The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1918-03-31
A SIMPLE SOUL
BY SECOND LIEU II. A. A. MILNE
Late Assistant Ed itor of London Punch

hall. Instead, of course, it found him
in the army
Many of these things tand the rest
imagined for myself he told me In
an estaminet at Prevent. | forgot what
was drinking; he didn't drink him
self. but he offered me some sweets
he had bought The little paper bag
lay between us, SO that | could help
myself A simple soul.
His battalion had been in France a
year. He had rejoined it (affer being
wounded) a month ago; I had been
attached to it for three months; SO
that l had had opportunities both OF
hearing about him and of seeing him
for myself. What l had heard made
me want to see him; for his reputation
was quite simply that he was the
bravest man in the British army.
OF course no man can be called the
bravest man in the army; what those
who spoke of him meant was that they
could not imagine any Drawer. I do
not know how l should de-ne bravery,
further than saying that it is some
thing much higher than fearlessness,
! but I think l should sum up Dormer
as the man who disregarded fear more
completely than anybody 1 have met.
That he could feel it, like nearly all
of u.s. am certain, but it did not
come into his calculations. There it
| was but one did not talk OF it or
| take any notice of 1t.
| At the back of this courage was, I
! am sure. some religious inspiration.
There were times when ! thought that
| Dormer (Arthur Dormer was his name)
regarded himself in his ingenious way
| as specially marked out BY God to
destroy Godss enemy the Kaiser, and
to that end would be. faithful unto
death. and there were times when I
! smiled at this fancy of mine and saw
| in him Just simple minded gentle
! man who felt with all his soul that he
was III Gods hands and that the future
| therefore wasEnot thing to be anx-
| icus about AT any rate. he was not
! anxious. He was very calm and in his
mind very, very peaceful. Re mao only
ono aim. as he had had in his ele-
mentary school--to do his duty.
He had been badly wounded in the
| stomach and was childishly pleased
| about it,. For one thing. his life had
been given UP by the doctors and only
i some remarkable operation. the first
| OF it's kind. had saved him; so that he
j was REGARDED with interest at hos
pitals as rather special case. To be
| regarded with interest by anybody was
unexpected by Dormer, and he found
lit pleasant. And for another thing. his
| wound brought him a gratuity of f1o0.
which would give him much more of
| a chance at Cambridge after the war;
he told me with his deprecafing smile
! in that estaminet at Prevent
| Perhaps l should tell YOU how he
! got wounded. He was out one night
with a wiring party and. while he
4 was there. he thought he might as
! we'll look at the German wire. So he
went across found a gap. strolled
| through it,. and so into the German
| trench He spent about an hour there
and came back with good deal OF
information. This he handed over, to-
gether with his wiring party. to his
! company commanders: refused all
drinks and, after sitting silent for
| half an hour in corner of the dug
out Che had few Of the social gracesl
got up with the remark that he
thought he'd be getting along as he
4 had been wounded bit. This. If YOU
please was the famous wound which
was to give him chance at Cam
| bridge after the war.
/ OF course there was never any
I chance that he would get to Cam
bridge He died at Beaumont Hamel.
! where to the military cross. which he
had already been given. he added a
recommendation for the Victoria cross.
He led no da-hing charge, no bomb