“‘I have sent two officers down the road, sir,’ replied the Colonel.

“‘What the d——­s the use of detailing unmounted officers for the job?’ snapped General Stockwell.  The Colonel said something else, and the General replied, ‘That’s no excuse.’

“Then General Stockwell went off, and Colonel Best-Dunkley carried out his orders.  We could see that we were now in for a very long halt here.  It would take a deuce of a time to collect the Battalion together again!  So we lay down under the shade of the roadside hedge and discussed the whole affair.  Three sergeant-majors had fallen out on the way, two very bad indeed; officers had fallen out; and men wearing ribbons of the D.C.M. and the M.M., heroes of Gallipoli and the Somme, men who had never been beaten by a route march before, were lying along the country roads; so there must have been some reason for it!  Amongst the sturdy fifteen were the new Regimental Sergeant-Major (Hoyle) and Sergeant-Major Preston of B Company; and there were also a few officers.  The Transport made us some tea, which we enjoyed immensely.  Humfrey had his little fox terrier, ‘Darky,’ who was born in the trenches at Thiepval during the Battle of the Somme last summer, with him.  It is a nice little dog.  I found a gold ring on the road just by me; and I intend to keep it as a souvenir of the episode.

“We remained here for five hours—­from 2.30 to 7.30.  Men were reinforcing us all the time.  After about half an hour General Stockwell appeared again.  Glaring at Sergeant-Major Hoyle he addressed him as follows: 

“’Here are fifteen men whom I myself—­I—­have collected along the road.  Get them some tea at once, sergeant-major!’ He glanced at us all and then rode off again.  He is clean-shaven and exceptionally young for a General; I should think he is not more than thirty-five.  He is rather good-looking, but he has some temper.  Some one remarked that General Stockwell and Colonel Best-Dunkley were men of similar temperament; on this occasion the latter had run up against the former; this interesting little episode at this country corner was the result!

“There was an aerodrome near by (at Boisdinghem), and the Major there kindly sent his motor-lorries down the road to fetch up our men; so they kept arriving in motor-lorries the whole afternoon.

“I can tell you we enjoyed this rest.  One officer who had fallen out saw a mail motor-lorry.  The driver said that he was looking for the (164) Brigade!  So he got a lift.  The mail arrived while we were resting in this shaded road; so I got your letter of June 12 and the enclosed letters, and read them there....

“When we marched off again it was much cooler.  The majority of the Battalion had been collected during the five hours, and we marched happily on—­the band playing.  The country was pretty, and everything was gay!  The Colonel was awfully nice, inquiring whether the step was to our liking, and making himself agreeable in every possible way.  All were pleased with him.