eral's censure was undeserved. It was not Colonel
Best-Dunkley's fault; if it was anybody's fault it was the General's own
fault for ordering the march by day instead of by night, and for not
halting the Brigade for a long enough period earlier on in the course of
the march. One felt that Colonel Best-Dunkley was being treated
unjustly, especially as the North Lancs. had only arrived with ten! And
the Irish had not yet arrived at all! (These facts must soon have become
apparent to General Stockwell, and, perhaps, caused him, inwardly at any
rate, to modify his judgment). And the way Colonel Best-Dunkley took it,
the calm and submissive manner in which he bore General Stockwell's
curses and the kind and polite way in which he afterwards gave orders
to, and conversed with, his inferiors, both officers and men, endeared
him to all. I consider that out of this incident Colonel Best-Dunkley
has won a moral victory. He played his cards very well, and feeling
changed towards him as a result.

"The General went on: 'You yourself, the Adjutant, and four mounted
officers go right back to (Watten) immediately and collect your men
together and bring them along here before you proceed any further.'

"'I _have_ sent two officers down the road, sir,' replied the Colonel.

"'What the d----s the use of detailing unmounted officers for the job?'
snapped General Stockwell. The Colonel said something else, and the
General replied, 'That's no excuse.'

"Then General Stockwell went off, and Colonel Best-Dunkley carried out
his orders. We could see that we were now in for a very long halt here.
It would take a deuce of a time to collect the Battalion together again!
So we lay down under the shade of the roadside hedge and discussed the
whole affair. Three sergeant-majors had fallen out on the way, two very
bad indeed; officers had fallen out; and men wearing ribbons of the
D.C.M. and the M.M., heroes of Gallipoli and the Somme, men who had
never been beaten by a route march before, were lying along the country
roads; so there must have been some reason for it! Amongst the sturdy
fifteen were the new Regimental Sergeant-Major (Hoyle) and
Sergeant-Major Preston of B Company; and there were also a few officers.
The Transport made us some tea, which we enjoyed immensely. Humfrey had
his little fox terrier, 'Darky,' who was born in the trenches at
Thiepval during the Battle of the Somme last summer, with him. It is a
nice little dog. I found a