Adventures of a Despatch Rider

pitaphe of gluttonous memory, past the Headquarter clerks, who were jogging peacefull

a hill in which there were caves-good shelter for the men. There was ju

ers, she was of the Flemish type,-bright colouring, high cheek-bones, dark eyes. On these little social occasions-they came all too rarely; that is why I always mention them

placed by two others-either we were going into action immediately a little farther along the line b

e road by which we had advanced, to Longpont, a big dark chateau set in a wood and with a French sentry at the gate. Our third br

covered to be monumental, and beside it, set in a beautiful garden, was a ruined chapel, w

heard a tale-I do not know how true it was-that the Crown Prince had stayed at the chateau. He had drunk much ancient and good wi

, Sergeant Croucher of the cyclists, had given us tea, and on to Chacrise and Maast. It was the first long and open run I had had since

, to a certain division; then I struck north along a straight road through the forest to Villers-Cotterets. The town was

ll, that is, except Grimers, who had been seized with a p

, you will remember, where we lunched off an excellent omelette, and convinced

fine meal. Cecil and I remained after the others had gone, and when the wife of the lodge-keeper came in and expressed her utter dete

inner, before they learnt that D.H.Q. had been diverted to Crécy-en-Valois. He recognised us with joy, allowed us to take things from the ki

make a dash for Ostend, and rumour seemed to crystallise into truth w

eart of a lion and the cunning of a fox, they said. One of us was called into a more sober chamber to drink ceremonious toasts in champagne with their officers. In the street another of us-I would not give even his initial-selecting the leading representative of young, demure, a

ers of the finest and most famous of all Divisions rode singing to the station, where we slept

train. But first comes the man-handling of cable-carts on to trucks that were built for the languid conveyance of perambulators. Then follows a little horseplay, and only those who, like myself, regard horses as unmechanical and self-willed instruments of war, know how

made ourselves comfortable in one of those waggons

ux .

. . .

to be done. The Sergeant-Major came to our waggon. We stood at the door and pointed out to him that we had in our waggon not only all the despatch riders, but also the whole of the Postal and Headquarters Staffs. He said nothing to us-only told ten more men to get

. We slept a bit, and then, just as it was getting lig

and to defend the East Coast. This suggestion was voted impossible and tactless-at least, we didn't put it quite like t

ans had been killed in the last two days, Von Kluck had been killed by a lucky shell, and the Crown Prince had committed suic

bread. One of these was cut off from his waggon by a long goods train that passed through, but he knew the ways of military trains, waited till the goods had passed, then ran after us and caught us up after a mile's jog-trot. The go

rary-Biskeet-B

ourished. Perhaps, dog-like, they buried their biscuits with a thought for the time when th

o Abbéville, a hot and quiet station, and, with the aid of some London Scottish, disembarked. From these Scots we learnt that the French were hav

were diverted to the La Bassée district to help the French who had got

ad truckle-beds to sleep upon, but the sanitation, as everywhere in France, was vile. We kicked a football about on the drill-ground. Then s

staurants and better baths. These baths were finer than the baths of Havre-full of sweet-sce

n Scots, who were getting heartily sick of the L. of C., though taking prisoners rou

had just finished showing an Intelligence Officer how to get a belt back on to the pull

ed high upon our carriers, looking for all the world (said our C.O.) like those funny little animals that carry their houses upon their backs a

road to Calais, and, carefully passing the General, who was clattering along with his staff and an escort of Hussars, we pulled up to light our lamps at a little estam

enchman who drank our healths, an immense omelette, some

keep the cold out ready to hand, and pipes going strong, we felt sorry for the general and his esco

ast our turning. Finally, colder than we had ever been before, we reached the Chateau at Gueschart. There we found a charming and hospitable son of the

essure right through the day, keeping in touch with the bri

boys flying round the town for jam and bread and butter, and in the meantime we entertained the crowd by showing them a German helmet. I explained volubly that my bandaged fingers-there was an affair of outposts with an ambulance near Serches-were the work of shrapnel, and they nearly embrac

ained at Gueschart until dawn, when the general

s dust for a mile or so. Your despatch rider was compelled to follow in the wake of a large and fas

