es stretch in one
continuous chain of over 500 miles. The trenches to-day are monuments of
masterly skill and construction. Gazing over a line of such earth
fortifications--for that is what they are--from the summit of a hill, it
is very difficult to realize that at one's feet there are thousands of
men lying hidden from each other, but ready at a moment's notice to
spring into deadly activity. An occasional shell bursts here and there,
but beyond that the characteristics are apparently peaceful; such is the
appearance at the present stage of warfare. But it must be always borne
in mind this is only preparatory to great and far-reaching movements.

Ever and again a scrap takes place, and a few hundreds or thousands of
yards of trenches are taken or lost. To the ordinary civilian mind this
all seems very haphazard, but it is not so; every movement is made with
a purpose, and the result carefully noted by the master mind behind the
whole.

The first battle of Ypres lasted somewhere about a month. Since then
other sanguinary battles have taken place on the ground which has become
historic. But October and November, 1914, will ever stand in the annals
of war as the occasion of one of England's greatest triumphs, for
notwithstanding Germany's costly endeavours to reach the coast, she
failed.

CONCERNING OFFICERS AND MEN

CHAPTER VI

CONCERNING OFFICERS AND MEN

In considering the constituent elements of an army, the first avenue of
thought must lead to the primary essential--discipline. The realization
of this most important military virtue is one of the most difficult for
the young soldier to apprehend and appreciate, and yet it must underly
the whole system of the army. By discipline, I do not merely mean
smartness, which is involved in quick and correct response to the word
of command; that, of course, is part of it; but I refer more
particularly to that grip of self which enables a man to force himself
into subjection to authority, which may be entirely inimical to his own
will. One of the most striking illustrations of this remarkable mental
condition came under my notice on October 27, 1914. I had ridden up to
the front to see some of the men in my Brigade. The Grenadier and Scots
Guards had for days been holding the line with dogged pluck, and now had
withdrawn from the trenches for a brief respite from their most arduous
duties. Falling back a mile or so, they were rejoicing in the prospect
of a