tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">South of the Somme

115 XXII. The Battle of Arras 122 XXIII. Wancourt Tower—Croisilles 125 XXIV. Monchy-au-Bois 139 XXV. Trench Warfare—Vis-Cherisy Front 143 XXVI. The Houthulst Forest 153 XXVII. Divisional Rest Near St. Omer 161 XXVIII. The Passchendaele Ridge 165 XXIX. Good-bye to the 50th Division 173 XXX. Digging Trenches About Loos 176 XXXI. The German Offensive 1918—Second Battle of Arras 182 XXXII. Trench Warfare—Hébuterne 203 XXXIII. Trench Warfare—the Colincamps Ridge 207 XXXIV. The British Offensive 1918—Bapaume Retaken 219 XXXV. The Storming of the Hindenburg Line near Trescault 224 XXXVI. The Germans' Last Stand 230 XXXVII. The Final Rush Forward 234 XXXVIII. The End of it all 238

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NOTE

The following abbreviations are used:

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Q. 6. A

RECOLLECTIONS OF 1916, 1917, AND 1918

IToC

WHEN IT BEGAN

Before the war I was living in London, with chambers at Lincoln's Inn.

I was not surprised when the trouble started. Ever since 1904 it was reasonably clear to me that our country would have to fight the Germans or go under.

The days before we declared war on Germany were spent in London. During the last few of them it was as though a terrible thunderstorm was hanging overhead, ready to burst: gloom and foreboding on the faces of all. There is no doubt that most of our people were taken by surprise and that they were aghast at the sudden gathering of the war cloud. But when the stroke of fate fell and we were committed to the war, there was a curious sense of relief in many hearts. Better death and ruin than dishonour. A shameful peace or neutrality is for most Englishmen harder to bear than all the horrors of war. Besides, this struggle for freedom had to be fought out, though few can have foretold the cost.

I had been rejected for the Territorial Force by the Army authorities in 1908 on account of weak eyesight. I had therefore few hopes of better luck in August 1914. At first only trained men were enrolled at the Inns of Court O.T.C., and this went on for some months—till the nation in fact began to realise the size