the greatest war
(1914- )
thus only should it come, if come it must;
not with a riot of flags or a mob-born cry,
but with a noble faith, a conscience high
and pure and proud as heaven, wherein we trust,
we who have fought for peace, have dared the thrust
of calumny for peace, and watched her die,
her scutcheons rent from sky to outraged sky
by felon hands, and trampled into the dust.
we fought for peace, and we have seen the law
cancelled, not once, nor twice, by felon hands,
but shattered, again, again, and yet again.
we fought for peace. now, in god’s name, we draw
the sword, not with a riot of flags and bands,
but silence, and a mustering of men.
alfred noyes.
some day when the smoke has lifted from the battlefields of europe and the tramp of feet has died away down the avenues of time—when even such a war as this is falling into perspective, and order is disentangled from chaos—then will the story of the highland regiments be told, and the great part they played in the cause of freedom and liberty become an inspiration for the years to come.
it would be a commonplace to repeat that there is something new and terrible about this conflict—that it resembles in no way the struggles of our earlier chapters. it is not merely the greatest war—the war of nations instead of armies,—it is the most inhuman war. in it none of the laws of the game have been practised. from the sack of louvain to the wreck of the lusitania the policy that has controlled the army and navy of the enemy has bowed neither to pity nor to good faith. in this colossal war, regiments, brigades, armies, even nations have been swallowed up into the dense confusion of ceaseless battle. upon every frontier, every mountain pass, upon the water, under the water, and in the pure air of heaven the grim struggle is waged night and day. when great peoples sway to and fro in their millions the time has passed for speaking of individual battalions.
we have followed the fortunes of the highland regiments in the days when war was the profession of soldiers. we have recorded the brilliant deeds of one regiment or another, or, on occasions, of one man. but all that has gone. each regiment has taken to its colours a dozen or two dozen comrade regiments bearing its ancient name, and carrying on, unseen, its proud prestige. to-day the soldier belongs to no particular calling. from the clerk to the dock-labourer—all have become soldiers pro bono publico and pro patria. every day, in some part of the far-flung battle line, deeds are being performed that we would have proudly recorded in those earlier chapters; day by day, death has been met by amateur soldiers with the unbroken steadiness of veteran troops.
all this is familiar. i only mention it to clear the way for what i am about to say. it is not yet possible to write in any detail concerning the highland regiments, but at the same time, through the night of conflict some ray of light occasionally pierces—some incident, some letter, some fallen word, or act of bravery so splendid, shows like the faint tracing of feet upon the sand, the way that the army has passed.
never in the history of our nation has war been declared with such unanimity of opinion and such absence of idle demonstration. the honour of england was at stake. the neutrality of belgium had been violated, and her people looked to england, whose word has ever been her bond. war was never less welcome, never less foreseen, but in a moment, once the inevitable burden was accepted, england laid down the things of peace to take up the business of war.
and in that hour of suspense a remarkable thing happened.
in the bitter humiliation of the south african war the empire had not deserted the motherland, but all had not been satisfied that the cause was good; in the grave struggle that was about to be opened with the greatest military tyranny in history, every freeman became a bondman in chains of patriotism to an ideal.
from canada, australia, new zealand, india, south africa, and the most isolated outposts of our great empire, arose like the vast stirring of a sea, the salutation of the colonies and dependencies. germany had relied upon conspiracy in india, instead of which the princes and chiefs were amongst the first to offer their services and their wealth. the following remarkable letter, written by an old indian soldier to a young soldier at the front, was published in an english newspaper: “praise be to the guru. your father sundar singh here writes a word to his dear son sampuran singh. it is meet for a young man to be in the battle, and on this account i am not taking thought. i am well and happy, and i pray to the guru for your welfare and happiness. when you receive this letter answer it and relate to me the full conditions of the war.... take no thought for your life in the battle, for it is right to fight for the king, and great glory will come to hindustan, and the sikhs, and fame to the regiment.”
germany had valued at nothing our amateur colonial soldiery until their baffled forces reeled back before the charge of the canadians at ypres. in our own country, impoverished though many districts have been by emigration, the answer to britain’s summons was epic. in our highlands and to those who know their history, it was such as to bring a lump to the throat. long ago sir walter scott wrote: “in too many instances the highlands have been drained, not of their superfluity of population, but of the whole mass of the inhabitants, dispossessed by an unrelenting avarice which will one day be found to have been as short-sighted as it is selfish and unjust. meantime, the highlands may become the fairy ground for romance and poetry, or the subject of experiment for the professors of speculation, historical and economical. but, if the hour of need should come, the pibroch may sound through the deserted region, but the summons will remain unanswered.”
