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 [Frontispiece
 
 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 THE RIFLE BRIGADE 
 A Memoir 
 
 Edited by 
 
 EDWARD S. WOODS, M.A., C.F. 
 
 Author of " Knights in Armour " 
 
 " DO IT WITH THY MIGHT " 
 
 LONDON: ROBERT SCOTT 
 
 ROXBURGHE HOUSE 
 PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 
 
 M C M X V I I I 
 
 All rights reserved
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE following account of Andrew Buxton's life and 
 War experiences has been put together, in the first 
 instance, for the benefit of the very large family and clan 
 of which he is a member and for an immensely wide circle 
 of friends ; both family and friends having expressed a 
 keen desire to possess some permanent record of what he 
 was and did. It has been felt, however, that what he wrote 
 from the Front has an interest that is not confined to those 
 who knew him personally, and it was therefore decided to 
 publish this account rather than print it for private cir- 
 culation. The letters make no claim to being literature, 
 nor have they the artistic or imaginative interest of some 
 other war books. On the other hand, written as they are 
 by one who had a habit of minute observation and who 
 took pains to record what he saw and experienced, the 
 letters present a wonderfully vivid, detailed, and accurate 
 picture of trench life and warfare as it was in 1915 and 
 1916 — 'times that are now (November, 1918) beginning to 
 seem remarkably remote. It is, moreover, not impossible 
 that the book will appeal to many on other grounds than 
 these. The story of a Christian gentleman, one of the 
 many thousands who have given their all in the great 
 Cause, will always touch an answering chord in the hearts 
 of those who have their faces set towards the same shining 
 goal. 
 
 The quotation on the title-page, " Do it with thy might," 
 
 v
 
 vi PREFACE 
 
 is the motto of the Buxton family, and may stand as a 
 not unfitting summary of Andrew's life and character. 
 
 To compile the Memoir has been a labour of love ; but 
 the work would not have been possible without the unwearied 
 and affectionate co-operation of Andrew's immediate family, 
 and especially his mother and sisters. Their sacrifice in 
 sharing with others, what is to them so sacred and intimate, 
 . will'surely bring its own reward in an unmeasured extension 
 of the influence of him they love. 
 
 E. S. W. 
 All Saints' Day, 
 1918.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 Preface 
 
 I Early Years 
 
 II The Main Factor 
 
 III Work and Sport . 
 
 IV Joining Up . 
 V The Front : First Experiences 
 
 VI The Front : First Experiences — continued 
 
 VII Back to the Salient .... 
 
 VIII Still in the Salient .... 
 
 IX Farewell to the Salient 
 
 X On the Somme : The Battle of Guillemont 
 
 XI Vimy and Loos ..... 
 
 XII Staff Work with the 73RD Brigade . 
 
 XIII Vimy Ridge ...... 
 
 XIV Messines Ridge — and the End 
 
 XV Postscript ...... 
 
 10 
 21 
 
 37 
 56 
 
 95 
 132 
 148 
 167 
 197 
 217 
 
 235 
 
 248 
 
 268 
 286 
 
 vn
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Andrew R. Buxton 
 
 Aged 8 
 
 Shooting on Tarvie Moor 
 
 Easneye 
 
 In Belgium 
 
 In Trenches near Wieltje 
 
 With Hazlerigg Nieces at Noseley Hall. 
 
 With his Brother, H. F. Buxton . 
 
 With H. F. B. at Easneye . 
 
 Fishing the Garry from Urrard, 1914 . 
 
 With Zenith at Easneye 
 
 With Nephew and Nieces at Noseley Hall 
 
 Fishing the Tarvie Burn with Zulu 
 
 In his Study at Easneye 
 
 Hunsdon Bury ..... 
 
 Portrait ...... 
 
 Frontispiece 
 To face page 5 
 27 
 
 53 
 
 81 
 
 107 
 
 121 
 
 129 
 
 145 
 
 159 
 171 
 
 185 
 203 
 
 237 
 249 
 
 293 
 
 IX
 
 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 EARLY YEARS 
 
 ANDREW RICHARD BUXTON was born at Hanover 
 Terrace, London, on August 19, 1879. He belonged 
 to the large Buxton clan, his father being John Henry 
 Buxton, and his grandfather Thomas Fowell Buxton of 
 Easneye. His Quaker ancestors included Elizabeth Fry 
 (great-grandmother) and Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton (great- 
 grandfather), who shared with Wilberforce the honour of 
 securing the emancipation of the slaves. His mother (a 
 daughter of the late Captain Richard Wilson Pelly) de- 
 scribes him in her " Children's Book " (written at the time) 
 as " a fair curly-headed boy ... a delicious happy baby " ; 
 then, a little later on, " a most amusing mischievous child, 
 never still for a moment and always into every piece of 
 mischief he can find. He hardly ever cries and is always 
 bright and happy with a roguish face." His governess, 
 Miss Newport, writing since his death, says : ' When I 
 first saw him he was three years old, and must have altered 
 little in character since his childhood. I always think of 
 him as a sunny, generous, contented child, very keen on 
 all outdoor life, delighted to go shooting with his father or 
 fishing with his grandfather. What made the most lasting 
 impression on my mind was his almost loverlike devotion 
 to his mother as a small boy ; so much so, that she rather 
 
 1
 
 2 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 checked it, saying, ' it is not good for him.' He was always 
 a manly little boy, retiring and never assertive, always 
 ready to join in all games and enjoy them. A very happy 
 nature and very tender-hearted. I remember he used to 
 say he would like to go to Town like ' Uncle Fred ' or ' go 
 to Central Africa as a Missionary.' " All his childhood and 
 boyhood were spent in the happy country home at Hunsdon 
 Bury, near Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire. Life in that family 
 circle (there were seven children), with its strong and simple 
 piety, its keen love of games and sport, its healthy interest 
 in everything and everybody, and its abounding family 
 esprit de corps, was a good soil for growing an English 
 gentleman. 
 
 One of Andrew's most marked characteristics, his passion- 
 ate love of nature and all animal life, began to develop very 
 early. At the age of five he writes to his mother : " How 
 many grouse has father shot, and does he shoot hares and 
 rabbits and wild ducks ? Aunt Maud and I went fishing 
 this morning and caught 6 fish." Similarly to his father, 
 when he was still only seven : "I saw some wood pigeons 
 walking on the cedar-tree stem. When Dawes (coachman) 
 was going to his bees he saw in a bed of stinging nettles 
 a blackbird's nest with one egg. The hedge-sparrow's 
 nest where Clover caught the bird has been taken. I saw 
 a cuckoo and a woodpecker all the same day. I saw some 
 blackcaps to-day. I saw a woodpecker about five yards 
 from me on the grass. I am going fishing this afternoon." 
 
 As quite a boy he was an excellent shot with a catapult 
 and astonished shooters at the number of rabbits and birds 
 which he thus killed. 
 
 From very early days his special hobby was spiders. His 
 mother writes : "He had a good knowledge of them and 
 used to collect them in various ways from under dead leaves 
 in woods, or from farms and gardens, delighting in finding 
 any new or rare specimens. Once, seeing a letter in a daily
 
 EARLY YEARS 3 
 
 paper on Spiders from a man in Trinidad he answered it, 
 asking if some live ones could be sent. His unknown friend 
 kindly tried to do so, but, alas ! they arrived dead. He tried 
 again and this time they were alive- — to my horror ! Large 
 poisonous ' Mygales ' and some smaller house spiders. These 
 Andrew kept for years in glass cases in a palm-house — one 
 living as long as eight years, which was a record for England. 
 He gave away many of their skins, and Harrow boys will 
 recognize a specimen in the School Nature Museum — also 
 some are to be seen in the Natural History Museum, London. " 
 
 He writes from his private school (St. David's, Reigate) : 
 ' There is a female kitchen spider in an old tree here which 
 I have been trying to get all the term, and there is another 
 simply tremendous one in the ivy. I can't see what sort 
 it is as it is so awfully quick when I put a fly in its web " ; 
 and again : " Thanks awfully for that lecture in the paper 
 by Dr. Dallinger on Spiders, it was very interesting. . . . 
 I met with a spider a little time ago with eyes like this 
 [here he gives a drawing] : two pretty big eyes, and then 
 two very big and then four very small. I don't think I 
 have ever seen spiders' eyes like that before." 
 
 This love of wild life was almost a passion with him. 
 Many years later he wrote from the Front : ' When we 
 first advanced I watched four partridges get up in front 
 and fly straight over. I thought our barrage must kill 
 one by a direct hit, but it didn't." He even competed 
 from the Front with one of his sisters in England as to which 
 would see the earliest migratory birds. He writes on differ- 
 ent dates : " Saw first blackcap- — willow- wren — chiff chaff, 
 swallow," etc. Again he writes : " Saved three young 
 mice ; lot of weasels about — whistled one of the weasels 
 up to me." 
 
 After three years at Reigate, he went, in 1893, to Harrow 
 (Mr. H. O. D. Davidson's House). He never was brilliant 
 at his work ; indeed in the earlier years of his school life
 
 4 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 he often found considerable difficulty with his lessons. A 
 part cause of this may have been the constant headaches 
 due to concussion of the brain consequent upon a blow 
 from a cricket-ball. He always felt the handicap of these 
 headaches ; in a letter to a sister, written in August, 1915, 
 he says : " My trouble in life is that I have read and do 
 read so little and am of generally such an unintelligent 
 turn. I shall never forgive doctors for not explaining the 
 reason of my continual headaches at school and Cambridge." 
 His first-cousin, J. Gurney Barclay, who was with him at 
 Harrow, records that " ' Rep ' was always a trial to him, 
 even when it was English poetry. I remember his coming 
 to me for explanations of meaning. One day it was ' Nose, 
 what are ' broad- words ' ? — it was some Scotch ballad he 
 had to learn. He had pored long over the expression, and 
 was much relieved when I suggested that he should read it 
 ' broad-swords.' " 
 
 But, characteristically, he was always a "plodder," 
 and stuck to his work with an undiscouraged persistency. 
 His first schoolmaster (Rev. W H. Churchill) wrote of 
 him in December, 1889 : " Little Andrew smiles so happily. 
 He is not a Leonard at work yet, but does his best." And 
 again, in 1893 : " Andrew is most conscientious and plods 
 bravely. These are the qualities that make a good man." 
 
 His devotion to natural history did not prevent him becom- 
 ing a keen player of games. Football was his special game 
 (Harrow football, and, later on, " Soccer "), though he was 
 fond of cricket as well. "It was a proud moment," his 
 mother writes, " when he won his ' Fez,' and became later 
 Captain of his House Football XL Still prouder was he 
 when his ' House ' won the ' Cock-house ' match under his 
 captaincy. ..." 
 
 She adds : ' It was at Harrow that he was branded 
 ' Curly,' a nickname which I had hoped would not continue 
 from St. David's. But I knew it was to be, when watching
 
 [To face page 5 
 
 AGED 8.
 
 EARLY YEARS 5 
 
 a ' Footer ' match I heard from all sides the cries, ' Well 
 played, Curly ! ' 'Go it, Curly ! '" 
 
 But throughout his school days and afterwards, of all 
 interests and hobbies natural history and sport came easily 
 first with him. His letters are full of these things ; here 
 are a few typical extracts : " There is the rookery just 
 outside our window and it is ripping seeing them making 
 their nests. ... I think I shall give that spider skin to 
 the Harrow Museum. Are the beauties' legs beginning to 
 grow yet ? . . . I have lost the lizard. I had him at 
 n o'clock yesterday and I put him in his usual place on 
 my dressing-gown, from which he never goes. T have hunted 
 everywhere, but I can't find him. ... If you are having 
 me a new suit made, could you please have rabbit pockets 
 put all round the coat ? " 
 
 Quite the most characteristic thing about Andrew, from 
 his earliest years to the day of his death, was his religion. 
 Some attempt will be made, in one. of the chapters that 
 follow, to describe and interpret the Christian factor in 
 his life and character, and its far-reaching influence on a 
 whole circle of friends. As a preliminary to such an account 
 it may be pointed out here, in this brief record of his boy- 
 hood, that Andrew's religion had its roots very deep down 
 and far back. It is hardly possible to over-estimate the 
 results for an individual of generations of God-fearing 
 ancestors, such as Andrew had ; and, from his very earliest 
 years, an exceptionally keen spiritual instinct was always 
 more than ready to assimilate the loving and earnest 
 Christian training which was bestowed upon him. It may 
 not, however, be amiss to tender a word of caution to any 
 readers of this Memoir who did not know Andrew personally 
 and have no first-hand acquaintance with the kind of 
 religious milieu in which he was brought up. It is, that 
 in reading what he wrote as a boy, or what his mother and 
 others wrote of him, care should be taken to discern the
 
 6 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 profound sincerity of spiritual experience lying beneath 
 and behind religious phraseology that may have something 
 of an artificial sound. Without this kind of sympathetic 
 probing for reality no man can understand the secret of 
 another's life. 
 
 His mother's account of him records : " When he was 
 nine I wrote in my ' Children's Book ' : ' Andrew and I 
 have had several serious talks on Sunday evenings ; he is 
 a very sensitive child and asks a great many questions. He 
 cannot keep from crying when we speak of Holy things. 
 At the same age after a very bad thunderstorm late one 
 evening I said to him ' Did it make you nervous ? ' as he 
 could not sleep. His reply was, ' I was frightened at the 
 first two claps,' then He spoke in my ear and said, ' Be not 
 afraid, I will be with thee.' After that I wasn't a bit fright- 
 ened, not even at that great clap.' I ascertained that no 
 one had put this verse into his mind." 
 
 The following are also extracts from the same book : 
 " He has a great love for Missionary work, liking to hear 
 and talk about it and tries in every possible way to earn 
 a few pence for his Missionary box. Our Sunday evening 
 talks are full of interest. He asks very deep questions 1 — 
 some on the Second Coming of Christ. 
 
 ' In 1891, when twelve years old, he expressed at one 
 of these talks a desire to give up his beloved catapult as 
 he felt it might lead him to being too fond of and occupied 
 with it, so putting holier things out of his heart. . . . 
 Another Sunday I noted words from his prayer ' I thank 
 Thee for giving me something that has helped me. . . . 
 Let me go forward quickly.' In 1893 he said, ' I must be 
 a missionary, mother.' 
 
 " At Harrow," his mother continues, " he took a definite 
 stand for Christ, and in April, 1895, he told me that he 
 first really knew the Lord as a personal friend with constant 
 intercourse with Him. When he first went he keenly
 
 EARLY YEARS 7 
 
 realized the importance of prayer, but not in such reality 
 as came soon after he started his Public School life. He 
 had much to contend with in the questions put to him by 
 other boys and told me he found it difficult to answer 
 them. He, with others, started a little Sunday meeting 
 for the boys, about fifteen attending it. It was not an 
 easy time and he had to endure much persecution for the 
 ' stand ' he took. But many were helped by these meetings 
 and after his death letters were received, even from utter 
 strangers, testifying to his influence at this time. His old 
 matron, ' Mary,' wrote to me after his death : ' His simple 
 Bible reading' — how tried he was and yet stuck to it all 
 that time of trouble and went through it to help purify 
 the House. I may say he came to Harrow with the mind 
 ' I will serve my God whatever happens.' " 
 And here is the witness of an old Harrovian, who was at 
 Harrow with him : 
 
 ' I write as a stranger to you, but having lost the best 
 friend I have ever had, I know that the tribute of an un- 
 known friend is sometimes sweet. I was in Daver's house 
 at Harrow with Curly, and there was no boy in the House 
 for whom I had a greater admiration. He was two years 
 my senior, which means a lot at that age, but I have vivid 
 recollections of his continual kindness to me. I never 
 knew him do or say an unkind thing. I have never known 
 a boy who practised and professed Christianity as he did, 
 and I well remember he suffered for it, but he was always 
 cheerful in himself and ready to give cheer to others. I 
 think the greatest outward expression of his real goodness 
 was his universal kindness to small boys ; a very unusual 
 virtue in Harrow boys of my day." 
 
 Bishop Welldon, sometime Headmaster of Harrow, wrote 
 of him : 
 
 ' As I think of him in the old days at Harrow and of 
 
 B
 
 8 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 his beautiful noble life even to the end I feel proud of 
 my relation to him." 
 
 Here are some extracts from his own letters : 
 
 ' We have a most awfully good chance of being ' Cock ' 
 house — we are drawn against Colbeck's house first on 
 Thursday. Have you had any partridge driving at Mundes- 
 ley ? What an awfully good sermon that was mother sent 
 us this morning. I do wish some one would preach a sermon 
 here on the same subject. I believe there are some chaps 
 who it would rouse up ; it is wonderful how exactly the 
 Prophecies are coming true. ..." 
 
 " Yesterday the School played Bowen's Eleven and won 
 by i run. We had a splendid meeting this morning, 12 
 came' — one entirely new and C. . . . I am very glad Job 
 [in the Scripture Union daily portions] ends now as it is 
 rather hard. . . . The true happiness of being on the 
 Lord's side seems to become more evident every week. 
 How can any one do without Him ? " 
 
 " We were 11 at the Meeting again to-day, which is 
 awfully good, 2 or 3 quite new chaps which I am sure is 
 in answer to our prayers. Gilbart Smith was there. . . . 
 Has the starling's nest by the conservatory hatched yet ? ' 
 
 " Harrow, 1895. 
 
 " Please give Toby (his brother Arthur) my best wishes 
 for a happy term P.T.O. {Private.) Please tell Toby that 
 if he takes God at His word, namely, ' Whatsoever he shall 
 ask, believing in His Name ye shall receive,' if he asks that 
 he may not mind going back to school, I expect he will 
 find it will be answered. It certainly has with me these 
 last two or three terms." 
 
 " On Thursday we had a most delightfu meeting from 
 Mr. A. (David's tutor). He took Joseph, a type of Christ 
 chiefly ; we had 15 chaps there — to-day there were only 7
 
 EARLY YEARS 9 
 
 — I suppose on account of the rain. I was taking it. . . . 
 I have only had one trial yet, viz. Algebra. Have you 
 seen Archie McLaren's score for Lancashire v. Somerset, 
 namely 424, which is a record in First-class County matches, 
 and the innings of the whole side was also a record, viz. 
 801. He was in the ' Eleven ' here for a long time." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " I enclose the tickets for you and father for Chapel 
 (for his Confirmation) in case we should not meet before 
 Chapel by any chance. I can't say how I have enjoyed 
 my preparation and last night I had a most delightful 
 private talk with ' Daver,' as every one does. . . . Do 
 please pray for me in this solemn time and also for 11 boys 
 who are being confirmed in this house."
 
 II 
 
 THE MAIN FACTOR 
 
 IT will be evident, from the letters in the previous Chapter, 
 that the mainspring of Andrew's life must be sought 
 for in the region of personal religion. Before continuing 
 the story of his life as revealed in his letters, it may be 
 worth while to attempt to give some kind of interpretation 
 of his religious outlook and experience. If ' mystic ' 
 means a person who has a peculiarly direct consciousness 
 of God and God's presence, then Andrew was a mystic. 
 For no one who knew him could be unaware that the out- 
 standing feature about his whole life was his extraordinarily 
 keen sense of God. There are not a few genuinely reli- 
 gious people who do not in fact enjoy this vivid sense of 
 the nearness of God. It may be that temperament and 
 heredity, and possibly other and unknown factors, count 
 for more than we suppose. Most lives, however many the 
 subsidiary motives and influences, are usually governed 
 by one or two main impulses, operating in the subconscious 
 as well as the conscious realm. Those who knew Andrew 
 intimately know beyond all shadow of doubt that the 
 dominating factor in his life was a radiant certainty of 
 God and a constant conscious sense of His companionship, 
 with all that meant of guidance, control and inspiration. 
 
 Yet there was nothing about him of the religious profes- 
 sional. He was a most gloriously human and practical 
 mystic. To see him bringing down a pheasant (and he 
 
 10
 
 THE MAIN FACTOR n 
 
 shot wonderfully straight), or working his retrievers, or 
 playing a fish you would never have guessed that a minute 
 before he may have been (as he probably was) speaking with 
 God as friend with friend. It was not simply that he was 
 a Christian and a sportsman ; a good many people have 
 combined those roles. The thing was that with him his 
 sense of God was interwoven with everything he was and 
 did. His faith was quite remarkably simple and natural. 
 Indeed it was largely instinctive ; the intellectual element 
 in it was relatively small. Andrew had a clear mind and 
 used it, but he was not chiefly a " thinker " ; intellectual 
 interests did not for him hold a predominant place. 
 
 Prayer was for him less a duty than a necessity ; it was 
 something he was quite unable to do without. 
 
 "All his life," his mother records, "he had beautiful 
 simple faith in prayer, and his prayers were very char- 
 acteristic and manly. ' Let me be made of the right stuff 
 and do my duty,' he prayed as he went off to the War ; 
 and again : ' Help me to stick it.' 
 
 ' I have found the two following prayers written out for 
 his own use : 
 
 " ' Almighty God and Father, Thou knowest my need 
 to-day ; give me Thy Holy Spirit that I may live it aright 
 in having victory over temptation, and grace not to be 
 ashamed of Thee.' 
 
 " ' My Almighty God and Father, I thank Thee that Thou 
 dost love and care for me. Hallowed be this day — may I 
 in no way bring dishonour to Thee.' 
 
 " His prayers," his mother adds, " were informal, at all 
 times and in all places, always before returning to school, 
 college, or the Front ; in a dug-out or on a hill-side. One 
 of his last was by his own request with me in the wood, 
 and one of his last thoughts to me on Prayer was : ' Speaking 
 to God is just thinking your needs and wants in His Pres-
 
 12 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ence.' ' I believe,' he once wrote to a friend, ' I believe 
 that God wants us to tell Him everything that is in our 
 hearts without necessarily making definite request in 
 connection with any matter.' " 
 
 Mrs. Eric Crossley writes of him as her child's Godfather : 
 
 " I have often thought of him kneeling by himself by 
 the very old Saxon font after the rest of us had risen, and 
 thought then that his prayers were the real'sort of prayer 
 and that he was earnesly thinking of the little mite." 
 
 If prayer was as the breath of his spiritual life, the Bible 
 was its daily nourishment. His mother writes : 
 
 " His great love for and knowledge of his Bible was 
 very striking from childhood. His pig-skin bound copy 
 was his constant joy, and he often expressed his regret that 
 it was too large to have in France, and he had to be content 
 with a small pocket one. He wrote inside the cover of his 
 large one, with his address, ' £10 if returned,' which in 
 itself shows the great value he put upon it. Also he wrote 
 in it ' Death for self — enterprise for God ' as his aim in life 
 coupled with ' The establishment of the Kingdom of God 
 in the World.' " 
 
 A friend writes after his death : 
 
 ' His name is on the title-page of my Bible (and will 
 remain there for future generations long after I am gone) 
 as one who taught us [himself and his wife] to read it." 
 
 An old groom says : 
 
 ' He gave me a Bible in 1912 and read it with me- — and 
 he used to go next door to old Mrs. M. and read to her, 
 perhaps for an hour, and say, ' Never mind if I am late 
 for dinner,' "
 
 THE MAIN FACTOR 13 
 
 Yet with all this there was about him no touch of reli- 
 gious unreality, nothing of " un-humanness " — to coin a 
 word to describe something entirely distinct from the 
 ordinary meaning of "inhumanity," nor anything of a 
 self-conscious purpose to "do good to " other people. Of 
 these kinds of elements or characteristics, which may after 
 all be found in people who deserve to be called " good," 
 there was no trace in Andrew. There was not a shred of 
 " make-believe " about his mental or spiritual composition. 
 He was splendidly and gloriously " human " ; you could 
 not be in his company five minutes without knowing him 
 for a man through and through. Yet to say that there 
 was no unreality in him and that he was a very human and 
 very " manly " sort of person, is only a small part of the 
 tale of what he was. If I were to try and choose one word 
 with which to convey some description of his personality 
 I should take the word radiant. He was one of those 
 people — 'there are not too many of them — -who radiate 
 sunshine. There was a light in his face, in his being, which 
 could not be hidden ; his body, his physical presence, 
 revealed the soul within. He shone on you, and you felt 
 better for it. I believe he was almost entirely unconscious 
 of this personal magnetism. He never could understand 
 why people liked him, if, indeed, he could be persuaded 
 to believe that they did like him. This radiance of his 
 was a natural gift ; but it came to be wonderfully inter- 
 woven with all his faith and service. He believed in deli- 
 berate ' witnessing " ; utterly aware that Jesus Christ 
 was indispensable to himself, he could not but endeavour 
 to share his secret with other men ; and there are many 
 to-day who owe a big spiritual debt to what they found in 
 and through Andrew. Some one once defined a " Saint " 
 as " one who makes it easier for other people to believe in 
 God." Andrew would hate to be called a " Saint " ; but 
 there is no doubt at all that there are many men and women,
 
 14 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 who, because of what he was, have in fact made a new 
 discovery of God. 
 
 In 189S Andrew went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, 
 spending three happy years there till 1901, when he took 
 his degree in Zoology. He always regretted afterwards 
 that he had not qualified to be a doctor, but what knowledge 
 he had he used effectively at the Front ; he would also give 
 interesting lectures on Anatomy, etc., to his Club -men. 
 Earlier interests continued and developed, as the following 
 extracts from his letters indicate : 
 
 " What is our Hunsdon Bury Estate total ? It is very 
 good getting 55 pigeons. . . . How awfully good getting 
 30 or 34 rabbits ferreting. I expect you got some more 
 yesterday. . . . The C.I.C.C.U. 1 addresses are very good. 
 —Dr. White I thought excellent. I do long to have that 
 ' Abiding in Him and He in me '—the secret, it seems, of 
 Christian success." 
 
 " On Tuesday, as you know, I went by the 10.45 train 
 with A. G. H. to see dear old Miss Marsh ; there were Mr. 
 and Mrs. O'Rorke there and we went up to her sitting-room 
 and had a ripping talk till lunch. After lunch we went 
 up again and had a short Bible-reading and then more 
 talk till we left at 3. I can't tell you what that hour or 
 two with her was like, it was speaking to and hearing from 
 one absolutely hand-in-hand with her Saviour. W r hen she 
 gets on the thought of seeing Him and praising Him with 
 all above she is wonderful. I do wish we could get her to 
 Hunsdon ; you can't explain Miss Marsh ! " 
 
 ' On Saturday Uncle Bar, Arthur, Gurney and I had 
 some good games of ' fives.' I took our B.R. yesterday ; 
 we had a very good one. Wasn't it excellent winning the 
 Soccer match 3 to 1 ? I have played two or three times 
 this week." 
 
 1 I.e., Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union,
 
 THE MAIN FACTOR 15 
 
 " We have had Talbot Rice for the C.I.C.C.U. to-day, 
 which has been awfully nice. . . . The Master of Trinity 
 took a combined Bible-reading of all the years in the Lodge 
 this afternoon. Next Sunday is the last this term, I am 
 afraid ; we shall have just been through 1 Peter ; it has 
 been most interesting. . . . This week I have not had 
 very much in the way of footer, we have a match again 
 on Tuesday. I do long for some wind to be able to play 
 a little bit, but I do believe that even in these small things 
 God has some reason for them, and when we understand 
 Him above we shall see how each little thing has fitted in 
 with His great plan. We are having grand weather now, 
 it is lovely hearing birds again. The ' Backs ' are full of 
 wood pigeons. ... It will be delightful to get home 
 again." 
 
 "... I am very disappointed as I would so have liked 
 to have been with you for your Silver Wedding. . . . 
 May I give you what Paul was given — ' My Grace is suffi- 
 cient for thee '• — for each detail of life ? " 
 
 In the summer vacations he was a frequent helper at 
 " Camps " and " C.S.S.M's." The " Universities' Camps 
 for Public School Bo}^ " are, or rather were (for they have 
 naturally lapsed during the War), holiday camps for boys 
 officered by men from the Universities ; their main features 
 consisting in a rare opportunity for ten days' joint outdoor 
 life and sport, and a strong element of masculine and 
 " common sense " Christianity. The main purpose of 
 the Camps movement indeed is to demonstrate that a man 
 and a Christian are not the incompatible terms that they 
 are sometimes thought to be. The ' Children's Special 
 Service Mission " pursues a similar aim in somewhat similar 
 fashion ; a group of 'Varsity men settle in for a few weeks 
 at a seaside resort and divide their time and energies between 
 informal Services on the sea- shore and " running " sports,
 
 16 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 games, picnics and the like for all and sundry. It is an 
 indisputable fact that quite a number of men and women 
 of what used to be known as the leisured classes trace what 
 they have of personal religion to something that came to 
 them at the " Camp " or " C.S.S.M." of their younger days. 
 Portrush, on the North coast of Ireland, was for many 
 years a favourite place for these seaside Services ; and 
 on several occasions Andrew was one of the party. 
 
 Andrew writes from Universities Camp, Mertoun, N.B. : 
 
 [Undated] 
 "... I was very sad leaving Portrush ; there were a 
 tremendous lot of people on the platform to see us off, 
 which was awfully nice. Thanks very much for your tele- 
 gram about speaking. I made use of it by speaking at 
 the Children's Service on Wednesday on the rocks, and 
 the open-air on Thursday night. We had a most awfully 
 fine Missionary address on Wednesday night in the Town 
 Hall from Miss Etches. It has been most delightful being 
 at a Mission, it has been an invaluable time to me. I 
 didn't feel as nervous in speaking as I expected. ... It 
 will be awfully nice seeing you all again at Dunmore [Argyll- 
 shire]. ... I am so enjoying Sir A. Blackwood's life, 
 and what makes it far, far more interesting is to come here 
 and find Miss Marsh, who was used so much for his conver- 
 sion. She is an awfully dear old person, simply splendid 
 stories she has, and a most lovely face. It preaches one a 
 sermon to look at her. She is about 80. We had a Prayer 
 Meeting about Camp last night. I expect it will be a great 
 success. . . . Now going to put up tents. 
 
 " You don't know what splendid work there is going 
 on amongst the boys ! We are about no, including Officers. 
 We have the sing-song in the evening, and after that we 
 have the meeting — you can just feel God's Presence speak- 
 ing through the Officers and His Presence in the midst of
 
 THE MAIN FACTOR 17 
 
 us most wonderfully. It is awfully sad in a way having 
 to leave so soon after having made friends for such a short 
 time, and perhaps never to meet again in this world. . . . 
 We had the ' Sports ' on Monday ; they went off awfully 
 well, the Steeplechase was the best I think, first through 
 a wood of nettles, then under a net, then over the Suspension 
 Bridge, then swim back over the Tweed ; of course they had 
 no wind in them after the run, so could hardly get across 
 the river." 
 
 ' . . . Major Pelham-Burn is splendid — he speaks awfully 
 well and is very much liked. On Sunday we all went up 
 to the house and Lord Polwarth spoke to us in the Hall, 
 and then Miss Marsh. I do wish you had the very slightest 
 idea of what Camp is. If you had been at our ' testimony 
 meeting ' you would have found out, I'm sure. I have 
 never heard anything so wonderful as some of the testi- 
 monies ; some fellows had made bets that they would 
 not become Christians here and yet the love of God has 
 constrained them. I don't believe there is one chap gone 
 away from Camp to-day unconverted. It is simply won- 
 derful how the Spirit of God has been at work in our midst. 
 Our prayers have been more than answered about the 
 Camp. ... I had tremendous sport yesterday, spearing 
 eels with forks joined on to sticks ; with Mr. S. We got 
 15 — one a ripping big beast." 
 
 One who was present at this Camp has written (since 
 Andrew's death) : 
 
 ' . . . I can remember now, as if it were yesterday, one 
 day at the first Mertoun Camp. Curly and I were talking 
 and he said, ' Isn't this glorious ! ' and I have never before 
 or since seen a man's face literally shine as did his then — 
 when he was about 15 or 16. That vision of his face lighted 
 up has been with me ever since."
 
 18 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 After " Camp " or " C.S.S.M." was over, the remainder 
 of the holidays would be spent with the family, often in 
 Scotland, with shooting or fishing to his heart's content. 
 He writes : 
 
 ' . . . . You have doubtless heard of our great Conger 
 eel fishing. You never in your life saw anything so funny. 
 We three went out to catch bait to set the lines with. We 
 had a board across the stern of the boat which we three 
 sat on, facing aft, each sitting on two rods and each with 
 two or three white flies on, and when we got into a shoal 
 it was great hauling them in. Once I got three on at once 
 on one rod. . . . Most of the day I spent on Handa Island 
 sketching and hunting for beasts on the rocks, etc. There 
 are swarms of beautiful jelly fish of every size — the water 
 is very clear indeed." 
 
 "... I have just had the grandest morning imaginable 
 — got a 15-stone stag with good head after splendid stalk. 
 
 " I have slain my first salmon. ... I am sending him 
 to you. I also poached 6 more sea trout and lost 2 or 3, 
 which is no wonder as we did not take a net and I had to 
 drag some ashore as Rob and the gillie were trying for a 
 salmon lower down." 
 
 " Hunsdon Bury. 
 " I caught a Geopkilus Phosforeus at Hunsdon on Friday 
 night. It is a centipede which gives off phosphorus. It 
 left a long trail of light behind it as it walked." 
 
 " Trinity College, Cambridge. 
 
 " February 12, 1899. 
 " I must write you a line. It has been most sad not 
 having you with us to-day, as you would have enjoyed it 
 immensely. . . . We were 16 to lunch in Gurney's room, 
 at which Uncle John came, and R. and A. H., and I had 
 arranged to have sent him some things from the grocer's, 
 and while we were in his rooms a basket with a cat came,
 
 THE MAIN FACTOR 19 
 
 and a box with a lot of straw and two white rats ; two other 
 things consisting of a big box with a box of sardines, and 
 a barrel with one pound of margarine were stupidly not 
 brought in, but left outside. We wanted to fill up his 
 room ! He had most splendid presents, and it was a most 
 lovely one F. and M. gave him. H. and I each gave him 
 one of Thorburn's pictures of partridges. In the afternoon 
 we all went down to see the 'Varsity crew go out. . . . 
 Five of us have just been having dinner with Gurney and 
 been enjoying ourselves with a considerable amount of 
 noise." 
 
 [Summer, 1900.] 
 "I am playing for Trinity Second Six at Lawn Tennis, 
 so am having most rattling games every afternoon against 
 other colleges, always playing with new balls, and having 
 tea in the middle on the ground. I am getting quite good 
 for me. On Friday I played for 1st Six, and had one set 
 of 13- 1 1 games ! . . . I have got a Labrador, ' Oscar,' 
 though have not seen it yet." 
 
 This Chapter may conclude with an extract from a letter 
 written, since his death, by one who was with Andrew both 
 at Harrow and Trinity : 
 
 " I was not in the same house as ' Curly ' at Harrow, and 
 the two chief points that remain in my memory of our time 
 at Harrow are that one always felt the better for a conver- 
 sation with him on any matter, however trivial, and that 
 he was one of the very few people who could give what we 
 irreverently named ' a pi-jaw ' at Harrow. 1 I know ' Curly ' 
 was beloved in his house. At Cambridge we were both at 
 
 1 The only two other people whom it has been my fortune to 
 come across who could do this with good effect and without offence 
 were Dr. Butler and the present Dean of Manchester, both old 
 Headmasters of Harrow.
 
 20 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 Trinity and ' Curly ' was Captain of, and played ' back ' 
 for the 'Trinity Harrovians,' while I kept goal, and every 
 match and many times each match did I appreciate his 
 brilliant tackling, untiring perseverance, and skilful cap- 
 taincy. One match (January 1901, I fancy) was particu- 
 larly impressed on my mind ; we were playing ' Trinity 
 Rest,' a very strong and unbeaten side ; it was a beast 
 of a day, some snow lay on top of a sodden ground and it 
 sleeted with an east wind all the game. ' Curly,' used to 
 the clay at Harrow, was in absolutely irresistible form and 
 cheered us all on to such an extent that we won the match 
 by 3 goals to 2, to our great content ! At Cambridge he 
 was extremely popular and his influence there, as every- 
 where, was a great asset to the College. ' Curly ' was of 
 that very rare type of man who was always doing good, 
 whether at work or at sport, who was always at his best."
 
 Ill 
 
 WORK AND SPORT 
 
 IN August, 1901, Andrew began his business life, first 
 learning banking at Barclay's Bank in Lombard 
 Street, and then moving to various branches till he was made 
 Local Director of the Westminster Branch in 1909, from 
 which he enlisted in 1914. Many letters from the Manager 
 and from Clerks and others, bear witness to the help he gave 
 them in different ways. 
 
 A Clerk writes from a Base in Egypt : 
 
 " I had worked under him at Westminster for some years 
 and knew him from the time he entered Lombard Street. 
 Believe me his character stood out amongst those with 
 whom he worked as a fearless Christian, and in that spirit I 
 am confident he met his death. Everything with him was 
 done from the point of view of duty, and I remember him 
 discussing the very point of ' joining up ' and as to whether 
 it was his duty or not." 
 
 His first-cousin, Major R. L. Barclay, O.B.E. (a Director 
 of Barclay's Bank), contributes the following reminiscences 
 of Andrew's banking life : 
 
 ' If Andrew had a fault it was that of diffidence. Even 
 that is a good fault, though it often cost him positions and 
 glamour which more self-assertive natures would have 
 gained. As a man of business therefore he made his mark 
 
 21
 
 22 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 rather slowly, and most people only gradually realized his 
 sound judgment. Hence when he entered the Banking 
 world on the staff of Barclay's Bank he did not at once 
 stand out above his contemporaries, but made his way 
 gradually by persistence and hard work. We who watched 
 his career wondered whether he would not make a better 
 country banker than ' City ' man. He settled down in the 
 end to work in London, although no one felt the physical 
 confinement and indoor work more than he did. . . . 
 His general management was excellent and he always gave 
 the impression of a desire to do his utmost for those with 
 whom he came in contact. This is the first qualification 
 of a banker. The old law that he who would help himself 
 must first help other people holds good, as a permanent 
 principle, in business as in other affairs of life. 
 
