o close to the Huns
that they could not shell him; he remembered running--everybody running,
his own men running with him, and the Germans running from him; he had a
vague recollection of making his way down a long bit of strange trench,
brandishing an entrenching tool that he had picked up somewhere; then
there was a great flash and an awful pain, and all was over--the
shelling was over at last.

* * * * *

It was not until Roger Dymond was in hospital in London that he worried
about things again. One evening, however, the Sister brought in a paper,
and pointed out his own name in a list of nine others who had won the
V.C. He read the little paragraph underneath in the deepest
astonishment.

"For conspicuous gallantry," it ran, "under very heavy shell fire on
August 26th, 1916. Seeing that his men were becoming demoralised by
the bombardment, Captain Dymond, on his own initiative, led a
surprise attack against the enemy trenches. He found the Germans
unprepared, and at the head of his men captured two lines of trenches
along a front of two hundred and fifty yards. Captain Dymond lost
both legs owing to shell fire, but his men were able to make good
almost all their ground and to hold it against all counter-attacks.

"This officer was awarded the Military Cross earlier in the war for
great bravery near La Bassee."

He finished the amazing article, and wrote a letter, in a wavering hand
that he could not recognise as his own, to the War Office to tell them
of their mistake--that he was really running away from the enemy's
shells--and received a reply visit from a general.

"My dear fellow," he said, "the V.C. is never awarded to a man who has
not deserved it. The only pity is that so many fellows deserve it and
don't get it. You deserved it and got it. Stick to it, and think
yourself damned lucky to be alive to wear it. There's nothing more to be
said."

And this is the story of Captain Roger Dymond, V.C., M.C. Of the few of
us who were there at the time, there is not one who would grudge him the
right to put those most coveted letters of all after his name, for we
were all in the shelling ourselves, and we all saw him charge, and
heard him shout and laugh as he made his way across to the enemy. The
V.C., as the general said, is never given to a man who has not deserved
it.

V

"PONGO" SIMPSON ON BOMBS

"Pongo" Simpson was sitting before a