the summons has not remained unanswered. the highland regiments have been doubled and quadrupled, while from over the seas the highlanders have come back under canadian colours. there is not a man with the old celtic fire who has not, if he were able, delivered a blow for the sake of the women and children of belgium. why did they come? “me no muckle to fight for?” said edie ochiltree, the old beggar. “isna there the country to fight for, and the burn-sides that i gang daundering beside, and the hearths o’ the gudewives that gie me my bit bread, and the bits o’ weans that come toddling to play wi’ me when i come about a landward town?”
the swift progress of the german advance guard upon belgium, the fall of liége and namur, and the horrors that befell the belgian peasantry, brought one thing home to us very painfully, and that was the need for a large army. what was done was done quickly. lord kitchener was given a free hand to raise new armies, and until these should be trained he relied upon our regulars, territorials, and the drafts of troops from canada and india to withstand the german arms. it was more than a handful of men should have been asked to do. what concerns us is how they did it. the german advance came on swiftly, relentlessly; and in the darkness of a summer night, without confusion, without a qualm, our little advance guard crossed the channel.
it is certain that amongst the first to cross to france were the argyll and sutherland highlanders, the black watch, the camerons, the seaforths, and the gordons. an eye-witness of those early days has written: “hurrying into boulogne, i was in time to see the argyll and sutherlands marching through the streets of the town to the camps which had been prepared for them upon the neighbouring hills. the population of boulogne rushed to the unaccustomed sound of the bagpipes, and it was through lines of the old boulonnais fishwives, who had that morning bade tearful farewell to their fisher-sons off to the depot, that our men stepped gaily along, with a cheery grin and a smile for the words of welcome shouted out to them.”[13]
the highland regiments took part in the retreat from mons, the most terrible in history, and throughout that awful action, when officers could not ride their horses for fear of sleeping and falling to the ground, when fighting never ceased for days on end, and our soldiers held at bay a german force many times their superior in numbers—the highlanders fought sternly, heroically, giving way with an utter disdain for their own safety, and a longing for the day when the retreat would end.
the unconquerable british infantry have never displayed the qualities of dogged endurance so finely as in that eventful rearguard action. the germans could neither outflank, pierce, nor crush the thin khaki line. it was the supreme test of a veteran regular army. it is of interest to recall that, on his return from the march to kandahar, lord roberts, at the mansion house, stated that he would never have undertaken the risk of covering 300 miles of country unless he had been accompanied by veteran troops. “the characteristics of young soldiers,” he said, “are to win a winning game; to attack with dash where success seems probable; or even to stand up to superior forces where courage has not been damped by previous reverses and faith in their leader remains unimpaired. under such conditions they may even surpass their older comrades. but in times of danger and panic, when the bugle sounds the retire, when everything seems to be going against us, and when danger can only be avoided by order and presence of mind; then it is that the old soldier element becomes of incalculable value; without it a commander would indeed be badly off.”
troops in town
the argyll and sutherlands entering boulogne august 1914
during the retreat from mons the highland regiments lost very heavily in officers and men, and amongst them there fell the master of burleigh, a very gallant and popular officer in the argyll and sutherlands. “he was too brave for anything,” related a highlander, “he simply wanted to be at ’em, and at ’em he went. i don’t know where his sword was, but he hadn’t it when i saw him—he had a rifle with the bayonet fixed, just like the rest of us. i saw him at the time he was wounded, and he just fought on gamely till he and his party of brave fellows were cut off and surrounded.”
we learn that the camerons were in close touch with the black watch at mons, and at one point in the retreat when the 42nd were in danger of being surrounded, the 17th battery r.f.a. and the camerons staved off an outflanking movement of the germans.
the 1st battalion of the gordons were practically annihilated in their first battle. for long they had the melancholy reputation of being the most badly hit regiment in the army, until neuve chapelle and the losses of the cameronians and the seaforths, while in the first week in february 1915 the black watch fared no better.
