Note 20 — Chapter XI · THE BEGINNING OF THE END (August 21st—September 6th, 1918)
Reading edition
The relations between officers and men are exemplified in the following extracts from two letters to the mother of an officer, the first being from the officer himself, dated September 4, 1918, and the second from a sergeant after the officer’s death—
“Oh, my splendid men! Even the most unlikely ones did wonders, and I never felt so proud of men!... It speaks volumes for Englishmen and for the righteousness of our cause. The British Tommy is a great man, and don’t let any one forget it.”
“His thoughts were always for the boys. He helped them in all fatigues as one of themselves. He worked like a slave carrying tents and doing anything to make the boys comfortable. When he saw that one of us was tired he would do his two hours trench patrol himself.... I fairly trembled for his safety on many occasions.... His first greeting was: ‘Well, sergeant, are the boys comfortable?’ He thought all the world of his platoon, and they just idolized him.”