Told in gallant deeds

by Marie Belloc Lowndes

So many were the brave, chivalrous, and merciful deeds in this battle that it is difficult to make a choice. I should like, however, to tell you of one such performed by a lieutenant of the “A” Company of the 1st Cheshires, whose nickname is “Winkpop.”

He was shot through his right leg, and on the road some of his men cut off his boots and tried to bandage his wounds. As he rose to his feet, he saw a private in distress about fifteen yards away. Seizing a rifle he hobbled forward and managed to bring him in on his back under a murderous fire from the enemy.

This gallant deed recalls a splendid act of valour performed by two non-commissioned officers, who were among the first group of V.C. heroes. They were among the very few to return unscathed from the Charge of the Light Brigade. Regardless of their own danger, they remained by one of their wounded officers, and at last, by making a bandy-chair with their arms, they actually brought him in safety to the British lines.

The cool courage of the doctors and of the ambulance men whose duty it is to rescue and then to attend to the wounded must never be lost sight of in what may be called the more showy deeds performed by our soldiers and sailors.

The story you have just read recalls the astonishing coolness and bravery of the man who, I believe, was the first doctor to receive the V.C.—Surgeon Mouat of the Inniskillings. He dressed the wound, under fire, of Captain Morris, of the 17th Lancers, who had just taken part in the Charge of the Light Brigade, thereby saving his patient’s life.

The Middlesex Regiment, who bear the glorious nickname of “The Die Hards,” greatly distinguished themselves on those eventful days, August 23 and 24. They were much pleased by a communication received by them, containing a statement by Mr. J. B. Dolphin, British Vice-Consul at Liège, in which the following passage occurred:

“A German general said that he had never dreamt of such magnificent bravery as that displayed by them. The accuracy of their firing was a revelation: their coolness was wonderful, and their trench work splendid.”

As you will see later in this book, “The Die Hards” also distinguished themselves in one of the later battles of the war.

In the first public speech made in England by a British officer wounded at Mons, Captain Buchanan Dunlop, he paid a fine tribute to the French non-combatants, as people who are not soldiers are called in a country at war:

“I think England might get a very good lesson from the inhabitants of France and Belgium. All the way as we proceeded through that country all the inhabitants turned out and did all they could for us. They brought us coffee, bread and butter, cigarettes, and anything they could think of. The ladies even turned out balls of string in case the men might find them useful, and handkerchiefs. We advanced up through this country, and then had to retire through it. You can imagine our feelings going back through the same country that we had previously traversed. This did not make the slightest difference to the way we were treated by the inhabitants. They brought us coffee and other things as before.