What such men did for England
will therefore illustrate for all time the potentialities of a
Territorial Force.
Captain Wilson's style of expression and cast of thought are, in my
view, true to type. He is the Lancashire man of action, who affects no
literary arts. These pages are bare of heroics. There is a soldierly
brevity in his account of even of the bravest exploit. There is also
plenty of quiet humour. The reader will search vainly for any "villain
of the piece." The "Hun" is to Captain Wilson, as to the normal British
officer, just a "Boche" and no more; to the rank and file he was simply
"Jerry." If you want adjectives, you will have to look for them in _John
Bull_ or listen to speeches in the House of Commons.
For all who were in authority over him, whether Corps Commanders or
Divisional Generals, Brigadiers or temporary Commanding Officers,
Captain Wilson has a good word. A reader unfamiliar with soldiers'
psychology might deduce that all his superior officers had been
invariably models of judgment and efficiency. He would possibly be quite
wrong; but it is most fitting that this book should be framed on such
lines, for they are the lines which our soldiers have never failed to
accept. The rough is taken with the smooth. If ever there has been
incompetence men have simply blamed the system and cursed the War
Office. If they happened to have been five minutes in France they might
have philosophically added "c'est la guerre." The actual individual
responsible has not been worth worrying about.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25