the battle of the aisne inflicted heavy casualties on the highlanders, particularly the black watch, losses which after the battle of the marne brought the following unforgettable tribute from sir john french: “the black watch—a name we know so well—have always played a distinguished part in the battles of our country. you have many well-known honours on your colours, of which you are naturally proud, but you will feel as proud of the honours which will be added to your colours after this campaign. at the battle of the marne you distinguished yourselves. they say that the jaegers of the german guard ceased to exist after that battle. i expect they did. you have followed your officers, and stuck to the line against treble your numbers in a manner deserving the highest praise. i, as commander-in-chief of this force, thank you, but that is a small matter—your country thanks you and is proud of you. the russians have won great victories, but you, by holding back the germans, have won great victories as well, as if you had not done this the russians could not have achieved their successes. i am very glad of this opportunity of addressing you, and thanking you personally for your splendid work.”
one member of the battalion has written: “we lost heavily in taking up position, and the men were saddened by the loss of so many officers.... then later, the men had to deplore the loss of their commanding officer, colonel grant duff—one of the bravest and best officers the regiment ever had. he died bravely. he was hard pressed, and doing execution with one of his men’s rifles when he fell with a mortal wound.”
the melancholy fate of one battalion of the gordons has yet to be revealed, but from various accounts there is little doubt that in the confusion of the swift retreat, and the overwhelming force of the germans, the message for a withdrawal did not reach them, and acting up to the gallantry of their records, they and their distinguished colonel remained at their posts until surrender was the only course left to them.
the battles of the marne and the aisne were the turning of the scales before the german retirement. on september 13 colonel bradford of the seaforths was killed. one account of his end runs: “it was in the battle of the aisne, when the seaforths had taken up a position near a wood, that the germans began a heavy fire. the colonel was standing with two other officers surveying the field of operations, when he was struck by a shell and killed instantly.”
another affecting passage runs: “we laid him with two other officers to rest on their field of honour, on a hill-side overlooking a valley of the river. it was a sad but glorious moment for us to stand and hear the padre tell us that they had not shrunk from their duty, and had fallen for the sake of their comrades. the next day i found some scotch thistles growing close by, and i plucked the blooms to form a cross over the dead chieftain’s grave.”
a doctor who was appointed to the seaforths has recorded: “at present (on the aisne) we are entrenched. our first day in this place, where we have been for five days, was awful, for we were under fire the whole of the day, with practically no protection, and our total of killed and wounded amounted to seventy. the men never wavered, and gaps were always filled. grand are the highland men, and grander still will be the account they will render; i am lucky to be with such men.”
what simple words, and yet what a tale of sacrifice and heroism lies behind them. well might general sir h. smith-dorrien write from the front to the soldiers’ and sailors’ families association: “never has an army been called on to engage in such desperate fighting as is of daily occurrence in the present war, and never have any troops behaved so magnificently as our soldiers in this war. the stories of the battle of mons and le cateau are only beginning to be known, but at them a british force not only held its own against a german army four times its own size, but it hit the enemy so hard that never were they able to do more than follow it up. of course our troops had to fall back before them, an operation which would demoralise most armies. not so with ours, however; though they naturally did not like retiring for twelve successive days, they merely fell sullenly back, striking hard whenever attacked, and the moment the order came to go forward there were smiling faces everywhere. then followed the battles of the marne and the aisne. tell the women that all these great battles have, day by day, witnessed countless feats of heroism and brave fighting. large numbers will be given victoria crosses and distinguished conduct medals, but many more have earned them, for it has been impossible to bring every case to notice. tell the women that proud as i am to have such soldiers under my command, they should be prouder still to be near and dear relations to such men.”
about this time the 2nd highland light infantry lost a gallant young officer in sir archibald gibson-craig. he bravely offered to lead his platoon against a german machine gun that was doing considerable damage amongst our men. at the head of his highlanders he fell, but the gun was taken, and another hero added to the long list of those who counted death less than life. upon the same day private wilson of the same battalion won the v.c. for capturing, single-handed, a german machine gun and killing six of the enemy. very fortunate have the 2nd h.l.i. been, and very richly have they deserved such honours. upon november 11, for relieving a dangerous situation, captain brodie of the same regiment was awarded the v.c.
in october lieutenant brooke of the 2nd gordon highlanders was awarded the victoria cross for gallantry, and drummer kenny of the 2nd gordons the v.c. for rescuing wounded men under fire.
sir arthur conan doyle has truly said that “from october 25 to the second week in november sir john french and sir douglas haig were like engineers holding up a dam of water visibly giving way.” the great german advance towards calais established the most critical situation of the war, and the ultimate success of our troops at the battle of ypres, when 150,000 british and indians withstood 600,000 germans, will some day be proclaimed as the most brilliant achievement in our military history.