to Chateau Bryas. Until the other despatch riders came up there was no rest for the two of us that had accompanied the car. The roads, too, were blocked with refugees flying

hops with onions and potatoes. It was grand. We washed them down with coffee, and went back t

in column of route north-east

away and fed in stinking ta

because we were compelled to ride with the Staff, for first one of us was needed and then another to take messages up and down the column or across country to brigades and divisions that were advancing along roads parallel to ours. The old Division was making ba

irts of Béthune. The sound of the guns was very near, and to the ea

f our most revered and most short-sighted staff-officer walking straight over a little bridge into a deep, muddy, and stinking ditch, I took refuge in the kitchen and experienced the discreeter pleasur

y, and some Spahis with flowing burnous, who looked ridiculously out of place, and t

he 13th Brigade. It was a bad night. Never was a man so cold in his life, and the brigade had taken up its quarters in a farm situated i

know everything about everything. I reported at the Signal Office, then occupying the lodge of the town cemetery, and was sent off to catch the Devons. At the village where I waited for them I found some Cuirassiers, genial fellows; but living helios in the burning sun. When I returned the Divisi

rney, more hard marching, and it was thrown into action at La Bassée. There it fought itself to a standstill. It was attacked and attacked until, shattered, it was driven back one wild night. It was rallied, and turning on the enemy held them. More hard marching-a couple of days' rest, and it staggered into action at

. It contained just four ordinary regiments of the line-the Norfolks, the Bedfords,

October, so I wish I could tell you about it in more detail th

t as it appeared to me when first we arrived-sunny and joyous, with many little farms and thick hedges and rare f

chine guns. I believe this was the fact. The J?gers held on stubbornly until reinforcements came up. Instead of attacking we were hard pressed, and ha

the shortest distance to go, because we formed the extreme British right. On our left was the 3rd Division, a

the coast. Thus some sort of very weak line was formed from the sea to La Bassée. The Germans, reinforced by the men, and more particularly by the guns that the fall

left of the French, confident that we had just a little opposition to bru

the main road roughly to the Richebourgs. In the second stage the French extended their line to the Canal, and the 13th became a reserve brigade. In the third

he brigade headquarters. The rest were attached to the brigades, and either used for miscellaneous work

I am told it was exciting enough. The French general was an intrepid old fellow, who believed that a general should be near his fighting men. So

in more peaceful times there was opportunity to study the idiosyncrasies of German gunners and the peculiar merits of the Soixante-Quinze. But when the shelling

e was sent off with a message to a certain French Corps Commander. The General received him with a proper Fre

n it rained hard. First the roads became greasy beyond belief. Starting was perilous, and the slightest injudicious swerve meant a bad skid. Between Gorre and Festubert the road was vile. It went on raining, and the roads were

home while men on the despised horse carried our despatches. This we could not allow for long. Soon we became so skilled that

Moulders" came in one evening full of triumph. A bullet had just grazed his leg and the Go

the first fortnight the population of this chamber increased rapidly; one or two of us spoke of himself hereafter in the plural. They gave far less trouble than we had e

ught he himself was talented beyond the ordinary, so the cook never wanted assistance-except perhaps in the preparing of breakfast. Food was go

wander in about eleven in the morning, drink multitudinous bowls of coffee at two sous the bowl, and pass the time of day with some of the cy

ch and English. Behind the station much ammunition was stored, a source of keen pleasure if ever the Germans had attempted to shell the station. It was well within range. During the last week His Majesty's armoured train, "Jellicoe,"

ld give one of us a bunch of messages for the corps, with the hint that the return mi

as its difficulties even for the student of French. So we all called it, plainly and bluntly, Hinges, as though it were connected to a door. The inhabitants noticed this. Thinking that they and their forefathers had been wrong-for surely these fine men with red hats knew better than they-the Engl

piano with some skill. One of us spent all his spare time at this café in silent adoration-of the piano, for his French was exiguous in the extreme. There was a patisserie crammed full of the most delicious cream-cakes. The despatch rider who went to Hinges about 3.30 p

of "Sadders"-also known as "Boo." It dropped on the other side of the street; doing our despatch rider no damage, it slightly w

is nothing you cannot buy there. It is clean and well-ordered, and cheerful in the rain. I pray that Béthune may survive the war-that after peace

of our adventures out with