very
heavy gas shelling of the Highland Ridge just before the Germans
launched their attack, and he was voiceless for the next ten days. A
large proportion of his Battalion were similarly affected, but time
after time during the retreat they turned and fought, and inflicted
heavy losses on the enemy until they did their share in repelling a
heavy attack at Beaumont Hamel, where the Germans were finally held.

It was the spirit of such battalions as the 23rd Royal Fusiliers that
broke the German offensive, and the marvellous power of recuperation
that they had, given a few days to rest and sleep.

In the offensive operations that lasted from August 21, 1918, to the
Armistice, the Battalion delivered many successful attacks with
undiminished dash and courage, and it was a proud day when I saw them
march through the Square in Duren with fixed bayonets, headed by the
few Regimental pipers that had been through the war with them since
their formation.

Well had they earned their Victory March into Germany, and
Lieutenant-Colonel Winter was justified in his great pride in their
fine appearance and magnificent transport.

In conclusion I must pay a tribute to the private soldiers, the
non-commissioned officers, and the young officers, who, year in and
year out, faced death and the greatest of hardships with that dogged
courage that has always broken the hearts of our enemies. The saying
that the British soldier never knows when he is beaten has never been
truer than in this war.

My hope is that histories such as this may have a wide circulation, so
that mothers, wives, and children may know what their men have done
for their country, what dangers they have faced, and what vast
sacrifices they cheerfully made.

FROM MAJOR-GENERAL R.O. KELLETT, C.B., C.M.G.

The story of the 23rd Battalion Royal Fusiliers cannot fail to be a
fine one. Every soldier who, like myself, had the honour of fighting,
I may say, shoulder to shoulder with it, will read its history with
the deepest interest.

As its first Brigadier, I took up that appointment on December 19,
1914, when the Battalion was in its infancy, deficient of arms and
equipment, but full of men whose physique, zeal, and spirit were
magnificent, and this spirit was fully maintained, to the honour and
fame of the Battalion, in the face of the enemy in France during the
winter of 1915-16, and throughout 1916 and 1917, during which time it
was in my (99th) Brigade, whi