had been killed.