course, I am putting my name down. I am
deliberating whether to go for Infantry, Artillery, or
Machine-Gun Corps.

_December 8th, 1916._

I was medically examined yesterday, and passed fit for general
service. To-day I filled in the application form, applying for
(1) Infantry, (2) M.G.C., (3) Royal Artillery. You will doubtless
want my reasons for this step. (1) It is obvious that they need
Infantry officers most. It is, therefore, clearly the duty of
every fit officer to offer his services for the Infantry. I have
been passed fit by an entirely impartial medical officer, after a
searching medical examination; therefore it is my duty to go. (2)
From the personal point of view I have long been most
dissatisfied with the part I am playing in the War, and I jump at
the chance of a transfer.

I don't pretend to be doing the "young hero" stunt. I am not out
for glory. I have probably seen far more of the War as it really
is than any other A.S.C. officer in the Division. I know the War
for the dull, sordid, murderous thing that it is. I don't expect
for a minute to enjoy the trenches. But anything is better than
this horrible inaction when all the chaps one knows are
undergoing frightful hardships and dangers. For a long time the
argument of physical incapacity weighed with me. I was forced to
admit that if, on account of defective eyesight, I was not sound
for Infantry work, it was better that I should stick to a job for
which I was fit than do badly one for which I was not fit. But I
have now been passed fit for general service, and this being so I
would be a craven to hold back from the fighting-line.

If we are to win this War it will only be through gigantic
efforts and great sacrifices. It is the chief virtue of the
public-school system that it teaches one to make sacrifices
willingly for the sake of _esprit de corps_. Well, clearly, if
the public-school men hold back, the others will not follow.
Germany at present [the Germans had recently overrun Rumania] is
in the best situation--speaking politically--she has been in
since those dramatic days of the advance on Paris. The British
effort is only just beginning to bear fruit, and we are called on
to strain every nerve in our national body to c