"CONTEMPTIBLE"

SOLDIERS' TALES OF THE GREAT WAR
Each volume cr. 8vo, cloth.

• WITH MY REGIMENT. By "Platoon Commander."
• DIXMUDE. The Epic of the French Marines. Oct.-Nov. 1914. By, Charles le Goffic. Illustrated
• IN THE FIELD (1914-15). The Impressions of an Officer of Light Cavalry.
• UNCENSORED LETTERS FROM THE DARDANELLES. Notes of a French Army Doctor. Illustrated
• PRISONER OF WAR. By André Warnod. Illustrated
• "CONTEMPTIBLE." By "Casualty."
• ON THE ANZAC TRAIL. By "Anzac."

Philadelphia J.B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY London:
WILLIAM, HEINEMANN

"CONTEMPTIBLE"

BY

"CASUALTY"

Philadelphia: J.B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
London: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
MCMXVI

Printed in Great Britain.

CONTENTS

• LEAVING ENGLAND
• CALM BEFORE THE STORM
• THE ADVANCE TO MONS
• MONS
• THE BEGINNING OF THE RETREAT
• DARKNESS
• VENÉROLLES
• ST. QUENTIN AND LA FÈRE
• SIR JOHN FRENCH
• A PAUSE, AND MORE MARCHING
• A REAR-GUARD ACTION
• VILLIERS-COTTERETS
• HEAT AND DUST
• THE OCCUPATION OF VILLIERS
• THE LAST LAP
• THE TURN OF THE TIDE
• THE ADVANCE BEGINS
• THE CROSSING OF THE MARNE
• AN ADVANCED-GUARD ACTION
• DEFENCE
• THE DEFENCE OF THE BRANDY
• STRATEGY AS YOU LIKE IT
• THE LAST ADVANCE
• SATURDAY NIGHT
• THE CROSSING OF THE AISNE
• THE CELLARS OF POUSSEY
• THE FIRST TRENCHES
• IN RESERVE AT SOUVIR
• TO STRAIGHTEN THE LINE
• THE JAWS OF DEATH
• THE FIELD HOSPITAL
• OPERATION
• ST. NAZAIRE
• SOMEWHERE IN MAYFAIR

CHAPTER I

LEAVING ENGLAND

No cheers, no handkerchiefs, no bands. Nothing that even suggested the time-honoured scene of soldiers leaving home to fight the Empire's battles. Parade was at midnight. Except for the lighted windows of the barracks, and the rush of hurrying feet, all was dark and quiet. It was more like ordinary night operations than the dramatic