BY ONE WHO SHARED IN IT BY A. CORBETT-SMITH ( Major, R.F.A. ) With Three Plates and Map For who is he, whose chin is but enrich'd With one appearing hair, that will not follow These cull'd and choice-drawn cavaliers to France? CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne 1916 To GENERAL SIR H. L. SMITH-DORRIEN, G.C.M.G., G.C.B., D.S.O., ETC. DEAR GENERAL SMITH-DORRIEN, When, some few months ago, you honoured me by your acceptance of this dedication I had in mind to make a sin

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief the British Forces: FIELD-MARSHAL SIR J. D. P. FRENCH. Chief of the General Staff: LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR A. J. MURRAY. Adjutant-General: MAJOR-GENERAL SIR C. F. N. MACREADY. Quartermaster-General: MAJOR-GENERAL SIR W. R. ROBERTSON. FIRST ARMY CORPS General Officer Commanding-in-Chief — LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR DOUGLAS HAIG. 1st DIVISION General Officer Commanding —MAJOR-GENERAL S. H. LOMAX. 1st Infantry Brigade Brigade Commander —BRIGADIER-GENERAL F. I. MAXSE.

Now all the youth of England are on fire, And silken dalliance in the wardrobe lies; Now thrive the armourers, and honour's thought Reigns solely in the breast of every man. August 5th, 1914! "Who would have dreamed of such a thing!" exclaimed the big majority. "So it has come at last," said the small minority. Broadly speaking, there you have the country's opinion during those now dimly remembered days which followed immediately upon Germany's throwing down of the gauntlet. Officers and men of

             Follow, follow! Grapple your minds to sternage of this navy; And leave your England as dead midnight still. ***** For who is he, whose chin is but enrich'd With one appearing hair, that will not follow These cull'd and choice-drawn cavaliers to France? " I consider that I have command of the sea when I am able to tell my Government that they can move an expedition to any point without fear of interference from an enemy's fleet. "—SIR GEOFFREY HORNBY. Train No. B46 had slipped unoste

" Shall not thou and I, between Saint Dennis and Saint George, compound a boy, half French, half English, that shall go to Constantinople, and take the Turk by the beard? " The dominant note in the reception which the French gave to the Force on landing was undoubtedly that of relief . Happy in showering little courtesies, surprised and delighted with everything British—all these, but it was relief which came uppermost in their minds. The feeling which the old pilot had expressed in his "comme ç

So be there 'twixt your kingdoms such a spousal, That never may ill office, or fell jealousy, ***** Thrust in between the paction of these kingdoms, To make divorce of their incorporate league: That English may as French, French Englishmen, Receive each other! Patience, still a little patience! The stage is not yet set. The actors have not yet reached the theatre. Very soon now shall you see unfolded the opening scenes of the Great Drama, and hear the first clash of the armies. Soon shall you ha

Now entertain conjecture of a time, When creeping murmur, and the poring dark, Fills the wide vessel of the universe. From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night, The hum of either army stilly sounds, *****                  ..... and from the tents, The armourers, accomplishing the knights, With busy hammers closing rivets up, Give dreadful note of preparation. A well-known American, it was probably Roosevelt, remarked à propos of the outbreak of the War that Germany's readiness would redo

" If the English had any apprehension they would run away. " ***** " That island of England breeds very valiant creatures: their mastiffs are of unmatchable courage. " The dawn of Sunday, the 23rd, broke dim and misty, giving promise of heat. From the late afternoon of the previous day squadrons and reconnaissance patrols from Chetwode's Cavalry Brigade had been pushing well forward on the flanks and front of the British line. They were regiments with names "familiar in our mouths as household w

                 But pardon, gentles all, The flat unraised spirits that have dar'd, On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth So great an object: can this cockpit hold The vasty fields of France? It may be of interest at this point if the narrative be broken off for a few minutes to give some details of the methods the Germans employ in their infantry attack, especially as they differ so greatly from our own. The two main features are ( a ) they consider rifle work as of comparatively little val