 ' Imagine a small manager's room with a big writing- 
 table and desk, very orderly, with papers and paraphernalia 
 associated with business. Andrew sitting at it with the 
 serious air of a man with other people's interests in his 
 hands. His face lights up with a warm welcome as you 
 come in, and you notice that in one corner rests perhaps a 
 catapult, in another a treatise on trapping vermin, or 
 perhaps a parcel which contains a prize won at the Retriever 
 trials. All these were matters which Andrew turned to 
 in his spare moments, but they were never allowed to 
 interfere with the main business in hand. But the odd 
 thing was that though they were to him only by-play, he 
 was probably as good an authority on his subjects as any 
 one alive. Not the least interesting of his hobbies was the 
 study of spiders, but I am not aware that he ever let loose 
 any of his deadly tarantulas in a London office. It might 
 not have been good for business if an important customer 
 had died from the bite of a tarantula which had escaped 
 from its cage in Victoria Street. Nor did he, so far as I 
 am aware, use a catapult in London, in spite of the many
 
 WORK AND SPORT 23 
 
 inviting sparrow targets, but I do know that he was a 
 nailing good shot with one, and that its use was one of his 
 chosen methods of training his dogs. 
 
 " Imagine also the dusty vaults of the Bank when the 
 tedious work of counting gold was in hand. Accuracy 
 is everything, and Andrew is just the man for it. All 
 has to be carried out in the confined atmosphere of the 
 safes, and lifting and counting and weighing heavy bags 
 of sovereigns is no light work. One bag, after being counted, 
 bursts and the contents roll over the floor and into every 
 available corner. They are all picked up and a weary 
 clerk says, ' We need not count them again, need we ? ' 
 Only one answer could come from Andrew. Even if it 
 meant additional hours of work and the breaking of impor- 
 tant engagements, the work must be thorough. ' Yes, 
 count it all again, I'll lend you a hand.' Or, with one eye 
 on the clock one of the party remarks, ' Let us do the rest 
 to-morrow.' But he gets no encouragement— the job 
 of the day must be completed before adjournment." 
 
 Lord K. writes : 
 
 " In all my life I have never met any one I ' took to ' 
 so much as that dear boy. I had heard much about him 
 and his Labrador, but had never met him, until one day 
 I found myself penniless in Victoria Street and saw Barclay's 
 Bank at the corner, so I went in to beard the formidable 
 Manager and borrow money. I was shown in and to my 
 joy Andrew made himself known. So we met first, and have 
 often met since to my great pleasure. His gentle sympathy 
 and keenness were so attractive." 
 
 All through this time he lived at home, except for his 
 summer holidays, which were usually spent in Scotland. 
 On two occasions he went on trips abroad ; one of these 
 
 c
 
 24 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 was to the Black Forest with his sister Rosamond in 1911, 
 and the other to Canada in 1913. 
 
 During this time at home, first at Hunsdon Bury and then 
 at Easneye, he took great trouble and interest over his lads' 
 and men's clubs at Hunsdon and St. Margaret's. Later 
 on he started another club at Waters Place and a Men's 
 Service at Stanstead Abbotts. It must often have been a 
 very great effort to him after a long hard business day to 
 get a little supper and then bicycle off again on dark winter 
 nights to the Clubs, returning late and tired out ; but he 
 never complained, although he must have longed for a 
 quiet evening at home. He took special interest in the 
 " Shovers' Club " in Stanstead Abbotts. One of the mem- 
 bers of the Club wrote after his death : 
 
 "As to myself, no one knows what it means to me, as 
 I looked upon Mr. Andrew's influence in this village, with 
 the young fellows especially, as something to be proud of. 
 Only the last time I spoke to him he told me he did so hope, 
 if anything should happen, I would try and run the Ser- 
 vices that he started. I am quite certain that his influence 
 in the Army must have done a power of good, and we who 
 knew and loved him realize that we have lost a friend whom 
 we were proud to look up to." 
 
 Despite these local claims on his spare time, he contrived 
 to render valuable assistance to various other efforts and 
 movements of a Christian kind. Amongst these may be 
 mentioned the London City Mission, on whose Committee 
 he served from 1906, the Home for Working Boys in London, 
 the Spanish and Portuguese Church Aid Society, and the 
 " Cambridge University Missionary Party," of which he 
 remained the Treasurer until his death. He used constantly 
 to visit his special friends about Easneye — in particular 
 the bedridden " Billy " Stone (on his way from the station),
 
 WORK AND SPORT 25 
 
 also writing to him from Canada or France. On one picture 
 postcard he wrote : 
 
 " Fret not- — He loves thee. 
 Faint not — He holds thee. 
 Fear not- — He keeps thee." 
 
 Others he specially visited were the old shepherd's wife, 
 Mrs. Butt, who died a few hours after one of his visits, aged 
 nearly 100 ; and a poor man and woman dying from cancer, 
 for whom he had a " Specialist " down from Town to see 
 if anything could be done for them. 
 
 Here are some extracts from letters of this period : 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Letterfmlay, 
 
 " Invergloy, 
 " August 18, 1905. 
 ' . . . We are enjoying this place so much. Our trophy 
 is, as I expect you have heard, an 8£ lb. brown trout on a 
 minnow in the loch. I expect that will make Arthur's 
 mouth water ! " 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Hunsdon Bury, 
 
 " April, 1907. 
 
 ' Very many thanks for your most welcome letter at 
 the Bank this morning. We have had a very good Easter, 
 though your absence has been very sad. Father, Harry 
 and I had a game of ' fives ' on Saturday afternoon, and 
 yesterday fished in the morning, catching four pike, walk- 
 ing round the wood and did a little cutting in the afternoon ; 
 and then drove to Easneye for tea, where a few people 
 and Harry and I walked back along the river with a rifle 
 and shot two rats and a sparrow. . . . Tell Arthur his 
 rabbits spent a very happy Bank Holiday morning on the
 
 26 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 island of the pond. . . . Zulu's (his favourite retriever) 
 first birthday to-day." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Easneye, 
 
 [Undated.] 
 "... I was awfully disappointed with Zulu who never 
 sat still for a single rabbit or hare, though otherwise he 
 worked magnificently. If I could have a week with him 
 here shooting rabbits alone I believe I could get him right, 
 but it cannot be, and I am afraid I shall never do any good 
 with him, though I hope I am mistaken." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Tarvie, Pitlochry, 
 
 " August 19, 1907. 
 "... I have been out all day on the middle beat 
 with Uncle Robert and Gurney. We got 15 f brace and 3 
 hares. . . . To-morrow are the games at Pitlochry, and 
 on Wednesday at Kirkmichael. . . . How I wish you 
 were up here, with the refreshment of the air and view ; 
 the hills to-night most beautiful across and up the glen with 
 the setting sun on them." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Hunsdon Bury, 
 " October 31, 1908. 
 "... I went down to the Boys' Club in the village 
 last night, which I found to be going most successfully, 
 thanks largely to Mr. G.'s kindness and interest. 
 
 " I am going to have made some pulling boards such as 
 we had at D.'s at Harrow for a tug-of-war, sitting down 
 with bars to get your heels against, as the boys require 
 some means of letting off animal energy ! This afternoon 
 I have been playing a game of football with them in the 
 Warren, since when I have been training my three dogs
 
 SHOOTING ON TARVIE MOOR. 
 
 [To face page 27
 
 WORK AND SPORT 27 
 
 with a duck which I brought from Cromer. Sultan has 
 grown a great deal and will, I think, turn out very hand- 
 some and a good dog, though longer in the leg than I care 
 for. They are now all three helping me write in the new 
 room ; there is no need to tear up letters as Sultan so effi- 
 ciently does it, but does not, alas ! return them to the paper 
 basket." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Tarvie, Pitlochry, 
 
 " August 24, 1908. 
 ' We are such a nice party here and having such a nice 
 time. On Saturday Uncle Robert, Harry and I walked 
 up the east side and shot 12^ brace grouse, and to-day 
 Harry, Tom, Gilbert and I went up the west side to the top 
 of Ben Vuruch and got I2§ brace again. It was a most 
 lovely walk, and I took the left, following the Clunskeagh 
 burn the whole way, which is most lovely ; bright green 
 moss on the stones and banks, with the clearest water 
 coming down and a good many small trout about and two 
 or three water ousels. I got a snipe on the top of Ben 
 Vuruch, and Harry got a woodcock. . . . The heather 
 is in full flower and the pollen quite covers you. Zulu 
 gets quite grey at times. The smell is often just as strong 
 as a bit of heather honey. We usually go out shooting 
 rabbits with rifles in the evening, which is great sport. . . . 
 F. says Zulu is ' too fat.' He is doing very well and finds 
 the grouse splendidly, but has, I regret to say, run a few 
 blue hares." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Cromer, 
 " January 9, 1909. 
 "... We are just in after a most delightful day at 
 Trimingham, getting over 130 pheasants and 12 woodcock, 
 of which we saw no end. ... I did long for you along the
 
 28 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 cliffs by the sea coverts, with their jolly depth and wild 
 waste appearance of the land slips with the roar of the sea 
 below. ..." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " i Whitehall Gardens, 
 " January 26, 1909. 
 " Events have taken a rather important turn for me at 
 the Bank. I saw the General Manager yesterday, who 
 tells me that they are short-handed at Pall Mall and he 
 wishes to know if I would be agreeable to take C.'s place 
 at Westminster, with possibly the title of Local Director. 
 I shall be pleased to accept it." 
 
 To A. G. H. 
 
 " 95 Victoria Street, 
 
 ' February 10, 1909. 
 
 "... I have got the sack from Lombard Street, either 
 because they are tired of me, or because they want to be 
 kind to me, or else because they cannot hit on any one 
 better suited to take charge of this great branch. Anyway, 
 I started here as Manager on February 1, and the Branch 
 is still existent ! . . . I shall no doubt shortly be known 
 as the Victoria Street Banker and Financier. 
 
 " A rare nice office next door to the Stores, and business 
 of a nature which I much look forward to, for a period 
 which may easily find me with a bald head and a stick in 
 each hand. 
 
 " I do indeed congratulate you on the splendid result of 
 857 from your coverts. My day with you was delightful." 
 
 To Ms sister Rosamond. 
 
 "Tarvie, Pitlochry, N.B., 
 
 " August 30, 1909. 
 " It is the day before your twenty-first. Accept the tip 
 top of best wishes. What a stage has been achieved by 
 you, the last of us, having come of age, but nothing to be
 
 WORK AND SPORT 29 
 
 sad about, as time must slip on' — being quite impervious 
 to any orders to sit still- — and our point of view towards it 
 must be to subject the use of it to the laws of God (Rom. 
 viii. 7), the basis of which is the abiding life of John xv. 
 ' Well, my Ros, my best wishes for many good days' 
 fishing and other enjoyments for your body, delightful 
 thoughts and books for your mind, and unseparated walk 
 with God for your soul for all the future of this life." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Noseley, Leicester, 
 
 " January 9, 1910. 
 ' . . . It is delightful being here and most refreshing 
 to have the babies to play with. We have just been a walk 
 consisting largely of guesses as to what I had brought in 
 my bag. ' It ' consists of a box of chocolates, which will 
 be looked for after lunch. 
 
 "... A best thought for to-day (from Gillian's journal) : 
 ' It is sometimes so hard to keep first things first, and not 
 let God's Presence be swamped by pots and pans and other 
 pressing household necessities ! ' This applies to banking 
 and to every other vocation to which a man is called, but 
 I am sure if the first things are kept first and are themselves 
 the incentives for doing duties well, those duties are much 
 easier done in consequence." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Isle of Mull, 
 
 August 20, 1911. 
 
 "... Uncle G. got here yesterday, and almost at 
 
 once got a wire telling of Aunt Buxton's death. 1 He is 
 
 now trying to make arrangements to get away from here 
 
 for the funeral. You will feel her death immensely, and 
 
 1 Lady Buxton, of Colne House, Cromer, widow of Sir Edward 
 North Buxton, M.P.
 
 30 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 I do too— it is such a huge event, the last of that generation 
 having gone and the centre that she and Colne House have 
 been coming to an end. A chapter of our family history 
 is now closed. 
 
 " We had a splendid long walk yesterday spying some 
 ground for deer all the morning without success, and then 
 shooting 4 brace of grouse in the afternoon. I also got a 
 ripping right and left of duck, which we saw sitting and I 
 went and squatted for while they put them up. The farmer 
 here is a very good fellow — he has quantities of sheep and 
 now is sorting them up, dipping, etc., which is most interest- 
 ing, and I hope to get some time with him to-morrow. I 
 should like a week with these men to understand sheep, 
 also the working of dogs, as I would also like time with a 
 good many people of other trades, but it seems impossible 
 to get it, alas ! The shepherds are so nice, and a talk with 
 them is very refreshing. I went this afternoon into one 
 of the crofters' houses with dear old occupants, one old 
 lady quite blind, the house full of peat smoke." 
 
 Bank life in London could not fail to be irksome to such 
 a passionate lover of the country as Andrew was ; and he 
 was therefore particularly glad of an opportunity, in August, 
 1913, to pay a visit to Canada and the United States. He 
 always hated travelling, especially sea journeys, but, on 
 this occasion at least, the miseries of the journey were 
 amply compensated for by his experiences on the other side. 
 
 His was a nature that loved to share things, especially 
 good things, and he wrote home long and detailed descrip- 
 tions of what he did and saw. Extracts of his last letter 
 may be here appended : 
 
 " January 4, 1914. 
 
 " My dear Arthur, — 
 
 ' . . . No being has ever had such a journey as I ; 
 splendidly fit all the time ; seen everything I wanted in 
 Canada and America ; people awfully kind to me, and lost
 
 WORK AND SPORT 31 
 
 nothing but an old umbrella in Victoria which was a com- 
 fort to be rid of. The experience has been of greatest 
 value, having met so many people. I weep though for 
 God's Kingdom out there. I may have fallen on unusual 
 chance, but the Churches I saw appeared dead, and the 
 Kingdom had made no start in the minds of men I spoke 
 to, or, as Hosea would have said, there is no knowledge of 
 God. With such unbroken sequence of people, most of 
 course English or Scotch in Canada, the question whether 
 one's convictions were a myth irresistibly arose, and in the 
 ordinary course a man who goes to live there who has not 
 previously lived a life of faith must fall, at any rate to 
 indifference." 
 
 This chapter may fitly conclude with some further account 
 of Andrew's interest in sport, in particular of his success as 
 a trainer of retrievers. He was a remarkably good shot, 
 but his pleasure in shooting was always second to his 
 pleasure in living animals. He would spend hours in going 
 after a wounded bird or rabbit, and he was never happier 
 than when training his dogs. One of his sisters recalls 
 that during the shooting seasons prior to the War he began 
 more and more to dislike shooting, except for a sporting 
 pigeon and such like shots, and would, on the occasions 
 of a day off from business, prefer to work his Labradors 
 for picking up other shooters' game than take a gun's place 
 himself. 
 
 His mother writes that : 
 
 " He could never bear to see a wounded creature of any 
 sort ; he always followed them up even if it were only a 
 sparrow hurt by his catapult. This he specially taught 
 his nephews to do in after life. 
 
 " When in France he once astonished the occupants of 
 a French cafe by untying the legs of the chickens which 
 were lying alive on the floor ! And he would feed the
 
 32 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 starving dogs and loosen the chains of those tied up, or 
 shoot one with a broken leg. He was also especially careful 
 to examine the horses' oats, fearing lest German ' hooks ' 
 should have got among them." 
 
 His cousin, Major R. L. Barclay, who frequently shot 
 with him, writes of their sport together : 
 
 ' Of course it goes without saying that a character such 
 as Andrew Buxton's was a delightful asset in any party 
 for sport or games. He always added to the spirit of any 
 fun that was going on, and never ' played for himself.' 
 Many a pleasant day have I passed with him, and fond 
 are the recollections of the sport we have so often shared. 
 
 ' He and ' Zulu ' (his Labrador retriever) spent some 
 time with us at Glenbrittle in the Island of Skye five years 
 ago. All kinds of sport were to be found there, from deer- 
 stalking to spearing crabs on the bottom of the sea. It 
 was possible to kill a stag, shoot a grouse, catch a sea-trout, 
 and land a net full of sea-fish on the same day, although 
 indeed bags were never heavy. A typical day was one 
 which started with Andrew trying to teach his famous dog 
 to choose which kind of game he was to retrieve when more 
 than one kind were to be picked up. So grouse and rabbits 
 were hidden and hunted for, certain orders were given to 
 the dog and he certainly learnt what was expected of him, 
 but I cannot say performed this difficult operation without 
 mistake. This went on until in pouring rain we went off 
 to look for snipe, and found quite a number along the river. 
 It was the most wonderful thing in the world to see Zulu 
 find and bring the killed and wounded. No time wasted, 
 yet no rushing about, always s-traight on the scent and 
 back at a gallop. Now and then the immaculate Zulu 
 would do something of which his master disapproved, and 
 out would come the catapult, and a buckshot landed on 
 his flank re-called him to the strict path of duty. But it
 
 WORK AND SPORT 33 
 
 was always a treat to see how master and dog worked 
 together. Up get suddenly two ducks- — long shots- — 
 but Andrew bags both with a beautiful right, and left, only 
 remarking how sorry he was that the chance had not gone 
 to me- — and he meant it. The day wore on with a cast or 
 two in the river for a sea-trout, and then came, by arrange- 
 ment with the shepherd, an exhibition of sheep-driving 
 by his dogs — one master dog-breaker seeing another at 
 work and thoroughly enjoying the other's success. We 
 watched the shepherd send his dog across the river and 
 bring some sheep down from behind the sky-line on the 
 opposite hill. There were other sheep within sight, but 
 the dog was not to bring these, nor was he to drive the 
 sheep quickly lest they should be injured. All this was 
 done by whistling signals, and the unseen sheep were herded 
 up from the other side of the hill, brought gently down it 
 and driven across the river to our feet. 
 
 : ' All this was sheer delight to Andrew, and, just because 
 he enjoyed things so much, it was always pleasant to be 
 with him ; and I really believe he enjoyed things more 
 when other people had the luck than when it came to him- 
 self. The only thing that really made him angry was when 
 the day was spoiled by bad management, selfishness or 
 laziness. ' Don't do it at all unless you do it well ' was 
 a fixed principle with him. He did not mind when bad 
 shooting spoiled the day or when other people's dogs were 
 uncontrollable, always provided intentions were good. 
 But he felt it keenly when sport was spoiled by temper, 
 selfishness, or want of keenness. He himself had a beauti- 
 ful eye and played all games well, but he was always ready 
 to make allowances for those who did not, always ready 
 to help those less well off in any respect than himself." 
 
 In 1910 Andrew won the retriever trials with " Zulu," 
 the Labrador mentioned in the foregoing reminiscence.
 
 34 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 This victory of his beloved retriever was a huge delight to 
 him. He writes to his sister Dorothy : 
 
 " Upton House, Cromer, 
 
 " November 6, 1910. 
 ' Thank you and Arthur so much for your wire. Isn't 
 it awfully delightful to have been given the Championship 
 prize and cup ! I never dared expect anything but a pos- 
 sible ' place,' and to have first is very gratifying. We 
 were in most beautiful country on the Wye Valley with 
 heavy snow on the hills, fallen on Wednesday night, and 
 a lot of our shooting was on rough, open ground with 
 bracken. Zulu was in very good order, i.e. thinner ! and 
 did some very good work, though, till the result was given, 
 I could not believe he had beaten one or two of the other 
 dogs, who were fine. I find he jolly nearly missed it through 
 killing one pheasant. I stayed with Mr. G. K., a most 
 delightful man with the magnificent house and place we 
 were shooting over. We were a ' bachelor ' party in the 
 house of about 12." 
 
 The Field of June 16, 1917, has an interesting record of 
 the Trials which may be inserted here : 
 
 " The late Mr. Andrew Buxton. — There are not many 
 south-country retriever men who at one meeting or another 
 in the early days of district trials did not meet Mr. Andrew 
 Buxton, whose death at the age of thirty-seven is reported. 
 . . . We had letters from him while he was undergoing 
 training in Surrey, for he had always something interesting 
 to say about the breaking of retrievers and shooting ; his 
 pride in winning the championship stake at Gwern-y-fed 
 in 1910 with the Labrador ' Hunsdon Zulu ' being quite 
 pardonable. The dog was of what most men called 
 ' unfashionable ' blood, for neither of his parents was on 
 the register of the Kennel Club, but who that saw Zulu 
 run at either of the two district gatherings at which he
 
 WORK AND SPORT 35 
 
 competed in his first season could fail to see real merit 
 in his work and excellence in the methods of his owner ? 
 Mr. Buxton was quite in the front rank of amateur handlers, 
 as was seen when he piloted his charge to second position 
 at the Gaddesden meeting of the Kennel Club in the early 
 autumn of 1910 ; he was fairly beaten by Mr. Archibald 
 Butter's peerless Peter of Faskally, the Labrador which 
 subsequently won the Scottish stake at Strathord. Behind 
 Peter of Faskally and Hunsdon Zulu at the Gaddesden 
 gathering were Park Darkie, Sarratt and Katya, in the order 
 named, a trio good enough for any competition, it must 
 be admitted, and when a few days later Mr. Buxton's 
 retriever won the Eastern Counties stake over the Woolver- 
 stone ground of Mr. C. H. Berners, the forthcoming cham- 
 pionship over the late Capt. Glen-Kidston's shooting in 
 Breconshire became of special interest. Only nine dogs 
 competed, but with Colonel Weller's Mecru, Mr. Butter's 
 Peter of Faskally, Capt. Glen-Kidston's Juniper, Major T. B. 
 Phillips' Kaal and Katya, Capt. J. H. Dutton's Sherborne 
 Togi, Mr. M. P. Page's Dock, Mr. Kenneth McDouall's 
 Logan Lorna, and Mr. Buxton's Hunsdon Zulu in the 
 running, Mr. W. Arkwright, Captain Harry Eley and Mr. E. 
 Wheler-Galson, who judged, had a task which was not 
 envied by a single member of the crowd present. It was 
 a glorious meeting for Capt. Glen-Kidston, and his keepers 
 Anderson and Stark had mapped out ideal ground ; in 
 addition there were water tests quite equal to those in 
 Lord Dunraven's park at Adare — used a few seasons later, 
 and looked on by many sound judges as perfect — but a 
 fly in the ointment was the absence of Mr. Butter, which 
 meant the handling of the favourite by a stranger. We 
 soon saw that Peter was not working in his usual form, 
 though Charles Frost, who was entrusted with the charge 
 of him, did all that man could do and did it well. Not 
 once, but several times, it was noticed that though roding
 
 36 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 and gathering as quickly as ever, Peter of Faskally was 
 looking for the only man he had ever really worked for 
 before, and Frost had to be both firm and persuasive when 
 prompt delivery meant so much. The Scottish winner 
 was beaten, of course, for he was placed fourth to Zulu, 
 Juniper and Katya, an excellent award beyond a doubt, 
 for Mr. Buxton's retriever showed great form. That 
 was his last appearance in public, but it will be a long time 
 before Mr. Buxton and his field trial retriever are not talked 
 about where and when shooting men get together. The 
 loss of so good a sportsman at the age of thirty-seven is 
 another tragedy of the war." 
 
 An old shooting friend supplements the above paragraph 
 as follows : 
 
 ' A sportsman-naturalist, with an intense love of nature, 
 he was one with whom it was always a delight to shoot or 
 fish, but he will be best remembered by readers of the Field 
 as the owner and trainer of Hunsdon Zulu. He had little 
 time in the midst of his work in Barclay's Bank for training 
 his dogs, but his methods were to some extent unique, 
 his patience was inexhaustible, and the results were well- 
 trained retrievers and excellent companions. Andrew 
 Buxton was also an authority on spiders, and kept for many 
 years, with great success, poisonous mygales from Trini- 
 dad. At one time he organized a competition, with valuable 
 prizes, for the best and least cruel rabbit trap that could be 
 made, which caused much interest and experiment among 
 gamekeepers and others."
 
 IV 
 JOINING UP 
 
 September, 1914 — June, 1915 
 
 FOR Andrew, as for millions of others, the War came 
 down upon life with relentless and decisive force, 
 completely closing one chapter and opening another, with 
 new and strange things to be writ therein. 
 
 His father had taken a Scotch Lodge (Urrard) that August 
 (1914), hoping for the usual large family party ; but Andrew, 
 like many other men in those days, was facing the vital 
 question of enlistment. Of the difficulties in his way his 
 mother writes : 
 
 ' First, he was over age at that time. Secondly, it was a 
 most critical business time and he was responsible for his 
 Branch of the Bank. Thirdly, the medical officer, after 
 examination, refused to pass him and wrote privately to 
 his father as follows : 
 
 ' May I write a confidential note to say that your son, 
 who has just been up for medical examination before me, 
 cannot be fit to become a recruit. ... It is hateful to de- 
 cline any recruit, and I write this private note with much 
 regret. — C. B. G.' 
 
 " The same doctor wrote after his death : 
 
 " ' June 13, 1917. 
 ' I, at any rate, knew of his great keenness at once to 
 do his duty to his King and Country when War began, 
 
 37
 
 38 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 and how he resented my turning him down, when, from the 
 facts before me, I could do nothing else from my standpoint 
 of right. Had he not been as true as the best tempered 
 steel he could perfectly have accepted my verdict, and no 
 one could have gainsaid his action, but he elected to let 
 nothing stand in his way, and surely his honour is thereby 
 doubly great.— C. B. G.'" 
 
 Andrew himself writes : 
 
 From 95, Victoria Street, 
 
 " August 7, 1914. 
 
 " We live in exciting times in the financial world. A 
 ' moratorium ' has been declared. . . . How dearly I 
 should like to enlist at this moment, but it is impossible to 
 leave the Bank at so critical a time. . . . The summary 
 actions taken by the War Office, etc., are all good. I have 
 just heard of a man driving with carriage and pair to a 
 Surrey country station and having his horses commandeered 
 and so left stranded ! In this office we have several amusing 
 incidents in the form of offers from aged (quite safe !) 
 spinsters offering to help if it will enable the clerks to enlist. 
 The question of enlisting is very difficult, both as to myself 
 and the clerks. I am bound to drag on, anyhow for a 
 few days, and see how the Bank will be able to manage 
 with smaller staff." 
 
 To a Sister. 
 
 ' County and Station Hotel, 
 " Carlisle, 
 " Sunday, August 30, 1914. 
 ' I smoked my first cigarette since Friday after supper, 
 here, and sweet indeed it is. It has been hard work not 
 to have a smoke before, but I must now get fit for military 
 duties, which I am confident are incumbent upon me, 
 unless a very different turn takes place from the German 
 awful move onward.
 
 JOINING UP 39 
 
 " I pray that each day as it comes you may be an exem- 
 plar of Christ's nature, and that you may have real fellow- 
 ship with Him. Pray then for me too as I fail to get real 
 fellowship, which, if I had, the events of life which tend 
 to care would not so affect me." 
 
 " Monday, August 31, 1914. 
 
 " The topic of conversation and discussion in London 
 appears to be whether Russian troops have come through 
 England — Sandy (keeper) here confirmed it ! I know you 
 don't want me to enlist, but I cannot help thinking it my 
 duty from every point of view (including example) to do so 
 soon — say next week or the following. I am not a born 
 soldier, but I am a bachelor and I have an idea of rifle 
 shooting, and with every available man being required I 
 cannot stand out. There is a Corps called ' The Artists,' 
 which rather attracts me, as I should not, I think, try for 
 a Commission. It would, no doubt, mean three or four 
 months' training, and then choice of volunteering for abroad 
 or not. 
 
 " Bank Rate 8 per cent, this afternoon. Martial Law 
 in Germany, and the Stock Exchange closed to-day. I am 
 much better for my time with you and it will be a long- 
 remembered holiday (one week at Urrard). I am glad 
 I arranged it." 
 
 September 4, 1914. 
 " I have not yet enlisted. I went up last night to Lord's 
 Cricket Ground where a good many of the Artists are quar- 
 tered on the practice ground and sleep in the booths, etc., 
 all round where tea parties usually reign supreme. It 
 was a strange contrast to the Harrow and Eton Match ! 
 Of course my intention is to join the ranks and not try 
 for a Commission. This will be all right, provided I get 
 in with nice men. I am now using every endeavour to get 
 men I know to arrange to come into the same Company with 
 
 D
 
 40 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 me. ... I hope the Germans will now get a bad smash out- 
 side Paris — how thrilling it would be to be there ! The dis- 
 advantage of waiting to enlist is that the'probability of going 
 to France is more doubtful. This, as you can imagine, I 
 should wish to do." 
 
 On September 24, 1914, he managed to pass a Doctor 
 (another one, who knew nothing of his previous rejection), 
 and enlisted as a private in the Public Schools and Uni- 
 versity Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, then quartered at Epsom. 
 His mother records that in his first billet he drew lots 
 with the two " Tommies as to which of the three should 
 have the two beds in a tiny room — and the lot fell to him 
 to sleep on the floor. Within a few days of enlisting he 
 writes to a sister : 
 
 " The Croft, Ashtead, 
 
 September 27, 1914. 
 ' Do you think the front, or national military service, 
 which we are both in for, may lead to the front in missionary 
 service for God ? This might be a way and time opened by 
 God. 
 
 " I feel my course has been right, and if not taken, to 
 be endlessly regretted, though how to shoot or bayonet a 
 German will, I think, continue an endless problem till the 
 time comes, and then it has got to be done, even though 
 conscious that he may have a mother who loves, in some 
 degree, as mother does ! Am I sentimental too much ? 
 I fear I am. You must put me right. 
 
 " Did I tell you one doctor absolutely refused to pass me, 
 and with greatest trouble I had to manoeuvre for another to 
 do it ? L.S. agreed to my sticking to it. 
 
 " P.S. Passed my medical, and sworn in to-day after 
 considerable trouble, one doctor refusing to pass me in 
 spite of L. S.'s second letter. I parade in Hyde Park at 
 1 o'clock to-morrow, and am billeted at either Ashtead
 
 JOINING UP 41 
 
 or Leatherhead for training at Epsom. I much want to 
 hear how you are getting on. Best of love." 
 
 An aunt (and great friend) who lived near Epsom and 
 saw a good deal of him at this time contributes the follow- 
 ing reminiscence : — 
 
 " To any one who only knew Andrew at home or at the 
 Bank, it would have been a revelation to see him during 
 the time he was training as a private in the ' U.P.SJ in 
 billets at Ashtead, Surrey. 
 
 " I had the joy at that time of seeing him constantly, 
 and I can only say that the energy and determination he 
 put into his work was amazing, when one remembers that 
 soldiering was entirely new to him, and that he was no 
 longer a boy, though indeed his ' joie de vivre ' and wonder- 
 fully youthful air often deceived people as to his years. 
 
 " He was always ready to make light of any hardships 
 and laugh at the difficulties they experienced, saying that 
 the training, though sometimes irksome, was ' most valua- 
 ble ' and that it was quite right that they should go as far 
 as possible through every detail of what they would have 
 to expect of their men in the future, when they themselves 
 had got commissions. Having a bad circulation, I think 
 Andrew did at times feel the cold and damp of that winter 
 pretty severely, though he never mentioned it except to 
 remark, ' Well this is good — better than digging trenches 
 or lying flat in the mud ' — when having walked over after 
 a long day he found himself sitting in front of a cosy fire, 
 with, however, the prospect of another muddy tramp 
 back to his billet and an early start the next morning. When 
 I look back on that time, I think that what struck me most 
 in Andrew were, his wonderful power of sympathy (which 
 made him the most perfect listener in the world)— his ex- 
 traordinary unselfishness — and his iron will to carry out 
 what he had made up his mind was right and best, which
 
 42 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 was sometimes quite a surprise to those who had only seen 
 the gentle side of his character. Once convinced that a 
 thing was his duty, or the best thing to do, nothing would 
 turn him from his purpose ; but with this he had a very 
 broad-minded tolerance of other people's views, especially 
 of those who had not had the same up-bringing as himself ; 
 and it was the greatest help at any time to talk things over 
 with him and ask his advice, which was given with great 
 earnestness and his whole attention. He was never tco 
 busy or too tired to help, if he could, in the difficulties of 
 others, and took a real intense interest in their joys, in every 
 detail. Combined with these characteristics was a quite 
 exceptional humbleness of mind, a humbleness which made 
 it genuinely impossible for Andrew to realize that he was 
 loved for his own sake ; it seemed to be a constant surprise 
 to him that any one should take trouble on his behalf, 
 and the smallest service rendered, or least thing done to 
 give him pleasure, was always met by far more gratitude 
 than it deserved. He was always more than anxious to 
 avoid giving any sort of trouble. It goes without saying 
 that the charm of this unusually beautiful character made 
 itself felt by a large number of people, though Andrew 
 himself was completely unaware of it, and though some 
 failed to understand him just because of his diffidence. His 
 great devotion to his mother is mentioned elsewhere in 
 this book, and one of the little things I specially recollect 
 at Ashtead is the infinite pains he took over the designing 
 for her of a locket with the badge of the Rifle Brigade, 
 when at the end of his training he received his commission, 
 and his pleasure at the family's admiration of it. His 
 love for children was one of his most attractive qualities, 
 and as for children's love of him, it amounted to hero wor- 
 ship, and his memory will be an inspiration to many of them 
 all their lives. No trouble was ever too great to take for 
 them, whether it was (in my own children's case) walking
 
 JOINING UP 43 
 
 back to the shop at Ashtead after a long and tiring day, 
 to search for something he knew they specially liked or 
 taking them for a delightful country walk to learn about 
 birds' nests or spiders, or later on in France, sitting in his 
 dug-out in the midst of the incessant din, writing to them 
 by the light of a candle. One could write many more 
 recollections of Andrew, but no words can ever express what 
 he was. To those who have known and loved him his 
 friendship is something to thank God for all their lifer In 
 thinking of him the words that always occur to my mind 
 are those lines of Kingsley's : — 
 
 " Can we forget one friend, can we forget one face 
 That cheered us towards our end, that nerved us for our race ? 
 One presence that has made us know to Godlike souls, how 
 
 deep in debt, 
 We would not, if we could, forget." 
 
 Here follow some extracts from his own letters of this 
 period : 
 
 The Croft, Ashtead, 
 
 October 10, 1914. 
 
 " This is a strange life, and I feel I am back at both 
 Harrow and Cambridge mixed up in one, with drills corre- 
 sponding to ' schools ' at various times, and more or less a 
 Cambridge life with others in this house. One sore toe 
 is the extent of my ailments so far, though this becomes a 
 big thing with long road grinds ! " 
 
 " Billet, The Croft, Ashtead, 
 
 October 12, 1914. 
 He writes of the idea of building a sufficient number of 
 huts to accommodate the whole Brigade of between 5,000 
 and 6,000 men, and goes on to say : " The King came 
 down to-day and walked round informally ; ' and then 
 continues : " When I was in Canada my great grief was 
 to feel incapable of attempting to put up a simple wooden
 
 44 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ' shack ' which every one seemed able to do for himself, 
 though I tried hard to learn the system of it, and so you can 
 imagine I delighted in this chance of experience in what 
 is just similar work. The site is a splendid one, high up 
 and looking on to the Grand Stand of the Race Course." 
 
 " October 15, 1914. 
 " This morning I had, for some unknown reason, an 
 honour paid me in being ordered with one other man to fall 
 out with the Non-Commissioned Officers and told they 
 would like me to become one. I am glad to say I was able 
 to get out of it, though at the time I did not think I could 
 work getting off. I hope you think I was right. Non- 
 commissioned Officers have already had a lot of training 
 and the responsibility of being in charge of fourteen men 
 has duties which I do not consider without previous training 
 that I was able completely to fulfil. . . . We have often 
 in the afternoon ' extended ' drill, which is interesting. It is 
 considered of considerable importance to heave 3 r ourself on 
 the ground and get up for the next sprint as quickly as possi- 
 ble as casualties chiefly occur at these times. An afternoon 
 of this sort is splendid exercise. I am glad to find I can 
 usually get up quicker than others and have a considerable 
 lead. I am also glad that my clothes so far need no mending. 
 . . . Probably khaki uniform to-morrow. This morning 
 we had a lecture on ' Tactics ! ' 
 
 To a Sister. 
 
 " The Croft, Ashtead, 
 
 ' October 18, 1914. 
 " I have your Weymouth Bible you gave me at Ouinish, 
 1911, and enjoy it extremely — just now I am reading 2 Cor. 
 I told you what I pray for yourself and myself, and 2 Cor. 
 ii. 15 gives the state and the aggressive result of it : ' We 
 are a fragrance of Christ, grateful to God in those whom He
 
 JOINING UP 45 
 
 is saving, and in those who are perishing ; to the last named 
 an odour of death predictive of death, and to the others an 
 odour of life predictive of life." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Billet, 
 " November 12, 1914. 
 "... We fall in at 7.50 (after breakfast), which makes 
 the day with the same work all the time seem a long cme ! 
 You will, though, be glad to know that we knock off at 
 10.45 for a quarter of an hour to get what we want from the 
 Canteen arranged in one of the huts. My military efforts 
 I still put in terms of other experiences, especially in the 
 matter of marching with rifles in which the feeling is that 
 of going up a Scotch hill to get to the moor to shoot, and of 
 digging trenches to the inevitable digging-out ferreting. 
 A military nature will no doubt soon occur." 
 
