PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS.
LINE OF RETREAT AND ADVANCE
FOOTNOTES:[1]This was written before the days of the "Submarine Blockade."[2]This was written in the middle of October.[3]We became bored with the song, and dropped it soon after for less printable songs.[4]The word used in Flanders for a tavern that does not aspire to the dignity of "restaurant" or "hotel."[5]The Bavai-Andregnies-Elouges road.[6]I had no map with me. All the maps were in use. Looking afterwards at the map which I obtained later in the day, I am unable to trace my route with any accuracy. It is certain that the Germans temporarily thrust in a wedge between the 13th and 15th Brigades.[7]A small patrol of cavalry, I should imagine, if the tale I heard at Serches be true.[8]I do not know who the officer was, and I give the story as I wrote it in a letter home—for what it is worth.[9]It must have been Guiscard.[10]August 29th.[11]Stray bullets that, fired too high, miss their mark, and occasionally hit men well behind the actual firing line.[12]Forêt de Crécy.[13]I do not pretend for a moment that all these details are meticulously accurate. They are what I knew or thought I knew at the time this was written.[14]Curiously enough, months after this was written the author was wounded by shrapnel.[15]The first—in October and November.[16]This is not an unthinking advertisement. After despatch riding from August 16 to February 18 my judgment should be worth something. I am firmly convinced that if the Government could have provided all despatch riders with Blackburnes, the percentage—at all times small—of messages undelivered owing to mechanical breakdowns or the badness of the roads would have been reduced to zero. I have no interest in the Blackburne Company beyond a sincere admiration of the machine it produces.[17]The letters were written on the 14th Octoberet seq.The censor was kind.[18]Dorsets, I think.[19]I do not say this paragraph is true. It is what I thought on 15th October 1914. The weather was depressing.[20]Optimist![21]After nine months at the Front—six and a half months as a despatch rider and two and a half months as a cyclist officer—I have decided that the English language has no superlative sufficient to describe our infantry.[22]Here are kindly people.[23]French, Flemish, and German slang expression. Done for![24]An abbreviation for the general in command of the Divisional Artillery.[25]The soldier's contemptuous expression for the inhabitants of the civilian world.[26]I retired with some haste from Flanders the night after the Germans first began to use gas. Militant chemistry may have altered the British soldier's convictions.[27]I have left out the usual monotonous epithet. Any soldier can supply it.[28]To these may now be added—St Eloi, Hill 60, the Second Battle of Ypres.[29]I cannot remember the name of the restaurant. Go to the north-east corner of the Square and turn down a lane to your right. It is the fourth or fifth house on your right. In Béthune there is also, of course, the big hotel where generals lunch. If you find the company of generals a little trying go to the flapper's restaurant.[30]Company Quartermaster-Sergeant, now a Sergeant-Major.
[1]This was written before the days of the "Submarine Blockade."
[1]This was written before the days of the "Submarine Blockade."
[2]This was written in the middle of October.
[2]This was written in the middle of October.
[3]We became bored with the song, and dropped it soon after for less printable songs.
[3]We became bored with the song, and dropped it soon after for less printable songs.
[4]The word used in Flanders for a tavern that does not aspire to the dignity of "restaurant" or "hotel."
[4]The word used in Flanders for a tavern that does not aspire to the dignity of "restaurant" or "hotel."
[5]The Bavai-Andregnies-Elouges road.
[5]The Bavai-Andregnies-Elouges road.
[6]I had no map with me. All the maps were in use. Looking afterwards at the map which I obtained later in the day, I am unable to trace my route with any accuracy. It is certain that the Germans temporarily thrust in a wedge between the 13th and 15th Brigades.
[6]I had no map with me. All the maps were in use. Looking afterwards at the map which I obtained later in the day, I am unable to trace my route with any accuracy. It is certain that the Germans temporarily thrust in a wedge between the 13th and 15th Brigades.
[7]A small patrol of cavalry, I should imagine, if the tale I heard at Serches be true.
[7]A small patrol of cavalry, I should imagine, if the tale I heard at Serches be true.
[8]I do not know who the officer was, and I give the story as I wrote it in a letter home—for what it is worth.
[8]I do not know who the officer was, and I give the story as I wrote it in a letter home—for what it is worth.
[9]It must have been Guiscard.
[9]It must have been Guiscard.
[10]August 29th.
[10]August 29th.
[11]Stray bullets that, fired too high, miss their mark, and occasionally hit men well behind the actual firing line.
