But the most remarkable tribute of all to the perfect working of the transport and supply service is that given by the British officers and men themselves.  Captain Guy Edwards, Coldstream Guards, says:  “They have fed our troops wonderfully regularly and well up to the present; we have had no sickness at all, and every one is in splendid spirits.”  In another letter an officer refers to the generosity of the rations.  “In addition to meat and bread (or biscuit),” he says, “we get 1/4lb. jam, 1/4lb. bacon, 3oz. cheese, tea, etc., while the horses have had a good supply of oats and hay.”  During the whole of the long retreat from Mons, says an officer of the Berkshires, “there was only one day when we missed our jam rations!”

And it is the same with the men.  Here are some brief extracts from their letters: 

     Private ——­, 20th Field Ambulance: 

     “Our food supply is magnificent.  We have everything we want and
     food to spare.  Bacon and tomatoes is a common breakfast for us.”

     Driver Finch:  “I am in the best of health, with the feeding and the
     open-air life.  The stars have been our covering for the last few
     weeks.”

     Sergeant, Infantry Regiment:  “The arrangements are very good—­no
     worry or hitch anywhere; it is all wonderful.”

     Cavalryman:  “We live splendidly, being even able to supplement our
     generous rations with eggs, milk and vegetables as we go through
     the villages.”

     Gunner:  “Having the time of my life.”

Of course, the exigencies of war may not always permit of the perfect working of the supply machine.  Already there have been many hardships to be endured.  Incessant fighting does not give the men time for proper meals, sleep is either cut out altogether or reduced to an occasional couple of hours, heavy rains bring wet clothing and wetter resting places, boots wear out with prolonged marching, and men have to go for days and even weeks unwashed, unshaven, and without even a chance of getting out of their clothes for a single hour.

The officers suffer just as much as the men.  After a fortnight or three weeks at the front one cavalry officer wrote that he “had not taken his clothes off since he left the Curragh.”  “For five days,” another says, “I never took off my boots, even to sleep, and for two days I did not even wash my hands or face.  For three days and nights I got just four hours’ sleep.  The want of sleep was the one thing we felt.”  Sleep, indeed, is just the last thing the officers get.  Brigadier-General Sir Philip Chetwode outlines his daily program as “work from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m., then writing and preparations until 4 a.m. again.”  To make matters worse just at the start of the famous cavalry charge which brought Sir Philip such distinction, his pack-horse bolted into the German lines carrying all his luggage, and leaving him nothing but a toothbrush!