Lieutenant Forshaw hailed from the same part of England as the brave young officer of whom we have just read. He belonged to the Manchester Territorials, and he won the Cross in trench fighting against the Turks. His station was at an important corner which was to be held at all costs; and in holding it Forshaw showed what is perhaps a higher form of courage than impulse—that of stern unflinching endurance.
By his spirit and example he encouraged his men to hold their own against repeated and savage attacks of the enemy. He set them an example of heroism by his cool disregard for danger. At the end of 24 hours’ continuous fighting his men were relieved; but he offered to go on directing operations, and his offer was accepted.
For another 17 hours he repeatedly threw bombs at the enemy, lighting the fuses with a cigarette. He was choked by acid fumes, bruised by fragments of shell, and scarcely able to lift his arm for weariness, but he “stuck it” until the position was safe.
“It was due to his personal example, magnificent courage and endurance,” said his superiors, “that this very important corner was held.” When a brave man is in a tight place of any kind he will do well to remember “Forshaw’s corner.”
THE STORY OF EDITH CAVELL
There is a lofty, snow-clad peak in the Canadian Rockies which is known by the name of Mount Edith Cavell. It was named in the year 1915 to enshrine the memory of a noble woman who laid down her life for the love of humanity. She was an English patriot, but, as we shall see as we go on with her story, she was much more than that.
Edith Cavell was a hospital nurse who was trained in London and went to Belgium in 1900 to take charge of a training school for nurses in a suburb of Brussels. She threw herself into her work with great devotion and in a few years made it a real success. Then the war began and the Germans marched into Brussels as victors; but Miss Cavell was allowed to stay at her hospital.
The Germans seemed to know that she might be useful even to their own men; and they were not mistaken. The course of events brought many German wounded to Brussels and these men received the same care as the Belgian wounded. All hurt or sick men were the same to Edith Cavell, and her one aim was to get them well again.