Directly we check them in one attack a fresh attack is
developed. It is impossible to oppose such a mass of men with any
success."
This splendid fellow, who was severely wounded, was still so much master
of himself, so supreme in his common sense, that he was able to get the
right perspective about the general situation.
"It is not right to say we have met with disaster," he said. "We have to
expect that nowadays. Besides, what if a battalion was cut up? That did
not mean defeat. While one regiment suffered, another got off lightly";
and by the words of that Sergeant the public may learn to see the truth
of what has happened. I can add my own evidence to his. All along the
lines I have spoken to officers and men, and the actual truth is that
the British Army is still unbroken, having retired in perfect order to
good positions--the most marvelous feat ever accomplished in modern
warfare.
From Paris I went by the last train again which has got through to
Dieppe. Lately I seem to have become an expert in catching the last
train. It was only a branch line which struggles in an erratic way
through the west of France, and the going was long and painful, because
at every wayside station the carriages were besieged by people trying to
escape.
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