 December 13, 1914. 
 " No uniforms yet except cap and puttees, which latter 
 are useful for wet days, and a pair of boots which seem to 
 fit well and to be good ones in spite of simply ' drawing ' 
 them by size only. It would have tickled you too when 
 drawing boots, when of course the record of doing so is 
 kept, to have just the two questions asked — 1st, what re- 
 ligion you are — then size of boots, as it did me, but I am 
 getting used to the many strange ways of conducting things 
 here. They ask us every few weeks what religion we 
 are, and I hope will soon have the record. Atheists and 
 agnostics are apparently classified as Church of England ! " 
 
 December 18, 1914. 
 ' This letter brings the prospect of an event in my life 
 (the Rifle Brigade accepting him). Now I am taking steps 
 to get a transfer to the Cambridge O.T.C. as a Private."
 
 46 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 To a Sister. 
 
 " The Croft, Ashtead, 
 
 " December 29, 1914. 
 ' I shall value them (the socks) immensely, both for v, hat 
 they are, and then for the remembrance each time I wear 
 them of you and your love and interest, especially in this 
 war life in which I am occupied. We have had such a nice 
 Christmas at Easneye, though of course more or less quiet. 
 We appear to be in for digging trenches all this week." 
 
 " The Croft, Ashtead, 
 
 " 20. 12. 14. 
 ' I expect you feel as I do — just overwhelmed with the 
 immensity of this war, and with the terrors of it. Big 
 things sometimes come to a sudden end, and perhaps we 
 may see it in this. Are we and our Allies nations of right- 
 eousness to whom God can give victory in response to next 
 Sunday's day of prayer ? It seems to me interesting and 
 critical. . . . It is a joy to know that you and W. have me 
 in mind in this really awful war." 
 
 " 26. 12. 14. 
 "If nations aimed at attaining a Kingdom of Christ 
 instead of temporal national interests only, I cannot think 
 that this war would have occurred. I am frightened 
 whether we are a nation honouring God, and hence whether 
 victory will be ours. I wish there was more sign of men 
 turning Godwards." 
 
 " Billet, 
 January 2, 1915. 
 1 The feeling I have is entirely like being back at school. 
 . . . Jocelyn Buxton l is thinking of the Rifle Brigade. 
 I therefore hope both he and others I know may be in the 
 6th. We had a rotten day going early to W. with an 
 1 Missing (later presumed killed) 1916.
 
 JOINING UP 47 
 
 inevitable full half-hour wait at Ashtead Station first — 
 and about 11.30 knocked off owing to the rain and marched 
 to the station, where we waited from 12.30 till 3.30 for a 
 special train. It was driving rain all the time and a very 
 great number of men had to stand on the uncovered part 
 of the platform. I was very fortunate being under cover 
 and having a Times to read. I always have something 
 of this sort with me in view of frequent waits to which we 
 are subjected. All day was very cold and draughty and I 
 was so grateful for your present. If you really intend to 
 give me the pair of long mittens some day which I shall 
 wear under M.'s mittens (which have no fingers) I shall be 
 provided for till I get to Berlin ! The wait yesterday and 
 this afternoon free seem very strange when I think of 
 what my life would, in the ordinary way, be at the Bank 
 these few days at the end of the year ! " 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " The Croft, Ashtead, 
 
 " January 6, 1915. 
 " What a tremendous victory over the Turks in the Cauca- 
 sus in to-day's paper, but how strange to have it spoken 
 of more in the strain of being satisfactory than in the number 
 of casualties as ranking as one of the biggest battles in the 
 world's history. How awful, how frightfully awful from 
 a humanitarian point of view the news is each day." 
 
 ' January 12, 1915. 
 " As I told you I now possess a uniform as outward and 
 visible sign of being a full ' private ! ' I am told that my 
 hat does not fit and I look like a 'bus driver ! . . . This 
 morning we had a lovely sky with the remains of the waning 
 moon near Sirius and some star." 
 
 " January 13, 1915. 
 " Have heard from Major C, which means that I may be
 
 48 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 discharged from here any day. I shall then have to report 
 on 22nd at Sheerness and arrange for a three weeks' O.T.C. 
 course at Cambridge. Victor wires me that Jocelyn can get 
 into the 6th, which is splendid." 
 
 Prior to receiving a Commission in the Rifle Brigade he 
 went to Cambridge for the O.T.C. course. It was a great 
 joy to him to find himself once more in rooms in Trinity 
 College and " returning to old ways, cooking buttered eggs 
 for breakfast with the bed-maker fussing about." 
 
 He writes in letters : 
 
 " January 18, 1915. 
 " The Kit is really the most wonderful bag of tricks 
 you can imagine. It includes haversack, kit bag, trenching 
 implements, water bottle, bayonet, etc., and without 
 previous instruction could not be put together. I have 
 just tried to count the number of buckles that are attached 
 and they appear to be thirty-seven ! " 
 
 " Cambridge, 
 " January 29, 1915. 
 ' Patrick Buxton joined me in the middle of breakfast. 
 A great number of men have come up and are mostly at 
 Pembroke where I wish I were also, as it is there we fall in 
 for parades, and also lunch and supper and lectures, and as 
 our programme is most strenuous with very short intervals 
 between parades there is no opportunity to get back to 
 one's rooms." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Cambridge, 
 January 31, 1915. 
 ' How I wish you were here to-day to have a peaceful 
 talk and day together. I think specially of your love to 
 me and of the fact that God has the same love and care for
 
 JOINING UP 49 
 
 us both. We thus seem to have God a uniting centre for 
 the love that we have to each other. I have had a hard time 
 of faith-testing lately with things on hand and mind to 
 worry my nature, and I fear I have worried and hence not 
 glorified God. I am pretty confident that God is not going 
 to (He cannot do so or life would become ridiculous by our 
 having no need for decisions) show us the right course to 
 take in business or other material decisions of life, but He is 
 all the time wanting to give us His Spirit whereby" we shall 
 have the right motive in everything. Lately I have missed 
 this, to-day I recognize by receiving His Spirit that this 
 sickness is from Him, also that worries have lately been 
 given that I might show a peaceful spirit in spite of them." 
 
 To his Brother Arthur. 
 
 " Cambridge, 
 " February 7, 1915. 
 " I write to ask whether you will do me and the nation a 
 favour by lending me your field-glasses ? They are very 
 difficult to procure, in fact only a French make can be got, 
 and as I believe you have a pair, cannot resist suggesting 
 it. Will you, however, take the risk of their being lost if 
 I am shot, or if they are lost and I am not shot, of accepting 
 a new pair in their place ? Strange being here in ' C 
 New Court. The instruction is good, but very strenuous, 
 and it is hard to find time for anything. You will of course 
 say me ' nay ' re the glasses if any hesitation. J. B. is 
 here with measles." 
 
 To a Sister. 
 " Trinity College, Cambridge, 
 
 February 18, 191 5, 
 ' Mother's piece of ham is delicious. Why is it that 
 everything that mother provides is bigger and better and 
 nicer than anything obtained elsewhere ? "
 
 50 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 " Cambridge, 
 " February 18, 1915. 
 " One night we had a march, not getting in till 1 a.m. 
 This was all right, but it started with nearly an hour's wait 
 before moving off, which to me is the hardest work of any, 
 but from T.'s description of the ' Front,' which I have 
 written to R., is no doubt useful training. I expect to leave 
 here on Wednesday and wrote on Tuesday to the Adjutant 
 to ask for instructions and whether I could have till over 
 the Sunday before joining at Sheerness. The Military 
 Hospital here on King's Cricket ground has 1,200 men in it." 
 
 In March, 1915, he was given a Commission in the 6th 
 Rifle Brigade as a 1st Lieutenant." He proceeded to join 
 his Regiment at Sheerness. 
 
 He writes from Sheerness : 
 
 " Sheerness (Billet). 
 
 " March 2, 1915. 
 " I got here all right last night and have had three drills 
 to-day and a lecture. I have seen Col. Dawson, but not to 
 speak to yet. Charles Werner 1 is very kind and I have seen 
 others whom I knew were here. Thanks, I think, to C. W. 
 I have a very nice billet next door to my Company Office — 
 occupied by a friendly old retired Marine and his wife 
 who are anxious to do anything for me. I have a very nice, 
 as far as I can yet judge, servant called H., who has been at 
 the Front and is back shot in the ankle. The Mess is very 
 nice, and of course I have all meals here and a nice room 
 to read in also, so I have no need of provisions and thus can 
 save you any thought of them. J. B. is in C. Coy., which 
 I am sorry for." 
 
 1 An old Cambridge friend, who was an assistant-master at 
 Harrow when War broke out. Killed 1915.
 
 JOINING UP 51 
 
 ' Sheerness, 
 " March 8, 1915. 
 ' I wrote you a card yesterday and told you that I was on 
 Orderly duty, or rather supernumerary for the purpose of 
 learning the job. The day was extremely strenuous as I 
 did not get to bed till 6 a.m. (so till 11.30 to-day I have 
 slept). The Orderly duty consisted of at 12 (noon) attending 
 Commanding Officer's orders, i.e. Col. D. for seeing defaulters, 
 after which going round to the three hospitals and seeing 
 all 6th R. B. in the wards had all they wanted, then to the 
 prison. After lunch I saw the start of a football match 
 of the 6th v. Crew of H. M.S. Albemarle, then to the parade 
 square to see drills were all right. At 4 to mounting the 
 Guard in Alma Road and sending them to their different 
 stations ; at 5.30 a tour round to the six kitchens' — one to 
 each Company — to see everything was clean and in order. 
 The men, or as they are called ' Riflemen,' are billeted and 
 fetch their meals from the kitchens. From these to the 
 O.M.S. store to supervise the giving out of rations for 
 24 hours. Everything of course is exact measurement, 
 such as 20 lb. 2 oz. cheese, 3 lb. 13 oz. tea, 10 lb. butter, 
 \ lb. mustard, 4 tins milk, 24 tins herrings and tomatoes, 
 packet of pepper, etc. I wished you were there, also for 
 the kitchens, as you would have been much interested ! 
 At 9.30 p.m. dismissing the Orderly Sergeants, at 10 dis- 
 missing the Billet patrol. The Billet patrol goes to all 
 billets and sees the men are in. At 12.15 a long trudge 
 round till 2.15 to the three guard pickets outside the town— 
 a very muddy and difficult walk and extremely dark night, 
 challenged of course by all sentries en route. Turned out 
 and inspected each guard and questioned sentries on their 
 duties. They are all instructed to look out for pigeons — 
 one described looking out for ' pigeon-carriers ' ! He may 
 or may not have known what was meant ! I thought R. 
 would probably be better at seeing them than the sentries —
 
 52 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 probably the authorities do not know what it means to see 
 a pigeon in the dark ! At 4.15 a.m. a similar inspection 
 of the three guards in the town, then to bed at 6 a.m. It 
 made quite a strenuous day, especially after two quite hard 
 morning parades of physical and other drill, but I need 
 hardly say I am nothing but very fit." 
 
 To D. 
 " 6th Rifle Brigade, Sheerness, 
 
 " March 18, 1915. 
 " Here we progress well. The officers are a really nice 
 lot of fellows ; a great many quite young. This week we 
 sent out seven, of which Archie Pelham Burn was one. 
 The 5th Battalion also sent out seven the same day, the 
 requirement being no doubt due to this last engagement. 
 " This morning I have had a long three hours on a Court- 
 martial for the purpose of my own instruction in this busi- 
 ness. You have no idea of the amount of work and bad 
 effect on others that a few indifferent characters give 
 to a company. It would be the best possible thing for the 
 army if such men were dismissed." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " D'Abernon Lodge, 
 
 " April 18, 1915. 
 ' I have been able to accept an Officer's (by name B.) 
 invitation to motor with him from Sittingbourne to Redhill, 
 by which he could drop me at Kentwins. We came through 
 Maidstone and near Sevenoaks and got to Kentwins about 
 11.45 a.m and saw Dorothy and Arthur, who came with 
 his anti-aircraft motors. About 3.30 A. took me to Redhill 
 on these motors, which was magnificent. Rolls-Royce 
 cars weighing 2\ tons without men and on pneumatic 
 tyres (4 behind). We went into Camp on Thursday which 
 is much more satisfactory. At present I have a tent to

 
 JOINING UP 53 
 
 myself. Arthur (brother) came for Thursday night, which 
 was very nice, and it was satisfactory that as he left the 
 station the anti-aircraft guns there shot at a Taube which 
 was steering towards the Dockyard. It felt just like a 
 partridge drive and as though standing behind some one 
 who was shooting. Unfortunately the shooting had no 
 effect except to turn the aeroplane back' — after it turned 
 it looked much as though it was coining down, but no such 
 luck." 
 
 To Rosamond. 
 
 " 6th R. B., Sheerness, 
 
 May 6, 1915. 
 
 " How sad the number of deaths just now of people we 
 know ; Birchall, Alan Fowler, Cheny Garfit's son, Alan 
 Ronald's brother, and dear old ' Chip.' x 
 
 " I started early this morning to get out about seven 
 miles along the sea for field firing practice with targets 
 in hedges, etc. It might easily have been Scotland, and my 
 thoughts were once more on cross-lining and winch-mending, 
 and the many other remembrances of that place now so 
 impossible of repetition with John Trotter and Chip gone. 
 
 " If England and her officials would recognize the King- 
 dom of God the effect on events of the war would, I believe, 
 be, under God, at once in our favour." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " Queenboro', 
 
 " May io, 1915. 
 ' For the Range shooting I, apparently, got 114 points 
 and thereby got what is called a ' First Class Shot,' for 
 which 95 points is sufficient." 
 
 1 Kenneth Trotter.
 
 54 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 " Oueenboro', 
 " May 17, 1915. 
 " I am sorry to say that Charles Werner, who was in the 
 2nd Battalion with W., is, like him, missing. This Battalion 
 seems to have been fearfully cut up in the engagements 
 of the last fortnight. The programme here this week for 
 Officers, after the afternoon drills are done, is- — to-day 
 signalling ; Tuesday, bayonet-fighting ; Wednesday, map- 
 reading and use of compass ; Thursday, bayonet-fighting ; 
 Friday, ' general work.' This is such a strange place- — 
 a very big pottery, which continues manufacturing, but we 
 take a number of their large rooms, etc." 
 
 " Oueenboro', 
 
 " May 18, 1915. 
 " I have orders to go to Winchester to-morrow. I know 
 not what for nor for how long, but anticipate that it is 
 owing to a shortage of Officers there and a large number of 
 new men coming in. Winchester is the R. B. Depot, and 
 we get our drafts of men from there. The Y.M.C.A. hall 
 here is well used and I went in this evening and took the few 
 minutes of prayers with which they close each night. . . . 
 I did not respond to the request for a speech on going away 
 to-morrow ! The Gamekeeper paper which I take in appears 
 much appreciated by all as a variety from war topics ! 
 I feel very sorry to be leaving here as I am just getting to 
 know my platoon." 
 
 " Winchester, 
 
 *' May 31, 1915. 
 ' (In the train.) Now 9.30 p.m. on my way from Queen- 
 boro' where I have to-day taken a draft of men. I was 
 Orderly Officer, but they appeared to want me for this 
 draft and I left at 11.30 via London and getting to Queen- 
 boro' at 6.15. I marched across from Waterloo to Victoria 
 as I just missed a S.E. train at Waterloo. How little I had
 
 JOINING UP 55 
 
 ever thought that I should be in command of men inarching 
 down Victoria Street ! " 
 
 To his mother, before taking a draft of men to France. 
 
 " Oueenboro', 
 
 " June 22, 1915. 
 " I parade at the Camp at Sheerness at 4.30 p.m. and_leave 
 about 5.30 for Folkestone and Boulogne with another 
 Officer." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " France, 
 June 23, 1915. 
 
 " It is quite difficult to write as I know you like details. 
 ... I must comply with censorship regulations. 
 
 " I paraded at Sheerness yesterday and marched the men 
 to the station accompanied by the Band. . . . At Folkestone 
 we got on to what was said to be a bigger boat than usual, 
 but it was a rotten little thing, and we had 900 men on board 
 (other drafts joined us at Dover and Folkestone). There 
 was none too smooth a sea, but it did not upset me, though 
 some men were bad. We were escorted across by destroyers 
 and got in about 11.30 p.m., when it took a long time sorting 
 up the men, and we then marched up to the Camp about 
 2 1 miles from the station. When we got to camp tents were 
 allotted, 12 in a tent, and I drew a blanket each for the men 
 from the Quartermaster. I was responsible for fifty men and 
 had papers respecting them given me at Sheerness which I 
 had to give to the Embarkation Officer at Folkestone, 
 also at Boulogne, and also here at ' this ' place. After the 
 men had got into tents it began to rain hard, by which I 
 suffered a bit, having a search for my kit-bag, fishing-bag, 
 and Burberry, all of which I had sent on in a motor at the 
 station. These had been put in an Orderly tent and it was 
 a bit of good fortune I found them at all. ..." 
 
 E
 
 V 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 
 
 July — August, 1915 
 
 ANDREW received his orders for France in July, 1915. 
 He writes to his mother from Sheerness : 
 
 July 6, 1915. 
 " Just a line before Mess at 8 p.m. to tell you what I 
 fear you will be sorry to hear, that I fully expect to be now 
 ' on the list.' This is the current expression for a list of 
 Officers put up in the Orderly Room whom the Colonel has 
 recommended to the War Office as suitable for the Expedi- 
 tionary Force. . . . The probability is that I shall go 
 abroad in two or three weeks' time, but it may be longer 
 or shorter. Anyhow I expect to have 24 hours' notice 
 and should be extremely surprised if I went within 10 
 days from now. I am afraid you and father will mind 
 when the time comes for me to go across, but you 
 must on no account do so. It will be of extraordinary 
 interest to put into practice what I have been attempting 
 to learn for nearly nine months (since September 24, 1914) 
 and as I fully anticipate getting through without harm you 
 need not fear. I was Orderly Officer yesterday and got 
 back from visiting the guards at 2.10 a.m. It was so 
 jolly as I went into my tent to have a lark get up close by 
 and announce the morning with a ripping song." 
 
 56
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 57 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " July 12, 1915. 
 ' I now go off to the Front. . . . There are six Officers 
 going from this battalion — Captain Prescott Weston ; 
 Capt. Campbell ; 2nd Lt. Johnstone ; Capt. Tatham ; 
 2nd Lt. Wilson ; and self Geoffrey Bar- 
 clay * is, I hear, badly wounded. He was in our 1st Battalion, 
 which I expect to go to, and which has been so very badly 
 cut up." 
 
 Not long after he left, Mrs. Brennen wrote of him from 
 his billet at Sheerness : 
 
 " August, 1 9 15. 
 ' With you we hope and pray he may be spared. . . . 
 He did look fit and well and ready when he left us and 
 said, ' You may rely on me to do my best,' and we know 
 he will. I bade him ' au re voir,' and when his smiling face 
 had vanished, woman-like, I had a good cry. . . . He 
 will come through, please God. He is steady and capable, 
 you will hear good things of him." 
 
 Despite all the horrors of modern warfare, he was wonder- 
 fully happy at the Front ; indeed it makes for happiness, 
 or at least for contentment, as thousands have discovered 
 in these years, when a man finds use for every quality, 
 mental, moral and physical with which nature has endowed 
 him. Like many another good Officer, Andrew excelled 
 in looking after his men ; it came naturally to his intensely 
 sympathetic nature to care for their every need, and he 
 was indefatigable in his visits to lonely sentries. The day 
 before he was killed, as one of his corporals afterwards 
 related, ' He himself carried, in order to save his men, 
 
 1 Major G. W. Barclay, killed in action July 28, 1916.
 
 58 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 four petrol tins of water slung round his waist " ; and added, 
 ' He was always like that, trying to save the men and doing 
 the hard jobs himself." 
 
 His medical knowledge came in very useful, and his 
 men said of him, " He's better than either Padre or Doctor." 
 Another who was with him at Messines has recorded that 
 when he returned to the Company the men said, " Now we 
 shall get some medicine. The Captain always has his 
 medicine chest." 
 
 Another Officer who was bleeding to death was saved by 
 Andrew's knowledge of First Aid. 
 
 His mother notes that " he once wore a steel waistcoat, 
 but would not again as he disliked being differently and 
 more safely clad than his men. Possibly if he had done 
 so when the fatal shot was fired it would have saved his 
 life. We have since read in his Diaries of the many very 
 narrow escapes he had during his time in France, viz. 
 ' Nearly done in ' ; ' Badly sniped at ' ; ' Shell exploded 
 exactly on the spot where I stood five minutes before ' ; 
 etc., but he did not enlarge on them to us at home." 
 
 It was characteristic of him that he found or made time 
 to write an extraordinarily large number of letters to his 
 family and friends at home. To his mother he wrote 
 very nearly every day. 
 
 He was posted to the 3rd Rifle Brigade. He writes from 
 France : 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 "July 17, 1915. 
 ' I have less luggage than any one, but feel splendidly 
 equipped. The equipment which goes on my back I am 
 awfully pleased with as everything goes on so well. . . . 
 Very interesting to see Indian Cavalry."
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 59 
 
 To his Mother. 
 " 3rd R.B. 6th Division, B.E.F. [at Rouen]. 
 
 " July 18, 1915. 
 "... Huts are much preferable to tents — they are long- 
 shaped, wooden-framed things covered with canvas. Here 
 we are not blessed with beds, but if I get blankets under 
 me as I can here I really don't mind. ... I am just back 
 from Church Parade, which was a nice service taken by a 
 Presbyterian Minister in the open. He preached on Ps. xxiii. 
 very well, with his broad Scotch accent, and so many 
 Scotch Officers and men here I felt like being in a Scotch 
 service in Scotland. . . . How I wish you could see this 
 abode, as it would interest you so much and to be able to 
 picture the lie of the land, but unfortunately I cannot even 
 get a snapshot to send you showing a bit of the Camp, 
 as cameras are not allowed." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " July 20, 1915. [Rouen]. 
 " I am just wiring you to say I got orders, as also Capt. 
 T. and 2nd Lieut. W., to report at the station here this 
 afternoon at 5 and to leave by the 6.5 for the Front (i.e. the 
 rail-head). A very instructive morning again to-day. It 
 is most exciting now really moving on." 
 
 " 3rd Rifle Brigade, B.E.F. 
 
 " Wednesday, July 21. 
 " I hope you got my wire yesterday to say I had orders 
 to leave last night for the Front. The train left at 6.15 
 p.m. and I am now writing at 12.15 p.m. It is indeed 
 strange to be at last going to the Front and passing the 
 places whose names one has associated with it. The 
 journey is not swift, and it is further strange not knowing 
 where we are bound for, and shall be turned out. T. is 
 O.C. and we three are in one carriage, also another nice
 
 Co ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 Officer. We have our valises with us, and all of us slept 
 a certain amount. It was very tantalizing to find ourselves 
 at Etaples at 8.15 this morning, and then pass outside 
 Boulogne by Wimereux, and not see either Leonard or 
 David. We had a sandwich and boiled egg for breakfast 
 and badly wanted a cup of coffee, but no such luck ! We 
 have though just got at a stop some hot water, and made 
 tea and cocoa. (This from mother's delicious peptonized 
 cocoa.)" 
 
 3rd Rifle Brigade, B.E.F. [at Poperinghe]. 
 
 Thursday Evening, 22nd. 
 " My dearest Ros, 
 When Tatham, Wilson and I got to the rail-head we 
 were met in style by an Orderly riding, and a gun-carriage 
 on which we put our valises, and ourselves on top. I 
 sat behind with legs hanging over, and you can imagine 
 on an appalling cobble road, full of holes, the two miles 
 we sat them was bumpy. We got off at some large sheds 
 and Army stores and worked on, still East, then to the right 
 after about a mile, and for another mile across country 
 into the wood where we are now comfortably placed. The 
 huts are very good, about 12 ft. square, with wooden floors. 
 I am in a hut with my Captain, by name Swan, and 2nd 
 Lieut. Knight, both very nice, and I am lucky. Captain S. 
 has been out ten and a half months, and never been hit 
 or sick. He is, I should think, about 28 or 30. Oh, how 
 I wish you and all could look in and see my abode. If 
 you looked in at our hut, you would ask what tramps' 
 abode it was, with sundry goods hanging round ; a good 
 deal of straw on which odd blankets, sleeping bags, valises, 
 kits, etc., are, and one corner with a mixed supply of pro- 
 visions. Meals we have at a table behind the huts, except 
 tea this evening, which we had on the floor of the hut as 
 it was raining hard. Eggs and bacon for breakfast are
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 61 
 
 cooked within a few yards on a stick fire. There is a far too 
 ample supply of things of every sort ; tinned tongues and 
 meat, chutney, cakes, sugar, jams, chocolate, biscuits, etc. 
 
 ' The country right up to here is very like England except 
 for the fields of very tall vines. I am absolutely amazed 
 at how well cultivated it is ; everywhere beautiful crops 
 of every kind and in splendid order ; a more than ordinary 
 (English) number of farm houses, most of which appear 
 occupied by our men for some purpose. We have a gramo- 
 phone here, and the men keep in very good spirits. After 
 I got here yesterday evening there were two or three hostile 
 aeroplanes about, though not directly over us. It would 
 have interested you, as it did me, to see the shrapnel being 
 fired at them. Each burst remains as a little white cloud 
 for a long time so that you can count twenty or thirty 
 altogether. The shooting seemed very bad, but no doubt 
 the ranges were big. I saw about forty shots at one. After 
 dark it is interesting to see at a distance the endless sequence 
 of flares sent up by either ourselves or the enemy ; also 
 hear artillery from time to time. This morning our Com- 
 pany had practice of attacking trenches. Some companies 
 have been doing bomb throwing, which is disturbing to 
 the peace of the camp. I looked at the different kinds of 
 ways of working them. The fuses are usually started by 
 loosing a spring, or somehow mechanical, but you can light 
 them. Some are hand-made out here of jam tins. It is 
 quite a dangerous proceeding, but no doubt all necessary 
 practice to get the men accustomed and confident." 
 
 ' There are five Officers away from the Battalion sick. 
 There is a strange thing called ' trench fever,' which a good 
 many seem to get, and certainly one of ours has it ; high 
 temperature with shivering, etc. I do trust I do not knock 
 up. It would be the limit, as I am now awfully fit, and 
 very happy indeed. The Battalion go into the trenches 
 again on Tuesday for sixteen days (namely till the following
 
 62 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 Thursday fortnight). Then we have eight days off, then 
 another eight days in and eight off. We have seven miles 
 to get to this trench, either through a much heard of place, 
 or, if it is being shelled, just skirting it to the north. I have 
 this afternoon been served out a helmet to go right over 
 the head, and also a mask to go over the mouth and nose. 
 A bottle of stuff to renew the chemical is provided. Under 
 the effect of chemical changes caused by gas the former 
 mask keeps its value about two hours, the latter ^-hour. 
 It was a bit of luck joining my Company just as they were 
 out of the trenches, and being able to look round instead 
 of going straight there from the train." 
 
 " Friday, July 23, 1915. 
 " Just had breakfast and finish this sitting on my bed, 
 which is, I think you would agree, in better order than the 
 rest of the hut, which is strewn all over deep with papers, 
 bags, clothes, food, kit, mattresses, parcels, letters, and 
 decorated with fly-papers, for which beasts I feel heartily 
 sorry. There is also an ample supply of mud all the time 
 brought in owing to the heavy rain of yesterday and last 
 night. Nothing gets tidied up, but this is all to the good, 
 as otherwise things would get mixed up more, and I told 
 my servant to leave my things alone. My sleeping-bag 
 is just right, and will prove most useful, and probably, as 
 it rolls up, I shall take it to the trenches, though little can 
 be taken, as we only have a handcart for the Company, 
 on which mostly supplies are put. The valise has proved 
 very comfortable to lie on, as it is nice to have an end to 
 shove feet into. My Captain goes on leave in two days, 
 so that Knight and I will be the only Officers in the Com- 
 pany. I shall therefore start trench work in charge of 
 the Company, which is a big move ! To-morrow, I under- 
 stand, we are going to be gassed in order to show the men 
 thatthere is nothing to fear with the helmets on.
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 63 
 
 " We have a family ' sea ' waistcoat, and I want to get 
 a ' land ' one too. Several here have them, commonly 
 called ' funk ' waistcoats, being a sort of armoured thing 
 which would, no doubt, turn a slanting bullet and protect 
 from shrapnel or splinters. 
 
 ' Small girls and women come round the huts selling 
 chocolate and cigarettes. The huts are arranged in a 
 square shape, the distance across being about 100 yards. 
 I am reminded here, with the wood and camp, of camp-life 
 in Canada. A lot of chaffinches in the wood, which are 
 very jolly, also a few other birds. S. has got a good Mauser 
 303 rifle, with telescopic sight, with which he has done 
 some very effective sniping. Water is scarce, and is brought 
 up in Army water-carts. I manage though to have a tub 
 in my bucket each morning outside the huts." 
 
 " Saturday, July 24. 
 " This morning we practised going through chlorine gas 
 in trenches with helmets on, which worked all right except 
 in the case of the Captain who was working it, who had a 
 defective helmet, and so was quite badly hit by it." 
 
 " Sunday, July 25. 
 " Now going to have some lunch of tinned duck and green 
 peas, by which you will know how we live. Personally I 
 should much prefer Army rations as reasonable and in 
 keeping with a campaign life, and all this overdoing of 
 fancy supplies is a great mistake. This morning, soon 
 after 9.30 I took A Coy. to do an attack on some trenches 
 by the Captain's instructions, after which, at 11, I began 
 to pay out the Coy. and continued it at 2 o'clock. I have 
 4,000 francs for the purpose. At 11.40 I went to a nice 
 Communion service in a hut, during which a heavy thunder- 
 storm, and also an accompaniment of distant gun-fire ; 
 aeroplanes, both our own and German, come out from tea-
 
 64 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 time to dark. ... I am now going to give my men some 
 First-Aid hints. . . . The First- Aid has been quite success- 
 ful, and I talked to them about Spiritual matters too. . . . 
 
 ' Well, I have written a lot, but I am sure you do not 
 realize the extraordinary interest and responsibility that 
 I have in practically at once finding myself in command 
 of A Coy., owing to S. going for leave for five days. There 
 are many duties that come along, besides leading and 
 instructing them in practice much as we had this morning. 
 Endless matters of discharge, leave, etc., also this after- 
 noon trying to gain information of men who have been 
 reported missing, by instruction of the War Office in response 
 to requests by their relatives. But at the moment, and 
 far above this, is the fact of starting trench life in command 
 of the Company. Of course there is a certain routine laid 
 down, and I more or less know the procedure, but I have 
 never done it, and it is very big, especially as we are so 
 frightfully short of Officers, in that I have only one young 
 Subaltern, Knight. I have just been having supper, and 
 discussed with him how we shall divide the Company. I 
 decide to have Nos. 3 and 4 Platoons in the firing line the 
 first night, and Nos. 1 and 2 in the 3rd and 4th line of 
 support trenches. If my Company is in the trenches we 
 expect to be in, the German trenches are a long way, about 
 Coo yards, off. I shall then probably send out the listening 
 patrol to lie out all night during dark somewhere between 
 us and the enemy. Then probably I shall have to send 
 Orderlies for water, ammunition, etc. All men work all 
 night at repairing trenches, putting up wire, etc. The Coy. 
 will come in after dark on Tuesday, but as Coy. Commander 
 I shall probably try and get in Tuesday morning in order 
 to take over from the Regiment we are relieving. 
 
 ' Well, you will say this is a strange Sunday ; the morn- 
 ing spent by practice followed by a Communion Service ; 
 this evening a Service in the open, a lovely bright, warm
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 65 
 
 evening, during which all the time the guns were banging 
 eastwards, shooting at aeroplanes, and it was a novelty 
 to sing hymns and listen to a sermon, and at the same time 
 watch shrapnel fire at the aeroplanes — also a football match 
 100 yards off." 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 
 " 26. 7. 15. 
 
 " My dearest R., 
 " I feel greatly excited going up to the trenches to- 
 morrow. A Coy., if in the same place as before, are in 
 quite a fairly decent bit of line which does not receive such a 
 dose of shelling as other parts. I don't a bit want to be 
 killed or wounded, anyhow till I have had a considerable 
 amount of this novel experience of fighting ! 
 
 " The censoring of letters is a nuisance ; they are of an 
 extraordinarily uniform type, though some are amusing, 
 especially one man's ' furious ' love letters — he was up on 
 a charge before me to-day at Coy. orders ! As he was suffering 
 so badly 1 let him off ! Yesterday evening I gave the men 
 a First- Aid lecture, and took the opportunity of a sort of 
 young sermon for their souls too ! 
 
 " I feel a real brute to be going to the Front, and you 
 and all not getting a chance even to be there for a few 
 minutes, as, though I try to mention facts in my letters 
 which I hope will somewhat make the life of things clear, 
 nothing but to be seeing it can be really satisfactory. 
 
 " The horrors are very great, and I have no wish to kill 
 mankind, but to see the Front is of real interest." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Tuesday, 27. 7. 1915. 
 " Your letter of the 21st came last night. How applic- 
 able, your staying by the stuff and my going up to battle. 
 I am glad to think that something of a soldier's spirit is
 
 66 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 rising in mc. I only beg that should I by chance get shot, 
 which though I do not somehow the least expect, neither 
 you nor any one else will mind, but just carry on as though 
 I was with you, as indeed I think I should be, otherwise 
 we shall all be unhappy ! Death is looked on as such a 
 small thing out here, but I know it is harder for one's own 
 to look on it thus and to ' carry on ' with one shifted from 
 sight. This is, I think, very much ahead of time, as I expect 
 to go to a pretty quiet trench and do not know that any- 
 thing special is likely to occur." 
 
 " 3rd Rifle Brigade, B.E.F., 
 
 " 28. 7. 15. 
 
 " My dear Father, — 
 
 " I must get you a line to-night by the post, as the 
 last twenty-four hours have been in reality a novel experi- 
 ence. 
 
 " My servant has just asked me (3.30 p.m.) what time 
 I will have lunch. I expected instead the question to refer 
 to tea, but in trench life meal-times are no more, and you 
 have a meal when hungry and call it what you will. 
 
 ' I am not yet hardened to trench warfare, and find it 
 easier to write now in the Officers' Mess — a place about 
 seven feet wide, ten feet long, and five feet high, with sand- 
 bag sides and corrugated roof with one layer of sandbags 
 on it — than when we or others are being shelled. They 
 have given my Coy. two or three bouts to-day — now two 
 shells almost simultaneously on about the 2nd line, by 
 which a little stuff was thrown in here ; also other shells 
 on each side. The shooting is extraordinarily good, and 
 they know our trenches to a nicety except the back one, 
 which I do not think they have yet found. This morning 
 I watched them start on the Regiment on my right — first 
 shell about fifty yards short, then plum into trench throwing 
 up huge mass of earth (though__the shells are small ones
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 67 
 
 comparatively and called ' Little Willies '), then they would 
 drop shell after shell into that line of trench, varying it 
 with one on us, or on some support trench. 
 
 " I was walking round the trenches this morning, seeing 
 the Platoons when they were making it pretty hot for my 
 Coy. You hear the shell coming, and have just time to 
 duck your head, and possibly put it in a dug-out. It is 
 really amazing how few casualties occur when you have 
 these things heaving up the place. I hardly dare to think 
 what heavy shells or a heavy bombardment can be 
 like. 
 
 ' Yesterday and last night, with such a new experience, 
 though not different from what others had stated, will 
 truly be a day to be remembered, increased greatly by 
 being in command of the Company. 
 
 ' The Coy. Commanders and CO. left the huts where 
 the Battalion had been resting for eight days for this place, 
 all riding, I on Captain Swan's horse, so that I have been 
 exposed to other danger than warfare ! It was very awk- 
 ward riding with equipment on, and when the horse's ration 
 bag, which was tied on to the saddle, got twisted round a 
 hind leg, I thought we should part company. We rode for 
 about 3! miles, through a town [Ypres] about 4 miles east 
 of our railhead, and left the horses with the grooms (who 
 had gone on) about i| miles beyond this town where the 
 road crosses the railway. 
 
 ' That road and that town were a wonderful sight, the 
 latter practically knocked to bits, and the former a wonder- 
 ful show of heavy transport and troops. Gunfire at aero- 
 planes, and rifle and shell fire (heavy) more or less continuous 
 along the whole front. 
 
 ' I never had a hotter walk, and ending up by about 
 20 minutes' quick walking up a communication trench 
 with a haversack on each side, by which I became too wide 
 to walk down it without holding one forward ! I was
 
 68 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 properly hot when I got to our Brigade Headquarters in 
 a low dug-out and sandbag place. We had a lengthy 
 demonstration of trenches on maps, after which I walked 
 round some of them to my own. 
 
 ' The men of the Battalion were due to arrive behind 
 about 9.45 p.m. and I fixed up guides to go back to them 
 from the Buffs (whom we were relieving), and also my 
 Coy.-Sergeant-Major who had come up with me. Fortun- 
 ately the Battalion have been here before so know the lie 
 of things, though, after making arrangements in the huts, 
 it confused matters to be told that my Coy. had to hold a 
 new and forward trench, about which I went to Headquarters 
 and was glad to know it was wrong. The men got in and 
 fixed up all right about 11.30 or 12. 
 
