e
horrible sights all the way along. We were joined by more prisoners as
we went down. German prisoners have only to be told which way to go and
they go. They are quite sociable people too--many of them bright-eyed
boys of seventeen and eighteen. They are only too glad to carry our
wounded men back; they need no escort. We got on very well indeed with
them. I suppose that in a sense we were comrades in distress, or, rather
comrades in good fortune, in that we were all leaving the field of
horrors behind us! Yet they were the very Boches who, an hour before,
had been peppering us with those bullets. One would never have imagined
that we had so recently been enemies. One of them asked for water to
'drinken;' so I let him have a drink from my water-bottle. About half a
dozen of them drank, and they appeared very grateful.

"Germans are not half so vile as they are painted.... They are only
doing their bit for their Empire as we are for ours. The pity of it is
that destiny should have thrown us into conflict. It is a great pity.
How fine it would be if we could let bygones be bygones, shake hands,
and lead the world in peace and civilization side by side! If we can
fraternize so speedily on the battlefield, why cannot those who are not
shooting each other also fraternize? It is a cruel insult to humanity
that this thing should go on. War is hell, and the sooner some one
arises who has the courage to stop it the better. Somebody will have to
take the lead some time. I myself believe in peace after victory--but we
are not yet going the right way about achieving victory; and, unless Sir
William Robertson speedily changes his plans, we might as well make
peace. This killing business is horrible. The present policy of the
General Staff is: see which side can do the most killing. A far wiser,
and far more humane, policy would be to win it by strategy. I believe in
out-manoeuvring the enemy and taking as many prisoners as possible;
make him evacuate territory or surrender by corps and armies; it can be
done if we go the right way about it, but this bloodshed is barbarous.

"When we walked over Wieltje we found our once 'strong point' no longer
existent. The sandbags were scattered all over. Yet in the mine
below--in the estam--General Stockwell had his Headquarters.

"We were sent on from aid-post to aid-post. They were all crowded with
wounded. The number of 'walking cases' was very large. At Potijze we
were again sent on. So I