46 
LAND & WATER 
August 2, igiy 
low diet and for some unexplained reason it had to be taken 
like medicine once every 24 hours ; if the gunners saved it for 
an emergency they had to return it hke an unexpended 
Treasury balance ; so they used to fire it off after tea on 
principle if it wasn't wanted earlier. Comic ! wasn t Jt . 
" This went on for weeks, and week by week I saw my pals, 
fellows who'd been at Sandhurst along with me, men 
I'd played poker and hijnted with for years, knocked out 
one after the other, also my best N.C.O., who'd taught me all I 
knew, t he men in my company— all knocked out . I remember 
in one morning we lost ninety men killed or mortally wounded 
when about fifty yards of trench were wrecked and B company 
spUt into two halves, left half being cut clean off from tne 
right where the communication trench joined the Iront 
trench. There the wounded lay-and rotted. You see that 
damned M.G. emplacement of theirs commanded the whole 01 
it, so it was certain death to try to get the wounded away. 
*• I tell you that when I considered the heavens in the tire- 
trench at night and watched the eternal bombardment ot 
Ypres like a blast-furnace in the sky, I used to ask myseii 
what the old country was doing, and whether it had com- 
pletely forgotten us. We used to read of strikes in bouth 
Wales and on the Clyde, and speeches by stipendiary M.V_s 
in the House jawing about ' militarism and threatening 
revolution if the Government ever dared to introduce com- 
pulsory service, and I tell you I felt sick. ' Militarism ! 
It was militarism we were up against, evil incarnate, u you 
remember the girl P found near Richebourg after 
the Germans had done with her ? D'you remember wnat 
we found in Warneton ? D'you remember— but, of course, 
you know. How much does an MP. get ? Double the pay 
■of a company commander, isn't it ? 
" We heard of K.'s new army, of course, but hope deferred 
made our hearts pretty sick, and it used to be a standing )oKe 
with the battalion to say : ' It's rumoured that Italy and 
•the New Army are about to definitely abandon their 
neutrality.' A silly joke, I admit, because we might have 
known that the authorities at home were working night and 
day to get a move on and succour us. And at last, like tne 
dove to the ark, there came two Territorial regiments- 
attached to us for instruction. Topping fellows they were, 
too ! And, then, as winter gave way to spring, and spnng to 
summer and the floods subsided in our trenches, the New Army 
began to arrive. We could hardly belive it at first. And 
it grew and grew like a grain of mustard-seed. And aU kiims 
of fancy Ihings came with it-Stokes gUns. and Mills bombs 
and Lewis guns, and stacks of shells. By that time I x;ould 
cheerfully have said Nunc Dimittis. for I knew we were saved. 
I felt old, very old, like the Johnny in the Bible, but hke him 
I could have said, ' Now lettest Thou thy seryaiit depart 
in peace.' I tell you I could have wept for joy as if I d snitted 
a tear-shell. But by that time. . . ." 
Borlase stopped and gazed out to sea in silence, ne was 
silent for so long a time that at last I gave him a cue. 
" Yes I know," I said. " I've been there. But 1 cant 
s«je why' you want to buy that filthy farm. You know you 
said it was all dust and ashes by now." 
" So I did. But you see all ifiy pals are buried there. 
Only the O.C. and myself, we, even we only, are left. .^ • • 
No ! I shouldn't Uke to feel it belonged to anyone else." 
" Flying " 
In the current number of " Flying,"Mr. F. W. Lanchester 
continues his series of critical articles dealing with the recent 
air raid and the problem of the defence of London. He discusses 
the advantages and disadvantages of formation flying, and 
adumbrates several new and suggestive lines of thought with 
regard to our fighting and range finding. 
Professor W. G. Duffield, D.Sc, also continues his series 
of articles on meteorology, dealing with the air currents and eddy 
circulation. Mr. H. Belloc contributes an important article 
entitled, " The Battle for Observation," which has a direct 
bearing upon the struggle for the command of the air now in 
progress on the Western Front. 
'Ihere is also a trenchant article advocating Reprisals, by 
" Raider," which will provoke a good deal of controversy. The 
author is a " Pro-Reprisalist " of the most uncompromising 
brand, and lie bases his argument upon strictly logical premises. 
There are many other interesting features, and the number is 
one of the best produced by " THE only Penny Flying Paper." 
Early this autumn Messrs. Chatto and Windus will publish 
Letters to Helen: The Impressions of an Artist on the Western 
Front The book will consist of a series of letters which Lieu- 
tenant Keith Henderson wrote home from the front during the 
battle of the Somme, and will contain twelve coloured pictures, 
including the one of Fricourt Cemetery, which appears on page 
40 with the permission of the publishers. 
The effort of 
the Allies 
to gain the lead, which they at 
present hold, was made possible, 
by the efficiency of their motor 
transport. This has been proved 
on numberless occasions, and re- 
dounds to the credit of all coi^- 
cerned. 
In the list of motor cars tried in the 
stern test of war and not found wanting, 
the "Austin" occupies an' honoured 
place. Testimonies are continually' 
being received from all fronts, as to 
the reliability and excellence of design 
of "Austin" Cars. 
These features will be kept well to the fore 
in the "Austins" to be .produced after 
the war. 
THE AUSTIN MOTOR CO. Ld. 
Longbridge Works, Northfield, Birmingham. 
London : 479-483 Oxford Street (near Marble Arch), W.I. 
Alio at Manchcater, Norwich, and Parii. 
