hat used his brain best would
win. And so this embryo existence came to an end--a careless, happy
time with no particular thought for the troubles ahead. In the middle
of July 1915 I obtained a commission in the 3rd line Battalion of the
7th Northumberland Fusiliers, Territorials, supplying drafts to the
1st line battalion in France. I had no desire to display my ignorance
of things military before a group of neighbours and possibly
relations, so I applied for a commission, not in the Territorials of
the West Riding Regiment, but in a north-country battalion of
Territorials, with the 1st line fighting in France. The Territorial
Force seemed to me most suitable for one who had no military career in
view. And France, the land of old time romance and chivalry, gave a
more urgent call than Egypt or the East. The choice of a unit, if one
can be said to choose it, is fraught with greater consequences to
oneself than might be supposed. I cannot say after a lapse of three
years that the choice has proved unfortunate to me. It came about in
this way. We were doing a rifle parade one day at Berkhamsted, when
Lieut. Reynolds (N.F.) appeared with our company commander, Capt.
Clarke, and asked for the names of any men who would like to join the
3rd line of the 7th N.F. The 1st line battalion, he said, had just
been badly cut up in France, and we should be out there in four months
perhaps, certainly in six months. That was all the information we had,
but it was enough for me. A north-country territorial battalion and
France in six months--those were the attractions. I had never spent
more than one night in Northumberland and I knew of Alnwick only by
name. It was therefore rather a step in the dark; but to one who was
still ignorant of the meaning of a 'Brigade' or a 'Division' only
general considerations could appeal. And so on July 30, 1915, I set
off for Alnwick to join my battalion, with a new uniform and kit, with
a somewhat nervous feeling inside, but with a determination to do my
best.

II

THE MEN OF THE NORTH COUNTRY

I have a great respect and admiration for the men of Northumberland.
Especially for those who come from the country towns and villages, the
farm-lands and mines in the northern parts of the county. As soldiers
they have gained a name the world over, of which it would be idle for
me to talk. A cold climate and a fighting ancestry that goes back many
hundreds of years have produced some marked qualiti