es for Destitute Catholic
Children in London, "could you have peered into one of the estaminets
which was still inhabited, you would have perceived one of the Irish
calmly asking a most attractive and business-like madame for a _cafe
au lait_, and being served amid torrents of shot and shell; and when
he was finished he slung his arms and calmly walked on to do further
death-dealing deeds." Culley adds that when the village was eventually
cleared some of the New Army passed through the thinned ranks of the
Territorials to carry on the advance. "You may have noticed in the
papers," he says, "that the credit of capturing the village went to
the New Army. This is not so. The Territorials, with the London Irish
among their leaders, should be given the honour."

But the real trial of the London Irish was now to begin. The Germans
on the Sunday launched a tremendous counter-attack. Would the London
Irish be able to beat it back, and hold on to the trenches they had
taken until relief came? Again and again, there seemed to be no
possible escape from the destruction which imminently menaced them.
"All Monday passed and still no relief came," writes a rifleman of the
battalion. "Indeed, it was a question whether any minute we should not
be blown to atoms and the line swamped with a rush of the enemy. We
could hardly stand from fatigue, having been in action steadily since
Saturday morning. 'Fight on, lads,' said an officer who was afterwards
killed. 'Remember the Division looks to you. This is bound to end
sooner or later. Let it be in a way that will never be forgotten when
they hear of it at home in London and Ireland.' So we fought on, and
never a single German got nearer than a dozen yards from our lines.
Soon we got the word that we should be relieved early Tuesday morning
under cover of the darkness. The announcement sent a thrill of joy
through us, for then we knew we had won." As soon as they got to the
back trenches in safety a huge cheer went up from all the others, "The
London Irish--Hurroo!" "They shook us by the hands and took our rifles
from our grasp and the kits from our backs in their eagerness to show
their gratitude," says the same rifleman.

The General in command of the Brigade who stood and watched the
battalion on their way to battle on Friday night, addressed the
remnant afterwards and said: "Not only am I proud to have had the
honour of being in command of such a regiment, but the whole Empire
will be