 ' You can have no idea of the difficulty of keeping direc- 
 tion and getting a proper idea of the lie of the land and of 
 trenches in the maze that masses of trenches, dug-outs, 
 communication trenches, appear when you first get into 
 them. 
 
 ' I felt like a return to the City, with names of communi- 
 cation trenches — Threadneedle, Moorgate, Aldersgate, Corn- 
 hill, Liverpool Street, etc. What added to the interest of 
 taking over was being told by Headquarters that it was 
 very possible the Germans might make an attack in the 
 early morning. This, however, did not come off. 
 
 " After dark the rifle and machine-gun fire (with, of 
 course, bursts of shell fire) is continuous, and it is absolutely 
 extraordinary that men walking on top of and round trenches 
 do not get more hit by unaimed bullets. Work has to be 
 done all night all round on top. The men seem not the 
 least to mind bullets whizzing all round them, and I hope 
 I may get to the same, but I certainly did not enjoy the 
 experience this my first night. The shell fire is, at present, 
 preferable to me. 
 
 " The rifle fire at night is just like being on a rifle range
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 69 
 
 when continuous very heavy fire by a great number is 
 going on. 
 
 " I have got a very nice and safe dug-out to which I 
 turned in about 4 a.m. with my sleeping-bag, which has 
 answered perfectly with the straps round it, and in which 
 I could put some things. The handcart on which this and 
 the Company things came up broke down, but the men got 
 everything here all right, including all provisions. Mother's 
 chicken, bacon, bread, and chocolate, also chocolate and 
 hard biscuits, gave me a much needed and delicious meal. 
 During the night from time to time the ' wind ' was raised 
 when the rifle fire on all sides was absolutely terrific, and 
 on which occasions of course I had all the men stand to 
 arms, as there was no knowing if an attack was coming. 
 I had nothing to disturb me till about n a.m. and I slept 
 well in the Jaeger coat and sleeping-bag with Burberry on 
 top, except for some pretty heavy shell fire : thereupon I 
 got up, and I am sorry to say two of my men (machine- 
 gunners) got hit by shrapnel just near my dug-out. I took 
 one into the Officers' Mess (almost opposite the dug-out) 
 and sent for the stretcher-bearers, and we bandaged him 
 up. He had three wounds in the back. He looked bad, 
 but I do not know how deep they were. I believe he walked 
 back all right to the Dressing Station. The other man got 
 it in the shoulder and was not so bad. My trenches are 
 much the best as such and not so forward as some others, 
 much safer, but there is a very great deal to do to them, 
 especially to the support trenches. I hope for sandbags 
 to-night to get started on the work. 
 
 "We have just been giving them some proper heavy 
 shells on our left ! 
 
 " How I wish you could see this in all its awfulness for 
 a short time."
 
 70 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 
 " 29- 7- 15- 
 In the trenches East of Ypres.] 
 
 " My dearest Mother, — 
 
 ' I was ashamed to send you such a bare postcard this 
 even, when I had intended to write a letter, but fear I 
 left it till too late, when necessary things to see to made 
 it impossible to write in order to get it off at 9 p.m., i.e. 
 after dark, when the ration party go out, and take letters 
 with them. 
 
 ' At 8 p.m. each night I have my four Platoon Sergeants 
 and Knight here to receive ' detail,' i.e. orders for the night's 
 work, which they take down in note-books. 
 
 " The Germans are a long way off here, their forward 
 trench being nearly 600 yards off, and in the ordinary way 
 we do no shooting or sniping, but my CO., whom I went 
 to see this morning about certain matters, told me to do 
 some firing to-night after dark, i.e. when they are above 
 ground digging, and with carrying parties out. I told the 
 CO. of the Leinsters (who are on my right) the times when 
 I would fire, which were going to be at 9.15 and 9.30 and 
 again after their and our patrols had come in before dawn. 
 At 9.15 I ordered one platoon to fire five rounds ' rapid ' 
 with rifles sighted to 1,200 yards and of course the point 
 to fire on, and also a machine-gun to fire with them. The 
 machine-gun jammed straight away, so we got off about 
 200 rounds less than I expected in the few seconds which 
 this takes. The Leinsters, who seem most hopelessly 
 casual, sent back word after this that they had a patrol 
 out, so I stopped further firing. Still I hope we stirred the 
 Germans up a bit ; anyhow we produced a lot of flare balls 
 from them, which were pretty ! The result of any special 
 firing or action on our part almost inevitably produces 
 retaliation by shelling on the part from which it came. I
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 71 
 
 expected it at once, but perhaps we did not make it heavy 
 enough, or they may wait a bit. 
 
 " The line is of course very far from straight, with advance 
 trenches, and others of odd shapes. 'A 'Coy.'s line (and, 
 of course, the whole more or less) is across the open, and not 
 following the hedges or ditches. I suppose we are down 
 about three feet, and about three feet more above ground, 
 the whole thing built up with thousands of sandbags. 
 There is no hiding the lines from the Germans, as they are 
 a vast dug-out place, and I appreciate a rabbit's life better 
 than I did. 
 
 ' The German line in front is just the same, and I was 
 looking at it this afternoon with Len's ripping good glasses 
 with a view to to-night's shooting. They soon see, and try 
 to snipe, but are too far off to do any good. 
 
 ' The N.C.O. of the Patrol I sent out this evening till 
 2 a.m. is a splendid fellow of a most fearless type. At 
 Armentieres he went out one night into a German trench 
 and brought back what he could find in an Officer's dug-out. 
 
 ' We have a pump and well just in front of my back 
 line, from which we get our water supply. This afternoon 
 I moved my back platoon into other trenches. 
 
 ' Last night we had off the roof of the Officers' Mess, 
 and lowered it four sandbags in height in order to be able 
 to put more stuff on top. Unfortunately to-day one of 
 our beams, on which is corrugated iron, broke with the 
 weight and the roof nearly gave way. 
 
 ' We have some prime looters, and I have sent some out 
 to-night to find another beam in one of the knocked down 
 farms. Each platoon has also men out to get bricks, etc., 
 as protection to the tops of dug-outs, etc. We have of 
 course also every night to send out parties to bring up 
 barbed wire, sandbags, etc. Also ration parties from each 
 platoon. 
 
 ' Strangely enough, since writing this, I have had tele- 
 
 F
 
 72 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 phone message from Headquarters to send 20 men for sand- 
 bags and foot-gratings (these for the bottom of the trenches 
 for dryness' sake). There is hardly any wet in the trenches, 
 only a few sticky places, but wooden footboards are neces- 
 sary. 
 
 ' I am now well settled down, and getting the hang of 
 things, and enjoying it immensely in all its strangeness, 
 chiefly I think because I am so awfully fit. To go to bed 
 at 4 a.m. and get up at 11 suits me well. 
 
 ' We are having gorgeous weather, and lovely moonlight 
 nights. 
 
 ' The firing on our left all last night was absolutely 
 terrific, and they must have let off tens of thousands of 
 rounds. I suppose each side was trying to catch working 
 parties, but, as likely as not, not the slightest good was 
 done. 
 
 " The N.C.O. of my patrol has just some in, 2.15 a.m., 
 and reported to me. They went out about 500 yards to 
 within 100 yards of the advance German trench. He 
 brought back two of our rifles he found in a ditch, both of 
 course rusted up ; magazines full and with an empty 
 round in the breech. He found the bodies of two Dublin 
 Fusiliers, which he buried, and of one Canadian. The only 
 identification was the man's pay-book on one of the Dublins. 
 This is of course about the place of the German first gas 
 attack when the Canadians did so well. There is a bunch 
 of broken-down limbers between us and the Germans. 
 
 ' The shell fire is interesting. What are called ' Whizz- 
 bangs ' are small shrapnel shells, which do not give time 
 to duck, giving two almost simultaneous noises which their 
 name describes. The only other two so far which I have 
 experienced are shrapnel and ' Little Willies,' both of which 
 you hear coming, anyhow if fired from a decent distance 
 (owing no doubt to the high trajectory). You cannot see 
 the shells, but when firing over us at back trenches or
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 73 
 
 farm-houses, etc., you can know the course it goes by the 
 sound. You soon get to know whether a shell is going well 
 over, or going to fall pretty near, but only when it is quite 
 near, giving just time to duck down if necessary ! The 
 strange thing about bullets going over is that you seem to 
 hear them before they get up to you, which is of course 
 not the case, and is due, I suppose, to the noise following 
 on slower behind. 
 
 ' Our Battalion are having a ' quiet ' time compared to 
 what is often experienced, and so far we have had one 
 other man hit beyond the two I mentioned in my last 
 letter. The Leinsters, who join me on my right, yesterday 
 had eight men hit with one shrapnel shell. 
 
 ' I think very possibly we shall be only twelve days here, 
 and then six out. I feel so well established and happy that 
 I shall feel quite sorry to shift, but I haven't experienced 
 a heavy bombardment yet, when perhaps I should think 
 differently." 
 
 To a Sister. 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F. 
 
 "30- 7- 15- 
 " My dearest Ros, — 
 
 ' I have since Tuesday more nearly approximated a 
 
 rabbit in the Little Park hole at Hunsdon Bury than ever 
 
 before ! 
 
 ' We begin work about two in the afternoon ; as far as 
 we can making good the sides of trenches, etc., and at dark, 
 when the Bosches cannot see us, we get above ground and 
 make good the parapets, put out wire, etc. I cannot tell 
 you why we do not have casualties from the bullets going 
 past, nor what the men are made of at not flinching at the 
 ' crack ' which follows them ! 
 
 ' Last night a long way to our right we apparently lost 
 a bit of ground, owing, I should judge, to the Germans
 
 74 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 exploding a mine. About 3.30 a.m. I saw a big cloud of 
 black smoke go up, which looked like a mine. In conse- 
 quence, as I suppose, a counter attack, with most terrific 
 bombardment, went on for some hours. Huge eruptions 
 of earth thrown up by high explosive shells and tongues 
 of fire as shrapnel burst. 
 
 " I went a trudge round to the trenches on my left, and 
 somewhat in advance of my line, round a farm, battered, 
 of course, to ruins, which the trenches encircle, all the way 
 in communication trenches, in order to see exactly how 
 our line lay, with a view to being safe in any shooting I 
 might do to my half left. Up there they are very near 
 the German lines which look like (because you do not see 
 their depth) five foot high banks of newly-turned earth 
 stretching endlessly and in various rows with square 
 holes at intervals for machine gun emplacements. Of course 
 their big guns are a long way behind, one to three miles, 
 and they had one dropping shells on the part where I was 
 walking about. You hope you are walking away, and not 
 towards, where the next will drop ! I have a tremendous 
 lot of work on hand, and to walk round and see what is 
 going on is a big job, but most interesting — endless building 
 up and strengthening with tens of thousands of sandbags." 
 
 Later. 
 " My dear Ros, — 
 
 " I would sacrifice I know not what to have had you 
 all, and every single person in England, with me for the 
 past 5 or 6 hours (in particular). It is absolutely beyond 
 me to describe the marvellous sight that it has been. At 
 dusk heavy rifle fire on all sides always begins, and we got 
 to-night also some very nasty machine-gun fire along the 
 top of our line, intended to catch any one unduly walking 
 about. I retaliated with some from one of our machine- 
 guns, and also some rapid rifle fire, and the letting off of a
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 75 
 
 few rifles which I had sighted on to different points, and 
 fixed while it was light. . . . After this, in the most 
 gorgeous moonlight night the ' sight ' began on each side 
 of us about one to two miles away. The Germans were 
 evidently attacking at both places, and the splendour, as 
 I saw it walking about (seeing the different things on hand, 
 one of which was repairing the roof of the Mess in which I 
 assisted for about an hour) on the top of our trenches, was 
 something beyond what any one who has not seen war can 
 imagine. There were many phases, but all along the gun 
 fire has been vibrating into us, and the fact that we. were 
 an unattacked part gave me a wonderful though awful 
 sight, as many men have doubtless been killed. The sound 
 has been like a thunderstorm, and you get the ' rolling ' 
 sounds just the same. Shells going over and across sound 
 like an express train, i.e. of rushing nature, or only just 
 heard, according to the distance they are off. I timed how 
 long you could hear this afternoon, as they were firing at 
 something some way back over us, and often the time was 
 about twelve seconds before you had the explosion, which 
 is the report of the gun just previous. I expect what 
 happened on our right was that we did a successful counter 
 attack (as per the beginning of my letter) and the Germans 
 were counter attacking us. 
 
 " They were firing up both red and white ball flares, 
 always several up together. Their guns, some way behind, 
 were sending heavy shells past us intended for our guns 
 behind us, to which our guns were replying also with big 
 stuff, probably 12 inch. You would not believe the noise 
 a big gun makes when firing straight over you, with a wind 
 in the same direction. Our guns firing from a long way 
 back over our heads sometimes just as though a shell had 
 exploded close by. 
 
 " At about 2.15 I had the Coy. stand to arms as the 
 fighting was so terrific it seemed possible for anything to
 
 76 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 develop. I was a bit nervous about my patrol, as they 
 had not come in at 2 o'clock as ordered, but they came in 
 soon after, and I then ordered five rounds rapid at the 
 German trenches. I do not believe in getting the wind up 
 unnecessarily, but a small burst like that would not have 
 that effect, and it is good for the men to have a loose off. 
 We had though just before had some very nasty shells 
 dropped on a farmhouse about 100 yards to the right of 
 my back line, which made me nervous, as I had got a good 
 many men foraging there for material' — bricks, doors, 
 beams, etc. — for making dug-outs. K. came to tell me that 
 an N.C.O. and one man had really extraordinary shaves, 
 just being clear of three or four shells as they moved about, 
 and one falling a dumper (not exploding) at their feet. 
 They appear to have stuck to their job, and to have duly 
 unearthed and brought back a door ! 
 
 " 1 do not suppose you can the least picture our trenches 
 as they are ; the front line is a kind of network of passages 
 built up with sandbags, on an average about six feet high, 
 and into the sides of which are various dug-outs. Walking 
 about on top it looks like deep and wonderful preparations 
 for the foundations of a house. Very possibly and reason- 
 ably you may picture me in a kind of ditch, which of course 
 might be the case if it were not such stationary warfare 
 as it is here. Anyhow, walking about on this and all 
 round generally' — including inspection of barbed wire 
 defences in front — with these fights on each side, with a 
 lovely moon by which the few trees in the hedges stood up 
 well, also the high upheavals of smoke and earth from the 
 high explosives, and all the time in the midst of an extra- 
 ordinary roar of guns, Maxims and rifles, and the ' Very ' 
 lights thrown up with their trails of light behind them, 
 which looked like fireworks, — the experience is very 
 great,"
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES jy 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 "3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 
 "July 31, 1915. 
 
 ' We had a quieter night (i.e. the night of July 31-Aug. 1) 
 last night, though heavy firing again on our right. Captain 
 vS. got back about 11 p.m. from leave. He did not look 
 well, and said he had come from two days in bed. 
 
 ' I shall now therefore be more with my Platoon, and 
 shall enjoy to have now a bit of ' back to the land ' with 
 work on building up parapets, deepening trenches, etc. 
 Till now I have only been able to spare time for a "little, 
 as I have had so much supervision to do. The distances 
 to be walked down the trenches make a hole in time. 
 
 ' I have the men begin work at 2 p.m. each day in two 
 hour shifts, and this morning, being Sunday, got my Platoon 
 to sit in a bit of the trench (rather a squash, but dug-outs 
 on each side made some room) and read them some of the 
 last Chapter of Revelation and had prayer. I made it 
 voluntary, but they came well, and it was nice, as a Sunday 
 service. We had no shelling on that way near at the time, 
 but rifle bullets whizzing over us. 
 
 ' One of my men is just drawing out for me on a board 
 about the size of this paper * EASNEYE HOUSE,' which 
 is to be stuck in to my dug-out. You see we make ourselves 
 quite at home, though in the matter of peacefulness it is 
 severely different ! How I can picture you [his mother] 
 now (6 p.m.) and what I would give for a walk round, 
 above ground, in the wood with you ! 
 
 ' In the fighting which I described to R. on our right, 
 I fear we lost in casualties very heavily. The 8th R. B. 
 600 men and 19 Officers and the 7th R.B. 270 men and 
 12 Officers. This may, however, be inaccurate. Anyhow 
 I fear we have lost a great deal of ground, and failed to 
 take it again."
 
 78 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 To a Sister. 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F. 
 
 " 10 p.m. 2. 8. 15. 
 " My dearest Ros,' — 
 
 ' We are leaving these trenches in 24 hours' time to 
 go back, probably, to billets for a night or so, after which 
 we shall take part in an attack. You know, doubtless, 
 what an attack means* — hundreds of guns tearing up every 
 inch of the enemy's lines for about half-an-hour, after 
 which they stop, and at an exact certain time we advance, 
 and have to lie, after taking the trench, for perhaps several 
 hours without cover, as everything is torn to bits, while 
 the guns bombard us preparatory to their counter attack ; 
 and so it may continue. 
 
 ' So far I have only experienced small shells falling round, 
 and nothing of the awfulness of the big ones, which tear 
 the vast holes which are to be seen round here ! 
 
 ' I am therefore at the moment living in a very big 
 day, and a real privilege to look forward to being one who 
 took part in the battle of . . . , but in doing so I have got 
 to go through what can only be described as hell, I fear. 
 Fancy me in command of the Coy., and only one young 
 Subaltern with me, but, as likely as not, before long a 
 junior Corporal may be in command of the Battalion, or 
 of himself, if there is no one else ! I must not say what 
 troops are to take part in this, but it is big. 
 
 ' There is quite an idea of Scotland here from time to 
 time*— the effort to snipe Germans is not unlike rifling 
 rabbits in the evening at Tarvie, and in many other ways 
 I am often reminded. 
 
 ' I get so angry at the appalling waste here, chiefly of 
 ammunition. There must be millions of rounds unneces- 
 sarily wasted. It is lying about everywhere where English 
 soldiers have been. In the trenches you dig up and find 
 no_end of it. A Sergeant told me just now that in altering
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 79 
 
 one parapet further south, they found a basket with 4,000 
 rounds in it. K. found two box-fulls (2,000 rounds) left 
 in a field, and picked up 300 loose rounds on a short walk 
 across country. If clips of cartridges, containing five 
 each, get dusty or wet, a great many men would throw 
 them away, and just get another from the supply. This 
 supply is really under the control of Sergeants, but it is 
 impossible to keep proper supervision. At the moment 
 I have a row on, as I ordered a box of cartridges to be put 
 into the bag of each fire trench, and for the wooden lids 
 to be opened, but for the hermetically sealed tin inside to 
 be, of course, left intact. I find one tin has been opened, 
 and a bandolier full (50) taken out. 
 
 ' I am glad to say that I think my men have been taught 
 a lesson, and are now very different to the ordinary run 
 of them. When I took over these trenches the whole place 
 was littered with rusty cartridges and bandoliers full, which 
 have now, as far as possible, been collected and cleaned up." 
 
 " 3rd R.B., 
 " August 2, '15, 4 a.m. 
 
 ' Last night I had the novel experience of taking a patrol 
 out to see if I could gather what the Germans were doing 
 who are about 600 yards away, armed with a revolver. So 
 strange to walk through cornfields and up hedges, prepared 
 at any moment to shoot, and always the big possibility of 
 the Bosche doing the same, and by lying up getting first. 
 The men with me had rifles and bombs. We did not come 
 in with any Bosches. 
 
 " I had a very nice little service with my Platoon this after- 
 noon, squished up in the bottom of a trench. The news 
 is, I think, bad, and the nation must get on its knees or 
 we may go under. How pessimistic you will think me ! 
 The faith though of a few can, I believe, have tremendous 
 results and we must stick to it together,"
 
 8o ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 The references in the next few letters are to the Battle 
 of Hooge, where we recovered some 500 yards of trenches 
 which the Germans, using Flammcniccrfer for the first time, 
 had taken. 
 
 "August 3, 1915, 4 p.m. 
 'It is a day to live for ! I do indeed hope we move 
 them, though I do not suppose the scheme is to do more 
 than get back the lost ground on a front of about 500 yards. 
 Posts will be irregular after this comes off, so don't expect 
 me to write or ring you up ! A certain place has got to 
 be re-taken. How grand to be turned on to it ! I am 
 troubled to think you may be neryous, but just remember 
 that ' Through the love of God my Saviour all, all is well,' 
 and to have helped in an important bit of work is great 
 whether through with it oneself or not." 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F. 
 
 " August 3, '15, 6 p.m.. 
 " My dearest Mother,— 
 
 ' As I am writing to R., we got out of trenches to- 
 night preparatory to a big move. We are in huts to-night, 
 and no doubt quite shortly are in for a big thing, so look 
 out in the paper for a move towards a certain place which 
 wants re-taking. I must not write more now, as there is 
 a lot to arrange in the way of moving. 
 
 ' You gave me a Daily Light portion ; I will give you 
 Ps. 23. Great peace of soul in David the warrior — ' Pie 
 leadeth me beside the still waters.' I shall be in for a 
 noise, but thank God for the peace that none the less 
 reigns. Do read the Psalm with this thought in mind." 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 " 2.30 p.m., Wednesday, August 4, 1915. 
 " My dearest Mother, — 
 
 ' I am writing in a hut behind the firing line, so you can
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 81 
 
 feel happy, unless by chance they should drop a shell on us ! 
 ' I always have to think in my letters before I talk 
 about ' last night ' or ' yesterday,' as for the most part 
 we sleep in the morning, and work at night. 
 
 " I was going to say we got here last night, but it was 
 about 4.30 a.m., the relief of our trenches taking a long 
 time. Such a different type-of Officer in the relieving regi- 
 ment to what the R.B. has ! We have to send back guides 
 to bring them up after dark, after which there is a good 
 deal to fix up. They struggled up through about f mile 
 of communication trench, laden with packs, rations^ etc. 
 An officer came ahead in the morning to look round and 
 remarked at Headquarters, ' I suppose you will stay in the 
 trenches till we get in.' Imagine such a question ! I hope 
 to goodness they don't lose the trenches. 
 
 " We marched back to these huts to the west of a certain 
 well-known place [Ypres] and passed within a few yards 
 sometimes of our guns, which were firing — the most terrific 
 explosions, and bright light from explosions. It is extra- 
 ordinary that the teams of horses and mules in the limbers, 
 which have taken rations to the firing line, ever get to stand 
 it, but those I saw hardly minded. 
 
 ' It is interesting Dor mentioning the loss of 500 yards 
 of our front near Hooge — I hope she will again look at the 
 papers early next week ! 
 
 " The goose en route is very great. I am wondering and 
 hoping that Knight and I will eat it in what are, at the 
 moment, German trenches ! I have already started getting 
 up my dinner party. Every one accepts ! " 
 
 "3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 
 " 4 p.m. August 6. 
 " My dearest Mother, — 
 
 ' . . . To-night a great part of this Battalion act as 
 a carrying party of stuff up to where we shall soon be
 
 82 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 going, which is about seven miles off, so we shall have a 
 fourteen miles' toddle. A lot of men and some of the Officers 
 are more or less laid up with what the doctor calls dysentery. 
 He is trying to trace the cause. 
 
 ' Last night I went a bit of a walk with Tatham and 
 Wilson." 
 
 " 12 Noon Saturday, August 7. 
 
 ' Just a line more to say I had my walk last night, which 
 was quite a hard bit of work. We had to carry up a lot 
 of heavy stuff to the firing line — one thing (a trench mortar) 
 was much too heavy, and I had to hunt round for a hand- 
 cart. The guide sent to guide me said it was quite impossible 
 to get this thing up the communication trench of about 
 two miles, also it was deep in water. So I went to see the 
 Brigadier, who told me to take the things up to another 
 point, which I had never been to before, and the guide 
 did not know. It was along a main road [the Ypres-Menin 
 road], and a heavily shelled bit. After about a mile from 
 where we picked up the stuff the road became practically 
 impassable — one of the main roads of this country, and 
 you could hardly get a handcart up it ! The men, I am 
 afraid, did not shine, two or three times saying they could 
 not get on. The trouble with the road was huge shell 
 holes, trees down, barbed wire broken down, and over it. 
 I was very fortunate in that there was no shelling on it, 
 and I got to about 200 yards of my destination, i.e. the firing 
 line, without any such addition to our difficulties — no rifle 
 fire either directed on the road, only stray bullets round. 
 
 ' It was impossible to get on further, as well as being 
 exceedingly dangerous on this open road, should they have 
 spotted us, when we should have been shelled to bits. 
 This was, too, very possible, as German flare-lights were 
 going up round us. Where I was, a communication trench 
 ran along to the right, and I met an Officer with a patrol
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 83 
 
 at that point, but he did not know where the Regiment 
 was I was looking for, so I went along the trench, and 
 found the Headquarters of the Regiment I was going to, 
 and also Knight, whom 1 had sent with supplies for another 
 regiment. I did not know where he would have to get 
 to, and was never more amazed in my life than to hear him 
 call my name. 
 
 ' It proved to be the second line of the Regiment I was 
 after, and I left my stuff with the Officer who was there, 
 though he knew nothing about it. He was one of those 
 casual people who won't move, and it took him an endless 
 time to come, walking very slowly, and see the dug-outs 
 which I had found, and into which I had put my stuff. I 
 was very much pressed for time in that my men were in a 
 very dangerous place, and also that I was short of time to 
 get back the seven miles before light, so I did not over-bless 
 the chap. 
 
 ' We went back the same way as we came, through the 
 town, over which I nearly wept. Can you picture marching 
 into a place at 9 p.m., all the outskirts knocked by shells, 
 then gradually up to the ' Square ' with the Cathedral 
 remaining just sufficient to show it was a Cathedral, then 
 by it the huge Cloth Hall in a similar state, and all round 
 devastation and waste, and without inhabitant. It was a 
 very dark night, but it could all be only too easily seen. 
 
 ' The only shelling I came in for was when about f mile 
 from the huts here, and was a regu]ar bit of shelling which 
 is given just at that place twice a day. I was shoving 
 ahead to try and get there just before it came, but just got 
 properly into it — about the second shell fell very near, 
 and the men more or less spontaneously fell into the ditch 
 we were going along. The shells were all falling just in 
 front in rapid succession, tearing the houses, and what 
 remained of them, to bits ; so I halted until they had 
 finished. The men were frightened, and I had trouble
 
 84 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 with them, and this afternoon on parade I intend to speak 
 to them about it ; viz. without orders there is on no account 
 to be such a thing as getting into the ditch, and that proper 
 formation must invariably be kept — they wanted to slope 
 along the walls, etc. ! If they are frightened in this way at 
 casual and small shells, I am myself frightened at what 
 they will do in a bombardment, which any day now we may 
 have to encounter, so must try to impress a clear under- 
 standing." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 
 " August 8, 1915. 
 
 ' . . . Captain Reeve, whom I knew at Sheerness, has 
 taken over this Company, 1 return to Platoon Commander, 
 which in many ways is preferable. 
 
 ' We had a very nice Service this morning in the open. 
 It is great luck to have the Rev. Neville Talbot here as 
 Chaplain, he is such a good fellow and liked by all men. 
 He has just been to tea with us three in our hut and Tatham 
 comes to supper to-night — so we are having much enter- 
 taining. The only things we want are a table and chairs, 
 even boxes are not obtainable so we have to sit on the 
 floor and have the food there too ! . . . 
 
 " Talbot went up a few days ago to where his brother 
 was killed and at night got out to him through some long 
 grass and took certain things. He deeply regretted since 
 that he had not buried him, so went again last night and 
 managed it all right. I am so awfully glad for his and his 
 people's sake. ... I have been doing revolver practice 
 and am glad to say I can shoot straight, but I should prefer 
 my gun at home and wish I could use it with some big shot. 
 
 " 10.30 p.m. 
 " I think the attack will begin at 3.15 a.m. to-morrow. 
 We are, you will be glad to hear, not in the front line, but
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 85 
 
 with instructions to be ready at any time. Officers and 
 men have been served with ' iron ' rations, bully beef, 
 Oxo tubes, tea, sugar ! We carry water-proof sheets, and 
 I have Burberry and a few other things, in fact I have all 
 that is necessary in everything for a month except food. 
 I have your Brand stuff and three Oxo's ; no razor, brush 
 or soap or other such luxuries. I treat myself to taking 
 off my coat and boots to-night. 
 
 " Oh ! with what mixed feelings I turn in with several 
 hundred of our guns prepared to send every German in 
 certain trenches to Eternity." 
 
 To R. 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F. 
 " August 8, 1915. 
 "A man this morning wanted to send home his New 
 Testament, as it was a pity to have it getting spoilt here. 
 He looked on it as a War relic like the Queen Alexandra 
 boxes. I suggested he might like to read it. 
 
 " We are apparently, more or less, in reserve, for which 
 I am very sorry. I should have liked the front line for the 
 attack, and as it is very probable we shall have to follow 
 on, and hold and consolidate, under, no doubt, though I 
 don't say so except to you, heavy fire. But nothing is 
 known, so don't be perturbed ! 
 
 " Monday. 
 " We have taken four lines of trenches. We probably 
 go up sometime. A splendid 17-inch shell just landed 
 half a mile off." 
 
 " 3rd R.B. 
 " 8 p.m. Monday 9. 8. 15. 
 " My dearest Mother, — 
 
 " You will no doubt see in this evening's papers that 
 we have successfully made good the lost ground, though,
 
 86 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 as you know, the trouble is not so much taking trenches 
 as keeping them, and a counter attack on the part of the 
 Germans will, no doubt, come. Well, we were not up in 
 the attacking line, which really was a great disappointment 
 to all, after so full) 7 expecting it was to be so. We were 
 held in readiness, and have, as yet, not been wanted. It 
 may be that we shall be wanted to hold the line against 
 counter attack, which will be a far bigger thing, in all 
 probability. 
 
 " After dark to-night we go up there, but more, I think, 
 as a carrying party. This will probably involve consider- 
 able excitement, as they are certain to be shelling heavily. 
 
 " We have been giving these trenches very heavy shelling 
 for several days, but there was no mistaking the commence- 
 ment of our bombardment at 2.30 this morning, shaking 
 these huts ; our guns belching forth light, and shells tearing 
 along to the spots arranged. 
 
 " No doubt the Germans picked up the time fuse of a 
 shell from one of the big guns by us here, and so got the 
 range, as they have been vigorously shelling them to-day 
 with both shrapnel and heavy 17 inch stuff. 
 
 " I was just this moment speaking to K. and asking 
 him to come and see one or two of the holes these shells 
 have made, which are about 12 feet deep, and 20 feet wide 
 (so I'm told, but I can hardly believe the depth) when 
 another came apparently plum on the place we were going 
 to, so we consider the place unhealthy, and I continue my 
 letter instead ! 
 
 " The explosion is a great sight, with a huge mass of 
 dense black smoke. 
 
 " We are here outside, to the south, of a certain town, 
 in the midst of excellent cultivation ; potatoes, crops now 
 being cut into sheaves, roots, etc. The inhabitants seem 
 few, and how they manage to get through with them I 
 don't know.
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 87 
 
 ' I went a stroll round last evening with Wilson, and 
 saw two or three such dear old dames outside their isolated, 
 and fortunately untouched, cottages. 
 
 ' It was a sad sight coming back from the carrying party 
 the other night when they began shelling this town just 
 before dawn, as we were coming in, to see eight or nine 
 small children with old women and men coming out of the 
 place away from it, the children crying at being turned 
 out of bed. There are scarcely any inhabitants left." 
 
 {Telegram.) 
 
 " Sans origine," 
 "August 10, 1915, 7.35 a.m. 
 " Going Strong. Love. Andrew." 
 
 ' 1. 15 p.m. August 10. 
 
 ' I sent you a wire last evening, as I thought you would 
 like to know that I am all right, and am glad I did, as I 
 have missed the post to-day. 
 
 ' As anticipated, we had orders to shift from our huts 
 yesterday, and also to act again as a carrying party. We 
 therefore left at 7.30 last night to go east to a much shelled 
 town [Ypres], where the men left their packs, and next 
 day rations, in the deserted (except for Army traffic) street, 
 with a man to look after it, and went on east with a guide 
 to a dumping ground to pick up sandbags and trench foot- 
 boards, and take them to the firing line. It was a most 
 difficult bit of country across which we had to go, chiefly 
 down second-rate roads which were made less than second- 
 rate by the traffic, and by huge shell holes. Our transport 
 tried to get along the same, getting rations, water, etc., 
 to dumping grounds of various regiments near the firing 
 line ; one big waggon nearly came over as it passed by me, 
 one wheel getting into a shell hole ! They use mules a 
 lot, but mostly horses, usually four to a limber, sometimes 
 
 G
 
 88 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 six. The strange thing is that things and troops seem to 
 work out their purpose all right, as the continued question 
 of both transports and men is as to where certain regiments 
 are, and it is equally one which no one can answer. 
 
 ' We got the stuff and carried on, after which the guide 
 lost his way, and we lost much time wandering about, 
 sometimes getting into trenches, of which there are numerous 
 ones about, but all unoccupied, and sometimes above 
 ground. We fortunately came on a dugout in which was 
 a telephone and an Orderly who could direct us, and we 
 continued in the direction he indicated, sometimes in 
 trenches, and sometimes above. Captain Reeve was in 
 command, and, I thought, took big risk in getting above, 
 as there were lots of shells and bullets about, but we were 
 no doubt getting late. What is an awful nuisance is the 
 number of telephone wires across fields, roads, trenches, 
 anywhere, and at every height, the wires just run out by 
 Sappers, into which each of the men, of course, get. W r e 
 eventually got to the dumping ground, and left the stuff, 
 a very straggled company, and as things were left the men 
 were filed into a trench till all came up. This bit up here, 
 and while waiting here, was the hottest time I have been 
 in ; continuous shelling all the time, and rifle fire, though 
 not at us. It was really amazing that we did not lose a 
 man, and indeed a mercy that they did not see us with 
 their lights all the time up. If they had, we should some- 
 times have had a good chance of being wiped out with 
 shrapnel and machine-gun fire. 
 
 ' We left this place above ground at best pace possible. 
 I brought up the rear, and got some distance back, when 
 we had our first casualties, two men being shot by the 
 same bullet ; one through the thigh, and the other highei 
 up. On the track we had passed a stretcher on wheels 
 about ioo yards, which was most fortunate, as our stretcher 
 bearers, as well as a number of other men, had got lost.
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 89 
 
 A little further on was a motor ambulance, so we were in 
 luck's way. 
 
 " These ambulances are splendid, getting down these 
 tracks ready for work. Of course last night, with casualties 
 from the attack, and still more from shell fire after taking 
 the trenches during the day yesterday, they were in great 
 numbers fetching the wounded, a thing which can only 
 be done at night. 
 
 " R. came on one poor fellow in a trench who had been 
 wounded about 24 hours with three wounds which had 
 been bound up by some one who then had to leave- him. 
 We reported it, and hope he got down all right. 
 
 " A real complication of these little evening excursions 
 is that a few men always knock up, either faint, or sore 
 feet, or a twisted ankle. One man last night had this last, 
 and we had to more or less carry him for two miles, till 
 we crossed a road, where fortunately were three or four 
 motor ambulances standing. I arranged for him to be taken 
 back to ' the town.' We got back to this much-shelled 
 town about 3.30 a.m. where we are billeted — the men 
 in a big sort of tramway stable which provides a fair roof, 
 and the Officers in houses opposite, we three of this Company 
 together. The walls and roofs of the houses are all right, 
 otherwise they are battered, and with everything stolen 
 from them. Somewhat strange to walk into people's 
 houses without leave and without payment ! They have 
 a few relics of peaceful life — a knocked to bits perambulator, 
 aviary, greenhouse, etc. 
 
 " Out in the garden behind are long lines of hothouses, 
 with grapes carefully trained, but the houses and glass all 
 to bits. The hot water pipings torn up, and frames some 
 down and some still up. The bunches of grapes unripened 
 hanging down in the usual fashion. 
 
 " They gave us a lot of shells quite near this morn. I 
 fear our casualties during yesterday, after the attack, were
 
 9 o ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 heavy, but this is the usual course nowadays. An attack 
 on one or two lines of trenches is made almost a certainty 
 by shell-fire, and the Germans are too demoralized to do 
 much harm, but the losses come when they begin shelling 
 us in what we have taken. 
 
 " This letter will now go back by the ration cart, I hope." 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 " Tuesday 10. 8. 15. 
 
 " My dearest Mother, — 
 
 " I meant to tell you that I had a splendid and most 
 safe attack yesterday morning in the shape of a rat hunt 
 for an hour, down some hedges by our huts. A Corporal 
 has a splendid little fox terrier taken from some Bosche 
 trenches, who works a hedge splendidly ; we got two, 
 digging one out, and the other after a top-hole half-hour's 
 run up and down a thick hedge. This was thoroughly 
 refreshing, and I wish you had been there, though, if only 
 just arrived, you would have been more interested in the 
 music of the guns, and in seeing two German look-out 
 (tethered) balloons. 
 
 " We are in for another carrying job to-night, at which 
 no one rejoices. My Coy. have got to take 20,000 sandbags 
 to the front line. The night is not likely to be a quiet one, 
 but the mercy is that we ought to easily find the way, as'it is 
 to the same place as last night, though we go a different way. 
 