in the first great battle at ypres the highland regiments were supported by their comrade battalions of the territorials. in this desperate rush for calais, when the germans came flocking onwards like ants upon the side of a hill, when opposed to them was an army vastly inferior in numbers, things looked desperate indeed. the headquarters of general haig were blown up, and when general french reached the british lines a retirement of four miles had taken place. he motored from one spot to another, propping up, as it were, this heroic handful of men. the british fought doggedly, watching their regiments rent to tatters, calling up every man, even the cooks, to take a hand. cavalry and infantry, officers and men fought till they could fight no more. but the tide was turning, and when night fell upon the 31st of october the grand attack was beaten off. of the losses of our soldiers and our brave highlanders some estimate may be made by the casualties of individual regiments, one of which entered the battle with 1100 men and came out with only 73, and another which numbered 1350 returned only 300 strong.
on november 15 the prussian guard, the finest body of men in the german army, advanced under the eyes of the kaiser to wrench the road to calais from the british. they were met by the english guards, by the hard-fighting highlanders, by the english fine regiments, by irishmen, welshmen, and our gallant indian soldiers—and they were held until their dead lay eight deep.
these actions at ypres were costly in casualties—50,000 out of 120,000; they were beyond all price in glory and honour.
the coming of winter, and the construction of trenches, brought with it a state of stalemate that was to last without a decisive offensive until the spring of 1915.
during those long dreary months we were not idle. our new armies were in hard training, our war manufactories were making equipment, but unfortunately not enough shells, and our navy was carrying on its imperishable vigil upon the sea, and under the sea, without which our empire would cease to exist and our army would be cut off by twenty miles of water.
the highland regiments settled down with their customary fortitude to the weary months of trench warfare, months that brought daily losses in officers and men, bitter cold, and ceaseless rain, while overhead screamed and broke the german shell fire.
never have troops been called upon to endure such a prolonged strain. on land and on sea, in patience and good temper, our soldiers and sailors held on without a murmur.
of the actual fighting there is little to tell, for little is known. the monotony of trench warfare was broken by occasional frays and night attacks. a seaforth writes on october 20: “we were digging trenches when we heard a volley of rifle fire come right over us, and we got the order to stand to arms and advance. their trenches were situated in a row on a rise in a field, and we could not get our range on them. in a minute the signal to charge went, and we all scrambled up the hill to get at them. the first to get up was one company officer, and he was hit. we all dived into their trenches at the point of their rifles, shooting and stabbing, and then came the onslaught. some of them were too terrified to get out, whilst others rushed out and were shot down, and the remainder sought refuge in a house.... about fifty surrendered. i am proud to say that we were only one company. i shall never forget that charge as long as i live. the general said, ‘bravo, seaforths! it was a grand charge.’”
a frenchman has recorded his impressions of a highland regiment taking part in an advance. “resolutely,” he writes, “they crossed what had seemed impossible ground. they seemed to do it, too, without sustaining very much loss, and fixing bayonets, they made straight for the german gunners. they charged to the shrill sound of the bagpipes. they charged like heroes of walter scott, with their ribboned bonnets and their dancers’ skirts. neither ditch nor barbed wire could stop them. their dash carried them right into the midst of the prussian batteries. shooting the gunners at their posts, they rendered the guns unserviceable, and having completed their daring mission, prepared to retire.”
the french nord de la france is no less emphatic in its praise. “the british soldier,” it says, speaking of an advance of the highlanders under a murderous fire, “is wonderful. he is a slave to duty. for him to retreat he must be ordered to do so, and these scotsmen were prepared to give their lives to the last man.”
speaking of a charge in december a gordon highlander has written: “i reckon it was one of the fiercest fights that the ‘gay gordons’ took part in, and as usual the good old regiment covered itself with glory. a certain general and officers who had witnessed the famous dargai charge told us it was ridiculous compared with that of december 14.”
from january 25 to february 7 the actions at givenchy and la bassée took place, and were followed by a brief lull, with an outbreak of fighting at ypres upon february 14.
on march 10 the operations that were to develop into the battle of neuve chapelle and st. eloi commenced. it was the beginning of the great offensive, which, so long looked for, was to fail so dismally owing to the need for shells, and the german use of poisonous gases. it resulted in the taking of two miles of german trenches, and the killing and capture of 8000 of the enemy. in this action our soldiers drove the enemy from their trenches, and after heavy losses resisted all attempts to evict them.
