The Washington herald., 1919-05-04
British Soldiers
Nie.Ds Upon War


mot yet" said one of them, and
then they all left the table at which
we were at lunch. and making q rush
for some oak beams embraced them
ardently. They were touching wood.
Take this with you." said one Irish
officer one night when I was going
into Ypres in the old bad days. 1T
will help you as IT has helped me.
It's my lucky charm" He gave me
little bit Of coal which he carried
in his tunic and he was SO earnest
about II that I took 1t without a
smile-and felt the safer for IL.
The British soldier hated war with
a bitter hatred-he hated its filth, its
labors, its exile, its boredom-for
there Is no such deadly boredom in
the world as war-its beastliness. and
its bloodshed. And because he hated
II SO much he fought desperately TO
get through with 1t. and started each
big offensive with the hope that at
last he would get the Boche down
and out"
And because he hated the trenches
where he lied below the earth like a
rat. and the battlefields where he lay
under the shellfire, he enjoyed HIM
self intensely in his spells behind the
IlflCS anu IuduC the DiOol Vi CNChy hoAA
in those little villages of France
where he was billeted between the
battles.
To watch the men playing football
or cricket, to hear their shouts and
laughter. a few days after their bat
talon had come out OF some battle
in which they had lost half their
comrades by casualties, was a reve-
lation of the recuperative powers OF
his human mind.
They played as keenly as in the
football fields of England or Scot
land. shouted with laughter and en-
thusiasm. had bright eyes undimmed
by the horrors of war.
Those who had come out like dead
men dug out of their graves cleaned
themselves up. polished their buttons
and strolled down the village street
with a jaunty air and a glad eye"
for any pretty French "mademoiselle"
who might pass their way.
-oung Tommy Atkins was fond OF
kids" and fond of women. He found
a comfort for his soul in playing
about the back yard of his billet with
the children of French peasants and
in helping to fetch and carry for any
woman with a cheerful smile and
comely face.
Our men made friends for life with
these French people behind the lines
il they did not charge them too out
rageously for small things or assail the
men with shrewish tongues.
Generally the British troops were i'm
mensely popular in Picardy and Ar
tois. and when they left women kissed
and cried in spite of laughter. and
joked in a queer jargon of English
French.
"All your English soldiers behave
like gentlemen with the hearts OF
boys" said one French woman. and
I think that was a true saying. In a
general way.
Certainly they retained their boyish-
ness through all the black days of
war unless they were blinded or man.
gIed or dazed by shell-shock. I have
heard roars of laughter go up when
shells burst near a group of lads and
they had to run like hares to dodge
them. In the estaminets of France
and Flanders they danced with frow5y
peasant girls to the tune of a penny
in-the-slot piano. or. failing the girls.
danced with each other like school,
boys on a holidays.
Yet they knew this was only re-
spite between other spells of fighting
where the chance of life was against
them. Make hay while the sun
shines" was their motto and sometimes
they made hay of every old thing, in
cIuding the high moralities taught in
the Sunday schools of peace.
And l don't blame them. knowing
their way of life in the Ypres salient.
why Tommy Fought.
The mind of Tommy Atkins was N
this war a queer compound of simple
thoughts. notions and desires.
He thought a good deal about his
food. and if his rations reached him
safely. found comfort therein. He
learned a simple code of esprit-de-
CORPS for his battalion or division.
He had an undisguised contempt
not always justified-for staff officers
and young gentlemen in red. blue
and green tubs who came into the
trenches now and again on a visit
of inspection and wrote out orders
which generally were ridiculous. He
loathed patriotic sentiment, and any
reference by generals to the glorious
British empire or the good old Union
Jack left him stone cold. His patriot
ism was unconscious and unexpressed.
and mostly of a local character
limited to some small village in an
English county.
He fought stubbornly, particularly,
with heroic courage. in victory or in
defeat, not for any high motive of
safeguarding the liberties of the
world. or revenging brave little
Belgium" or saving France, but out
of sheer individual pride of manhood
and his dislike of letting down his
pals.
He was resolved not to be beaten
by the Boche nor by any dirty trick
the Boche could play on him. nor by
mud and vermin. nor foul conditions
ITO Hell with all that" he said.
Come on. boys"
So thousands went whistling to their
death. or singing vulgar music-hall
songs. or proclaiming in song ct want
to go, home!' or "Hullo. huilo, it's a.
different girl again" They stif1ed IL
they could the devil of fright in their
hearts and were most brave when
they were most afraid, conquerors of
fear
Omcers Have Same Problem.
The young British officers shared
their sufferings. their doubts, and
their fears, in full measure and often
with more intense sensation, became
more sensitive and more given to
imaginations and reflections. Our bat
talon officers were for the most part
so young that ten years before the
war they had been In English
nurseries playing with tin soldiers
and reading fairy-tales, before going
to public schools. where they learned
to play the game" according to the
English code. but in spite of cricket