 Later. 
 " We did the carrying work last night all right, and much 
 quicker than before, as we knew the way. Except for 
 four or five men who fell out with various troubles, and one 
 man who either got hit with a shell or else somehow damaged 
 himself, we had no casualties, though a very warm time 
 again. I am sorry to say Tatham's Coy., who followed 
 on behind us, had casualties of one killed and five wounded ;
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 91 
 
 a shell landed among them as they were dumping their 
 stuff. I had a near shave with a heavy bit of shell flying 
 past close by my head as I was going along a trench, but 
 a miss is as good as a mile ! They were also giving us 
 some rather nasty stuff as we were going out along a main 
 road running east from a much-shelled place [Ypres] (where 
 we are billeted now) to where fighting has been. The 
 road is straight, and these shells were coming straight 
 down it. You can hear them coming for a short space of 
 time, and bliss if they fall before or behind. ' D ' Coy. 's 
 work last night was to take up stretchers along this road 
 and bring back wounded. They had two casualties in 
 doing so, and were apparently lucky to get off with that, 
 as they came in for very heavy fire. Yesterday two stretcher 
 bearers brought a man down this bit of road in daylight, 
 and were shelled the whole way with about 150 shells and 
 never touched — a truly remarkable thing." 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 
 Thursday, August 12, '15. 
 " My dearest Mother, — 
 
 " . . . . In the attack the other day it was, I fear, 
 found out from prisoners that they were going to make 
 a further attack in a few days, and in view of this had 
 collected a great number of bombs, which our men found 
 most useful in applying versus them, when they got to the 
 trenches. In every Coy. a large number of men are definitely 
 trained as bombers. They carry these bombs in bands 
 round their shoulders, carrying about ten, and when they 
 get to the trenches work along them, throwing them in 
 front round the different turns. With machine gunners, 
 bombers, and other men with special work, the ordinary 
 rifleman will soon become rare ! The bombers do not 
 carry rifles, but are getting instead weighted clubs, so that 
 we are gradually returning to primitive warfare.
 
 92 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 " One of the shells which were dropping round the Cathe- 
 dral yesterday killed, I fear, about 20 men. I don't quite 
 know why, but when I walk through here and into the 
 Square with the Cathedral battered to bits, and every 
 house in ruins, I always think of dear old Bishop Handley 
 Moule and picture how deeply he would be moved by it." 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 " Saturday, August 14, '15. 
 " My dearest Mother, — 
 
 " Well, here I am in the trenches again [at Hooge], 
 having come up last night. Some one from each Platoon, 
 or anyhow Coy., when relieving should be up in the trenches 
 to get all information before the Coy. arrives, but all 
 that was done was our CO. came up yesterday and then 
 back to where we were billeted. He had a conclave of 
 all Officers and told us what information he had got and 
 arrangements for relieving made. He said we appeared 
 to be in for an interesting time as we did not know where 
 the Germans were and they did not know where we were, 
 and the trenches were bad. We got here all right and 
 ' took over.' The Platoon Officer of the Platoon I relieved 
 was much surprised at my full inquiries respecting the 
 position, the work they had in mind to do, and other, in 
 my opinion, obvious questions. My Platoon is across a 
 bit of wood which joins up to the east with quite a big 
 wood by a narrow neck just ^-rnile S.W. of the village where 
 we are. The trenches cannot be called ' trenches,' just a 
 sort of path through the wood with a few rough sandbag 
 dug-outs and a certain amount of digging in the much 
 torn up ground. An oak wood, most trees cut in half 
 with shells and all indented and torn about. The experi- 
 ence of our Regiment is to usually find on relieving that 
 the Regiment they relieve have been content to take things 
 as they find them and let them remain thus instead of
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 93 
 
 putting them in order. Here we found everything in more 
 or less of a mess, and above all no decent ' fire ' positions. 
 Now after about 24 hours we have cleared the place up, 
 got ' fire ' positions, though they want completing and 
 extending and the whole trench wants organizing. 
 
 " We have, for one thing, started splinter-proof for the 
 men when under heavy shell-fire. This afternoon for 
 about an hour they shelled us heavily from every direction, 
 but fortunately thought apparently that we were about 
 fifty yards further forward than we were, and we only had 
 one man slightly hit. 
 
 " The waste of ammunition is absolutely monstrous, the 
 men having no consideration. When on a digging party 
 two nights ago we came on to, in the bottom of a trench, 
 three unopened boxes of 1,000 rounds in each. In the 
 100 yards or so in which my Platoon is the ground was 
 littered with bandoliers full of 50 each and clips with five 
 each, besides loose ones — also stuck into parapets, etc. 
 We have cleared up all that are visible, though as you dig 
 you unearth them all the time. The other Regiment had 
 collected a certain number and with these we are sending 
 back to-night, at a rough guess, 20,000 rounds and many 
 rusted up rifles. I have not much time or particularly 
 much news, except that I am sharing a dug-out with K. 
 We have only what we could bring on us last night. We 
 shall get rations for the day and water each night about 
 ten o'clock by transport, who dump it about half-a-milc 
 to the rear and we fetch by platoons. They also bring 
 up sandbags and other necessary materials. Since last 
 night we have therefore each had only what we could 
 bring of water in our water-bottles, which of course allows 
 of no washing. Whether any additional will be possible 
 at all I cannot say. I cannot say how long we shall be 
 here, but there is every possibility of a week without a wash 
 or taking off clothes. We have to be ready all the time
 
 94 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 and times for sleep are very intermittent. I turned in at 
 4.30 a.m. and had to be up at 6. Usually you work all 
 night — stand to at about 3, after which the men have 
 breakfast, then start working at 6 a.m., working in relays 
 of two hours. When I was O.C. Coy. I did not start work 
 till 2 p.m., but night work is not going to be so much done 
 here. Rifle-sniping by night, though, is very heavy. . . . 
 This is a pretty rotten place. It is no joy to be in a salient 
 and at the head of it, as you are shot at from all sides. 
 Some particularly nasty ones have just been coming from 
 behind the way our trench faces. Dearest love, this life 
 is a real joy as I am so fit and enjoy organizing the trenches."
 
 VI 
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 
 
 {continued) 
 
 August-October, 1915. 
 
 "3rd R.B., Trenches, B.E.F., 
 " 11 a.m. Sunday, August 15, '15. 
 " My dearest Mother, — 
 
 " I must begin by saying how magnificently fit I feel, 
 specially this morning. I feel I have indeed got to, from 
 one point of view, the type of life which for so many years 
 I have longed for, but never thought would be possible— 
 away in dug-outs and clear of black coats and white collars. 
 If you want to see trench life I should like you here for 
 24 hours. We came here to find the baldest suggestion of 
 trenches or a line, a quite different thing altogether from 
 where we were before. The men have just knocked off for 
 two hours to get their dinners, which they cook for them- 
 selves in their canteens with splinter wood which has to 
 be cut up very fine or they make a smoke which cannot be 
 allowed. I should very much have liked to work in a short 
 Service (though I do not believe a single man knows what 
 day of the week it is), but the Captain does not think well 
 of the idea. The Coy. could not all get together as they 
 must keep at their bit of trench, and also many men must 
 not get together for fear of shell fire, but voluntary ones 
 by platoons would be possible, and I shall probably have 
 one to-night. . . . We had some very heavy shelling 
 
 95
 
 96 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 yesterday afternoon and one shell which fell just in front 
 of line where I had an advance post sentry I feared would 
 have left nothing of him. I went up to see and found him 
 unhurt, but the poor chap was dazed with terror. In the 
 evening about 9 we were told to wait and not send our 
 carrying parties back as our guns were to open fire and 
 men were to get shelter in dug-outs— not much shelter 
 completed here yet ! We opened fire, but as far as I could 
 judge the Germans did so much more — anyhow they gave 
 us a nasty time with every kind of shells and terrific rifle 
 sniping through the wood. I went round during this 
 noisy time to see the sentries were all right- — -double sentries 
 at night — i.e. two on at a post together, and then got into 
 this dug-out where we were a happy little party of four 
 Officers. Everything quaking with the shell-bursts, but 
 in time it eased down. 
 
 ' How I would rejoice if it were possible for every batta- 
 lion to have in command one of such Officers of which we 
 have several. Our Major is a really splendid man. When 
 I first had to take the Coy. into the trenches it was comfort- 
 ing to have him say to the Officers — ■' You want no military 
 knowledge ! ' his organization is excellent. By day I do 
 not think the Germans are nearer than 800 yards, though 
 they may draw up to a certain part at night a little nearer. 
 The sniping at night is nasty— bullets, unaimed, whizzing 
 through this wood and smashing into trees and, unfortun- 
 ately, men too ! Last night we had four men wounded — 
 one within five or six yards of me- — one also had a bullet 
 through his water-bottle hanging by his side. A sentry 
 had the barrel of his rifle spoilt by a piece of shell which 
 went bang against it. These bits of shell are too hot to 
 hold when they arrive. 
 
 " Fortunately the man who was wounded close to me 
 — shot through the side — was properly cared for as a Doctor, 
 who had come up with men of another regiment to search
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 07 
 
 the ground in front of us and bury the men killed last 
 Monday, was standing just by him. . . . The Coy. Runner 
 was shot through the stomach last night by a stray bullet 
 when going with my servant to fetch water and rations. 
 He asked for a drink, which fortunately was not then avail- 
 able, but would have been given him if possible. I only 
 hope he got into the hands of some one who knew better 
 before he obtained any. Hardly any men have ' First- 
 Aid ' knowledge . . . the ration of a water-bottle a day is 
 just all right, though sometimes a second cup of tea would 
 be rather nice, but Supply says ' No.' I must stop — L shall 
 put up some more wire before dark and again before light. 
 I hope you don't mind my talking of men being hit so. 
 I continue to try and heal up people with your charming 
 medicine case. 
 
 " I have just had a nice Service for a few minutes in a 
 dug-out ; about 30 came. Heavy shelling, but none very 
 near. They are now, and have been for three-quarters of 
 an hour, giving absolute hell to a well-known crater 500 
 yards north of us. It is too dreadful to see the places 
 being torn to bits. I do not think any man in it can sur- 
 vive, but hope it may be otherwise ; probably they mean 
 to re-take it to-night. The last three-quarters of an hour 
 they have averaged about ten shells a minute into it ; at 
 times vast numbers, three or four together, besides having 
 worried it all day." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 "3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 
 " August 16, '15. 
 " All goes very strong, but it is some misfortune to hear 
 that this platoon has to-morrow to move further to the 
 left. We have completed splendid shelter-proofs and every- 
 thing is getting into first-rate order, and now we have to 
 shift down, but this is all in the day's work, though sad.
 
 98 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 I had a sleep from 5.15 to 6.30 just now and had no idea 
 whether it was 6.30 a.m. or p.m. when I woke. Sometimes 
 work can be done by day ; sometimes only by night. Here 
 it is more or less necessary to do both, so that sleep also 
 is in bits. Knight has been shifted away from me." 
 
 " The Ditches, 
 .."10 a.m. Tuesday, August 17, '15. 
 
 ' We were working early this morning, and then knocked 
 off to give the men a rest, because we shall move to 
 our new ditches about 60 yards to our left to-night, and 
 shall be working all night, and probably to-morrow. A most 
 lovely day to-day, and most peaceful so far — hardly any 
 shells, except one or two of what the men call ' Good 
 mornings,' and those not very near, and very little rifle- 
 firing. The ' sniping ' at night from behind is really bad 
 where we are. I cannot make it out, as from the direction 
 it must be coming 2,000 to 2,500 yards, and yet their tra- 
 jectory is still very flat. 
 
 " Yesterday we had a heavy thunderstorm, which made 
 the ditches absolutely vile, and in several places several 
 inches deep in water. We have had pumps, which are 
 useful, and the worst of it has been drained away — just a 
 touch of the pleasure of winter coming along ! As my boots 
 were wet I took them off for the first time since coming 
 here on Friday, and put on dry socks to sleep in for a few 
 hours last night. I like to be ready at any time for a German 
 attack ! I practically never put on a coat, but am day and 
 night in shirt-sleeves, and when wandering round inspecting 
 rather than working myself, with a rather charming round 
 staff, which I originally got for the purpose of putting 
 through wire coils'for them to rotate upon when unwinding 
   — now quite useful in the slipperiness of late — no cap, and 
 sleeves rolled up, so now you can picture me. 
 
 ' There are still birds in this wood, if wood it can be
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 99 
 
 called, the greater part not having more than the smallest 
 sign of green, the trees having, I suppose, been mostly cut 
 down by shells before the Spring. The wood is a mass of 
 stumps torn off at various heights. I was watching star- 
 lings this morning working up the stems for insects in the 
 bullet-holes' — one or two wrens are also having a gay time. 
 What was really ripping yesterday was a turtle-dove cooing. 
 It was peace in the midst of war. Except for the shelling 
 we get from time to time we do no firing from this wood, 
 so it is quiet. 
 
 " I have not been up to the main road 1 at the point due 
 north of us, which is about 400 yards off, but very heavy 
 bombing goes on there each night. The road is not dis- 
 tinguishable there, as it has joined in the general upheaval. 
 
 " Giving our bombers clubs instead of rifles is going back 
 to primitive ideas. If only shot and shell could cease and 
 we got to clubs or fists only we would soon make things 
 move here I think. 
 
 " Your carriage candles are splendid, but at the moment 
 I am wondering how long I can carry on as I only have 
 i£ left. To-night I am sending a message back by transport 
 to try and get some up, or you may possibly be enclosing 
 two or three. My electric torch and a re-fill are, though, 
 a last resource, and then bacon dripping and string, so I 
 am not lightless yet ! 
 
 " A Ditch in Flanders, 
 " 1.45 p.m. Wednesday, August 18, '15. 
 " Last night was, I think, the nastiest I have spent. 
 Our position is now across an open bit of rough grass and 
 is a ' trench ' which no doubt has been occupied in succes- 
 sion by ourselves and the Germans, German rifles, etc., 
 being in it, as well as several of ours, and other things, 
 including the inevitable thousands of rounds of ammunition 
 
 1 Ypres-Menin road.
 
 ioo ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 rusting in the parapets and in the mud at the bottom in 
 bandoliers of 50 each. Fortunately no unburied bodies. 
 
 ' It is a great compliment to our Regiment being given 
 the work to do of making line trenches out of what are at 
 present valueless, either for shooting from or for protection ; 
 but strenuous to have to do it. 
 
 " 7 p.m., 18. 8. '15. 
 " The Bosches have just given us a big bombard- 
 ment of hundreds of shells on the whole line, to which we 
 have, and still are, replying. What is upsetting is to have 
 these aeroplanes flying without hindrance over our lines. 
 No doubt they cannot bring our anti-aircraft guns so far 
 up." 
 
 " 10.30 a.m., Thursday, 19. 8. '15. 
 
 " My birthday ! and a very happy one, as I sit here at 
 the back of my dug-out, with ripping sun, looking out over 
 the 3-foot-wide trench on to the 7-foot parapet wall, 
 the bottom part about 3 feet deep (i.e. dug down into 
 the ground on the bottom of which level I sit) and, on this, 
 sandbags, of which I can see about five layers. So I am 
 well protected, though the view from my smoking-room 
 window only embraces country a yard wide by two high. 
 
 " I told Miles it was my birthday, and asked him how 
 old he thought I was, to which he answered 38 or 39. 
 I asked him why he thought I was this (as almost 
 without exception every one takes me for 26 !). He said 
 I did not look 38, but he was going by the way in which 
 I always insisted on things being done as I wanted, 
 and there was no talking me round, whereas most young 
 Officers did not mind ! 
 
 " The Union Jack flag painted by Rachel at Noseley I 
 have at the entrance to my dug-out, which makes it look 
 very nice and gay.
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 101 
 
 " The men are very happy. It is interesting to hear them 
 discussing the War. I have just overheard the question of 
 whether it is civilized warfare or not, also the number 
 of the Germans. One man said ' Ten million. . . .' There 
 is good English competitive spirit among them. I said to 
 one young fellow that I believe the Germans tried to come 
 out yesterday, to which he answered ' Ay, Sir, but they soon 
 went back. They thought they had one of Kitch's brigades 
 here, not the 6th Division ! ' (We are the 6th ' Division ! ') 
 
 " We behave here very like children. This afternoon 
 we have been giving them a hot bombardment, no doubt 
 because they started the one yesterday ! 
 
 ' There are some very jolly little mice about the trenches, 
 but, unfortunately, none in my dug-out." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " A Trench in Flanders, 
 " Monday August 23, '15. 
 
 ' ... It is a recognized saying ' Leave the 3rd Rifle 
 Brigade and your luck goes.' It is quite remarkable how 
 fortune has favoured them all through. They had seven 
 months at Armentieres, where they more than made them- 
 selves comfortable, the trenches and dug-outs being most 
 elaborate, with beds and other luxuries, and Armentieres 
 providing all necessaries and entertainments. There is 
 very jolly singing all the time in the trenches, and one or 
 two mouth-organs about. One man now singing ' Better 
 a poor man with a contented mind than a millionaire like 
 me.' All sorts of joking too. 
 
 ' I have two small shell cases and some time fuses which 
 I picked up last evening round the trench, and am a bit 
 oily, as I have been polishing them up with rifle oil, also 
 polishing my boots with the same. I shall probably get 
 my servant to take them to England and post them to you 
 when he goes on leave early next month. Mementos are
 
 102 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 the great idea of the men here, and I have caught the 
 infection." 
 
 To his sister Rosamond he writes on the same date : 
 " Young fellows cannot stand the strain of shell-fire. 
 K. is quite upset in nerves, and another very nice young 
 fellow, D., both especially so if there is any shelling and 
 they are alone in their dug-outs. May be that what I have 
 gone through with business strain has seasoned me, anyhow 
 at present I see nothing but the reverse of upset nerves ! 
 ... Oh ! how often I think of you and of old things 
 and times — rabbits just coming above ground at Hunsdon 
 Bury and stamping on their burrows when they spotted 
 us ! Oh ! what days to remember and to hope for soon 
 again ! " 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Trench in Flanders, 
 
 " August 24, 1 91 5. 
 " My Platoon had nine spades handed over to us when 
 we came into these trenches ; we have now about 37, thanks 
 to unearthing what our predecessors had left." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " Huts in Flanders, 
 " Wednesday, August 25, '15. 
 "We were relieved at the Front about 11 o'clock last 
 night, and we then came here independently by Platoons. 
 " I took my Platoon south of a much- shelled place, thus 
 to avoid that place, and also the main road [the Ypres- 
 Menin road] running into it from the east. Maps here are 
 very bad, being inaccurate and unintelligible, and as also 
 engineers have made new roads, and made good what 
 were lanes, the difficulty of planning a route by map is 
 considerable. Unless anything unforeseen occurs, we shall 
 be here a fortnight, so they treat us well. . . .
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 103 
 
 " The Ypres Salient has always been a questionable 
 strategic matter. I should consider it is just sufficiently 
 wide to continue holding it, though, as I said, it is rather 
 disconcerting to have fire from almost all sides. Of the 
 casualties we had, almost all were from rifle fire from the 
 rear. 
 
 " The soldiers' French runs for the most part to two 
 expressions : that is, ' bon ' for ' good ' and ' na poo ' for 
 anything which no longer exists. I suppose it is their 
 quotation of ' II n'y a pas plus ' ? For instance, coming 
 through a place yesterday a 17-inch shell had landed on a 
 house, making about a twelve-foot hole in the ground by 
 twenty feet wide, and all round it a pile of debris, which 
 produced the remark ' na poo ' house. . . . 
 
 " It has been a comfort to get clothes off after 12 or 13 
 days, and to have a sponge down, though in a small bucket 
 only of very black- coloured water ! " 
 
 " August 26, '15. 
 
 " I have just seen, and had walk with, Humphrey Bar- 
 clay, who is Chaplain to the 9th Lancers, who are also in 
 huts in this wood. I am going to lunch with him — really 
 nice to find him here. 
 
 " The Brigadier-General has congratulated us on the 
 work we have just been doing as being well done, and of a 
 much more arduous nature than that entailed in doing the 
 attack." 
 
 To his sister Rosamond. 
 
 " 3rd R.B., 
 " Huts in Wood in Flanders, 
 
 "August 29, '15. 
 
 ' My prayer for you on your birthday is that God may 
 
 be more and more a reality to you. It is, I think, a help 
 
 to practise the consciousness of Him as an unseen Presence 
 
 Who is conscious of all that comes across us, as David : 
 
 H
 
 104 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ' The Lord is on my right hand,' — this being the expression 
 of safety, as the man on the right held a shield in his left 
 hand to protect the men on his left. 
 
 ' I must close the poorest of poor birthday letters. For 
 a birthday present, the two shell cases, which I hope will 
 arrive, and which I hope you will like. I think they are 
 French 75 's. Perhaps you may prefer them to something 
 from England." 
 
 " Huts in Flanders, 
 
 " August 28, 1915. 
 
 ' As Orderly Officer yesterday I recommended that the 
 pond from which the men get washing water have some 
 paraffin in it to kill gnat larva, with which it is thick. To 
 reduce the number of gnats would add to the comfort of 
 the Camp. The Doctor is going to look at it to-morrow. . . . 
 
 " You ought to look at the centre page of the ' Daily 
 Mirror ' of the 27th, with aeroplane photo of Ypres. It 
 gives a fair idea, though not giving the masses of debris 
 or shell-holes. The last time we had to go through this 
 town we had to go by the by-streets as the Square had 
 been bombarded again with shells, and so cut up that it 
 was impassable. 
 
 " Sunday, August 29. 
 
 " We have an open-air Service here at 11, which I look 
 forward to, and a Communion Service after. I shall picture 
 you at Stanstead Church. . . . 
 
 " I seem to feel Ken's death more and more, also Charles 
 Werner's probable death (a young Harrow master) ; both 
 such good friends and so charming. Two nights ago I 
 dreamt I was having a race with W. and a general rag, 
 in which I had the legs of a roe." 
 
 "August 29, 3 p.m. 
 "... I agree with you that I have no wish to possess
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 105 
 
 a German helmet. I want, though, a good German rifle, 
 if possible, but it is one thing to get these things, and 
 another to get them home. Whether the shell cases I 
 sent have arrived I do not know, but the difficulty of getting 
 them here, and then on, is considerable. [All arrived safely.] 
 
 " Next time you take a Scotch place, or move with pro- 
 visions, do remember the value of sandbags to take things 
 in or to pack up with. 
 
 " We have now been given a new type of helmet to wear 
 in the event of gas, and the old respirators taken back. To 
 see through it has two round glass-covered holes, and a 
 valvular mouth-piece. 
 
 " We have in Battalion Orders that ' The Army Com- 
 mander has expressed his appreciation of the excellent work 
 performed by the 17th Infantry Brigade during the recent 
 
 operations at and the consolidation of the position 
 
 there ; and he wishes it to be known that their services 
 will not be forgotten.' " 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Huts in Flanders, 
 " 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 1, '15. 
 ' . . . I wrote a postcard last night to say I was going 
 to be out this morning, but, like all Army Orders, this 
 was altered to the afternoon. Representative Officers 
 went from each Battalion in this Brigade (about five from 
 each Battalion) to certain Divisional Headquarters by 
 London motor-bus to see maps and hear information from 
 a Brigadier as to what was going in the War and the posi- 
 tion generally. Every conceivable size and scale of map 
 prepared for various purposes and including portfolios of 
 maps showing results of daily aeroplane reconnaissance. 
 How father would have enjoyed to have been there ! 
 Unfortunately I am unable to pass on anything of news. 
 " These Headquarters were in a big house, with long
 
 106 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 drive up to it through ripping woods, and jolly lake near 
 it, also well-kept flower beds with begonias, etc. ; two or 
 three ripping little terriers having a hunt in the wood by 
 themselves. It was really refreshing to see a house again, 
 and did me a world of good ! 
 
 " After we had finished I picked the Brigadier's mind 
 as to the position opposite the trenches we go into on Fri- 
 day (which are the same as those I went into first and 
 which you heard of from Dick Trotter at ' Easneye ! '). 
 I also got a large scale map from him. 
 
 To his Father and Mother. 
 
 " Trenches in Flanders, 
 " 3-3° p.m., Saturday, September 4, '15. 
 
 " Here we are again in trenches ! and a proper experience 
 of them. . . . 
 
 "It rained very heavily from about Thursday mid-day 
 till Friday evening, fortunately more or less clearing up 
 as we marched off from huts for about a seven miles stretch. 
 Everything was soaking wet, and roads deep with mud. 
 We had also to turn off the road at one place as they were 
 whizz-banging along it rather badly to catch such beings as 
 ourselves or any other of the numerous ' game ' that pass 
 along it, which made very heavy and sticky work. 
 
 " We got to the dumping ground about a mile behind 
 where we are now, after the usual number of stops, which 
 are exceedingly welcome, though the pace is very slow. 
 (The regulation stops are five minutes after half-an-hour, 
 then ten minutes after each succeeding hour. . . .) 
 
 " At the dumping ground we had guides to meet us from 
 the Regiment we were relieving, for each platoon. Our 
 guide, which is more than usually the case, lost his way. 
 The men seem to have no idea of observation, and though 
 this man had been up here for 16 days, no trees or landmarks 
 conveyed anything to him.
 
 [lo /<!-'(• pxge 107 
 IN TRENCHES NEAR WIELTJE.
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 107 
 
 " I knew all would be bitterly cold, so fortified myself 
 with two or three of your splendid chocolate slabs, pepper- 
 mint lozenges, and biscuits, medicine case, and brandy. 
 The last two I almost always carry, and the others I brought 
 up in my haversack. Every one's teeth were chattering, 
 and in fact I think I was about the only one warm, having 
 moved about more. Two men were really quite seedy, 
 one having just fainted at his post. It was the natural state 
 from being hungry, wet and tired. I gave these two men 
 some brandy, and one or two of them who cared for it 
 some chocolate too, which were quick and effective cures. 
 Others were very glad of chocolate and lozenges. 
 
 " It is a very fortunate thing that when life is uncomfort- 
 able an English soldier is always cheerful and jovial ; when 
 comfortable he grouses." 
 
 " 11.30 a.m. Sunday, September 5, 1915. 
 
 " We look like a lot of tramps coming up to the trenches, 
 things hanging all round, waterproof sheets round shoulders, 
 sandbags round legs, and every mortal and conceivable 
 device for carrying, by the men at least, al worldly goods 
 possessed out here, also canteen and food ; and endeavour 
 to keep dry. 
 
 " I have felt since I got here not so much like a tramp, 
 as like a cow, who is solidly plastered with mud on the 
 quarters after a peaceful night's rest on land which resembles 
 the composition of these trenches. 
 
 To his Mother. 
 " 5. p.m. Monday, September 6, '15. 
 "... Some men from my old platoon at Sheerness came 
 out and joined us the day after we got here. I was really 
 thankful for their sakes it was not the same day. One of 
 their letters I have just censored. He says to his wife : 
 ' I felt a bit what-oh ! When on sentry on Sunday they
 
 ioS ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 began shelling me with whizz-bang ; they don't half sound. 
 We had a very long march to get to trenches, in pouring 
 rain, and it didn't come down, I don't think ! We all got 
 swamped, also covered from head to foot with clay, ugh •' 
 I fell over about five times with my full pack on in the dark, 
 and slipped down again when I tried to get up. We were 
 up to our knees in clayey water. That took some of our 
 nervousness away. We had to sleep in our wet clothes, 
 in fact for two days as it still rained. You ought to see 
 me now, covered from head to foot in clay. I don't think 
 you'd fall in love with me, what with hardly any hair on 
 my head, and whiskers on my face, and having no wash. 
 It is no use washing, as water is as scarce as gold. Am 
 getting used to it now. When the guns go off, they go off, 
 not half. Talk about thunder — Well, it is something like 
 it ! ' " 
 
 " 3 p.m. September 8. 
 
 " This afternoon I have greatly enjoyed a read in Acts, 
 and also seeing the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic, 
 which had been left in my dug-out, but I had not made 
 time to look at before. Both so refreshing, and true mind 
 and soul tonics, though the dramatic side is still no use to 
 me ! It is very strange in these days to have to make a 
 new prayer that I may not hesitate, if opportunity occurs, 
 to let off revolver or rifle. I find that the best course is 
 to look at this life from a sporting point of view, and, hard 
 though it is, to make myself oblivious to the fact that the 
 efforts are against the same type of flesh and blood as myself. 
 
 ' I am lately back from a really good spy round through 
 the loopholes of my parapet with Len's splendid glasses, 
 all long Bosche parapets, etc., so exactly like looking for a 
 stag in the heather in a corry in Scotland."
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 109 
 
 " 9.45 a.m. September 9. 
 
 " These chance shots at night, when men are above 
 ground, are bound to cause a certain number of casualties, 
 and also, when heavy, put the wind up in men working, 
 whereas the Germans, for the most part, do their work 
 without being disturbed. You can so clearly see the order 
 given to them that their men are to stop shell and rifle 
 fire on our part by giving back far more than they get 
 from us. This, as far as I am able, I reverse. Why should 
 they not be sniped when they show themselves in their 
 trenches by day, and be sniped and worried by night ? 
 The German marksmen are told off for no other work than 
 this sniping, but of this sniping, which is right and is an 
 acknowledgment of a good shot, we do nothing, and since 
 I have been out here the Coy. has practically not fired a 
 round ; lately, however, I have given my Platoon a good 
 deal. I am now trying to get on to our Machine-gun 
 Officer M.B. by telephone, which is just two yards from 
 my dug-out, to get him to give me a gun to-night, as I 
 can get it on to a bit of ground just opposite me where 
 the Germans are working all night. I am sure to worry 
 them has a great moral effect, if nothing more, which is 
 of more than trifling value, as well as also setting back the 
 work they are on. We have a working party of another 
 regiment to help us with the digging each evening. Any- 
 thing from 100 to 800 men. Yesterday our Chaplain came 
 along the trench. He described my bit of line as a place 
 d'honneur, and, later, a Staff Major and a Lieutenant with 
 him. Having no military knowledge, I thought it well 
 to tell him my opinion of the position here, especially of a 
 certain danger, as I thought ! I also showed him how the 
 trenches were arranged on his map. The line I was in 
 before this was really much too long for my Platoon and 
 up here on one side I am left in the air. It is a place of
 
 no ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 importance, and is recognized as being of a tricky nature. 
 We are near the Bosche. Their saps come up to within 
 eighty yards of our saps. This means frequent trouble 
 with their and my ' posts,' and patrols meeting. . . . 
 It is exciting work having bombing encounters so near. 
 They, or we, creep up to each other's posts on stomachs. . . . 
 A great difficulty in the listening is that the hedges and fields 
 are crammed full of rats, which of course you hear all the 
 time, as also our working parties so near. Every night 
 except last night a German patrol of bombers has come 
 up and there has been a row. The noise of the bombs is 
 tremendous. I go out from time to time and see that all 
 is right, and wait with the men a bit, listening. The night 
 before last, just after I had got up to one post, there was 
 a noise in the rough corn and grass, which might easily 
 have been a man crawling. We threw a bomb, but with 
 no apparent result. I think the Germans are very scared 
 at the game, as, after crawling some way, they get up and 
 run forward, throwing some bombs, and then bolt back. 
 The first night our Coy. was up when Knight was Officer 
 here we lost by one of our own bombs one of the most 
 valuable men in the Battalion. He was a man of a quiet 
 temperament, but as near as any man I ever knew in not 
 knowing what fear is. There had been a bombing row on, 
 which to him was an irresistible necessity to go about fifty 
 yards in front and see what was up, and join in. He must 
 have gone out beyond the patrol, without all the men in 
 the patrol knowing it, and been bombed when he came 
 back. He has been out since the start, and has done most 
 valuable work for the Platoon. The Germans generally 
 throw short in their haste to get away. Last night they 
 sent a trench-mortar bomb, which fell near a patrol, but 
 did no harm."
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES in 
 
 " Trenches, 
 " 5-3° P- m - Friday, September 10. 
 ' I really must get this off to-night, but not without 
 telling you of a real big experience the past twenty-four 
 hours. ... In the afternoon R. and I let off some rifle 
 grenades at the German sap for the purpose of ranging and 
 then using at night. ' B ' Coy. on my right also let off some 
 ' Tobies ' at the same time. The last are trench mortars, 
 and throw what looks in the air like a big, oval-shaped 
 thing, tumbling about aimlessly ; weight about 60 lbs. 
 ... At dusk I j ust saw from one bit of my line a working 
 party of about twenty-five Germans, starting along~ their 
 bit of the trench, in which I put five rounds with a rifle. 
 I had also asked for a machine-gun, and later ' traversed ' 
 this bit of ground with it. . . . After dusk there occurred 
 what sometimes had been, but was new to me, a shout 
 starting from the south of the German line of ' Hoch ! 
 Hoch ! Hurrah ! ' and gradually taken up all along it. 
 Previously you heard the working parties digging, hammer- 
 ing, and talking, when near them, but to have a general 
 shout was indeed strange. We of course answered with 
 such calls as ' What's the matter ? ' It appeared they 
 had had news of some success, possibly the Zeppelin raid 
 I hear you have had, but in the early hours of this morning, 
 when the bombardment was on, I felt pretty convinced 
 they had been informed that they were to do an attack on 
 us. One of the ' posts ' I have out sent for me about 
 10.30 p.m. to come and take note of the German work on 
 their sap, and the direction they were taking. I stayed 
 out there about an hour, and by flares sent up from a certain 
 part of our line from time to time, and the German flares 
 themselves, saw pretty much what I wanted to know. The 
 post threw one bomb while there at what they thought was 
 a German patrol crawling up, but which was probably 
 nothing but rats, but about five minutes after leaving
 
 ii2 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 the post, Bosche or Bosches threw a bomb at the ' post,' 
 which did no harm. I have, of course, a revolver on these 
 occasions. When fit as I am, I have not the nervy feeling 
 I would have feared if I had thought of what the work 
 involved before coming here. The risk I run in going out 
 to the posts is the minimum, but it is my duty to see all 
 is in order, also to learn such information as I can. ' B ' 
 Coy. one night had a man come near, and call out to their 
 post ' Hi ! Soldier ! ' probably wishing to surrender, but 
 in this ghastly world such might easily be done with inten- 
 tion of ascertaining where the post was for bombing it, 
 so the only answer was a bomb, though no harm was done 
 him, I think. At about 4.30 this morning, Friday, as 
 I was just thinking of turning in, being pretty weary after 
 a hard night's work, sometimes baling water with the men 
 from the trenches for about an hour, and then building up 
 the new trenches with splinter-proofs, etc., our heavy guns 
 opened fire, and I thought were probably going to give 
 some real retaliation for the Bosche shooting yesterday, 
 so I ploughed along to the right of our line, map in hand, 
 where I had a good view of the country as the distant 
 ground rises. It was interesting to see whether they would 
 make good practice on the German lines, but they did not 
 keep it up long. I returned and rolled up in my dug-out 
 for about half-an-hour, when the Bosche opened on us 
 with whizz-bangs and high explosives, but not bigger than 
 five or six inches ; the biggest fuses you have, which I 
 sent home, belong to these shells. Sometimes five or six 
 together, all more or less in the same place. The whole 
 place rocked and whirled with it, and a rain of earth and 
 debris covered everything, or rather swished in torrents 
 of shrapnel like thousands of rockets cutting the air. 
 
 • •••••*• 
 
 " Oh, how you would hate it all ! This loveless land, 
 in which there seems nothing of God, nor indeed of man,
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 113 
 
 but only just of the Devil. Every ingenuity to kill. I 
 should not mind so much if it was left to fists and clubs, 
 with half the numbers, would be all right, but the help- 
 lessness before guns and rifles is rotten ! It is either Tuesday 
 or Wednesday that we go back to rest, and next time up 
 we shall probably be back in trenches, which will be a 
 mercy." 
 
 " Tuesday, September 14. 
 " I have never really told you about Friday's bombard- 
 ment. After our guns had stopped, the Germans opened 
 fire, for a bit rapid rifle fire, then gun fire again, a slight 
 pause, then more gun fire. In all, about three and a half 
 hours. Men who have been out here all the time consider 
 it the heaviest bombardment they have experienced. It 
 was true terrors, though I am thankful to say I did not 
 mind it nearly as much as most. The cook at our Coy.'s 
 Headquarters was killed, and several men in the Battalion 
 killed or wounded, but only one man wounded in my 
 platoon. It really was marvellous. The CO. says he 
 considers they were firing 200 shells a minute, for, in all, 
 about three and a half hours, on a 500 yard front. Several 
 of my men were a bit damaged by earth falling on them. 
 Of course the trenches were in many parts knocked to bits. 
 Our telephone wire was broken, and an attack after it was 
 to be expected, so it was an exciting time. The men are 
 badly upset by shell-fire, whenever anywhere close, and of 
 course with this bombardment frightfully so. It is very 
 troubling to find these fellows shaking all over. We had 
 no attack after it, but there was a lot of trouble about, as 
 I got certain messages of Germans crawling up to my 
 line, etc. ... I send some of the telephone messages I 
 have been getting, which make life strenuous. (Such as : 
 
 ' Information from points to possibility of flame or 
 
 gas attack, as Germans have been seen carrying tins on
 
 H4 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 their backs. Warn all patrols to be vigilant.' ' Informa- 
 tion received. Possible that Germans contemplate an 
 attack this morning, preceded by bombers. Extra vigilance 
 will be wise.' ' Warn all ranks about smoke helmets to- 
 night owing to east wind.' ' Report that seven Germans 
 crawled up in grass to "Forward Cottage," but that five 
 have now gone back ; but two are still there. Keep your 
 men all on the alert.') 
 
 " One frequent mode of German attack is to get into a 
 bit of trench with a few men, by means of gas, fire, and 
 bombs, and, if satisfactory, attack in force." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 " 3 p.m. Wednesday, September 15, '15. 
 
