Somebody else came up to Jevons and told him that there were three or four wounded men somewhere inside the Town Hall, but that the place was on fire and it was absolutely impossible to get them out.  He advised us to pick up the men who were lying in the street, and clear out.

I saw Jevons nod his head as if he agreed and consented.  I saw him get out of the car.  And then I heard Kendal say, “Give us a hand, sir,” and I turned to my stretchers.

When I looked round again Jevons was running towards the Town Hall.  The man who had told us to pick up our wounded and clear out was looking after him with a face of the most perfect horror.

Kendal and I followed with the stretchers, and we saw Jevons run up the steps of the Town Hall.  He turned at the top of the steps and waved to us to keep back.

Then he went through the big doors between the pillars.

There was a crash and a roar as if the whole building had fallen in.  It was the top story plunging to the second floor.  The upper half of the Town Hall was like a crate filled with blazing straw.  The Greek pediment was the only solid thing that subsisted in that fire.

Then the first floor was caught.  It burned more slowly.

Kendal and I and the ambulance men ran forward with the stretchers.  And Jimmy came through the doors carrying a wounded Frenchman.  He went in again and came out with another Frenchman.

(The ground floor had begun to burn behind him.)

He went in a third time and came out with Reggie Thesiger.

He must have had to go further into the hall to find him, for it was a much longer business.  We, Kendal and I, were down the street by the ambulance when they came out, and I didn’t see that it was Reggie till I heard Kendal say, “Sir, that’s Major Thesiger he’s got!”

Reggie’s arm was round Jimmy’s shoulder and Jimmy’s arm was round Reggie’s waist.  He half carried, half supported him.  He came out in the middle of a cloud of smoke that hid him.  The smoke was followed by a burst of fire and another crash and roar as the ceiling of the first story plunged to the ground floor.

With all this going on behind him Jevons paused on the top of the steps to readjust his burden to the descent.  We heard afterwards that Reggie had said, “You’d better leave me, old man, and scoot.  You can’t do it.”

It didn’t look as if he could.  But as we went back to them we saw that Jevons had heaved Reggie over his shoulder and was carrying him down the steps.  He came very carefully and slowly, so that we had reached the Town Hall before he had staggered to the last step.

As we pressed closer to help him he told us to get back if we didn’t want the whole damned place down on the top of us.

We gave back and he followed us.  I don’t know how we got Reggie on to the stretcher—­he had a piece of shell somewhere in his thigh—­but we did it and ran with him to the ambulance.  We had about a minute to do it in and no more.