Early next morning there was a thrill of anxiety in Amiens. Reports had
come through that the railway line had been cut between Boulogne and
Abbeville. There had been mysterious movements of regiments from the
town barracks. They had moved out of Amiens, and there was a strange
quietude in the streets. Hardly a man in uniform was to be seen in the
places which had been filled with soldiers the day before.
Only a few people realized the actual significance of this. How could
they know that it was a part of the great plan to secure the safety of
France? How could they realize that the town itself would be saved from
possible bombardment by this withdrawal of the troops to positions which
would draw the Germans into the open?
The fighting on the Cambrai-Cateau line seems to have been more
desperate even that the terrible actions at Mons and Charleroi. It was
when the British troops had to swing around to a more southerly line to
guard the roads to Paris, that the enemy attacked in prodigious numbers,
and their immense superiority in machine guns did terrible work among
officers and men.
But on all sides, from the French officers, there is immense praise for
the magnificent conduct of our troops, and in spite of all alarmist
statements I am convinced from what I have heard that they have retired
intact, keeping their lines together, and preventing their divisions
from being broken and cut off.
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