n
raising new units, with very few officers, warrant officers, and
N.C.O.'s to lead the new force and instruct them in military routine.
Without exception they were filled with admiration of the physique,
intelligence, and spirit of the men who had rushed to arms in those
dark early days of the war.

It was evidently the flower of the nation that came forward, and
probably in the history of all wars such magnificent material has
never been equalled.

My acquaintance with the 23rd Battalion Royal Fusiliers extended from
the end of 1916 to March, 1919, when the Battalion left the 2nd
Division, and it is interesting to look back at my first impression of
the Battalion, as I had not previously had any New Army battalions
under my command. Regular battalions have the pride of history to
sustain them, and traditions to live up to, but here I found a
battalion not two years old, with its history in the making, but with
the same spirit and self-consciousness that one finds in the old
formations.

Those who have not had considerable experience of troops in peace and
war may imagine that regiments are, at all times, sustained by a great
pride in their past, and a determination to live up to it. Alas! in
some cases this spirit dies away in adversity. I have seen the 23rd
Royal Fusiliers in good times and in bad, and I have never found them
downhearted.

When out for a few weeks' rest and training, in pleasant surroundings,
their work and play were carried out with much life and zest.

In the fighting in the Cambrai salient, in the Bourlon-Moeuvres
Ridge, on November 30, 1917, when the 2nd Division defeated six
successive attacks on their line, the 23rd Royal Fusiliers at the end
of the day held their line intact. This action was followed two days
later by a withdrawal which was necessary to get us out of a sharp
salient. This entailed very hard work and constant trench fighting,
extending over several days. The troops were very exhausted from the
extremely heavy calls that had been made on them, but after a few
days' rest it was almost incredible how rapidly they had thrown off
their fatigue and how good their spirits were.

They knew they had killed large numbers of Germans, and had
successfully defeated a German attack which, if successful, would have
been a great disaster for the British.

A more trying time was the March retreat in 1918. Lieutenant-Colonel
Winter had lost his voice from the effect of several days of