We go up to the front two days earlier than usual. On the way we pass a shelled school-house. Stacked up against its longer side is a high double wall of yellow, unpolished, brand-new coffins. They still smell of resin, and pine, and the forest. There are at least a hundred. “That’s a good preparation for the offensive,” says Müller astonished. “They’re for us,” growls Detering. “Don’t talk rot,” says Kat to him angrily. “You be thankful if you get so much as a coffin,” grins Tjaden, “they’ll slip you a waterproof sheet for your old Aunt Sally of a carcase.” The others jest too, unpleasant
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They prepare more for the dead than the live soldier-- to the public, they only see how you treat the dead, and the public image is the most important. You can blame a soldier's death on someone else (namely, on the enemy), so you can ignore them however you like when they're alive. The point being: maybe if they spent all themoney they used on coffins to help the soldiers still alive, it would be more meaningful.
