"If ever I come back, and anybody at home talks to me
about the glory of war, I shall be damned rude to him." That is an extract
from the letter of an officer who has seen too much of the grim and ugly side
of the campaign to find any romance in it. Yet, out of all the horror emerges
incidents of conspicuous bravery that strike across the imagination like
sunbeams, and cast a glow even in the darkest corners of the stricken field.
Valor is neither a philosophy nor a calculation. The soldier
does not say to himself, "Look here,
Atkins, one crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age
without a name."
He goes into the business of war determined to get it over
as quickly as possible, and when he does
something stupendous, as he does nearly every day, it is just because the thing
has to be done, and he is there to do it. Tommy Atkins doesn't stop to think
whether he is doing a brave thing, nor does he wait for orders to do it—he just
sets to do it as part of the day's work and looks very much abashed if anybody
applauds him for it.
For instance, there is a man in the Buffs (the story is told
by a driver of the Royal Marine Artillery), who picked up a wounded comrade and
carried him for more than a mile under vicious German fire that was
exterminating nearly everything. It was a fine act of heroism. "Yet if
anybody were to suggest the V.C. [Victoria Cross – United Kingdom’s
highest military decoration], he'd break his jaw," says the writer, "and, as
he's a man with a 4.7 punch [4.7
inch-long punch],
the men of his regiment keep very quiet about it."
Some fine exploits are recorded of the Artillery. When the
Munster Fusiliers were surrounded in one extended engagement, a driver of the
R.F.A. named Pledge, who was shut up with them, was asked to "cut
through" and get the assistance of the Artillery. Lance Corporal John
McMillan, Black Watch, thus describes what happened: "Pledge mounted
a horse and dashed through the German lines. His horse was brought to the
ground, and, as we afterward discovered, he sustained severe injuries to his
legs. Not daunted, he got his horse on its feet and again set off at a great
pace. To get to the artillery, he had to pass down a narrow road that was lined
with German riflemen. He did not stop, however, but dashed through without
being hit by a single bullet. He conveyed the message to the artillery, which
tore off to the assistance of the Munsters, and saved the situation."
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The saving of the guns is always an operation that calls for
intrepidity, and many exploits of that kind are related. Lance Corporal
Bignell, Royal Berks, tells how he saw two R.F.A. drivers bring a gun out of
action at Mons [Belgium].
Shells had been flying around the position and the gunners had been killed,
whereupon the two drivers went to rescue the gun. "It was a good quarter
of a mile away," says the witness, "yet, they led their horses calmly
through the hail of shells to where the gun stood. Then one man held the horses
while the other limbered up [probably associated with a limber – a
two-wheeled field carriage for an artillery piece] cart. It seemed
impossible that the men could live through the German fire, and from the
trenches, we watched them with great anxiety. But they came through all right,
and we gave them a tremendous cheer as they brought the gun in."
Another daring act is described by W.E. Motley, R.F.A.:
"Things became very warm for us," he says, "when the Germans
found the range. In fact, it became so hot that an order was passed to abandon
the guns temporarily. This was the time when our men didn't obey orders, so
they stuck to their guns. They ceased their fire for a time. The enemy,
thinking our guns were out of action, advanced rapidly. That was the time our
men proved their worth. They absolutely shattered the Germans with their
shells."
Some gallant stories are told of the Royal Engineers. One
especially thrilling is given in the words of Darino, a lyrical artist of the Comédie-Française [French
theatre company],
who joined the Cuirassiers [armored
French cavalry]
and was a spectator of the scene he describes. A bridge had to be blown up, and
the whole place was an inferno of mitrailleuse
[type
of volley gun with barrels of rifle caliber] and rifle fire. "Into this," he
relates, "went your Engineers. A party of them rushed toward the bridge
and, though dropping one by one, were able to lay the charge before all were
sacrificed. For a moment, we waited. Then others came. Down toward the bridge
they crept, seeking what cover they could in their eagerness to get near enough
to light the fuse. Ah! It was then we Frenchmen witnessed something we shall
never forget. One man dashed forward to his task in the open, only to fall
dead. Another, and another, and another followed him, only to fall like his
comrade, and not until the twelfth man had reached the fuse did the attempt
succeed. As the bridge blew up with a mighty roar, we looked and saw that the
brave twelfth man had also sacrificed his life."
During the long retreat from Mons, the Middlesex Regiment
got into an awkward plight, and a bridge—the only one left to the Germans—had
to be destroyed to protect them. This was done by a sergeant of the Engineers,
but immediately afterward, his head was blown away by a German shell. "The
brave fellow certainly saved the position," writes one of the Middlesex
men, "for if the Germans had got across that night, I'm afraid there would
have been very few of us left."
Other daring incidents may be told briefly. One of the
liveliest is that of seven men of the Worcesters, who were told they could
"go for a stroll." While loitering along the road, they encountered a
party of Germans and captured them all without firing a shot. "We just
covered them with our rifles," writes Private Styles—so simple!" Sir
John French relates a similar exploit of an officer who, while proceeding along
the road in charge of a number of led horses, received information that there
was some of the enemy in the neighborhood. Upon seeing them, he gave the order
to charge, whereupon three German officers and 106 men surrendered! On another
occasion, a portion of a supply column was cut off by a detachment of German
cavalry, and the officer in charge was summoned to surrender. He refused, and
starting his motors [sic] off at full speed, dashed safely through.
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