             The poor condemned English, Like sacrifices, by their watchful fires Sit patiently, and inly ruminate The morning's danger. To follow now the fortunes of the British Force you must imagine it, if you will, divided, like Caesar's Gaul, into three parts. There is the First Corps, which still holds its position, save that extreme right by Binche; there is the Second Corps, which has begun at 3 A.M. to retire to a new position; and there is the Cavalry, Allenby's Division and the remain

Gloucester, 'tis true that we are in great danger; The greater, therefore, should our courage be.—                                 . . . . God Almighty! There is some soul of goodness in things evil, Would men observingly distil it out. For our bad neighbour makes us early stirrers, Which is both healthful and good husbandry. During the night of Monday the whole Force was on or about the line already indicated, with the fortress of Maubeuge on their right flank. But let it not be imagined that t

... As many ways meet in one town; As many fresh streams meet in one salt sea; As many lines close in the dial's centre; So may a thousand actions, once afoot, End in one purpose, and be all well borne Without defeat. There is something more than magic in the poetry of Shakespeare's Henry V. when it is read to illustrate the stirring events of these opening phases of the War. To set it side by side with the recital of the story is to listen to the voice of a singer supported by the gravely-sound

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition. WESTMORELAND. Of fighting men they have full three-score thousand. EXETER. There's five to one; besides, they all are fresh. SALISBURY. God's arm strike with us! 'tis a fearful odds. The night attack which the First Corps had so magnificently repulsed was but the prelude to the greater attack of August 26th. So imminent did the dange

A many of our bodies shall, no doubt Find native graves; upon the which, I trust, Shall witness live in brass of this day's work; And those that leave their valiant bones in France, Dying like men, ... They shall be fam'd. By midday the tide of battle had begun to roll southwards, though only by a very little. The British lines were forced back, a mile here, half a mile there, but they still held on with superhuman energy and determination. And not only did they hold on, but, wherever there was

We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host, ***** And time hath worn us into slovenry; But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. The following days saw no rest for the exhausted troops, and they were compelled to plod on ever farther and farther south. If the rapidity of the German advance was so astonishing, even more so was the speed at which the British retired be

KING HENRY. The sum of all our answer is but this: We would not seek a battle, as we are; Nor, as we are, we say we will not shun it. ***** We are in God's hand, brother, not in theirs. March to the bridge; Beyond the river we'll encamp ourselves, And on to-morrow bid them march away. The destruction of a bridge, especially if it spans a river, always seems to me so pathetic. Bridges are such companionable things; they fall so readily into one's mood, and there are, I imagine, few persons who do

FRENCH KING. 'Tis certain he hath passed the river Somme. CONSTABLE OF FRANCE. And if he be not fought withal, my lord, Let us not live in France: let us quit all, And give our vineyards to a barbarous people. The fighting in the neighbourhood of Compiègne developed into something of a general action, an action in which the British more than held their own. There was some doubt whether the 4th Division would be able to shake off the heavy attack which was being made upon them, so another brigade

MILITARY DESPATCHES FROM THE FIELD-MARSHAL COMMANDING-IN-CHIEF, BRITISH FORCES IN THE FIELD, DATED SEPTEMBER 7TH AND 17TH 7th September, 1914. MY LORD, I have the honour to report the proceedings of the Field Force under my command up to the time of rendering this despatch. 1. The transport of the troops from England both by sea and by rail was effected in the best order and without a check. Each unit arrived at its destination in this country well within the scheduled time. The concentration wa

ORDER OF THE DAY AUGUST 29TH, 1914. Issued to the Troops under his command by the General Officer Commanding the Second Corps. As it is improbable the troops of the 2nd Army Corps understand the operations of the last few days, commencing on the 21st instant with the advance to the line of the Mons Canal and ending with a retirement to our present position on the River Oise about Noyon, the Commander of the Corps desires to let troops know that the object was to delay the advance of a far superi