12 
LAND & WATER 
October 19, 1916 
Milan, you can sec what that meant. Tlic Sultan of 
Turkey said to our Peter, " my army is as numerous as 
the grains of rice in this sack," and by sending a small 
bag of red pepper to the Sultan our Peter replied, ' My 
Army is not very numerous, but it is mighty hot stuff.' " 
Value of Women's Work. 
General Petain said, smiling, that before the war he had 
sometimes thought of women " as those who inspired the 
most beautiful ideas in men and prevented Iheni from 
-carrying them out," but the war, he added, had certainly 
proved conclusively the value of women's work. 
M. Forain expressed the desire to visit the chief French 
hospital of the Scottish Women at the Abbaye de Royau- 
mont. The tlencral laughingly told him : " You do 
not realise how stern and devoted to duty these ladies 
are. I wonder if you would be permitted to visit them ? ' 
I consoled M. "Forain by pointing out that surely as 
chief Camoiiflcr (Uisguiser) of the French Army, he could 
disguise himself as a model of virtue (de sc camoufler 
en bon <^iircon). Certainlv this son of France, who has 
turned his brilliant intellect and his art to the saving of 
men's lives, would be welcome anywhere and e\crywherc. 
I hastened to assure him that I was only teasing him, and 
added that I only teased the people I admired and liked. 
General Petain immediately turned to the Commandant 
de Pulligny : " Please remark that she has not yet 
teased me.'"' " Probably because she fears to do it, and 
has too much respect for you, ' replied the Commandant. 
" Fears ! I do not think we need talk of that just now, 
when she dares to go to Verdun. " 
Whilst at coffee after lunch the news came of the 
continued advance of the British troops. General 
Petain turned to me and said ; " You must indeed be 
proud in England of your new army. Please tell your 
English people of our admiration of the magnificent 
effort of England. The raising and equipping of your 
giant army in such a short lime was indeed a colossal 
task. How well it was carried our all the world now 
knows, and we are reaping the harvest." 
The (ieneral's Chief of Staff added : " Lord Kitchener 
was riglit when he said the war would last three years " 
—the hrst year preparation, the second year defence, and 
the third year . . . ccla sera rigolo — it will be hu;',e 
sport." He quoted the phrase as Lord Kitchener's own. 
Before we left the General signed for me the menu of 
the lunch, pointing out to me, however, that if I were at 
any time to show the menu to the village policeman, I 
must assure him that the hare which figured thereon had 
been run over at night by a motor car and lost its life 
owing to an accident, otherwise he might, he feared, be 
lined for killing game out of season !! ! 
I shall always remember the picture 'of General Petain 
seeing us into our car with his parting words : " You 
arc about to do the most dangerous thing you have ever 
done or will ever do in your life. As for Verdun, tell 
them in England that I am smiling, and I am sure that 
when you see General Nivelle you will find him smiling 
too. That is the best answer I can give you as to how 
things are going with us at Verdun." Then with a 
friendly wa\'e of his hand we passed on our way. 
After leaving the headquarters of (ieneral Petain we 
were held up for some time at a level crossing and watched 
the busy httle train puffing along, carrying towards 
Verdun stores, munitions and men. This level crossing 
had been the scene of active lighting ; on each side were 
numerous graves, and the sentinels off duty were passing 
from one to the other picking a dead leaf or drawing a 
trailing vine over the resting j^laces of their comrades. 
Above our heads circles les guepes, the wasps of the 
French Army. They had been aroused by the appear- 
ance of a Taube and were preparing to sting, had the 
Taube waited or made any further attempt to prcxeed 
over the French lines. However, deciding that dis- 
cretion was the better part of valour it turned and fled. 
