' She looked up sombrely from the wound she was dressing and
replied, 'So they said in the first hours of Neuve Chapelle.' I was
chilled by what she said and felt angry with her.
II
_Doubts and Fears_
As the day wore on the news was not so good. The Meerut Division, which
had delivered the containing attack in front of us on the Moulin du
Pietre, was where it had been before it attacked, so the wounded said,
with the exception of some units, notably Leicesters and Black Watch,
who had apparently disappeared. Perhaps all that had been intended had
been achieved. After all, the real battle--none could be more real and
more costly to those taking part in it than a containing attack, forlorn
hope as it often is--the _decisive_ battle was further south at Loos.
But the changed mood of the wounded now coming in was noticeable. Our
fighting men hate to be beaten, and the story was of confusion and lack
of support. Our own gas, too, had lingered on the ground and then
drifted back on our own trenches. A young German student who was brought
in wounded admitted the gallantry of the first rush, but he said, 'We
always understood those trenches could be rushed, but we also know that
they cannot be held on so small a front.
Pages:
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49