 • ••*■••• 
 
 " I think it clear that the enemy in front of us were 
 relieved by fresh troops two nights ago, which accounts 
 for their quietness. Possibly they are shifting troops very 
 considerably. Their habits the last few days have also 
 changed. . . . Every one will be right glad to get out of 
 trenches to-morrow night, probably about n p.m. . . . 
 
 " If only things were moving, I think the strain, which 
 in this life is on so many, would not be so great, but to 
 be endlessly digging oneself in, and then shelled each day 
 when there is nothing but to sit still and hope the shells 
 will not land on top, is truly hard work for any men ! . . . 
 
 " The Germans are now putting over our heads in this 
 line some big stuff, probably about 9 inch. These big shells 
 go very slowly, sort of toddling their way over, if such an 
 expression describes a sound ! then a vast crump as they 
 explode. How I should like you to be here for a bit. . . . 
 We have while here lost several of our very best men, and 
 generally very weak. I have to have men on for four hours 
 patrol on end, and then back to sentry work, which is of
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 115 
 
 course far too much. Two hours' sentry in England is 
 considered enough, and so it is. 
 
 " I have been very glad to have your extra provisions 
 in order to give to the men, who require and deserve any 
 luxuries. . . . 
 
 " Such a gorgeous sunset. These sunsets, also lovely 
 nights, also odd birds and beasts, including two small spiders 
 I have never seen before, are as refreshing as anything you 
 can imagine. To have a good look at a good sunset is 
 warranted to do good to any one, and especially if at war." 
 
 " 2 p.m. Thursday, September 16, '15. 
 " We are to be relieved to-night, and, like return from 
 school, I count the hours to getting clear of this place. It 
 has been very hard work, and harder than a return to it 
 will be — the position being now known." 
 
 Postcard. 
 
 " Huts, 
 
 " 4 a.m. Friday, September 17. 
 
 " Got back here about half an hour ago, and real joy at 
 it. 
 
 " Mother's letter of Tuesday, 14th, here. Had some 
 cocoa, and awfully fit. Covered with mud, but none the 
 worse for it. 
 
 " Be careful to keep clear of the Zepps. No shells to 
 wake me ! " 
 
 " 3rd R.B., Huts, 
 "2.30 p.m., Friday, September 17, '15. 
 " This is good indeed ! A most gorgeous day which all 
 men are using for a general wash, clean up, and rest. 
 
 " We had breakfast about noon, with clean shirts, etc., 
 and slacks instead of breeches and intensely ragged puttees, 
 which mine had become, thanks to the putting up of barbed 
 wire at the front. My hands are also pretty much torn,
 
 n6 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 thanks to the same cause, but to have a few scratches is 
 always a good tonic to me. . . . 
 
 ' I have just been darning the corners of the pocket of 
 my coat, which have been some time worn into holes from 
 the rubbing against sides of trenches ! " 
 
 " This morning my usual small bucket of very black 
 water, but to have clothes off the first time in a fortnight, 
 and a good soap and sluish down, outside the hut, needless 
 to say, with fresh clothes to put on, was a vast joy and 
 refreshment. 
 
 ' We are in the same huts as before, which is satisfactory, 
 as they keep the wet out. At the moment everything 
 beautifully hard and dry, and very different to what we 
 left it. 
 
 ' We were relieved all right last night, and fortunately 
 had a quiet evening, in the matter of rifle fire and shells, 
 by which we had no casualties getting away. 
 
 ' There were two or three men sniping at us earlier 
 in the evening, whom I was pleased to stop by returning 
 it. I kept ready and returned one or two rounds at the 
 spot the flash of their rifles indicated, as far as aiming was 
 possible. I prefer to do a job like this myself, as I know 
 the exact limits of our patrols and listening posts in front, 
 and so can shoot in safety." 
 
 ' Huts in Flanders, 
 ' 7.30 p.m. Saturday, September 18, '15. 
 
 • ••••■•• 
 
 ' The last day in the trenches in the morning I went for 
 a look round at the ground to the north, all the time, of 
 course, following trenches. It would not take long to be 
 shot if above ground anywhere there ! I should have had 
 a man with me, as so often I got to bits of trench practic- 
 ally disused, and if shot, would not have been found for
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 117 
 
 long. This sort of trip is interesting, though hard work, 
 as there is so much water, and general difficulty in shifting 
 along trenches and keeping head down in low places. At 
 night, when moving about above ground, I always take a 
 man. 
 
 " In the bombardment of the 10th I proved the truth of 
 the proverbial luck of white heather. I got my letters 
 about 3 a.m. that morning, just before the bombardment 
 began, with which was one from Lilian in Scotland, enclosing 
 a piece of white heather, which I stuck into the side of my 
 dug-out, and I had not a single casualty. It is worth 
 recording, though my faith in such charms is nil." 
 
 " 1 p.m., Sunday, September 18. 
 
 " We have just had a very nice Service in the open, with 
 band, and Communion Service in a hut after. Neville 
 Talbot is really excellent. He spoke on ' All things work 
 together for good. . . .' 
 
 " Our total losses in the Battalion these thirteen days 
 (killed, wounded, and sick) have been 100, of which 40 
 killed and wounded, and of which my Company had 21. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 " To-morrow the Coy. go to Railhead for baths ; I may 
 possibly have one if the water is not too black and smelly. 
 
 " The very best of food. Poached eggs and bacon for 
 breakfast, your cold beef or something tinned for lunch, 
 with tinned fruit, tea with variety of jam, biscuits, etc., 
 and supper of hot ration beef, potatoes, and tinned fruit. 
 Also, at all times, baby-food if available. Then your 
 chocolate, etc., is always to hand, and most delicious — sweet 
 stuffs are, for some reason, very nice here. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 " Sleep excellently, often through heavy shell fire."
 
 n8 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 " Huts, 
 " 7 p.m. September 20, '15. 
 
 ' We apparently just escaped another bombardment, 
 either on the trenches we have been in, or adjoining them. 
 This is from information from the summary of news which 
 we have every day, and which I have just seen. 
 
 " There is no doubt that the coming ten days or fortnight 
 may easily be momentous days in ours and the World's 
 history. We are not likely to come into what is on — I 
 can say no more — but we may possibly do so." 
 
 ' To-morrow we leave these huts, having had our six 
 days, and go into support trenches. . . . My valise, which 
 I leave with the transport, has got to be reduced to 35 lbs. 
 — this in view of something happening quite soon ! ' 
 
 it 
 
 2 p.m. Wednesday, September 22. 
 ' Such a bunch of welcome letters just come ; and also 
 some New Testaments from Maggie, which I have given 
 to my men, which they much appreciated, and liked me to 
 write in them." 
 
 " Support Trenches, 
 " 11.30 a.m. Thursday, September 23. 
 " Exactly a year since I got to Ashtead as a Private in 
 his Majesty's Army. It is very strange to look back on 
 those early days, billeted with Wilson and going over to 
 Lilian." 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 " The men of No 10 Section to whom I gave the partridges 
 say they greatly liked them : one saying, ' That is why we 
 marched here so well last night,' another, in reply to an 
 inquiry whether they were good, ' I don't know much about 
 poultry, but they were just as I should always like to have 
 it. . . .'
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 119 
 
 ' We got here all right last night about 7.15. You would 
 have been surprised to have seen the Canal, whose sides 
 we inhabit like rabbits. . . . 
 
 ' It is a different feel to be well away from enemy here, 
 no need to keep smoke down, particularly, and the light 
 of the little braziers, made out of any old tin boxes, looked 
 most picturesque in the water last night. 
 
 ' Yesterday we were slightly short of water, which is 
 so often the case first day after coming up to trenches, as 
 we have only what is in our water-bottles till the ration- 
 carts come up next night. Here there is a good well supply, 
 the use of which is allotted to our Coy. between 6~ p.m. 
 and 6 a.m. 
 
 ' Last night we went to do the digging work, which you 
 know we have on hand at a certain place (breastworks). 
 We left about 7 p.m. for our old dumping ground, to take 
 up with us some dug-out frames and other material. But 
 the transport had not arrived with it, so we had to wait 
 about an hour in heavy rain, which had just begun. We 
 then got it, and each man with a sandbag round his neck 
 to keep his shoulders dry (?) carted the stuff up to the right 
 place. 
 
 1 You never knew such slipperiness, and crossing several 
 trenches with this heavy stuff was difficult. It was too 
 bad to work, so we just left the stuff at the breastworks, 
 and came back." 
 
 " 6 p.m. September 24. 
 ' Coming here I noticed that the Bosche have now knocked 
 the tower of the Cloth Hall down. The spire of the Cathe- 
 dral, which is such a fine landmark here, still remains, I 
 am glad to say, though sorely battered. I intended to 
 try and get this off by the transport on its return (in the 
 ordinary course) to-night, as we are having very big days, 
 and it may be that any day both letter writing, or transport 
 
 1
 
 120 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 to take letters if they were written, may be impossible. 
 I wish I could tell you all news that I have, though very 
 possibly you may have more or less as much in England. 
 The day is a great one to live in, but it is still greater to 
 take a part in the events that make for the greatness. 
 Don't therefore be alarmed if you hear nothing from me 
 any time, for possibly a considerable time — I shall probably 
 be going strong in more ways than one. What is on is, I 
 fear, hardly likely to affect us here, 1 but, if properly success- 
 ful, would do so, and I therefore warn you about letters." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Support Trenches, 
 ' 8.15 a.m. Saturday, September 25. 
 
 • ••••••* 
 
 " I forgot to tell you in the bombardment we had in the 
 last trenches on September 10 it was interesting to see how 
 the shock of the exploding shells made the spiders drop down 
 from the hedges and trees, and hang by their threads, then 
 work up, only again to fall. We had the joy up there of 
 a dead cow just beyond one of the sap heads, from which 
 our patrol usually got out, and then did their listening work, 
 often sitting just by it, or even on it, I think. When I 
 went out there, I preferred a few yards more to the right 
 to listen, though I must say it's a marvellous cow, not 
 smelling at all in spite of having been there a very long 
 time. You see I give you all details of this wonderful 
 life as they occur to me. ..." 
 
 To A. G. H. [his brother-in-law]. 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 
 " September 24, 1915. 
 
 " I do not like working at night with bad sniping going 
 on, and do not think I shall ever get indifferent to it ! 
 
 1 The Battle of Loos.
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 121 
 
 The strain of knowing you will have men from time to 
 time shout out from being hit is very considerable. 
 
 " How most awfully good of you to say you are reserving 
 a pup for me — thanks greatly for thus thinking of me. All 
 I shall want now is a quick finish to the War to do the 
 training. As you know, I am badly wanting a golden 
 Lab. (Labrador), so to look forward to this will be most 
 excellent. For choice I like one with narrow chest, i.e. 
 with front legs near together. . . . Best of good luck. 
 
 " Would that I could see you. Ever thine. Curly." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " Canal. 3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 "n a.m. Sunday, September 26, '15. 
 " Information has just come in that we are to move to- 
 night into a village, about two miles north-west of where 
 we now are, where we shall be billeted. . . . 
 
 "As of minor importance, I fear we have missed getting 
 a farm. 
 
 • ••••••* 
 
 ' The canal is just now very empty, a sort of muddy and 
 ' rushy ' thing ; water about thirty yards wide, then rough 
 sort of flat muddy sides, with rushes which might, but for 
 us, hold a duck ! A line of poplars along this side where 
 we are. Sparrows make a very friendly noise in them each 
 evening. . . . 
 
 " I have just seen the troublous sight of an aeroplane 
 coming down over the front lines. I fear it was one of ours, 
 but cannot say for certain. It was hit and brought down 
 to very low, when it recovered more or less, then took a 
 header straight down. There were three others ; one high 
 above it, and two more or less following it, all apparently 
 German. It appeared to fall just in German lines. . . . 
 
 " Telephone news has just come round to our Coy. (5.30 
 p.m. 26) from Liason with French G.H.Qrs. that the French
 
 122 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 have maintained their advance, and taken 10,000 prisoners, 
 dated 12.30 p.m. to-day. I hoped for better news still, 
 but things may be going all right. 
 
 " This morning I read some of the men some of The 
 Times Broadsheet literature, sitting in the sun on this 
 bank. 
 
 " The mouth-organs are very much appreciated, and are 
 of inestimable value out here, as keeping the men in good 
 spirits. A few more for other Platoons would at any time 
 be welcome, and do real good." 
 
 " In Billets, 
 " 11 a.m. Monday, September 27, '15. 
 
 " We left the ' bank ' about 7.30 last night, and came to 
 this little place, which, surprisingly, has not been much 
 shelled, and has houses still habitable, also quite a fair 
 number of inhabitants. The Officers of this Coy. are all 
 in one house of a villa type. . . . 
 
 " What our plans will be no one can say. I shall always 
 sleep in my clothes with equipment ready, though probably 
 we shall be here several days. . . . 
 
 " 1 p.m. 
 
 ' You would be amused at the way the old soldiers know 
 how to look after themselves in this life — when going up 
 to new trenches carrying bits of wood to cook themselves 
 tea, etc., when they get there, also getting their dug-outs 
 comfortable." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " In Billets, 
 " 4 p.m. Tuesday, September 28, '15. 
 
 " Captain Reeve was hit in the bend of the arm at 12 
 o'clock last night by either a maxim or rifle bullet. I do 
 not think it touched the bone, but did cut the artery. I
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 123 
 
 had just walked a few yards from being by him when I 
 heard some one shot ; this was a maxim-gun Sergeant of 
 another Regiment : he said to me he was hit in the arm, 
 but was all right. I saw a deluge of blood, and had his 
 coat off and sleeve up as soon as possible, and got my thumb 
 on it and stopped it. A stretcher-bearer put on a pad and 
 very tight bandage on the artery above, and another on 
 the wound. He walked to the dressing station half-a-mile 
 behind. He lost a terrific lot of blood and was, of course, 
 faint. I was really glad to be there, as, though several men 
 were there, no one was the least able to deal with it, and 
 thirty seconds more he would have been done. Perhaps 
 you have seen a big artery cut, but I had never before, 
 and was astonished at the terrific rate of loss of blood." 
 
 " Billets, 
 " 11.30 Wednesday, September 29, '15. 
 
 " Plenty of wet since about 7.15 last night. My Coy. 
 were divided by order for various carrying, etc., work. 
 
 " I sent Cartwright with a carrying party of thirty men 
 to go to a certain Regiment's dumping ground. I took 
 fifty men later to the same ground to fetch certain R.E. 
 double hurdles, used for a certain kind of trench, and put 
 them up. This dumping ground is a small paddock off the 
 road, which appeared, when I got there, the most chaotic 
 mass — solid with men, limbers being unloaded, rations, 
 sandbags, and piles of dug-out foot-boards and other R.E. 
 materials. A very dark night except for a few electric 
 torches. I don't think the Army could get - on without 
 these. Mud and driving rain. After hunting, I found an 
 Officer of the Regiment I was carrying for. The hurdles 
 had not come, so we took up 3,500 sandbags. A wet night, 
 such as we had, the men all go with mackintosh sheets 
 round their shoulders, also, of course, rifles, and, last ni ht, 
 spades. Carrying more things is therefore difficult, especi-
 
 124 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ally so with the awful slipperiness, particularly crossing 
 trenches with pleasant obstacles of telephone wires to step 
 over, to lift overhead. . . . 
 
 " The work consisted of building up traverses in the trench 
 knocked down by shells, and throwing up earth on to a 
 bank from a watery ditch. With pitch dark night, driving 
 rain, men pretty wet through and no definite job to complete, 
 it is wellnigh impossible to get good work done." 
 
 " In Trenches, 
 " 1.30 p.m. Sunday, October 3, '15. 
 
 " We unfortunately had casualties last night in the 
 Coy. (not in my Platoon) from a whizzbang at dusk, which 
 killed three and hit four, among whom was the boy Thor- 
 burn you took such an interest in. He was hit near one 
 eye, but, as I did not bandage him up, I do not know how 
 bad it was. He was, though, standing about, and very 
 plucky. 
 
 " I write in a dug-out with rubbers on, which I have 
 changed for those you sent me for a pair which slip on easier 
 from the Coy. Sergeant-Major. Being ; overed with mud, 
 and quite a lot of things in the dug-out, I put my feet with 
 them on — deep in mud — into sandbags. This plan, perhaps, 
 you would like to adopt by keeping sandbags at the door 
 at Easneye, for any one with muddy boots to get into, 
 and so come in ' clean ! ' 
 
 "It is very lucky having this bright weather. The 
 trenches, by means of footboards, are comparatively dry. 
 Now is the time to make them really good by taking up 
 these boards, driving in piles, then nailing boards on to 
 them, and riveting the sides with 6-foot hurdles ; but, 
 alas, every one is calling out for such supplies and we cannot 
 even make a start on this trench."
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 125 
 
 To T. 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 
 " October 4, '15. 
 
 " I said these trenches were getting dry, but in parts 
 they are very bad indeed, in spite of layers of footboards. 
 No commencement has been made for making them fit for 
 winter quarters, and it is worrying in the extreme. . . . 
 But I cannot get material. This, though, is promised for 
 to-night, so a start ought to be made. The Germans have 
 destroyed by shelling each night lately the stuff dumped 
 for this purpose, about half-a-mile behind us, but besides 
 this, there is no Brigade system — every Company cries 
 out for different stuff as essential, and may or may not 
 get it. In my opinion there should be some one on Brigade 
 Staff to go round and see what is essential for immediate 
 trench work, and see they have the materials and working 
 parties for it. I have had several men to spare these nights, 
 and been able to do practically nothing. It takes for the 
 building up with sandbags and earth about 100 men on a 
 dug-out, working about four hours. The Bosche seem to 
 have limitless ammunition and perfect organization — aero- 
 planes, guns, snipers, working parties, and material for them ! 
 All appearing to work like clockwork, and to squash any 
 move or aggression we make, such as Toby-firing; — one or 
 two, and they return twenty large shells, or, if we snipe, 
 they return rifle or shell-fire in larger measure, or fire on 
 working parties. I do do some sniping from time to time, 
 but it is discouraging when your guns do not back you 
 up. Things may be different to what they seem, and we 
 shall come out all right, but I wish the Staff would come 
 and live in the trenches for a bit, and see how things really 
 are."
 
 126 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 ' Trenches, 
 " 5-3° P m - Wednesday, October 6, '15. 
 ' Such a joy to have about half-a-dozen fellows in two 
 dug-outs just by me doing some decent singing, and in 
 good spirits. This is due to the fact of to-morrow going 
 out of trenches, and to a fine afternoon and evening. I 
 gave one of them one of your mouth-organs this after- 
 noon, which probably started it and keeps it going." 
 
 " 2 p.m. Thursday, October 7. 
 'We have just heard that we are not being relieved to- 
 night, which, of course, is a bitter disappointment to all, 
 but it may only be a day or two. 
 
 " As regards the men and working parties, I now always 
 endeavour to give them a definite job. Some of the other 
 Regiments who come to help us do nothing. It was rather 
 comic, two nights ago, to tell them that I wanted 1,200 
 sandbags filled, and emptied on to a parapet. They came 
 slipping and tumbling about in a casual, off-hand way, 
 and I never saw such amazement as when I said this, and 
 they said to themselves, ' By goodness ! Have we got to 
 work ? ' 
 
 " When up in these trenches I do a little sniping, and see 
 the listening posts and all else is in order, but it is a some- 
 what wearisome and cold occasion till return just before 
 dawn. Always armed with a revolver and two respirators. 
 From trenches, and still more from our listening posts, you 
 hear the Bosche talking and laughing and digging quite 
 well. Last night we had two men sent up to listen and 
 say what Germans they were, and I had to warn off two 
 good men to take them where they were wanted. My 
 men were very amusing after they had finished, saying 
 how terrified these two were — they would go by communi- 
 cation trenches, not above ground, as far as possible, and
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 127 
 
 then kept wanting to listen from well behind our posts, 
 but ultimately they got them on a bit, and they returned 
 in safety, but more muddy than when they had arrived 
 with beautiful clean boots ! " 
 
 " 4 p.m. October 7. 
 
 " I have been adjusting the periscopes. These always 
 make me nervous, as I do not know if the men look with 
 sufficient closeness to really watch for any one moving- — 
 if they were gillies from a Scotch deer-forest, instead of 
 from Canning Town, I should feel differently ! . . . 
 
 " This is the sort of time when I specially greatly long 
 to see you all, and be back at home for a bath and change, 
 and place to lay out my things. You would not say I 
 had much here, but a small dug-out, everything pretty 
 muddy, and nowhere in particular to put things, make a 
 few seem many. Then a sit and a talk. Some day this 
 will be ! By a lire in a clean, dry room ! " 
 
 To his Father. 
 "Trenches, 
 
 ' Friday, October 8, '15. 
 
   ••••■•• 
 
 " We lay great stress on ammunition boxes not being 
 opened, and then return after another Regiment has been 
 here to find them opened, and the weather thus got in, 
 and the trench littered with ammunition ! 
 
 ' Still we struggle along, but it is tantalizing to see the 
 organization that evidently exists in the German lines. 
 
 " It appears possible we shall move from these lines after 
 this time in, but I hope not to trenches on which the com- 
 mencement of work is necessary. . . . 
 
 " Last night the Germans evidently spotted a party 
 300 yards to our right, and gave them about twenty rounds
 
 128 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 of shrapnel — suddenly opening after being dead quiet. 
 I have not heard whether they obtained their objective. 
 
 ' These working parties very much bring trouble on 
 themselves — talking, shouting and tumbling. There is no 
 doubt our R.B. men are very different, but anything of 
 a whisper seems wellnigh an impossibility. 
 
 ' Even on patrols or listening posts, when utmost import- 
 ance not to be heard, a low voice seems impossible. Isn't 
 it strange ? " 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Trenches, 
 " i p.m. Saturday, October 9, '15. 
 
 " I heard this morning, from a man here, about the 
 amazing truce last Christmas, when this Battalion was at 
 Armentieres. The things which happened were extra- 
 ordinary ; also the way it commenced. 
 
 ' The two lines of trenches were so near that they could 
 shout across, and during the truce they worked together 
 with us in putting up a barbed wire entanglement between. 
 Major Pigot was one of the first to go out in response to 
 their call that they would meet us half-way. He went 
 with another man at night, and when part of way they 
 called out, ' How many have you with you ? ' He said 
 ' One,' but they said, ' There is one lying behind you.' 
 He said it was a dead cow. One Bosche came round and 
 saw it was so. Exchanged cigars, cigarettes, photos, etc. 
 In one place a beautifully clean Officer came out and had 
 the cheek to remark, ' Your trenches must be very muddy.' 
 (He judged by the mud on our men.) We told him the 
 communication trenches were in some parts. 
 
 " Just been arranging (5 p.m.) with my Platoon Sergeant 
 what work to get on to to-night. Some are on sentry,

 
 WITH HIS BROTHER, H. F. BUXTON. 
 
 [To face page 129
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 129 
 
 some have to fetch rations, and others to rivet sides with 
 hurdles." 
 
 " 4.30 p.m. Sunday, October 10, '15. 
 " I had breakfast or lunch at about 1 o'clock, and then 
 a wash and shave, which was a comfort, as last night I did 
 the muddiest bit of work I have ever had to do in my life 
 before. 
 
 ' A bit of trench here, which has not been used for very 
 many months, had become too bad. At the bottom, if 
 such a thing exists, are footboards, on top of these about 
 two feet of mud and water. The previous night several 
 men baled out a good deal of liquid mud and water. I let 
 them stop because they said the smell of it made them 
 feel sick. Last night we went on, and I ' ran ' it. It was 
 impossible to get quite down to footboards, as water all 
 the time came in, so the work consisted in getting up these 
 boards under about 6 inch to 8 inch of slime. I got up 
 three in about five hours, about 5 foot long each, so you 
 can imagine the work. . . . 
 
 ' This trench must be made good, and my idea is to rivet 
 the sides with wooden hurdles five feet high and six long, 
 then put footboards on piles, making them about two foot 
 six above what the others were. To do this, the old ones 
 have to come out, as the trench is narrow. The suction in 
 raising these in sticky mud is very great." 
 
 ' Trenches, 
 ' 7.30 p.m. Monday, 11. 
 " We are to be relieved to-night, which is quite satisfac- 
 tory ! This means quite five hours' march." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Billets, 
 ' 3 p.m. Tuesday, October 12, '15. 
 ' . . . . We have had ten days in the trenches, which
 
 130 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 have been quite enough — more or less eventful. The chief 
 event the last day or two was a pretty heavy bombardment, 
 beginning about 9 a.m. yesterday. My bit of the line got 
 off lighter than some, but was blessed more with whizz-bangs 
 than high explosives. . . . 
 
 " The nights have been very dark lately, and as work 
 has to be done without light, there has been some difficulty. 
 Last night also very dark. We left at 10.30, and came the 
 eight or nine miles in splendid time, thanks very largely 
 to the mouth-organs you sent, which are invaluable for the 
 troops, though they last a disappointingly short time, owing 
 to the reed in them breaking. ..." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 "3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 
 " October 15, 1915. 
 ' We have just finished a parade for the benefit of our 
 new General inspecting us and making a speech to say that 
 he is glad to have our Brigade in the Division, which I 
 should jolly well think is the case ! We also had a similar 
 parade on leaving Billets for our General to say farewell ! 
 ... A sort of chill misty October morning with a crowd 
 of men (nice way to describe the R.B. on parade) marching 
 out across stubble, etc., I felt like retriever trials ; with a 
 lot of horses in one field you would have felt like a hunt 
 meeting. ..." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " In Tents, 
 " October 17, 1915. 
 "... We had a good Communion Service at 8 this 
 morning in a barn of the farm in whose fields we are camped. 
 The ground is on quite a fair slope, so should keep pretty 
 good for the winter. ... In the centre is a big open 
 square in which football proceeds vigorously. . . . Your
 
 THE FRONT: FIRST EXPERIENCES 131 
 
 letter of Friday just come telling of Hubert 1 being killed — 
 the best fellow that ever lived ! It is hard to bear his loss, 
 as also of so many whom I knew well. He is quite irre- 
 placeable. Please let Uncle N. and Aunt M. have my real 
 sympathy if you are writing, but probably I shall write 
 too. . . . My pen refuses to write, but something to cover 
 all troubles has just arrived. The Coy. Orderly Sergeant 
 asks me my address for ' Leave ! ' This is an unexpected 
 joy. How I shall crawl about the trenches to keep clear 
 of any German farewells ! . . . Oh ! really magnificent 
 to think of seeing you all again." 
 
 1 Hubert Pelly, killed Oct 9, 1915, Gallipoli peninsula.
 
 VII 
 BACK TO THE SALIENT 
 
 October-December, 1915. 
 
 GOT to Victoria 2 a.m. ; very nice to see refreshment 
 there. Slept two hours in Telegraph Office at 
 Liverpool Street Station, whence caught 5.50 train, reaching 
 Easneye 7.45 ; all just getting up. Joy indeed." So 
 runs an entry in Andrew's journal for October 21, 1915. 
 It was his first leave from the Front, and appreciated 
 accordingly by his family as well as by himself. After six 
 blissful days at home he left for the Front again on the 
 27th, rejoining his unit in their trenches in the Ypres salient. 
 He writes to his mother on October 28 on his way to the 
 trenches : 
 
 " I continue to live on the ' send off ' given me by every 
 one. It was a vile night coming here on Thursday, but I 
 have survived all right. ... T., our Parson, is leaving 
 for another Division. I have told him Arthur [his brother] 
 might be able to come and he has made a note of it. If 
 A. liked to write to Chaplain-General I believe he could 
 have T.'s place as Chaplain to this Brigade (17th.)" 
 
 " 3rd R.B., 
 " Thursday, 28, 10, '15. 
 " . . . . The sound of guns once more — only occasional 
 firing, but none the less vile. . . . 
 
 " I shall always remember the send-off of the servants. 
 
 132
 
 BACK TO THE SALIENT 133 
 
 They all in the porch, including Jane Eary, and, outside, 
 Sandy and Hilton, and Mrs. Bradley, and all in the laundry. 
 It is a pity every one cannot come up just to the trenches, 
 and so picture my life out here more completely. . . . 
 
 ' The King and Prince of Wales were round here yester- 
 day, and it was no doubt in connection with them that 
 our train was so slow last night." 
 
 All this winter (1915-16) to the end of February was 
 spent in the famous salient, with its everlasting sea of mud 
 underfoot and almost incessant rain of shells and bullets 
 overhead. Like thousands of others, Andrew " stuck it 
 out ' with undaunted heart and cheerful countenance. 
 Here follow some of his letters of the time. 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Trenches, 
 
 " October 30, 1915. 
 ' We are pretty close to the Germans here and apparently 
 the Regiment we relieved were properly kept in order by 
 them ; they dared not light fire or speak or snipe, and work- 
 ing parties of Germans were even apparently getting out 
 of their trenches in front by night. The Germans were 
 sniping very heavily. Now by vigorous return of sniping, 
 as we are fortunately able to do, and by more shells than 
 they give us, we have quite reversed the tables, which is 
 a comfort." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 (In the Trenches.) 
 " 3 p.m. Monday, 1. 11. '15. 
 
 ' We have had a lot of rain both yesterday and to-day, 
 but there is no deep water in the trenches, which is every- 
 thing. You have only to experience the misery of water 
 to intensely sympathize with those who have it, and, if
 
 134 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 combined with leaky dug-outs, to say the life is almost 
 impossible. . . . 
 
 ' We call across to the Germans here, and tiy to encourage 
 talking, as true information might be obtained. It some- 
 times takes some considerable talking of ' Hullo, Fritz,' 
 ' What's the matter that you don't answer, Fritz ! ' etc., 
 before getting an answer, which is usually ' Kamarade.' 
 
 ' Yesterday several Germans were talking to one of our 
 men, and even momentarily just showing their heads, 
 hands, etc., above their parapet. They said they were 
 sick of the War. We said we were quite satisfied ! 
 
 " With the rain a lot of parapets have been falling in — 
 now I can feel for those at ' F. Cottage,' or other similar 
 positions. 
 
 ' I have just passed H. in a trench, poor chap, very 
 troubled because ' they have asked me, as the Parson is 
 away, to go and read the Burial Service over the fellow who 
 was killed in my Platoon last night. Have you a Prayer 
 Book ? But even if I have one, I don't know what to 
 read. Will you do it for me ? ' [which he did]. 
 
 " In Trenches, 
 
 ' ii a.m. Tuesday, November 2. 
 
 ' . . . . Rain all night, and continuing hard — absolutely 
 vile. My dug-out is one of the very few dry ones, and I 
 am sitting now with two fellows wrapped up asleep in their 
 coats by me. . . . 
 
 "A lot of men got no sleep, thanks to being flooded 
 out of their dug-outs. I managed to get three into mine 
 in the middle of the night who were trying to eke life out 
 under a waterproof sheet, with a brazier they were keeping 
 alight — they were dead tired, and asleep almost before they 
 lay down. 
 
 ' I always go out at times during the night to see sentries,
 
 BACK TO THE SALIENT 135 
 
 and work going on, and very hard work it is thus turning 
 out into the darkness and rain and slipperiness. 
 
 ' Endless bits of parapet of trenches have been falling 
 in with this rain, owing to no riveting having been done, 
 and a vast work it is to make them good. Trenches being 
 blocked, working parties have to turn out to clear them. 
 It is dangerous having so much that may fall in at any time. 
 The whole thing will, no doubt, come in in time, and it 
 remains to be seen if we and other Regiments can keep 
 pace with it." 
 
 " 11 a.m. Thursday, November 4, "15. 
 ' . . . We have had a time this last forty-eight hours — 
 a proper taste of winter experience. Tuesday was about 
 the third day of almost continuous rain, which meant end- 
 less falling in of trenches, and that pioneer men, who were 
 working on definite rebuilding work, with proper riveting, 
 etc., and making of water-proof dug-outs, had to be taken 
 off for clearing up and making good in patches, which is 
 always unsatisfactory. . . . 
 
 ' The work of clearing away these slides, then filling 
 sandbags, and filling up about seven feet, is tremendous. 
 
 " We were told we should be relieved about 8 p.m. on 
 Tuesday. Those relieving my Platoon began to turn up 
 about 10 p.m. and, as they knew the trenches, we got away 
 about 11 p.m. 
 
 " The first i| miles I took the men a way none of us had 
 been before, as being more direct, along farm roads, etc. 
 You can have no conception of the mud, but the men were 
 in the best of spirits — intermittent roars of laughter from 
 individuals from stepping into some specially deep hole. 
 
 "... We had a first halt in a more or less battered 
 house about two miles back, which, though dripping, pro- 
 vided some shelter. Soon after Henderson brought his 
 Platoon along, and after that we kept together. Men 
 
 K
 
 136 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 having got really sodden, and weight of packs and equip- 
 ment telling, they soon got pretty quiet. Soon after this, 
 the rain turned into a perfect deluge for about three-quarters 
 of an hour as hard as ever it could pelt, with also high wind. 
 
 " We halted at about every hour, usually choosing the 
 side of a house as protection from wind and rain, and got 
 to our destination, i.e. a farm, with tents in field by it, at 
 4 a.m. 
 
 " The tents were mostly placed in a dip, and had been 
 occupied, together with some dug-outs, by the Regiment 
 who had relieved us. They told us it had become quite 
 impossible — dug-outs fallen in, and deep mud, and so 
 indeed it was — absolutely awful mud. 
 
 " We therefore went into a big barn, divided up by various 
 partitions, and in the middle a big heap of unthreshed oats. 
 My Platoon were allotted a bit which apparently just gave 
 standing room, and yet they managed to lie down ! They 
 all had their breakfast ready for them, but we Officers had 
 no such luck ! 
 
 " The report of the King's fall first got to us in the form 
 of the Kaiser being assassinated ! " 
 
 " Tents, 
 " Saturday, 6. n. 15. 
 
 "... This morning I had a parade of my Platoon, which 
 is done each day to inspect rifles. I also gave them some 
 Swedish exercises. I afterwards explained how to use the 
 ' egg ' bomb, which is much the handiest type we have, 
 then arranged for each man to wear a ' tube ' helmet (pro- 
 tection v. gas) for twenty minutes, in order to be accustomed 
 to it. . . . 
 
 ' A football match this afternoon between my Platoon 
 and one of another Coy. I thought of playing, but they had 
 11 who were keen to do so, so I stood out. 
 
 " The Transport Officer has had some ferrets sent out.
 
 BACK TO THE SALIENT 137 
 
 The Adjutant and my Coy. Commander, with a sporting 
 Corporal who has an excellent little dog, are now having a 
 peace rat hunt with them on the edge of a little stream 
 just outside our Coy.'s Mess hut in which I am writing — thus 
 we fight the Germans, Soccer and ferreting ! " 
 
 " Tents, 
 " 6 p.m., 6. 11. 15. 
 
 "... One of our Corporals has gone into a place for 
 instruction in massage of feet, with a view to remedying 
 frost-bite. 
 
 ' How you would enjoy to see the men sitting Tound 
 big log fires among the tents, singing together splendidly. 
 So picturesque, their faces and khaki clothes in the fire- 
 light. 
 
 ' Henderson is just back from riding into the town near 
 here, to the Casualty Clearing Station, and says they have 
 had at that Station only over 1,000 cases of frost-bite the 
 last week. This is, of course, from wet feet for several 
 days on end. 
 
 To D. 
 
 3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 
 November 7, 1915. 
 
 " When will this awful War be over ? I have seen enough 
 of horrors, but mercifully have not had the very worst 
 one of which the terror is of having to shoot a man, or 
 men, point-blank. 
 
 " I cannot but believe that April or May will sec the end 
 of it — money or men must soon give way in Germany. 
 
 ' It did seem so really strange to be within a few yards 
 of the Germans within 24 hours of saying farewell to you. 
 My Platoon was right up in the front line. The trenches 
 are now, alas, in a sorry state from the rain, and I only trust 
 fine weather may now prevail.
 
 138 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ' I hear, whether true or not I can't say, that the Regi- 
 ments on the right of where we are arranged a truce with 
 the Germans for the purpose of re-building parapets." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 ' Trenches, 
 " November n, 1915. 
 ' . . . I looked carefully at the German lines through 
 two or three sentries' periscopes. It is hard to see very 
 minutely, as the periscopes are the tiniest bit of glass — 
 anything bigger being quickly shot and smashed — 2 or 3 
 shots at mine as I was looking. A smart sentry had spotted 
 two of their loop-holes and pointed them out to me. This 
 same man saw a German on their parapet last night. When 
 we sent up a flare about 7 p.m., he told the Corporal in 
 charge, who got him and another sentry to be ready, and 
 then sent up another flare, when both fired at the man, who 
 was still there and hoped by standing still not to be seen. 
 They hit him, as he shouted out. We have lately got 
 several by sniping. . . . What does one say when these 
 things are reported ? I suppose, ' That's splendid,' but I 
 cannot get further than ' Is that so ? ' . . . This morning 
 the men were all issued out the beautiful red-coloured waist- 
 coats, no sleeves ; real good leather. All frightfully pleased. 
 So funny to see them walking about in such a clean garment ! 
 " A good deal of my time this morning, when we had 
 ripping warm sunshine, was spent in getting them to take 
 them off for working ! " 
 
 " November 12, 1915. 
 " Oh ! Such a vile day, with more heavy rain in the 
 night, and this morning everything is encouraged to fall 
 in and the men discouraged in working. The bottom of 
 my dug-out has filled up with water to a higher level, and 
 the shelf where I sleep is a sort of muddy slosh, but these
 
 BACK TO THE SALIENT 139 
 
 things do not really matter so long as the roof does not 
 drip, which mine does not except for very occasional single 
 drops. ... It is a strange existence, but we flourish all 
 right. The hard work and strain is not wet dug-outs or 
 work in trenches, but consideration of whether we are all 
 right should the Germans attack." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " In Tents, 
 
 " November 15, 1915. 
 
