h. He worked his men hard but himself harder
still. He had the curious faculty of being able to work for hours by
day and to spend the whole night in some muddy ditch up in the front
line. His kindness to and consideration for his signallers, were only
exceeded by his conscientious devotion to duty. He made me respect and
like and envy him, even if he occasionally made me smile.

Major Rowan left us, I think, at La Clytte or Dranoutre, and Capt. W.
Anderson became Brigade-Major in his place. He had joined the 6th N.F.
at the outbreak of war and got his company and the M.C. at the Battle
of St. Julien. In January 1916 he was appointed G.S.O. III at 50th
Division H.Q. 'Bill' Anderson was a great man, and combined the
fearlessness of the Northumbrian with a great brain. He was probably
the best 'civilian' tactician in the Army, and had he decided to join
the Regular Army I should have expected him to rise very high indeed.
I know what the 149th Infantry Brigade owed to him; but I doubt
whether many others know quite as well. And I have always thought that
he was never given full scope for exercising his wonderful ability. A
tall soldierly figure, with noble features and piercing blue eyes that
could harden almost to ruthlessness, I carry him in my mind as my
ideal of a Staff Officer. He could get men to do anything for him; his
kindly tact and sympathy, his rare appreciation of your efforts,
however clumsy, made you ready to work for him like a slave. He has
been a good friend to me throughout, and he has done more for me than
any other man in France.

At Bruloose the officers of the Brigade had small wooden huts of the
Armstrong type for offices and sleeping rooms. The mess room was in
the farm-house. Naturally it was a great change from the rude
accommodation of a Company Mess. M. Bunge, the French interpreter,
looked after our comforts well.

Next to B.H.Q. was a large and fairly useful bombing ground, where the
Brigade Bombing School was carried on; and I spent a good deal of time
there, as I was in charge of the school. On two days out of every four
I spent the morning there, and in the afternoon I was free to visit
the trenches, some four miles away. On the other two days I could go
up to the trenches in the morning.

I did not miss a day's visit to the trenches and once or twice I went
up twice in the day.

The journey was done on foot, so I had quite a good day's exercise. My
duties in the trenches were to se