[11]Stray bullets that, fired too high, miss their mark, and occasionally hit men well behind the actual firing line.
[12]Forêt de Crécy.
[12]Forêt de Crécy.
[13]I do not pretend for a moment that all these details are meticulously accurate. They are what I knew or thought I knew at the time this was written.
[13]I do not pretend for a moment that all these details are meticulously accurate. They are what I knew or thought I knew at the time this was written.
[14]Curiously enough, months after this was written the author was wounded by shrapnel.
[14]Curiously enough, months after this was written the author was wounded by shrapnel.
[15]The first—in October and November.
[15]The first—in October and November.
[16]This is not an unthinking advertisement. After despatch riding from August 16 to February 18 my judgment should be worth something. I am firmly convinced that if the Government could have provided all despatch riders with Blackburnes, the percentage—at all times small—of messages undelivered owing to mechanical breakdowns or the badness of the roads would have been reduced to zero. I have no interest in the Blackburne Company beyond a sincere admiration of the machine it produces.
[16]This is not an unthinking advertisement. After despatch riding from August 16 to February 18 my judgment should be worth something. I am firmly convinced that if the Government could have provided all despatch riders with Blackburnes, the percentage—at all times small—of messages undelivered owing to mechanical breakdowns or the badness of the roads would have been reduced to zero. I have no interest in the Blackburne Company beyond a sincere admiration of the machine it produces.
[17]The letters were written on the 14th Octoberet seq.The censor was kind.
[17]The letters were written on the 14th Octoberet seq.The censor was kind.
[18]Dorsets, I think.
[18]Dorsets, I think.
[19]I do not say this paragraph is true. It is what I thought on 15th October 1914. The weather was depressing.
[19]I do not say this paragraph is true. It is what I thought on 15th October 1914. The weather was depressing.
[20]Optimist!
[20]Optimist!
[21]After nine months at the Front—six and a half months as a despatch rider and two and a half months as a cyclist officer—I have decided that the English language has no superlative sufficient to describe our infantry.
[21]After nine months at the Front—six and a half months as a despatch rider and two and a half months as a cyclist officer—I have decided that the English language has no superlative sufficient to describe our infantry.
[22]Here are kindly people.
[22]Here are kindly people.
[23]French, Flemish, and German slang expression. Done for!
[23]French, Flemish, and German slang expression. Done for!
[24]An abbreviation for the general in command of the Divisional Artillery.
[24]An abbreviation for the general in command of the Divisional Artillery.
[25]The soldier's contemptuous expression for the inhabitants of the civilian world.
[25]The soldier's contemptuous expression for the inhabitants of the civilian world.
[26]I retired with some haste from Flanders the night after the Germans first began to use gas. Militant chemistry may have altered the British soldier's convictions.
[26]I retired with some haste from Flanders the night after the Germans first began to use gas. Militant chemistry may have altered the British soldier's convictions.
[27]I have left out the usual monotonous epithet. Any soldier can supply it.
[27]I have left out the usual monotonous epithet. Any soldier can supply it.
[28]To these may now be added—St Eloi, Hill 60, the Second Battle of Ypres.
[28]To these may now be added—St Eloi, Hill 60, the Second Battle of Ypres.
[29]I cannot remember the name of the restaurant. Go to the north-east corner of the Square and turn down a lane to your right. It is the fourth or fifth house on your right. In Béthune there is also, of course, the big hotel where generals lunch. If you find the company of generals a little trying go to the flapper's restaurant.
[29]I cannot remember the name of the restaurant. Go to the north-east corner of the Square and turn down a lane to your right. It is the fourth or fifth house on your right. In Béthune there is also, of course, the big hotel where generals lunch. If you find the company of generals a little trying go to the flapper's restaurant.
[30]Company Quartermaster-Sergeant, now a Sergeant-Major.
[30]Company Quartermaster-Sergeant, now a Sergeant-Major.
Transcriber's Notes:Page 56: Comma changed to period in "La Cateau. A good many"Table of Contents: "Chapter X. THE BEGINNING OF WINTER" actually begins on page 198 in the text.The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. Scroll your mouse over the word and the original text willappear.
Page 56: Comma changed to period in "La Cateau. A good many"
Table of Contents: "Chapter X. THE BEGINNING OF WINTER" actually begins on page 198 in the text.
The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. Scroll your mouse over the word and the original text willappear.