ring who this hero could be. Some of his friends were
not long in guessing; but it was not until the next day that Freyberg in
name received credit for the remarkable exploit on the north bank of the
Ancre. In the first messages of the British success it was set forth
that in a battle where every man fought nobly for the honour of his
regiment and his country, one individual act of leadership stood out
with peculiar distinctness.

A witness of the battle told of the troops on Freyberg's left being held
up, and that between him and them ran, roughly parallel with the line of
advance, a spur which cut off the effect of the enemy's machine guns.
After fourteen hours of fighting, bit by bit, the sea-dog soldiers had
plunged through a mile of trenches and ground sorely marked by shells.
Three machine guns then were pushed forward well beyond that line, and
the still unsatisfied sailor-colonel, his shoulder and right arm swathed
in bandages, asked leave to go ahead and attack the village. His men
were about 1,000 yards in front of the companies on his left,
endeavouring to advance across the northwesterly slope. It was more like
a matter of defence than attack. The men were few in numbers, and had
fought like tigers for long hours without a rest. However, about 500 men
were collected, and the dark of night was spent in organisation. Then,
in the misty dawn, some soldier battalions came up to reinforce the
left, and onward plunged Freyberg.

Out on the Ancre they say that he got so far ahead of his men that he
rubbed his hand over his head and murmured: "Huh--I believe I forgot to
tell them to follow me." Whether or not this is true, only Freyberg
knows. But we do not remain in doubt as to what he and his men did right
afterwards. They ploughed their way through mud and Germans, with the
fire of five machine guns peppering them. They stuck right on the heels
of the barrage fire, and in less than twenty minutes from that time the
Germans had been driven from their stronghold of Beaucourt. Here and
there a German post held, and men in the trenches faced the British
bombs and cold steel. Still the Teutons soon learned that it was
impossible to stop that alarming Briton and his men.

Freyberg formed a semicircular trench around the far side of the new
possession, and then they took time to see what had happened to the
gallant little band. Freyberg had received his fourth wound, and his
brave 500 had dwindled to a number a good d