Our Casualty, and Other Stories 1918

In a leafy suburb where genteel villas line manicured gardens, a group of retired gentlemen and their neighbours form the Ballyhaine Veterans’ Corps, a makeshift militia that takes its duties far more seriously than the town’s polite social calendar. Led by the seasoned but slightly out‑of‑date Captain Haines and buoyed by the enthusiastic, albeit self‑contradictory, Cotter, the men swap bridge tables for trench‑digging drills, trading talk of sweet peas for plans to defend the three‑mile beach against a possible German landing.

The story captures the community’s good‑natured scramble to turn domestic life into wartime preparation. When the local doctor Tompkins persuades the skeptical women to join an ambulance brigade, the whole town finds itself juggling garden parties, rain‑soaked night drills, and the occasional bout of colds, all while maintaining a stiff upper lip. The humor and camaraderie of this improvised militia paint a vivid portrait of civilian resolve on the home front.