 ' . . . We were relieved last night about 8.30. . . . 
 Some men are in huts, some in tents. The two tents allotted 
 to my Platoon were in an awful state — no floors to them, 
 an odd piece of bent-about corrugated sheeting covered 
 with mud or with puddle of water in the middle. The rest 
 a muddy ' slosh ' in which was mixed up remains of biscuits, 
 jam tins and similar mess. 
 
 ' If you had been putting a pig in for the night you would 
 have said some straw was necessary, and to ask men to 
 lie down there in the cold after about five hours with packs 
 and equipment and seven miles march was very hard. . . . 
 
 ' One of my men got frost-bite the other night from water 
 dripping all night on to a puttee and so into a boot. The 
 foot apparently got blue and he made it bad, losing all 
 feeling, by putting it near a fire. I rubbed it well with 
 dripping, the only available grease, and hope it is now about 
 right." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " In Tents, M. 5. a, 
 
 " 3 p.m. Tuesday, November 16, '15. 
 
 ' . . . I usually find the baths [in the neighbouring 
 village, Reninghelst] of value beyond that of washing, as 
 there are^ always several Officers of various Regiments to
 
 140 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 talk to. To-day, one who was very interesting in saying 
 what a Pole, who had deserted and come over to our lines, 
 had said. He appears to have come over our parapet and 
 found some difficulty in rinding any one to surrender to, 
 ultimately finding a sentry in a communication trench who 
 should not have been there ! He was very fully informed 
 in all German methods and the conduct of that bit of line, 
 and, to judge from some things which have proved accurate, 
 the information given is most useful. I wish I could pass 
 on some of the information and how we have used it, but 
 of course cannot do so. . . ." 
 
 " In Tents, 
 " 5 p.m. Friday, November 19, '15. 
 " I have just asked my servant, ' What day of the week ? 
 He said, ' I cannot say, I don't take any notice of it.' 
 Thus we live ! " 
 
 "In a Farmhouse in France [at Eecke], 
 
 " 12 noon, Sunday, November 21, '15. 
 
 "... I said we were moving from the tents we were 
 in, and I now write, having come last night after dark, 
 i.e. starting about 4.30, about ten miles, taking five and a 
 quarter hours to do it. 
 
 " I say ' after dark,' but the most gorgeous frosty moon- 
 light night. I was in command of the Company, so rode 
 the Coy. horse — as far as the second halt, after which I 
 walked, as very stiff work riding all the time. Very jolly 
 and quite hilly country, and we are verily in the country, 
 each Company billeted in farmhouses about five hundred 
 yards apart. With us, and I think each Company, the 
 men are all in a barn, a rare squash, but they are given a 
 good solid heap of straw. . . . We three Officers and the 
 servants are in the farmhouse, with, of course, its occupants
 
 BACK TO THE SALIENT 141 
 
 — now much talking going on with our servants, and end a- 
 vours to understand what each means ! We had to have 
 our valises down to 35 lbs. Any surplus kit had to go on 
 to our final destination. Our valises arrived some time after 
 us. . . . 
 
 " Yesterday was a pretty wearisome day ; being Coy. 
 Commander, I am receiving endless chits about arrange- 
 ments for moving, the last one of the previous day being 
 brought to me just before midnight altering, a Varmee, 
 many of the previous instructions. When you see moves 
 like this, the wonder is how an army can ever carry on, 
 seeing, as you do, the enormous bulk of material and stuff 
 that accompany it. . . . 
 
 ' We are still not out oj sound oj guns, but soon will be. 
 The idea was to have a three-day march to our destination, 
 staying each night in some such place as this. To-day 
 being Sunday arrangements have been made to stay here 
 all day. This is the first time I have come across consider- 
 ation of Sunday. We have had no Services since I came 
 back from leave, but as we now have a new Parson, do not 
 understand why a Service was not arranged for to-day in 
 one of the farms. I intend to have something for our Coy- 
 this evening of a Service, and some football this afternoon. " 
 (His Diary says: '5.30. Had Service in a barn.") 
 " . . . It is extraordinary how other Regiments starve 
 and arc uncomfortable simply through muddling things. 
 The Battalion who came into our tents before we left 
 yesterday, had failed to bring their day's rations, hence 
 will be living on bully beef only to-day. It is entirely their 
 own fault, as also the matter of provisions, vegetables, etc., 
 which can be bought in villages or farms locally. When 
 in the trenches, we even do ourselves so well as to get the 
 Company's groom, who is behind with the horse, to send 
 up with the transport each night eggs, vegetables, or such- 
 like things as we may want them."
 
 142 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ' Billeted in a Doctor's House 
 
 [at Arneke]. 
 
 ' 6.30 p.m. Monday, November 22. 
 ' We moved on again this morning, and are billeted in a 
 nice little place. Most of the Coy. are in the barn of an 
 outlying very jolly old farmhouse. My Platoon are in a 
 loft (over some cowsheds) full of straw. I rode part and 
 walked part of the way. I received alternate blessings 
 and cursings from either Adjutant or Commanding Officer 
 on the way the men were marching. The men came through 
 most wonderfully well. It really shows most splendid stuff, 
 with all that they carry, that they can stick it as they do. 
 A most perfect frosty morning for marching. . . . Hender- 
 son and Cartwright and the servants are in the house of 
 Monsieur Depoers, or rather, I should say, with Madame 
 Depoers, since she is the most irrepressible talker, and 1 
 only have just fled away from her, though the time has 
 been decidedly amusing. . . . She has sheets of paper 
 on which she gets Officers to write their names who have 
 been billeted there, and we three wrote ours. ... I hardly 
 know where I am, being given a beautifully clean little 
 room with decent bed, washstand, and all complete, such 
 as I have not experienced before, this side of the sea. It 
 is really nice to find a place where the people give such a 
 warm welcome ; I only wish I could talk fluently, but I 
 scramble along." 
 
 [at Eperlecqucs]. 
 "6 p.m. Wednesday, 24. 
 " I sit in a little kitchen place in this farmhouse, with 
 excellent stove, in which lives a fine old boy, who appears 
 to be sole occupant of the farm. At the moment, with six 
 other Officers, with four of ' B ' Coy. with their gramophone 
 going strong, and a rare fug on. The house is a good one, 
 on one side of the square farmyard. A servant also getting
 
 BACK TO THE SALIENT 143 
 
 supper ready at the stove. Nothing whatever of furniture 
 in the rest of the house, but quite clean for sleeping. When 
 we got here last night the old boy very kind and gave us 
 excellent pears and coffee, which are most welcome." 
 
 " Farm in France, 
 [at the village of Nordleulinghem] 
 " November 25, '15. 
 
 " Most of my French is expended in talking to people 
 about their dogs. I suppose there is no licence fee for 
 keeping them, hence every one keeps them, and in many 
 cases two or three, and they are most abominably thought- 
 less. For the most part continuously tied up, sometimes 
 in a little kennel, sometimes just to a wall, sometimes to 
 a little round brick place, one such place where we were 
 two nights ago with entrance at bottom of a slope in the 
 yard, so that the water ran down into it, and a poor little 
 shivering dog lying in the sodden bottom of it. 
 
 ' It is interesting to note in different parts how the same 
 habits prevail among the people over different things. 
 Here every one feeds their dogs on diluted-looking milk, 
 with just the suspicion of bread in it, and a few beans. 
 
 " I found one tied to a wall, a most charming looking fox 
 terrier, but so painfully starved, and with claws quite worn- 
 down. I gave it an old box as some shelter, and let it 
 out this afternoon, such terrific joy at getting a run round. 
 
 " A brute of an old woman in a little house just by has 
 also a nice little fox terrier, tied short to a fairly decent 
 kennel, but so that it has three bits of heavy chain to its 
 collar, and so that it can only just get its head into the 
 entrance of the kennel, and cannot curl itself up, or get 
 to the back. A real terror of a woman, who says she never 
 gives it ' promenade,' and feeds it on milk and bread. The 
 poor little dog is frightfully starved. She would not even 
 let me go near it ! Some say if they let their dog out ' il
 
 i 4 4 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 partie,' which of course means that they have a tear round, 
 and I have shown them that they do not run away." 
 
 " November 26, '15. 
 " Yesterday I gave a little terrier here some dry bread, 
 and a tiny bit of meat — all I had — and really too awful to 
 see its intense hunger. ... I may be wrong in thinking they 
 suffer as I do, but it is very wretched to see this treatment 
 on every hand. It puts me off my good meals badly!' 
 
 To his Mother. 
 ' In French Village [Nordleulinghem], 
 
 " November 26, 1915. 
 " We got here, our final destination, after stopping at 
 three places, mid-day yesterday, and all men are now fixed 
 up — our Coy. in two farms with our Headquarters at another 
 farm, where I also have my billet — a little room with bed 
 leading out of the low-ceilinged kitchen (or living room). 
 Very clean, belonging to a man who is at the Front ; the 
 wife a splendid little person who would suit you as bustling 
 round real smartly and an excellent cook — she runs all the 
 servants and everything else. . . . We are, I fear, in for a 
 pretty strenuous time of drills and parades all the morning, 
 and in the afternoon something of a compulsory exercise 
 — football, running, hunting or anything that Coy. Com- 
 manders can raise. I should have liked a more peaceful 
 time, but suppose it is necessary for us all to be smartened 
 up. . . ." 
 
 To his Father. 
 "In a French Village [Nordleulinghem], 
 
 " December 1, 1915. 
 ' This afternoon I took the men out up hedges, etc., with 
 two village dogs to try and get a rabbit, but no luck, though 
 we saw two or three. A splendid lot of partridges here."
 
 WITH H. F. B. AT EASNEYE. 
 
 [To face page 145
 
 BACK TO THE SALIENT 145 
 
 ' A Farm in France, 
 " 6 p.m. Thursday, December 2, '15 
 
 (posted 8 a.m. Sunday). 
 
 " The walk across country this afternoon was, I think, 
 the most peaceful I have had out here, open, undulating 
 country, lots of partridges, a few hares, and not a sound 
 of anything — a really big joy. I also enjoyed a bit of walk 
 two nights ago, the most gorgeous starlight night, as always 
 so vast and wonderful. I wonder what the purpose of them 
 all is, and can think of nothing except a continual revelation 
 of God and for His praise. Stars, I found, look quite 
 different, and awfully nice, looking at them with head back." 
 
 " Noon, Friday, December 3, '15. 
 " A wettish sort of rain so far to-day, and instead of 
 parades I have this morning given two lectures, one on 
 First- Aid and gas helmets, and one on certain rifle matters." 
 
 " 5 p.m. December 3. 
 ' I have bought a fine little horn, obtained by the 
 local postboy for me, similar to the one he has for stirring 
 up people to open their doors. It will do well for training 
 dogs, also in trenches for giving warning of an attack." 
 
 " In Tents in France, 
 " 8 p.m. Monday, December 6, '15. 
 
 ' . . . I have to-day moved from the billets we have 
 been in. There was a probability I knew of being sent to 
 a certain place about five miles from where we are, where 
 grenade, alias bomb, and other courses, are being given by 
 the Division (trench engineering, etc.). 
 
 " At 10.30 last night I was warned that I had to be 
 here with certain six N.C.O.'s and Riflemen in the Battalion 
 at 8 a.m. This meant being up at five, and parading at
 
 146 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 six. A good deal of rain but quite a good sunrise to help 
 us along this otherwise not very attractive two hours' toddle 
 on a muddy road. The course is, I think, five days, so I 
 shall return on Saturday. There are fifteen other Officers 
 from the Division also in it. We are in a sugar refinery, 
 though no refining is now done, the place being entirely 
 occupied by troops. The men are well off, in big buildings. 
 We Officers are for sitting and mess all in one room, rather 
 small and just short of sufficient to sit on, a wonderful 
 collection of sort of music stools, three-legged chairs, etc. 
 We are sleeping in tents about one hundred yards off in a 
 muddy shrubbery, so the men, anyhow this time, score one 
 over us. Each Officer is given a ration of straw to lie on, 
 and the tents are also boarded. ..." 
 
 " Tuesday, December 7. 
 "This 'School' has the feel and appearance of various 
 ' crammer ' establishments I have from time to time seen, 
 and which I do not appreciate. It also perhaps adds to 
 this feeling to be told that on Friday we shall have a written 
 paper to do on the instruction given ! Yesterday morning 
 and afternoon we had lectures by a Lieutenant who appears 
 to do most of the instruction. ..." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 " 24th Division Bombing School, 
 
 " France, 
 " December 10, 1915. 
 "... This course ends to-morrow after three hours more 
 work in the morning, consisting of lecture on French bombs, 
 bomb-throwing practice and catapult devices for throwing 
 bombs. . . . We have dealt with about 13 or 14 kinds of 
 bombs — also German ones. This afternoon we had an 
 oral examination by the Brigade Bombing Officer, in which 
 I think I gave him accurately all the information he asked
 
 BACK TO THE SALIENT 147 
 
 for. . . . Major P. was over here yesterday giving a lecture 
 — not to us — on ' hate.' . . . You will loathe the expres- 
 sion as much as I do and therefore require a lecture as 
 much as I do ! . . . It is very easy to try and merely exist 
 in trenches and omit any aggressive work, and for this reason 
 such sermons are from time to time given by CO. or by 
 instructions from the Brigadier, and are doubtless required." 
 
 Andrew was turning out a splendid soldier, and had the 
 heart of a lion ; but, like many other fine soldiers, he had 
 little use for the " hate " business, an attitude of mind which 
 seems congenial enough to our enemies, but is wholly alien 
 to the temper and outlook of the average Englishman. 
 In a letter written just about this time to his sister Rosa- 
 mond he says, " I cannot get the spirit of ' hate ' which 
 is necessary. A struggle goes on in my ' inn'ards,' on the 
 one hand an attempt to inculcate this ' hate ' and on the 
 other a thankfulness that I haven't got it ! " 
 
 To E. S. Woods (in reply to a query). 
 
 " He is and He is not closer out there. I cannot explain 
 by letter what I mean, but perhaps you will understand. 
 In the midst of absolute devilry and hate to comprehend 
 love is wonderful but difficult. The knowledge that any 
 second one may be shifted from devilry to God's hereafter 
 is so strange. 
 
 ' I must stop. Best of love to you, Clemence, and all 
 yours. Take care of your dear selves." 
 
 On December 26 (1915) he got some short leave again. 
 His Diary records : " Home at 11.30 p.m. Father thought 
 my stones at his window were a woodcock."
 
 VIII 
 STILL IN THE SALIENT 
 
 January-March, 1916. 
 
 ON January 3, 1916, Andrew was back in France again, 
 finding his Battalion still billeted at Nordleulinghem. 
 By the 7th they were in the Trenches once more, south- 
 east of Ypres. He writes : 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " Trenches, 
 " January 8, 1916. 
 " Here all right last night and very pleasing to find the 
 state of ' them ' much better than expected and not at all 
 unattractive as trenches go. . . . The place swarms with 
 rats, the same as apparently in all trenches, any number 
 about on the parapets, etc., and last night a fine cat which 
 I should think has every opportunity of growing fat." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Trenches, 
 " January 9, 1916. 
 ' What a day I have had and am having. . . . My 
 chief worry was that our men who had come into these 
 trenches had had a very long march and nothing to eat 
 since a midday meal about 12 noon. Their rations had gone 
 on up to our front line and I had to send a fatigue party 
 with my servant as guide (the only man, except myself, 
 
 148
 
 STILL IN THE SALIENT 149 
 
 who knew the way, and quite a complicated one !) to get 
 them back, and though no doubt hungry I really don't 
 believe they were in any way very troubled ; anyhow no 
 idea of any grumbling (in fact, just the reverse !) ; 18 or 
 19 hours long march with heavy load, without provisions, 
 and very cheerful all the time till they got rations was, 
 I think, good going ! I don't know what time I lay down 
 this morning, but suppose about 2.30 and got some sleep, 
 which was pleasing, though messages or inquiries stirred 
 me up every half-hour or so. . . . The free life of the 
 trenches does suit me so much better than the formality 
 of drills and similar work and I feel much fitter at it>" 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Trenches, 
 " January n, 1916. 
 ' ... It is very noticeable the increase of Artillery fire 
 since I was last in trenches. We seem splendidly supplied 
 and fire a lot more stuff than the Germans. . . . Thanks 
 to having a good rest behind the line and being at home a 
 week, besides now having well got into trench life, I feel 
 quite at home, and enjoy it more than being behind." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " In Ramparts, 
 
 " January 12, 1916. 
 ' . . . The Ramparts are in a much-shelled place [Ypres]. 
 Such a strange abode, deep underground like a mine or 
 wine-cellar with big upright baulks of timber. ... It was 
 in this place many men were ' gassed ' when the Germans 
 used it the Sunday before I came on leave. The men were 
 ordered last night to all sleep with tube helmets round their 
 shoulders in order to avoid such catastrophe recurring. A 
 lovely morning — the first time I have been in this place by 
 daylight— the sight is impressive in the extreme. . . .
 
 150 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 You know we now have steel helmets to make us gay. . . . 
 We have got a charming little sandy-coloured terrier which 
 came over yesterday from the German lines. He spends 
 his time killing rats. How often I wish old ' Hai ' was here 
 to see the rats ; the number and their tameness is incre- 
 dible. . . . My trench life is far far harder for you than 
 for me, and I only wish you could see our joviality all the 
 time. When the gramophone comes we shall be complete." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Ramparts, 
 " ii a.m. Friday, 14. 1. 16. 
 
 "... I am O.C. Company, as Marshall went on leave 
 yesterday. 
 
 " We have had a really very slack time these last two 
 or three days back at the place which I write from. The 
 duties have been providing men as working parties to front 
 line, and also carrying up of R.E. material, of course all 
 by night. 
 
 " I am writing with some difficulty in the small Mess which 
 we and C. Coy x share in these ramparts — a sort of wine-cellar, 
 18 feet x 6 feet; a small table at each end for our messes; 
 at the present time a charcoal brazier in the middle. . . . 
 
 " A covey of partridges here this morning which are 
 now calling outside the hut. . . . 
 
 " I have plenty of chocolate and everything now, and, 
 moreover, there has now been opened (two days ago) an 
 army canteen in Poperinghe, where I can buy all provisions, 
 cigarettes, etc., quite easily, and probably cheaper than in 
 London, so don't send me anything more till I write for it. 
 
 ' I have to-day been out six calendar months and feel 
 quite a veteran ! I got to France July 15. Everything is 
 vastly changed here, even in that time, and it gives confidence 
 to have it so. The Bosch rifle-sniping at night is greatly 
 
 1 Captain Tatham.
 
 STILL IN THE SALIENT 151 
 
 reduced (they hardly have any men in their front lines). 
 Our shell fire by day is greatly increased, and we apparently 
 have superiority. 
 
 " Organization of working parties and general military 
 arrangements much better — all the time men being sent away 
 for every kind of ' course/ grenades, machine guns, etc. ; 
 also men being returned to England who are suitable for the 
 different types of factory work for which hands are wanted." 
 
 To his Father, 
 
 " Billets, 
 " 3-3° P-fti-, Sunday, 16. 1. 16. 
 
 "... A certain number of us went ratting this afternoon 
 along hedges and banks, including Irven, our sniping Officer. 
 There are a definite body of men detailed for nothing but 
 sniping ; they say they shot nine Germans in the seven 
 days in the trenches, though on the other hand one of them, 
 a very nice Corporal, was himself sniped and killed while 
 doing so — testing certain sniping rifles, of which one is a 
 double barrel -450. 
 
 " These snipers are of considerable value to the Artillery, 
 as by spying they very easily observe enemy Artillery obser- 
 vers in trees or tops of farm buildings, which buildings the 
 Artillery would then demolish." 
 
 7 p.m., January 18. 
 " This even I have been giving such of the Coy. as cared 
 to hear a talk on Canada, which they appeared to like. 
 It is contrary to any regulations to lecture on any but 
 military subjects, but I consider it of importance that they 
 should have other things to think of besides warfare ! ' 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " Sunday, January 16, '16. 
 ' I have been so torn asunder to-day, very much wishing 
 to have a Service for the men of the Coy. As Coy. Com- 
 
 L
 
 152 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 mander I can of course do so easier than any one else, 
 but the only place to have it would be in our Mess hut, 
 which is separated from the men's huts, and I know only 
 too well that their natural shyness would prevent any from 
 coming. The only thing is to get where they are, and ask 
 any who do not want to stay to move. They then like it. 
 There is such a painful feeling of spiritual deadness, though 
 an equal feeling that the life is all ready to germinate." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " B.E.F., France, 
 " i p.m., Monday, 24. I. '16. 
 
 "... I had a rotten day yesterday, having to take all 
 available men of the Coy. (about 105) together with others 
 of another Coy., making 150,, as a Working Party on roads 
 or trenches at the front. We left at 4 p.m., a procession 
 of 20 (General Service) waggons, each with four horses, 
 and two drivers (riding), ten of the waggons for our 150, 
 the other ten for another Regiment's party. 
 
 " A very jolty and uncomfortable ride, walking practic- 
 ally all the time. They took us about half way, after 
 which we got out and walked. It sounds strange, but it's 
 a big difficulty getting out there with road full of troops 
 and transports. No chance of keeping all men together, 
 but managed to get them in three lots in file — mixed up 
 with other Regiments and mud. 
 
 " Picked up guides at a certain place, who divided up 
 men in parties as they wanted them. You would hardly 
 believe the conglomeration of mankind, followed by con- 
 glomeration of torn up wilderness, at the place where most 
 of our men went. 
 
 " All went in ' boots gum thigh ' as the Army calls them, 
 and the difficulty of getting along on the greasy road, and 
 more still on lines of footboards, often lying at an angle, 
 was great. It took me exactly four hours in all to get to
 
 STILL IN THE SALIENT 153 
 
 the bit of trench where twenty men who I had stayed with 
 had got to work. Here the trench we were on had a few 
 days previously been badly shelled, so badly that the R.E. 
 Captain who was organizing the fatigue work had had great 
 difficulty in retracing the line of it. It was a more shell- 
 torn bit of ground than any I have yet seen, which is saying 
 a good deal. . . . The whole impression a torn, windswept, 
 devastated, uninhabited, uncared for, and upheaved land ! 
 There had been a road through it, but no trace whatever 
 to show that such civilization had ever existed. 
 
 ' . . . The men were very happy having the ride up 
 first night, but they far from enjoy it now, knowing what 
 it means of work, as also of risk, which was very much 
 brought home to them by casualties two nights ago." 
 
 " 5 p.m., 24th. 
 ' Mother's letter of Saturday just come, telling of her 
 working party. It is strange that two things of the same 
 name should be of such different natures. We do not work 
 in dry rooms with white overalls and veils. Both appear 
 pretty strenuous though." 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 " 10.15 a.m., Sunday, January 30, '16. 
 ' . . . It is so strange how mind and muscle get accus- 
 tomed to a thing, even if not done for a long time. Our 
 steel helmet has a leather strap hanging from the middle, 
 and I continually find myself putting it on with a swing to 
 throw the strap to the back of my head, just like putting 
 on the old Harrow straw with elastic to go behind. And 
 that now over eighteen years ago ! " 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " In Huts, B.E.F., 
 " 2 p.m., Friday, February 4, '16. 
 ' . . . We were relieved in good time in the evening, 
 hurrying in single file over one bit of ground, which the
 
 154 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 Bosch have an objectionable habit of ' traversing ' every 
 now and then with machine-gun fire — changed our gum 
 boots at a huge big public institution, which is only partly 
 ruined, for the boots we had taken off going up. In a room 
 there some one had generously started some soup-making, 
 whereby all the men had an excellent cup of soup. . . . 
 
 " An awkward slippery bit of walking, getting back across 
 to the huts, with considerable low-voiced grousing by the 
 three or four men who helped with the cart ! 
 
 " My servant Atkinson, the most splendid energetic 
 fellow, who absolutely loves work, and whom nothing 
 perturbs, said on his own account when we got fixed up, 
 ' I can't understand those fellows ; unless everything goes 
 just so with them they are grousing and disagreeable at 
 once.' In many ways they are absolutely splendid, but 
 in the matters of (i) no consideration in avoiding waste, 
 (2) reasonable precautions of looking after themselves, 
 even after continually being told, and (3) grousing if any- 
 thing unusual in the way of rations or marching occurs, 
 then they are sometimes stupid. It is these things that 
 are as hard to bear as anything, as I have told you before. 
 The men don't .mean it. It is more habit than anything 
 else, and considered the normal and correct thing to do. 
 
 " Where you experience it properly is going over a new 
 bit of road, or on a new bit of country ; then you suddenly 
 turn into a bit of road that they know, and they are as 
 happy as mortals can be, usually commencing good singing, 
 starting by ' Here we are, here we are, here we are again ! ' 
 A new bit of country is no such pleasure to them as to us, 
 but I frequently go different ways, as good knowledge of 
 the country may any time come in useful." 
 
 " 3.30 p.m., 4. 1. 16. 
 "... Our last trenches were very weather-worn. . . . 
 I think it was probably this mess of a trench that saved us
 
 STILL IN THE SALIENT 155 
 
 the day before yesterday from being badly hit by a shelling 
 they gave us — they probably could not tell exactly where 
 our trenches were. We were shelled a little on Tuesday 
 and Wednesday for about an hour very heavily, but in our 
 Coy. am thankful to say only two slightly hit during it ; 
 yesterday just a few shells again, but no damage. 
 
 " I feel I am much blessed that these sort of times do 
 not in any way upset me, my only trouble being whether 
 the men are ready for an attack which may easily follow. 
 
 "It is very hard to get the sentries to continue a good 
 look-out, and I spent practically the whole time with a 
 periscope watching the German trenches to see they did 
 not come out. 
 
 " The idea of an attack does not seem to enter into the 
 men's heads ; all they wonder being when the shelling will 
 stop ! There were four men just by me in a bit of the 
 trench who had left their fire positions and rifles at them 
 before the shelling started, and were pretty much cut off 
 from getting back. I did not expect an attack, so did not 
 send them. My orders have been, whenever a bombardment 
 like that begins, every man must get his rifle and nurse it, 
 but the greater part couldn't, or didn't, with the consequence 
 that a great number of the rifles got hopelessly coated with 
 mud from the shells, whereby the bolts would not have 
 worked at all. ..." 
 
 " February 5, 1916. 
 " I had a long evening of it last night, getting an order 
 at 6 p.m. to be at a certain place three and a half miles 
 off [Hell Fire corner, on the Ypres-Menin road] with all 
 my men to carry up certain rations, mails, etc., from a 
 dump place to the trenches, the distance of a mile. As 
 all had to do two journeys, and some three, with the rations, 
 it was, in all, a good eleven miles walk, and a very difficult 
 one too. The second journey up I took a sack of about
 
 156 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 60 lbs. weight over my shoulders, and gave a hand to 
 another man with a mail bag twice that weight. A wet 
 night, lots of mud, and machine-gun fire. Some got very 
 wet, tumbling into muddy wash at the side of the road when 
 any heavy fire opened. 
 
 " We came back in parties, the last getting in about 1 
 this morning, without any casualty, I am thankful to say." 
 
 " Noon, Sunday, February 6. 
 
 " I had the same carrying party last night, and hope it 
 will be the last. It certainly will be for carrying rations, 
 as all our people come out to-night. W T e did not get off 
 quite scot-free, one man being slightly hit, or, as described 
 by the men, ' a beautiful Blighty one,' meaning a harmless 
 flesh wound, which will get him possibly to England. The 
 stuff to be carried was again very heavy ; we did it all in 
 two journeys, and I took rare weighty loads each time, big 
 sacks of meat, and mails, I think. 
 
 " I really enjoy such actual carrying, and believe I can 
 take as heavy loads as any man. It makes me hesitate 
 though, more than ever, to ask you to send me parcels, 
 at any rate when in the trenches to which we were carry- 
 ing, knowing what it means that some one has got to get 
 them along that mile. . . . 
 
 " Since writing they have put about forty shells at a gun 
 position about 150 yards behind here — tremendous row, 
 and most wonderfully good practice. The bits of shell 
 flying back all round here, but dug-outs are protection 
 against them. Another big ' crump ' just come. Several 
 time salvoes four together. I forgot to tell you that in the 
 trenches I was last in there is one splendid upheaval like 
 a crater caused by a mine. Full of water, and if it were a 
 Scotch loch, it would be of just sufficient size to try a cast 
 as very possibly holding trout. You can walk round along 
 the edge on water level, and be about ten feet below the
 
 STILL IN THE SALIENT 157 
 
 top. It is this in conjunction with the shell holes which 
 has made this ground such a wonderful sight. 
 
 ' One fellow's nerves (he's a Buff) have just given way 
 from the shelling, and he is hysterical outside the hut. 
 One shell landed only just outside our hut, where our men 
 were, and two of our men have, I just hear, been hit — awfully 
 troubling." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " In Huts, 3rd R.B.— 
 " Sunday, February 6, '16. 
 " I have had a lot on, and a rotten day, being heavily 
 shelled, or rather some guns just by us ; one shell hit three 
 of my men. Another man of mine was hit carrying last 
 night, and five or six during the three days in the trenches. 
 One Sergeant had a very near shave. He was going out 
 to put up wire with me in the early morning with a close- 
 fitting wool helmet on, and a bullet cut a hole through it 
 without touching his head. Another man, not so fortu- 
 nate, was sniped, no doubt by a telescopic rifle. The bullet 
 went in the centre of his forehead, and out near his temple. 
 He was just by me. He was able to get up and walk, and 
 apparently did not feel much ill effect. As it was a clean 
 wound I hope he may recover. The front of the brain is, 
 T think, the least serious of any part." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " In Huts, 
 " 7 p.m., Sunday, February 6, '16. 
 " The shelling set light to ammunition by the guns, and 
 that has been going off at intervals — they have just sent 
 over about a dozen more shells on to the same spot, and 
 again set light to the stuff, which is popping off." 
 
 " 1.30 p.m., Wednesday, 9. 2. 16. 
 " I had another working party to take last night, but a 
 better hour than the previous one. Started at 5 p.m. and
 
 158 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 got in about 11.30 p.m. A rotten night, very heavy rain 
 a great deal of the time. 
 
 " The night was of interest in that the Bosche were putting 
 more shells over my head than I have experienced previously 
 in the time. They appeared to be shooting especially at 
 gun positions and roads. They were often going over in 
 herds or flocks or coveys or droves, or whatever the correct 
 expression is as applied to shells, and following on like a 
 long-drawn-out pack of grouse. You would have liked to 
 have been there and heard them going over ; big high- 
 travelling ones, then the quick explosions, or else duds, 
 behind, or else shrapnel on the roads, with quick crisp 
 explosions about 20 yards above the road. They started 
 putting some evidently at where we were working at a 
 trench right away from a road, no doubt having spotted 
 the work by aeroplane, and guessed we were there." 
 
 On February 14 came the quite unexpected joy of a 
 week's " leave," which he spent at Easneye. He was back 
 again with the Battalion by the 23rd. 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 ' Noon, Wednesday, February 23, '16. 
 " Here I am back again with the Battalion (from a week's 
 leave). Ground white with snow. 
 
 " I had a good journey. Kept at Boulogne about four 
 hours, which I spent chiefly in the ' Folkestone ' Hotel. 
 The train left at 7.30 p.m., divided as usual into carriages 
 for the different divisions, by which I came to our usual 
 railhead [Poperinghe], getting there about 1.30 a.m. 
 As we got in aeroplanes or Zeppelins were dropping bombs 
 on the place ; the train in consequence got properly ' windy,' 
 the last mile or so pulling up with sudden jerks. 
 
 " The R.T.O. (Railway Transport Officer) there told
 
 [To face page 159 
 FISHING THE GARRY FROM URRARD, 1914.
 
 STILL IN THE SALIENT 159 
 
 me where my Battalion were, but, as I felt sure, his infor- 
 mation was wrong. I went into an old sort of chateau 
 place near the station, and had a lie down in a strange sort 
 of room, where was a bed with dilapidated spring base, 
 and door with two panels out. It was pretty cold, but I 
 got some sleep all right, thanks largely to finding an old 
 bit of mat, about four feet long by two feet, on the floor, 
 which I put on top of myself, and thanks also to mother's 
 provisions from which I also had breakfast when I shifted 
 off again about 8 a.m." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 "B.E.F.,- 
 " February 26, '16. 
 ' That Sunday was a bad affair with our casualties. I 
 have written to the families of those who were killed who 
 were in my Platoon when I had a Platoon. There was one 
 unusual case of shock ; he was a man of thirty-two, with 
 six children. He was not hit, but lay absolutely paralysed 
 all over, quite conscious, and apparently calm, and died 
 two days later. You might by chance find yourself one 
 day near his home, when it would be very kind to see his 
 widow. He was in my Platoon. It is very tragic to think 
 that she does not probably yet know of his death, as, as 
 far as I know, no one has written from here, and in the 
 case of a soldier the news is not given by the W.O. for 
 several weeks." 
 
 "Huts, B.E.R, 
 ' 1 p.m., Thursday 2. 3. '16. 
 " I did not know, when I wrote to you yesterday, what 
 last night would bring forth, as it had been planned to re- 
 take some ground, 1 which you know was lost some time 
 ago, and, though in reserve, it appeared very probable 
 that we should have to assist, or anyhow move up nearer. 
 
 1 Diai-y says " Of Bluff. We in support." See p. 162.
 
 160 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ' The road by us was yesterday a wonderful sight of 
 troops moving, including one Highland Regiment with 
 their pipes, also transport, etc. All men with steel helmets. 
 
 ' Our Coy. Commanders went up several days ago to 
 see how the ground lay, in case we should be in it. . . . 
 
 ' The only report I have is that we have taken trenches 
 except in one part, and this part being dealt with. 
 
 " 5 p.m. 
 
 " There have been four lots of German prisoners marched 
 along this road to-day, about forty in each. 
 
 ' A good number were wounded in arms and various 
 parts. All looked pretty washed out, pale, and as though 
 they had had enough of it, which no doubt is the case ; 
 even if they were in trenches for only last night our guns 
 must have given them a terrible time. 
 
 " Most of them were wearing German regular boots, half- 
 way up the calf, and a good many long blue-grey overcoats, 
 more or less anything in the way of breeches, some corduroy, 
 etc. Those who had caps had soft ones, no steel helmets, 
 unless the steel helmets had been pinched as souvenirs by 
 our men ! 
 
 " It must have been strange for them coming through 
 our camps ; our men, very keen, running in hundreds to 
 the side of the road to look at them. I expect they were 
 thankful to be moving along, even as prisoners, after the 
 time they must have had. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 " It is strange having drills, when any time we may move 
 and have to go and fight. Every one is ready with fighting 
 order, and has been so the last 24 hours. My fighting order 
 consists of my equipment with water-bottle and revolver, 
 and haversack buckled on to it. In haversacks, bag of 
 emergency rations, which consist of chocolate, tin of Brand's, 
 and hind leg of your excellent chicken ! also spare pair of
 
 STILL IN THE SALIENT 161 
 
 socks and puttees. It is strange not knowing where I may 
 find myself before any day or night is over." 
 
 " 4 p.m. Friday, 3. 3. '16. 
 
 ' Still here all right, though apparently we were nearly 
 wanted to go up yesterday afternoon, as the Germans had 
 made a counter-attack, and things looked a bit critical. 
 Our transport horses were kept harnessed all night so as 
 to be ready. . . . 
 
 ' I am wondering what the papers will say about the 
 efforts here, probably a brief communique giving an impres- 
 sion of some small affair which has given no trouble ; whereas 
 when you see (and hear, in the matter of guns) troops, 
 guns, limbers, aeroplanes, and know all the detail that 
 has had to be fixed up, you realize that these efforts are a 
 very great undertaking. 
 
 ' . . . I did not tell you of a message through to us 
 yesterday : ' Be ready to move at a moment's notice.' 
 ' Are you ready to move at once ? ' But we are still here ! 
 The Brigade seem to have got the wind up. Yesterday 
 we heard 224 Bosche (of whom 4 are Officers) had been 
 taken prisoners, but this number apparently has been 
 increased." 
 
 "2 p.m., Saturday, 4th. 
 
 ' . . . The Battalion has had a lecture from the Brigade 
 Intelligence Officer of our Battalion. He told us how the 
 re-taking of these trenches was done. Our guns fired salvoes 
 every three minutes from 8 p.m. till 4.30 a.m., when they 
 lifted on to the German back trenches to do in troops there 
 and make a curtain of fire to prevent reinforcements coming 
 up. At 4.30 our troops took the trenches required, with 
 but few casualties. 
 
 ' The Germans shelled us from then onwards, in which I 
 should gather we had heavy casualties ; it is generally the
 
 162 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 case that by means of heavy artillery fire, any trenches 
 can be taken with small loss, but the loss comes from shelling 
 after they are taken, and from counter-attacks. 
 
 " I have now got our ' Daily Summary,' which gives 
 details of what occurred. 
 
 " The total prisoners were 250 men and 5 Officers. The 
 number of prisoners was large, owing to the Germans 
 carrying out a relief at the time of our attack, and also 
 that we surrounded one bit. The high bit of ground called 
 the ' Bluff ' immediately north of the Canal (south of 
 Hill 60) was the essential bit to get back, which was done 
 all right ; they also got back my old friend the bit of trench 
 which I was once in, and the front line of German trench . 
 just opposite it and quite near (in one place about 35 yards 
 off). 
 