all through the preceding night our troops had marched to their positions, and with the breaking of day our artillery began to bombard the german trenches. a hundred heavy guns spoke with one prolonged roar, the field guns joined in, the whole british artillery was concentrated upon the enemy. no trenches could stand such a destructive fire.
forty minutes later the advance began and the village of neuve chapelle was carried at the point of the bayonet.
it was in the rush upon the trenches that the middlesex, faced by unbroken barbed wire, were mown down in scores and hundreds. helplessly they tore at the entanglement—in silence they died rather than retreat.
following that came the attack upon the german position, and in this advance were the 2nd gordon highlanders and their territorial battalion the 6th. it was in this action that lieutenant-colonel maclean of the 6th gordons lost his life. to a subaltern who went to his assistance he said, “thank you, and now, my boy, your place is not here. go about your duty.”
the battle of neuve chapelle was finely conceived, and more finely carried out. most unfortunately, owing to the lack of reserves at the height of the engagement, the full force of the attack was spent too soon.
the story of how the canadians fought and died at the second battle of ypres upon april 22, and how the comrade regiment of the royal highlanders brought immortal honour to the north, is a tale of four days’ heroism against unnatural and horrible odds.
mr. j. huntley skrine has written somewhere:
sons in my gates of the west,
where the long tides foam in the dark of the pine,
and the cornlands crowd to the dim sky-line,
and wide as the air are the meadows of kine,
what cheer from my gates of the west?
what indeed! nothing less than death rather than defeat. whatever the canadians might be, they were not veteran soldiers. the canadian division numbered doctors, lawyers, farmers, with a sprinkling of men who had seen service in the south african war. let us see how they faced the german onslaught.
the use of asphyxiating gas compelled the french, who held the left of the canadians, to retire. in consequence of this the canadian left flank was moved southward. during the night the canadians carried a wood in the teeth of heavy machine-gun fire, continuing the conflict till dawn. in the morning, to relieve their left they launched a counter attack upon the german trenches. over the open space the canadian battalions rushed. colonel burchill, the commanding officer, fell at the head of his men, and with a shout of rage they reached the trenches, and drove the enemy out. our colonials had not merely preserved their left—they had pierced the german line.
upon the same day a new cloud of gas reached the canadian highlanders. it is recorded that they remained unshaken. but their very bravery sealed their fate. the germans slipped across their left and isolated the wood from st. julien. in this wood the remnants of the canadian battalions, disdaining surrender, fought to the last round and the last man. the gallantry of the officers of the royal highlanders of montreal was wonderful—so magnificent as to call forth the highest praise. the name of canada rang throughout the empire. in a moment of awful peril she had sacrificed her bravest for the sake of britain.
in the canadian retreat not a gun was lost.
upon may 9 it is recorded that the 1st black watch got the order to advance upon the german trenches. already several attempts to carry them had failed. the english soldiers helped them upon the parapets of our trenches and wished them good luck. bayonets were already fixed, the pipers struck up the famous tune, ‘highland laddie.’ that was the first time in the war in which the 42nd had charged with their pipes. there was only 300 yards to go, but it is said that ere that distance was covered the sound of the pipes was hushed in death. the grand old regiment cleared the germans out of their trenches, and held them for long in the face of a heavy artillery attack, only withdrawing upon an order from the general. the following extracts are taken from the enemy’s press: the frankfurter zeitung, after describing the french attack on may 9, says: “then the british came into action with tremendous fierceness. they would break through, cost what it might. they attacked in three lines. the front regiment was mowed down by our fearful fire, and the following regiment, under a terrible hail from the guns, was unable to advance. then the british sent one of their best highland regiments to the front, the best they have anywhere. the black watch advanced. the gallant scots came on, but even their really heroic bravery was in vain, for they were not able to turn the fate of the day.”
the deutsche tageszeitung says: “the british advanced with extraordinary force. they had in action about a division, and called upon them to advance in three lines. after the first line had been thrown back with fearful losses, the second line could not advance. the élite regiment, the scottish black watch, was called forward, and bled to death without having obtained anything. two men actually reached our breastworks, and had to lie in front of them from five in the evening until six the next morning before we could look after them.”
between may and july there was no sustained activity upon the western front, but on many other parts of the allies’ vast campaign the ceaseless struggle proceeded. italy was pressing onwards towards the austrian line while sir ian hamilton was endeavouring to retrieve the initial blunder at the dardanelles. russia was fighting tooth and nail her amazing rearguard action, retreating victoriously, relinquishing at a terrible cost territory already stripped and barren. it was the beginning of the great retreat. warsaw fell upon august 5, and a month later the czar took over the supreme command, and the grand duke nicholas left for the caucasus.