It }s unwise, liowever, to stir up the " wasps of Inance " ; 
they followed it and later in the day we heard that it 
had been brought down near Verdun. ' 
We were now in the centre of activity of the army 
defending Verdun. On every hand we saw artillery parks, 
ammunition parks, and regiments resting, whilst along the 
road a Ioul' line of camions passed uuteasinKly. During 
th« whole length of my stay on the French frcjnt 1 uuly 
saw one regiment marching. Everywhere tlie men are 
conveyed in the camions, and are thus-sparcd the fatigue 
which would otherwise be caused by the intense heat and 
the white dust. There are perhaps only t\yo things that 
can in any way upset the perfect indifference to diffi- 
culties of the hVencli trooper ; he hates to walk, and he 
■refuses to be deprived of his pinard. The men of the 
! French army have Ucmei their red wine pinard just as 
they call water la flotie, always, however, being careful 
to add that la flutlc is excellent " for washing one's feet." 
As we passed through the headquarters of General 
Nixelle, he sent down word to us not to wait to call on 
him, but to proceed at once to Verdun, as later the 
jmssage would become more difficult. He kindly sent 
down to us one of the officers of his staff to act as escort. 
The officer sat by our chauffeur, warning him of the 
dangerous spots in the road which the (iermans had the 
habit of " watering " from tiuiC to time with marmiles, 
and ordering him to put on extra speed. Our speed along 
the road into Verdun averaged well over a mile a minute. 
Verdun's Cinema 
Within range of the German guns, probably not more 
than three or four miles from Verdun, we came on a 
line of men waiting their turn to go into the cinema. 
After all there was no reason de d'en f'lire, and if they 
were alive they decided they might as well be happy and 
amused. Just before entering the gate of Verdun we 
passed a number of ambulances, some of them driven by 
the American \-oIunteers. These young Americans have 
displayed splendid heroism in bringing in the wounded. 
Many of them have been mentioned in despatches, and 
have received from France the Croix de Guerre. I also 
saw an ambulance marked " Lloyds." 
It would be useless to pretend that one entered Verdun 
without emotion. Verdun, sorely stricken, yet living, 
kept alive by the indomitable soul of the soldiers of 
France, whilst her wounds are daily treated and healed 
by the skill of her Generals. A white city of desolation, 
scorched and battered, yet the brightest jewel in the 
crown of France's glory ; a shining example to the world of 
the triumph of human ^resistance and the courage of men. 
A city of strange and cruel sounds. The short, sharp 
bark of the 75's, the boom of the death-dealing enemy 
guns, the shrieks of the shells and the fall of masonry 
parting from houses to which it had been attached for 
centuries, whilst from the shattered window frames 
the familiar sprite of the household looked ever for the 
children who came no longer across the thresholds of 
the homes. Verdun is no longer a refuge for all that is 
good and beautiful and tender, and so the voices of 
children and birds are heard no more. Both have flown. 
We proceeded to a terrace overlooking the lower part 
of the town and witnessed a duel between the French and 
German artillery. The (iermans were bombarding the 
barracks of Che vert, and from all around the French 
guns were replying. It was certainly a joy to note that 
for one boom of a German cannon there were certainly 
ten answers from the French guns. The French soldiers 
off duty should have been resting in the caves and dug- 
outs which have been prepared for them, but most of 
them were out on the terraces in different parts of the 
city, smoking and casually watching the effect of the 
German or of their own fire. I inquired of one Poilu 
whether he would be glad to leave Verdun, and he 
laughingly replied : 
" One might be worse off than here. This is the time 
of year that in peace times I should have been staying 
in the country with my mother-in-law." 
There is no talk of peace in Verdun. I asked one of 
the men when he thought the war would end. " Per- 
fectly simple to reply to that, IMademoiselle ; the war will 
end the day that hostilities cease." 
I believe that the Germans would not be sorry to 
abandon the siege of Verdun. In one _^of the trench 
newspapers, I saw the following \erse : *' 
Koclics, a I'nnivcrs voire ziic imporliin 
Fail des " cotitmiiniqin's " donl pcrsonnc n'csl dupe. 
Voiis ditcs : " .\'os soldals occuperonl Verdun. 
Jusqu'iei c'csl pluiot Verdun qui lea occupe. 
We left the car and climbed through the ruined streets 
io the top of the citadel. No attempt has been made 
