1-1 LAND A WATER Novemher 2, 1916 
The White Road to Verdun-IV 
By Kathleen Burke 
THE men of Vordnn were full of admiration 
for the glorious Commander of Fort Vaux. 
They told me that the Fort was held, or rathtr 
the ruins of the l-ort, until the Germans were 
actually on the top and firini,' on the French beneath. 
I discussed with my neighbour the fact that the Ger- 
mans had more hatred for us than for the French. He 
said the whole world would ridicule the Germans for the 
manner in which they had exploited the phrase Golt 
strafe England, writing it even on the walls anywhere 
and everywhere. He added laughingly that it should 
not worry the English comrades. " \Vhen they read 
' Gott strafe England,' :U1 they needed to reply was 
' Yprcs, Ypres, Hurrah ! ' ' 
Poilu and Tommy 
He told us that he had been stationed for some time 
with his regiment near the English troops, and there had 
been loud lamentations among the Poilus because they 
had been obliged to say good-bye to their English com- 
rades. He added that the affection was not entirely 
disinterested. The English comrades had excellent 
marmalade and jam and other good things which the\' 
shared with their I'Vench brothers who, whilst very well 
fed, do not indulge in these luxuries. He told me a 
delightful tale of a French cook who, seeing an Engli>h 
officer standing by, began to question him as to his par- 
ticular branch of the ser\ice, informing him that he him- 
self had had an exceedingly busy morning peeling 
potatoes and cleaning up the pots and pans. Aftei- 
considerable conversation he inquired of the English 
comrade what he did for his living. " Oh," replied th(^ 
Englishman, " I get my living fairly easily, nothing half 
so strenuous as peeling potatoes. I am just a colonel." 
The clean-shaven Tommy is the beloved of all F'rance. 
I remember seeing one gallant khaki knight carrying 
the market basket of a French maiden and repaying 
himself out of her store of apples. 1 regret to say his 
pockets bulged suspiciously. Whilst at a level crossing 
near by, the old lady in charge of the gate had an escort 
of "Tommies" who urged her to let the train " rip. ' 
This was somewhat ironical in view of the fact that the 
top speed in that part of the war zone was probably 
never more than ten miles an hour. 
Tommy is never alone. ■ The children have learned 
that he loves their company and he is always surroundi »! 
by an escort of youthful admirers. The children lik ■ 
to rummage in his pockets for souvenirs. He musi 
spend quite a good deal of his pay purchasing sweets 
so that they may not be disappointed, and that there 
may be something for his little friends to find. I n - 
member seeing one Tommy, sitting in the dusty road 
with a large pot of marmalade between his legs, dealing 
out spoonfuls with perfect justice and impartiality to a 
circle of yoimgsters. He speaks to them of his own little 
" nippers " at home, and they in turn tell him of tlu ir 
father who is lighting, of their mother who now works 
in the fields, and of baby who is fearfully ignorant, 
does not know the difference between the French and 
the "Engleesch," and who insisted on calling the great 
English (General who had stayed at their farm "Papa. " 
It matters little that they cannot understand eac ii 
other, and it does not in the least prevent them fruni 
holding long conversations. 
I told my companion at table that whilst visiting 
one of the hospitals in France I heard how one English- 
man had been sent into a far hospital in Provence by 
mistake. He was not seriously injured, and promptly 
constituted himself king of the ward. On arrival he 
insisted on being shaved. As no shaving brush was 
available the " piou-piou ' in the next bed lathered him 
with his tooth brush. The French cooking did not 
appeal to him, and he grumbled continuously. The 
directress of the hospital sent her own cook from 
her chateau to cater for Mr. Atkins. An elaborate 
m^nu was prepared. Tommy glanced through it, 
ordered everything to be removed, and commanded 
tea and toast. Toast-making is not a French art and 
the chateau chef was obliged to remain at the hospital 
and spend his time carefully preparing the toast and 
seeing that it was served in good condition. V\'hen 
Mr. Atkins felt so disposed he would summon a pioti- 
piou to give him a FVench lesson or else request the 
various inmates of the ward to sing to him. He would 
in turn render that plaintive ditty " Down by the old 
Bull and Bush." A nurse who spoke a little English 
translated his song to the French soldiers. Whilst not 
desiring to criticise the rendezvous selected by their 
comrade anglais, they did not consider that " prcs 
d'un vietix fanreau " (near an old bull) was a safe or 
desirable meeting-place. When I explained to the 
nurse that " The Bull and Bush " was a kind of cabaret 
she hastened from ward to ward to tell the men that after 
all the F-nglishman might have selected a worse 
spot to entertain his girl. He was at once the 
joy and despair of the whole h(}spital, and the nurse had 
much trouble in consoling the patients when " our 
English " was removed. 
Abbreviated French 
W'hen Tommy indulges in the use of the French 
language he abbreviates it as much as possible. 
One hot summer's day, driving from Boulogne to 
F'ort Mahon, half way down a steep hill we came upon 
two Tommies endeavouring to extract a motor cycle 
and a side-ear from a somewhat difficult position. 
They had side slipped and run into a small tree. The 
cycle was on one side and the side-car on the other, 
and a steel rod between had been rammed right into 
the wood through the force of the collision. 
My three companions and myself endeavoured to 
helj) the men to pull out the rod but the united efforts 
of the six of us proved unavailing. We hailed a passing 
cart and tied the reins around the motor cycle, but 
immediately the horse began to pull the leather of 
the reins snapped. Behind the cart walked a peasant. 
Only one adjective can possibly describe him, he was 
decidedly beery. He made no attempt to help but 
passed from one Tommy to the other patting them 
on their backs, assuring them "that with a little good- 
will all would be well." There was a dangerous glint 
in the youngest Tommy's eye, but in the presence of 
ladies he refrained from putting his thoughts into words. 
I'Snally his patience evaporating he suddenly turned on 
the peasant and shouted at him Ong Ong. It took me 
some time to grasp that this was Tommy's abbreviated 
version of Allez vous en (clear out.) In any event 
it proved quite useless, as he continued to pat the 
Tommies affectionately and to bombard them with 
impracticable suggestions. 
We were joined later by three villagers, two gendarmes 
and a postman, and all pulling together we managed to 
extract the rod from the tree. A large lorry was passing 
and on to it we heaved tKe wreckage. Up clambered 
the Tommies, followed by their unwelcome friend, who 
managed to sit on the only imbroken portion of the 
side-car. This was too much for Messrs. Atkins' 
equanimity. I.imp from laughter we watched Ihem 
pass from sight amidst a chorus of Ong Ong, followed 
by flights of oratory in the English tongue which do not 
bear repeating, but which were received by the peasant 
as an expression of deep esteem and to which \w. re- 
plied by endeavouring to kiss the Tommies and shouting 
" Vive t'Angleterre ! All right ! Hoorah ! " 
Our guiding officer began to show some signs of 
anxiety to have us leave before ten o'clock, but the 
good-byes took some time. Presents were showered 
upon us, (ierman dragees (shell heads and pieces of 
shrapnel) and the real French dragees, the famous 
confectionery of Verdun. 
We crept out of the city, but unfortunately at one of the 
dangerous cross-roads our chauffeur mistook the route. 
A heavy bombardment was taking place and the French 
were replying. \^'e were lucky enough to get on to the 