in july came the news of our first great british victory, a victory the more welcome as it was won by general botha, whose strategical skill and courage we had learned to admire in the boer war. despite the plotting of de wet and beyers, kemp and maritz, botha had overcome disloyalty amongst the dissatisfied burghers, and followed it up by the complete rout of the germans in south-west africa.
with the month of august one year of bloodshed was reached, and looking over the wide field of hostilities there were those who asked what had been accomplished in return for precious lives lost upon a hundred fields of strife. our casualties numbered 330,000, while the loss of life amongst our brave allies had been enormous. russia was no nearer berlin than at the commencement of the war, france was no nearer the frontier of belgium, england had not stormed the dardanelles.
on the other hand, the allied armies were growing stronger, and the german armies weaker; the scales were turning. time was upon the side of the allies, and the greatest victory of the past year was won by no array of arms, but by the sleepless vigilance of the british navy. it was a struggle between an invincible army and an invincible navy, and unless some unforeseen catastrophe overwhelmed the allied armies the issue lay in the hands of great britain.
to return to the highland regiments, there were many individual acts of heroism during those summer months that should be recorded.
on may 9 the black watch won two v.c.’s for magnificent bravery under fire—private john lynn working a machine gun until he was overcome by gas poisoning, to which he fell a victim, and corporal john bridley leading a few highlanders against the enemy’s trenches, and maintaining his position.
upon june 12 at givenchy, lance-corporal william angus of the highland light infantry won the v.c. for rescuing a wounded officer under heavy fire, sustaining some forty wounds from bombs.
in the middle of june at hooge, the liverpool scottish, a territorial battalion second to none, advanced against the german trenches, supported by the h.a.c. the plan of attack was that the scottish should take the first line of german trenches, and leaving the h.a.c. to hold them should advance upon the second line. following the cannonade of our guns, the scottish leapt over the parapets and charged into the curtain of smoke. the first trench was carried without a halt, the second fell immediately after, and pausing to take a breath the battalion captured the third after severe fighting, and faced the fourth. this, too, was carried. what need for comment when words are blinded by achievement!
many gallant men fell, including captain graham, the great amateur golfer. unhappily a sorrowful toll of lives must ever be the fruit of bravery and self-sacrifice.
it is difficult where heroism has become a commonplace, and courage inseparable from the nature of the task that lies behind us and in the future, to conclude this chapter and this book upon a note at once comprehensive and mature, a note that will not sound dim when other tales are told, nor sufficiently local to be overshadowed by some vast offensive.
with the battle of festubert certainly one, and perhaps two stories of scottish heroism will, in my opinion, be for ever sacred in scottish hearts.
nothing could be more forlorn, more celtic in tragedy than the tale of the 4th cameron highlanders, whose night attack was checked by a deep ditch full of water. some swam across, many sank never to rise again, but the battalion passed on. in the black darkness they struggled on, undaunted. a desolating fire raked their ranks. one company was annihilated, another was hopelessly lost, a third took a german trench. but the battalion was cut off. no machine guns could cross the stream to their support, and in the grey dawn the situation for the gaelic remnant grew intolerable. the company in the german trench were forced to retire under a heavy fire. colonel fraser and twelve other officers had fallen. but that single company of camerons were unbroken. sergeant-major ross it was who gathered the remnants to him and brought them safely across the zone of fire. never has a more hopeless withdrawal faced a british force. never has a finer fortitude awaited it.
again, in the british advance a detachment of the scots guards lost touch with the main body, and were surrounded. admirably has mr. john buchan spoken of their end. “for them,” he says, “as for the steel circle around the king at flodden, there could be no retreat. when, some days later, we took the place we found the guards lying on the field of honour with swaths of the enemy’s dead around them. the history of war can show no more noble ending.”
it is with such pictures as these that i would close this chapter, pictures of courage and self-sacrifice unsurpassed in the story of our regiments. whatever the future may hold, one thing is certain—victory must always greet men inspired by a cause that is at once noble and just.
for while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
seem here no painful inch to gain,
far back, through creeks and inlets making,
comes silent, flooding in, the main.
and not by eastern windows only,
when daylight comes, comes in the light;
in front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!
but westward, look the land is bright.
