proud whenever, in after years, the history of the battle of
Loos comes to be written, for I can tell you it was the London Irish
who helped to save a whole British Army Corps. You have done one of
the greatest actions of the war."

Thus the London Irish raised themselves on the pinnacle of a notable
and conspicuous triumph. Thus they earned for themselves the name of
"The Footballers of Loos."

CHAPTER XI

THE VICTORIA CROSS

A NOBLE BAND OF IRISH HEROES, OFFICERS AND MEN

That plain Cross of bronze, with the simple motto, "For Valour," is
the most honoured and coveted military decoration in the world. It has
been won in the present war, down to the end of 1915, by as many as
twenty-one Irishmen, who have splendidly sustained their country's
inspiring heritage of bravery on the battlefield.

Courage, bravery, valour, are, in a way, mysterious attributes. We all
understand what they mean; we all regard them as noble and heroic; we
all desire to be possessed of them. Yet we know that only to the few
comparatively do they belong; and in a puzzled mood we ask
ourselves--Why is it that in the face of death in warfare one man
should be fearless and another timid and faint-hearted? It is supposed
that most men are naturally cowards. I remember hearing a remarkable
statement made by Archibald Forbes, a famous war correspondent of the
past, in a lecture on his experiences as a journalist on the field of
battle. He said there is infinitely less steadiness in the soldier of
any nationality under fire than the civilian imagines. He had watched
the conduct on the field of the armies of eight European nations, and
there was never an engagement in which he did not see what he called
"a stampede," or, more explicitly, soldiers flying in the wild
disorder of terror.

Forbes did not attempt to explain why this was so. He simply recorded
the fact. To me it seems as if the quality which is commonly called
cowardice is but a form of fear, and fear is an instinctive emotion
which is to be seen displayed throughout the entire animal kingdom. It
shows itself at a very early age in the shrinking apprehensiveness of
the infant. The purpose of it appears to be that of self-protection
and self-preservation. One of its first impulses is to avoid the
danger which threatens by running away from it. We see that in the
action of a horse harnessed to a vehicle which, by reason of a sudden
fright, breaks from human restraint, and dashes