"What if you were to see how the wounded act after the excitement of battle! They suffer their wounds, great and small, without a murmur; they get their wounds dressed, take chloroform, give consent to have their limbs amputated, just as if they were going to have their hair cut. They are gloriously brave.
"Men who have been in the thick of the fight all day, seen their chums wounded and killed, their own lives not worth a second's insurance—still, these men cook their food and go off to sleep, and, most wonderful of all, go back to the thick of it next day."
We must not imagine that all German soldiers are brutal and treacherous. Let us always remember that they are very brave, and that many of them are worthy foes. There is a little story which illustrates the chivalry of a German lancer and the gratitude of the man whom he spared. "At Le Cateau," said a wounded corporal of the Coldstream Guards, "I made a bayonet thrust at a German lancer, and fell. He scorned to take advantage of my accident, and we parted. I made up my mind to repay the debt if ever I met the man again. Some time later I came upon him. He had been wounded by a splinter of shell, and was in urgent need of assistance. I managed to get him to the hospital, and he told me he was well repaid for sparing my life on the first day we met."
The Welsh Guards and their Regimental Colour.
In the British army, when war broke out, there were four regiments of foot guards—the Grenadier Guards, the Coldstream Guards, the Scots Guards, and the Irish Guards. You will notice that England, Scotland, and Ireland had their special regiments of Guards, but not Wales. This slur on the Principality has now been removed: a new regiment of Welsh Guards has been formed, and on St. David's Day (March 1, 1915) it was specially appointed to do sentry-go at Buckingham Palace, and was afterwards marched to mount guard at St. James's Palace. Photo, London News Association.
Now let me tell you how a British soldier returned good for evil. During the retreat a British artilleryman, slightly wounded, asked a German for water and was refused. Some weeks later the artilleryman recognized the same German amongst a party of wounded who were crying for water. He went up to the man, who knew him at once, took off his water-bottle and handed it to him without a word. The corporal of the Highland Light Infantry who told the story adds, "You never saw anybody look so shamefaced as that German."