 " I am feeling most awfully flourishing, and hope greatly 
 you are all the same. 
 
 " There is very little chance of now being wanted. In 
 some ways I am very sorry." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 
 " 13- 3- 16. 
 " Don't think of any job for me beyond what I have. I 
 enlisted for what I am doing, i.e. straight-ahead fighting 
 wherever wanted, and I am prepared to continue and see 
 it through. I do not wish to avoid risk, and I do not 
 think you would wish it either. The necessity of myself 
 ' doing in ' men I should like to avoid, and mercifully have 
 been spared this so far." 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 " Sunday, March 12, '16. 
 ' I have just had a short Service in one of the men's huts.
 
 STILL IN THE SALIENT 163 
 
 There were one or two other Services fairly near, one in a 
 cinema, and one in a Y.M.C.A. hut at 10 a.m., but as a bit 
 early for those out last night, I thought well to have this." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 " Sunday, 19. 3. '16. 
 
 ' Our Coy. moved about five miles eastwards last evening, 
 having a lift on a train almost to a well-shelled place — the 
 first time I have been on a train on that certain bit of line. 
 
 ' M., who refuses to ride Nero, our Coy. horse, any more 
 since he was chucked off, walked up earlier, so I brought 
 up the Coy. There is accommodation for all in dug-outs, 
 dug into the railway embankment half a mile south of the 
 place which I said was well shelled. — The dug-outs are right 
 under the line, with passage of four or five yards to come 
 in by, and so they ought to be pretty shell-proof. . . . 
 
 " Two nights ago I took up B., one of our new Officers, 
 to show him how to do these things — it made it particularly 
 interesting, as he was only out for the first time, and greatly 
 excited to know what shell or trench mortar or rifle grenade 
 was, and whether ours or German, and seeing the trenches, 
 which appeared like Hampton Court Maze to him. Like 
 every one else, he was amazed at the dilapidated appearance 
 of the muddy front line — trench-diggers in England often 
 forget that the trenches are frequently knocked to bits, 
 then built up, then knocked to bits again next day, and 
 so on. I began to feel quite a veteran who knows the ropes ; 
 anyhow one does realize on showing some one the trenches 
 for the first time the seeming folly of putting troops to 
 attack trenches (as has been done both here and in Galli- 
 poli) who had never seen trenches as we have them out 
 here ! 
 
 ' I often long greatly for a move, and to see into German
 
 164 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 trenches, the parapets of which I know so well by sight. 
 It may come along some day, but no sign as yet. 
 
 " There is a small humorous paper issued here called 
 The Wipers Times or Salient News, said to be only ioo 
 copies printed for each number. I am fortunate in having 
 No. 3 as a some day souvenir." 
 
 " 3 p.m., Sunday. 
 
 " I have been watching for some time one of our aero- 
 planes flying low (comparatively speaking) up and down 
 the German lines — quite one of the finest things I have 
 seen — the Bosche pumping first black shrapnel for about 
 three-quarters of an hour, then, having very possibly run 
 out of this, white shrapnel at it. He (the airman) zig- 
 zagging and turning all the time. Probably he was photoing 
 the trenches. They must have fired many hundred shells. 
 I wish Arthur could have seen it, as he would have greatly 
 liked it. I forgot to tell you when I was last where I am 
 now (on way with working party) they had been putting 
 lachrymatory shells on to this part, nothing very thick, 
 or enough to put on goggles or tube helmet, but enough to 
 make us all do a bit of weeping." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 " 4 p.m., Monday, 20. 3. '16. 
 
 " I have been in about half-an-hour from a long walk 
 round certain front line trenches, which I had not seen 
 before. . . . We have a small, shallow pond just by our 
 dug-outs, with low rushes by the side, in which I saw a 
 ripping pike of about 5 lbs. muddling about. I had a shot 
 with my revolver, and apparently stunned him for about 
 a minute, as after that he began to move off again, but 
 difficult to see whereabouts his head or tail was. I thought 
 I got him with another shot, which was about right as it
 
 STILL IN THE SALIENT 165 
 
 seemed, but he only went off with big rush. I was very 
 sorry not to get him, as it would have given the men great 
 joy to have had him for breakfast ! " 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Dug-outs, B.E.F., 
 " 1 p.m., Tuesday, 21. 3. '16, 
 ' Instead of transport coming up to us to-night, we go 
 back to it for two nights, after which I say farewell to the 
 Salient. From all accounts it appears to be quite the worst 
 part of the line, and there is great rejoicing at a move a little 
 southwards, though, as I now know the ground pretty well, 
 I cannot say I move without regret. . . . 
 
 " A ripping pair of moorhens by us on this pond. I wonder 
 where they will nest. It must be difficult to choose, sur- 
 rounded by Tommies ! The poor young ones will have 
 poor chances with pike and masses of rats. 
 
 ' It is very noticeable how little the Germans now put 
 over of heavy stuff — ' Grannys ' or ' Trains ' as we used 
 to call them — travelling over our heads in the trenches, 
 bound for some farm or similar place which they wanted 
 to demolish. I have not myself heard one, at any rate 
 anywhere near, for several months." 
 
 " Noon, Wednesday, 22. 3. 16. 
 ' I told you I missed a pike in a pond, but yesterday I 
 shot a fish, probably a lb. roach, or something of the sort. 
 Quite fun trying to recover it in the rushes ; the mud was 
 too deep for gum boots, so got a tub, in which one of the 
 servants made a perilous journey through rushes, but, 
 instead of retrieving it, stupidly drove it into the mud ! 
 
 "... I wonder when my next leave will come off. I 
 think I look forward to each more than the previous one. 
 All news seems good, so perhaps a permanent leave may 
 soon come off ! I long and long to see you all.
 
 1 66 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ' I write this sitting in a big hut, which is used for the 
 Battalion for this day we are here, as a mess room, each 
 Coy. having separate bits of long tables. At the moment 
 it looks like a club — every one (fifteen Officers) reading or 
 writing. A servant has just been in to ask one Officer if 
 he will have breakfast (time now i p.m.) He answers ' No, 
 thanks, I will have lunch ! ' "
 
 IX 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 
 
 March-July, 1916. 
 
 EIGHT months — and those mostly winter months — in 
 the Ypres salient are calculated to give even the 
 most stout-hearted more than his fill of War experience, 
 and Andrew was not sorry when the day came for a move 
 to other parts of the battle-front. He writes to his mother 
 on March 25, 1916 : 
 
 " In Billets (Farms), 
 ' B.E.F., [Godewaersoelde]. 
 
 " Yesterday (March 24), was an eventful day in my army 
 history in that I left the Salient after eight months there, 
 and I do so feeling never more fit in my life. 
 
 " We had a good ten- miles march, starting at noon 
 yesterday, with a shooting lunch en route, for which we 
 (i.e. the Brigade with transport, etc., complete) halted 
 f-hour. The men had good hot stew ready in the travelling 
 kitchens belonging to each Coy. My lunch you provided, 
 as is often the case — ration bread the only stranger ! 
 
 " Sir Douglas Haig passed us in a motor on the way. 
 
 • ••■•••• 
 
 " No one fell out of our Coy., which is really quite good 
 going, as there are a certain number both of very young 
 small fellows, and of old and wheezy ones. I was not carry- 
 
 167 M
 
 168 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ing anything like what they were, but had had quite enough, 
 or rather certain shoulder muscles had, from the drag of 
 pack ! 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 " We find here a ' Barr and Stroud ' range-finder, prob- 
 ably left in the Farm by whatever troops have just gone 
 out, quite new, value about £60 or £70. 
 
 " You can feel happy about me, such a comfortable 
 warm room with big table, and right behind the lines — 
 the only trouble you are not here too ! " 
 
 To a Friend. 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 
 "25. 3. 16. 
 
 " My dear A., 
 
 " Most ripping to get your letter, with its blessings 
 and cursings, of which the latter appear to prevail. . . . 
 From what I see out here, you are right in saying the soldier 
 feels he can get on without religion, or perhaps feels rather 
 incomplete, though religion is far from his wish. It is the 
 old story of the unfortunately wrong point of view of 
 religion which prevails — entirely negative : don't do this 
 and don't do that, then some day get to Heaven and have 
 good time. 
 
 " I have had a few Services as opportunity has occurred 
 for the men, and endeavoured to give them the Truth as I 
 read it in the Bible, with its essentially positive nature- 
 members of the Kingdom, by which life becomes ' unto 
 God.' I see at these times that the feeling of incomplete- 
 ness is felt, and also that the Gospel is what is needed. All 
 revivals have started by a return to the Bible, and when 
 expounded irresistibly appeals to men. 
 
 " I repeat your words ' Why all this ? ' ; forgive, as it 
 does me good to have a bit of a talk. I do sometimes
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 169 
 
 refresh myself with memories of Scotland, though it is hard 
 to do in this land. The War is loathsome ; mercifully 
 I have been saved from the worst so far. We now have 
 left the Salient after* a longtime there. I have had just over 
 eight months in it." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " In Farms, 
 '' March 26, 1916. 
 
 ' This morning I marched with Marshall to the other 
 Farms where Battalion are billeted with a view to getting 
 Officers to send in contributions (literary) towards a one 
 and only copy of a Battalion paper which we propose to 
 try and have, giving record of the Battalion during the 
 War and taking-off various men and Officers — I don't 
 know if it will come off ! It is suggested that / write the 
 City news ! 
 
 ' . . . How is old Zadok now looking ? I sometimes 
 long more than I can say for him out here. ... I am sending 
 addressed to myself a packet of paper cuttings, etc., which 
 please keep for me. There is also a Wipers Times. There 
 have only been 100 copies printed, and printed on an old 
 printing press found in Ypres — so is an interesting thing." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " Farms, B.E.F., 
 ' 5 p.m. Monday, 27. 3. 16. 
 ' . . . Yesterday afternoon I went a walk with two 
 others to top of Mont des Cats, about half-a-mile north 
 of our Farm. There apparently used to be a monastery 
 at the top, which is now a hospital. Very fine view all 
 round. I saw through a fine fixed telescope of a signaller 
 there, and looked apparently at Lille — the houses showed 
 up very clearly, and numerous factory chimneys. Also 
 just saw the remains of the Ypres Cathedral tower. A
 
 i 7 o ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 strong, healthy wind up there — pretty close to the west 
 is Cassel, a town on a similar type of hill." 
 
 On March 29 the Battalion moved up into trenches at 
 Neuve Eglise. 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 " 3 p.m. Saturday, April 1, '16. 
 
 " I sent you an official card yesterday. It is rather hard 
 work getting settled down in a new place and finding how 
 the land lies, but we are getting on all right and think it 
 will be satisfactory. . . . 
 
 " Up at 5 for 2| hours to take my turn as Officer on duty 
 in the trenches. Then to bed again to be stirred up by a 
 Corporal who had seen Germans working on their parapet, 
 a long way off (when the mist that then was rose for a 
 short time) to know what he was to do about firing. Then 
 again to bed till about 11, when some breakfast. . . . 
 
 " Last night I saw to the work of a working party of 60 
 men who came up for about 2\ hours, then was on trench 
 duty 3-5 this morn. As dawn came, amongst the rifle 
 shooting, a jolly blackbird got up by me, at a normal time 
 for a blackbird. With usual blackbird noise as he flew, 
 and partridges both \ left and \ right (i.e. 2 pairs) ' calling ' 
 quite regardless of heavy firing over their heads, they being 
 between our lines. Sparrows are most friendly and really 
 delightful — quite part of our life and busy talking about 
 nests in trees knocked about by shells. The General has 
 been along our trench this afternoon." 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 " 3 p.m., Sunday, 2. 4. 16. 
 
 " An R.E. Major has just looked into the dug-out to 
 ask certain things re drainage of our trenches. I took him 
 out to show him. Marshall was outside 50 yards along 
 shooting sparrows in a row of elms along the trench with
 
 WITH ZENITH AT EASNEYE. 
 
 [ To face page 171
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 171 
 
 one of the men's rifles. Not had a single shell to-day, only 
 the sound of odd distant ones ; on the other hand, we gave 
 them quite a lot this morning. . . . 
 
 " Baking hot sun to-day. You would be amused to see 
 the men lying asleep in it. One I have just passed on a 
 fire-step (i.e. step to stand on to fire over parapet) lying on 
 the step with one leg and one arm hanging down, snoring 
 away, with cap on face to keep sun out of eyes — every pros- 
 pect of falling off soon. Excellent dug-outs here — all 
 quite dry and more than we want. This, together with the 
 fact of it being obviously a very quiet place, looks like being 
 in fortune's way." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " April 2, 1916. 
 " I finished the Canteen job yesterday and have come 
 back to the Wood as O.C. ' B ' Coy. 1 have been thanked 
 by the Brigade for fixing up the Canteen. It has been 
 one of the hardest bits of work I have had and I am thankful 
 to have finished it, or rather the starting of it, because I 
 shall have auditing and other work still to do ! Everything 
 is at its height of beauty — trees half out and the low under- 
 wood full of birds. A nightingale singing all night close 
 by my hut and a cuckoo this morning and endless other 
 birds. This morning I saw the pair of nightingales, also 
 a blackbird sitting on a nest only just off the ground. The 
 poor old nightingale did not have the night to himself, as 
 no doubt he is accustomed to expect, because quite a noisy 
 time of our guns and Bosch ones and plenty of machine 
 and rifle fire. I am sure he sometimes got his ' runs ' of 
 note to correspond with the tap, tap, tap of machine guns." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 "B.E.F., 
 " Noon, Monday 3. 4. 16. 
 " I just now feel I never enjoyed life as at present. Life
 
 172 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 here is so absolutely full of interest, and with baking hot 
 sun and star-light nights it is complete. 
 
 ' The Bosch have just been putting over about 20 whizz- 
 bangs and done no damage. One of the servants has come 
 into the dug-out and said, ' I think they have now finished 
 their rations,' i.e. Bosch shell rations. 
 
 " I have always been on the look-out for Brimstone 
 Butterflies (yellow ones) as being the first to show up in 
 the Spring, but did not expect to see the first one yesterday 
 through a periscope. 
 
 " On tour of duty I walk along and look over parapet 
 with the sentries and listen to perhaps machine-gun working 
 half-a-mile to one side, then nearer some sector of trench 
 firing rifle grenades, then somewhere between the lines two 
 bombs in rapid succession. Then perhaps think I hear 
 something against wire in front, so send up a ' Very ' flare- 
 light. We send up hardly any of these ; the Bosch keep 
 the whole line lit up with them and much better than 
 ours. They go in an arc of nearly 200 yards. Then perhaps 
 I go out and visit some listening post in front of our lines 
 and lie out with them for a bit. . . . 
 
 " Since I have been writing this, they have been shelling 
 us quite heavily, although splendidly, just over the trench 
 I write from. A great number of whizz-bangs and 59 H.E. 
 shot at trenches we are not using. The only trouble is 
 that instead of lunch at 1 o'clock, it is now 2, the shelling 
 having upset cooking arrangements. It has now stopped, 
 which I thought would be the latest for Bosch Artilleryman's 
 dinner hour ! And it is correct. No one damaged, and 
 very little harm to trench. They have cut by the shelling 
 both our lines of telephone, so till to-night we cannot ring 
 up. One shell cut one of the elms almost in half. Your 
 elms come down by gale, ours by shell !
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 173 
 
 ' I now hear the firing this morning was an attack by 
 us, not by the Bosch — 80 prisoners. Going out to see a 
 listening post last night I slipped into a shell-hole, with 
 water in it, and made a rare splash, at which two German 
 flare-lights sent over the place. When back in the trenches 
 I asked the sentries if they had heard any noise of water. 
 All in the neighbourhood had heard a ' splash.' The men, 
 especially when on sentry work, are very keen to report 
 anything they hear or see. You would like to walk along 
 and see the sentries standing in pairs on fire-steps, with 
 heads above the parapet, watching the front. By day of 
 course nothing but periscopes. 
 
 ' A Sunday paper has somehow just arrived with news 
 of Zeppelin brought down at mouth of Thames. That is 
 excellent good news. 
 
 ' This life does suit me so well — anything of drills or 
 parades makes me ill. I toddle about the trenches without 
 a coat these warm days, just in my old Cardigan, steel hat 
 and respirator in bag round shoulders. I told my servant 
 to ' trim ' my steel hat, as otherwise apt to show up. He 
 first of all fixed a sand-bag over it, but this came off, he 
 then fixed something else he had found with elastic round 
 the side but too small, so the last and final trimming is 
 mud plain and simple." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Trenches, B.E.F., 
 " 7.30 a.m., Wednesday, 5. 4. 1916. 
 
 • ••••••> 
 
 ' This is a good opportunity as Marshall and Eliot are 
 both asleep in the dug-out (our Coy. H.O.'s) — Eliot on my 
 bed, he being on duty before me and last night being one 
 place short for tying down, as an Officer of another Regiment 
 came up for a certain purpose, so that whichever Officer 
 was on duty had the one whom he relieved taking his dug-
 
 i 7 4 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 out as soon as he got up. Our trench is just in front of 
 what must have been a ripping old farm building with very 
 jolly shallow-sided moat all round it. The buildings of 
 course knocked to bits, though a good many bits of wall 
 standing 10-20 feet high, on which sparrows are trying to 
 find nesting-places. Also this morning a pair of wagtails, 
 and in a little gully by the side, I saw two kingfishers. I 
 shall be very interested to watch for their nest. For some 
 way along the side of this moat we have no parados to our 
 trench, and moreover the trench is on ground level — i.e. 
 breastwork (Irish as this may sound). So very jolly having 
 this pond in which plenty of minnows, and ruin behind us 
 to look on. 
 
 The brick debris of the farm we collect at night to put 
 on top of dug-outs in order to burst any shell as quickly 
 as possible. They gave us moderate shellings both yester- 
 day and the day before, usually about an hour each day, 
 giving us about 130 shells each time. The day before yester- 
 day no one harmed, but yesterday unfortunately one of the 
 Officer's (Chamberlain's) servants was killed and two men 
 slightly harmed all by different shells. . . . 
 
 " You can hardly believe how natural and undisturbing 
 it is to have a man killed in the trenches from time to 
 time, though only undisturbing if you have not got to 
 know the one well. Some are such absolutely charming 
 and first-rate boys, and when one of these gets hit or killed 
 it hits me very hard. The course taken is his Pay Book 
 and other papers and things are sent in by the Coy.-Sergt.- 
 Major to H.Qrs., who forward them to his family, the Coy.- 
 Sergt. -Major writing a short line with them. The man is 
 taken down the same night on a stretcher and buried in 
 one of the recognized burial-places near by. . . . The 
 cases which are troubling are when you have men hit and 
 in pain — killed outright or able to walk down seem both 
 so merciful compared with the other. . , f
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 175 
 
 " The Bosch put up one of their ' sausage ' observation 
 balloons opposite us at 7 this morning. How greatly you 
 would enjoy to walk along after ' Stand to ' at dawn and 
 see the fellows cooking their bacon breakfasts — lighting 
 their tin braziers with splinter wood and coke, then cooking 
 bacon in lid of canteens. Most mess in together in parties 
 of 4 or 5 — one brazier for all. Tea is boiled in canteen on 
 it. I had to tell off several this morning for making a smoke 
 — unless the wood is cut absolutely fine it smokes. They 
 love muddling over their rations and somehow seem to do 
 it, limited as they are, all day. 
 
 " This morning they all said the rum issue (the best 
 institution that ever was, they live for their i| tablespoon- 
 fuls at dawn) was watered, which it certainly was, and was 
 confirmed by the Coy.-Sergt. -Major who had noticed it 
 when opening the rum jars. Some one had helped himself 
 at the base or elsewhere ! " 
 
 " Huts, 
 " 1 p.m., Thursday, April 6, 1916. 
 " I have not re-read what I wrote early yesterday morn- 
 ing, but now write my dearest of dear love for your birth- 
 day in two days time. Many, many happy returns of it. 
 No birthday present, except perhaps to tell you that I am 
 alive and most flourishing. I am thankful to be able to 
 report this, as we yesterday had one of the worst days I 
 have had out here. I told you of the exceptionally quiet 
 morning we started with. It was indeed a quiet before 
 storm, as at about 10.45 a.m. they began shelling us with 
 5.2's. 5.9's. and whizz-bangs which lasted, with but few 
 short intervals, till 4.45. It was a most awfully hot time 
 and really marvellous how I dodged them as I shifted about 
 the trenches. Sometimes I would sit in a dug-out for a few 
 minutes, half a minute afterwards a shell on top. They 
 followed me about or barred my way in front. I can under-
 
 176 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 stand a rabbit's feelings when going slow and a shot is fired 
 to cut up the ground in front of him and he stops or turns ! 
 We got some lunch and a cup of tea — ' some ' cup of tea 
 — at a quarter to five. It was rather difficult to fix up any- 
 thing for the men. They of course had not had their mid- 
 day meal of fresh meat, and this had either got lost, buried 
 or coated with earth thrown up by shells, but found some 
 tinned bully beef, etc. I thought they had finished for 
 the day, but at about 8 o'clock, after dark, they gave us 
 a very heavy shelling again. When that started I was 
 visiting certain outlying posts, which are always a bit of 
 a strain on men's nerves, and specially so when they had 
 had the rattling they had had during the day. I found our 
 Coy.-Sergt. -Major sitting in the trench at the end of the 
 line, who said he had been hit. A bit of shell or shrapnel 
 had dug a hole and gone into the top of his thigh. By 
 means of my torch I got a bandage on it, but thought at the 
 time what Ros with her hospital experience and your working 
 party with their beautifully clean cuffs and aprons would 
 have thought in that before I could get the bandage on the 
 wound it was twice over ' dressed ' with a coating of earth 
 thrown up by shells, to fall down again like rain and only 
 a handkerchief from my pocket to wipe it off with ! I 
 poured in one of the little tubes of iodine you gave me, 
 and can only hope he will be none the worse, but I fear 
 there is some risk of septic trouble. He was able after a 
 time to walk down the trench slowly. A most splendid 
 and valuable man and will be a great loss. 
 
 ' The men were decidedly ' windy,' but for some reason 
 I think the Bosch were equally so, to judge by the number 
 of flare lights sent up, which was exceptional. I think I 
 never spent such a day of cursing and blessing — cursing 
 men for shifting about without rifles or without equipment 
 (i.e. ammunition), and blessing them by patting them on 
 the back to try and cheer them up and restore some colour
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 177 
 
 to their faces and stability to their nerves. We really had 
 wonderfully few casualties — the terror is to hear a big H.E. 
 coming (you almost always hear them for 4 or 5 sees, before 
 they arrive), then huge burst with shooting straight up of 
 dense black smoke and around and above bits of footboards 
 and wood or whatever it has come near, and to say to oneself 
 ' certainly half-a-dozen men just where that landed ' — but 
 amazing and an awful relief to go and find that not one 
 touched. From a distance you would say anything any- 
 where near the burst of these shells would be killed, but it 
 is quite the other way, the effect being in many cases abso- 
 lutely local. 
 
 ' Don't let this worry you ; it is just one more of a few 
 quite bad days' experiences I have had. We came back a 
 little way early this morning into the wood. 1 Had supper 
 at 2 a.m. when we got in, and breakfast at noon. At 1 p.m. 
 the cook asked what time we would have lunch. I said 
 we would have tea at 4 o clock. 
 
 ' Another ripping day and fine for a walk round as I 
 now have a chance of seeing some migrant birds in the 
 wood. I slept magnificently and never felt so fit. Yester- 
 day has not in the least upset me. The men are also now 
 in good spirits, singing ' On the bonny, bonny banks of 
 Loch Lomond,' etc. ..." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " Huts in Wood, [Ploegsteert], 
 
 " April 7, 1916. 
 
 ' . . . The Bosch plumped some shells round our huts 
 yesterday afternoon, which meant an exodus of all men 
 and Officers into the fields — rather strange to see one or 
 two rabbit hunts on the way, put up in the fields. No 
 harm to huts, but too close to be pleasant. I was surprised 
 
 1 Ploegsteert,
 
 178 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 how far the bits of 59 shell flew — some bits came 600 
 or 700 yards. It is not often that I have experienced 
 H.E.'s in the open. I was this morning in what must 
 have been such lovely grounds and chateau, now gone to 
 the winds — long winding paths in the woods, kitchen garden, 
 summer-houses, rockeries, fountain and very pretty cemented 
 winding way from it. Entrance lodges from the main 
 road. The chateau I have not seen, but believe it is levelled. 
 Gardener's cottages levelled except for cellars. So strange 
 to see things still struggling to ' carry on ' in the garden — 
 low box-borders, berberies and laurel, vegetables and flowers 
 (iris, etc.) It must have been a ripping situation and place." 
 
 " April 9, 1916. 
 ' . . . This morning I saw two magpies on a stick-nest 
 and later a sparrow-hawk, and wonder which is going to 
 have it. To-day I have heard a willow-wren — the first 
 migrant. The shell-holes with water in them soon get 
 those black flies which run on the water. I wonder how 
 they get there. To-day I saw the chateau in the grounds 
 of which I wrote yesterday — an appalling sight indeed. It 
 must have been a big house, and it is now a pile of ruins, 
 hardly a bit of wall remaining ; massive buttresses and pillars 
 and girders chucked down in a heap — two or three girders 
 are sticking up from it almost straight. It must have been 
 a very jolly place with a little pond just by the house and 
 paths through the wood up to summer-houses and fancy 
 places. The wood is on the steep side of a hill and is now 
 a mass of English Tommies in sandbag huts, and, near by, 
 trenches and wire entanglements. I am just (7 p.m.) back 
 from a Service in a Y.M.C.A. hut — I suppose the nearest 
 Y.M.C.A. hut to the firing line ; only possible as being 
 sheltered by a hill, but none the less it has very nearly had 
 shells on it since we have been here. I have heard from 
 Arthur that he would like to come to this Brigade."
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 179 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 ' April 9, 1916. 
 " I know you wish to hear if anything nice is said about 
 anything. I do, so tell you that on the 5th when we were 
 heavily shelled there happened to be three Brigade Majors 
 in our Coy. H.Qrs. who for several hours could not get 
 away. They said nothing at the time, but three days after 
 our Adjutant, who has been temporarily at Brigade H.Qrs., 
 told Marshall what good work they thought I was doing 
 that day, and Marshall, who had not said anything to me, 
 added ' I must say you did awfully well.' They saw nothing 
 except that I went out of H.Qrs. once or twice and~knew 
 something of what I had been up to. This was rather 
 pleasing and you, no doubt, would like to appreciate with 
 me. 
 
 " April 10, 1916. 
 " Another absolutely perfect morning, and after a splendid 
 long night I feel just bursting with life and enter thoroughly 
 into the singing of tits around. All the men singing and 
 so jovial too." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 " April 10, 1916. 
 "... One thing I have never told you as to shell fire 
 is the way any shell that lands near puts out a candle in a 
 dugout. On 5th we had three candles in H.Qrs. dug out 
 which were several times all blown out by bursts of shells. 
 We have to-day got back about 16 men who have been 
 away sick or wounded. It is a real joy to have them back. 
 Two days ago I went to find P. Hall (Ploegsteert) 
 built in this wood by Ken Trotter and was awfully pleased 
 to find it with inscription : 
 
 'Built by A Coy. 1st R.B . March 1915.' 
 
 Just like a Canadian log-hut, and in front a ripping grass
 
 180 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 and flower garden about ten yards long. I must write and 
 tell Mrs. Trotter I have seen it." . 
 
 "April 13, 1916. 
 "... I saw a most ripping pair of ' black-caps ' hopping 
 about on the ground and bushes quite close, from a small 
 sandbag place I was in. I first heard the cock singing, 
 though rather badly, and then saw them. ... I saw a 
 rabbit this morning, which surprised me as I thought there 
 was nothing but English Tommies and rats ! ' 
 
 "Huts, B.E.F., 
 " 11 a.m. Saturday, April 15, '16. 
 " Nine months to-day since I got to France. I am much 
 fitter now than then. Since I wrote this we have had a 
 most exciting rat hunt with a splendid little fox-terrier — 
 a splendid run with a big rat from under Tatham's hut 
 opposite us, about thirty yards off round through brambles 
 to our hut, from which after some time it was bolted and 
 killed by the dog. After which a first aid of boracic oint- 
 ment I put on a bite he got. About eight men joined in 
 the ' run.' Last night Cox shot a woodpigeon with a 
 rifle outside our hut, so we are not without sport. How 
 strange you would think it, and during the hunt two Bosch 
 shells came over our heads, and landed in the wood about 
 thirty yards behind us." 
 
 "11 a.m., Monday, 17th. 
 " My gramophone which has done such good work here, 
 was yesterday done in. I had lent it to certain Officers, 
 who yesterday had a direct hit on their mess, burying every- 
 thing. Last night things were being dug out, and the works 
 of the gramophone were found knocked right out of the 
 case, and practically undamaged, the case being smashed 
 to bits. The Records were, I expect, all smashed, except
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 181 
 
 that they found one called, ' Red, White and Blue ' unbroken. 
 Unbreakable colours ! " 
 
 " i p.m., 19. 4. '16. 
 
 ' There is a small canteen in the camp here (Bulford 
 Camp) which I have been asked to run, and which has taken 
 up a lot of time yesterday and to-day. Accounts have 
 hardly been kept, so it is very difficult to fix up. As I am 
 also now running the Coy. mess and the men's pay, I have 
 pretty nearly got back to the land of business. Time in 
 trenches is not long with plenty out in huts." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Huts, 
 " 9 a.m. Wednesday, 26. 4. '16. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 ' My Coy. went to the trenches on Sunday, so I am in 
 the strange position of being left behind for the time being 
 with another Regiment in the same Brigade as we. A 
 very nice lot of Officers, many of whom, of course, I have 
 several times seen. They have one mess for all four Com- 
 panies, which means about thirty Officers. 
 
 ' I have now got accounts completed and in order, which 
 is a great satisfaction. The canteen (a Brigade affair) 
 itself I cannot get good yet as timber is scarce, and all avail- 
 able stuff goes up to the front line trenches first, which is 
 quite right, so that the indent I have put in for it has not 
 yet borne fruit, nor my request for sanction to remove six 
 G.S. waggon-loads of bricks, to make a floor with, from 
 broken-down houses in a town near by. This is not a 
 permanent job. I shall only be here a few days longer, 
 then Regiments carry on as they come in. . . . 
 
 ' Our A. A. guns brought down a Bosch aeroplane on 
 Monday about 6, a.m. falling a few hundred yards from 
 here ; the pilot and observer both killed, and the engine
 
 182 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 of the aeroplane breaking away, and falling some way off 
 the framework. They had one of our Lewis guns and our 
 ammunition — confounded cheek ! and a camera, not with 
 the ordinary range-finding window, but with sights like 
 a rifle. 
 
 ' We let off 12-inch guns most days from near us, and a 
 proper row too. I watched one yesterday from about 
 fifty yards off firing on a certain target they had knowledge 
 of in Comines. One of our aeroplanes was doing the observ- 
 ing, and ' wirelessed ' to the gun the accuracy of the shots. 
 Just before firing one round a Bosch aeroplane appeared, 
 which meant necessity for very rapidly lowering the barrel, 
 and covering all up ! The aeroplane was obviously out to 
 find the position of this gun. 
 
 ' How awfully interested you would have been to have 
 seen it. It seems, though, so strange to see guns firing 
 from the middle of peaceful cultivated ground, and to 
 picture what it may mean the other end — from experience 
 of Bosch shells — demolishing a house or blowing up a gun, 
 or landing in the middle of a lot of men. Six of our aero- 
 planes now going over high up, looking beautiful with the 
 sun on them, just like silvery minnows, three abreast, 
 then three behind, going towards the front. 
 
 " One of the Master of Trinity's sons has just joined us. 
 ... I can't believe that a double ' first ' man should 
 ever go to the firing line. There must be lots of work 
 ' behind ' in England which requires such men. . . . 
 
 ' . . . The Y.M.C.A. huts do splendid work in every 
 way, including excellent Services." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " Huts, 
 " 2 p.m., Thursday, 27. 4. '16. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 ' The evolution in gas-helmets to put on versus gas is
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 183 
 
 wonderful ; yesterday I saw two new types again, one to 
 be adopted for general use, and the other, a more elaborate 
 one still, for machine-gunners, etc. There are helmets for 
 horses, and now helmets for pigeons, not for individual 
 pigeons, but to put round baskets where they are ! 
 
 " The Doctor of the Regiment which I am left with has 
 gone on leave, and a very nice Doctor has taken his place, 
 having come from the ' back ' dressing station of this part. 
 The arrangement is a hospital with forty beds at Bailleul, 
 then a dressing station, then ' advance ' dressing station 
 near the Front. For these three they have eight Doctors 
 distributed, 4, 3, 1 respectively." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Huts, 
 " 2 p.m. Monday, 1. 5. '16. 
 ' . . . I have now been here two days with again a 
 different Regiment, for the purpose of handing over canteen. 
 This is going swimmingly, and I am particularly joyed to 
 have accounts all worked out (!) and in good order. About 
 940 francs profit made in 13 days. . . . 
 
 " So ripping being with the Officers of these Regiments 
 and getting to know them. All such good fellows." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " Wood [Ploegsteert], 
 
 " May 2, 1916. 
 ' What ages since I wrote you, due to really hard work 
 on Canteen accounts. It was very hard work to think out 
 a system, but now I am glad to say I have what I think 
 is a good one. I was gratified to be congratulated on it 
 and the work done, by the Brigadier. 
 
 ' We have had quite exciting times lately, as the Bosch 
 have been decidedly worrying all down the line, and have 
 amused themselves by letting off chlorine gas. All needed 
 helmets.
 
 184 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ' I have just had a wire ' Gas alert cancelled/ which 
 means that the wind has shifted, so I hope for a peaceful 
 night to-night. 
 
 ' The shelling set fire to and burnt down the Y.M.C.A. 
 near here, which is a great pity." 
 
 " Huts, 
 " 5 p.m., Thursday, 4. 5. '16. 
 " You will like to see, and please keep for me, a nice 
 grateful letter from a friend of the mother of a young 
 Sergeant of ours who was killed about a month ago. . . . 
 The death of that Sergeant is particularly sad, as he was 
 only nineteen, and had a mother and five sisters, and so 
 was the only man in the family." 
 
 The letter is as follows : 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I cannot refrain from writing to tell you of 
 the very great comfort your letter has brought to Mrs. 
 Shuttle. You must have many such letters to write, I 
 know, but you would be rewarded if you could see the 
 difference this letter has made to this one poor mother. 
 She had been so afraid that, as her son had so lately joined 
 the 3rd Batt., he would be so little known to his Officers 
 that no one would write to her about him, but now that the 
 letter has come giving all the details which she longed for, 
 she seems wonderfully comforted. She is a good woman, 
 and most fully appreciated all you said. 
 
 " May I add my heartfelt thanks to hers ? 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 (signed) " M. C. Wilson." 
 
 After a refreshing ten days' leave in England he writes : 
 
 "n a.m., Wednesday, 24. 5. 16. 
 ' . . . Got to Boulogne easily yesterday, and on again 
 after two hours' wait, working by the old time, as the French
 
 [To face page 185 
 WITH HIS NEPHEW AND NIECES AT NOSELEY HALL.
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 185 
 
 have not adopted the new. Got to the railhead l about 
 1 a.m. after the usual very slow progress, the train taking 
 six hours. 
 
 ' There I went into the small house where I stayed close 
 to the station on my way to England ; there were Officers 
 in the two rooms available, so I had, till they got up for 
 the leave train about 4.30, to sleep on the floor, which was 
 decidedly cold work, but had a good few hours' sleep on a 
 bed afterwards, after which the woman of the house gave 
 me some breakfast." 
 
 " 10 a.m., Thursday, 25. 5. 'j6. 
 
 ' I stupidly missed the post yesterday, due to keeping 
 my letter till I had met Arthur 2 and so be able to say we 
 had met. 
 
 " My arrangements yesterday were altered because of 
 a draft of over forty men who were arriving last night, 
 and whom, being at the Transport I could more easily meet 
 than any other Officer. I therefore did not ride up with 
 the Q. Master, but sent a note to A. by him to say I would 
 walk in his direction after lunch, and if he did the same we 
 would meet. 
 
 ' You can imagine how strange it seemed meeting him 
 here, but how really splendid to have it so. 
 
 ' . . . He has also been very busy with Sunday Services, 
 and evidently splendid ones. I met last night Rev. Reid, 3 
 the Wesleyan parson, who said he was at one of Arthur's 
 Services last Sunday, and was delighted at how splendid it 
 was. . . . 
 
 ' I go up this afternoon to where A. is, and shall be there 
 for probably a fortnight or more, quite near him. . . . 
 
 1 Steemvercke. 
 
 2 His brother Arthur, who had just gone out as an Army Chap- 
 lain, being attached to Andrew's Brigade. 
 
 3 Killed the same day as Andrew, June 7, 1917, and buried within 
 a few yards of him.
 
 186 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 Pigot very warm, and saying how useful A. will be. He 
 congratulates me on ' not having stopped one ' yet ! ' 
 
 To Jus Mother. 
 
 " Huts, 
 ' ii a.m., Saturday, 27. 5. 16. 
 ' I forget what I have written, but know I only sent a 
 ' deaf and dumb ' card yesterday. Since I got here Arthur 
 has fixed up in our ' A ' Coy., but not the actual one I am in, 
 as I share a small one with the O.C. of ' C ' Coy. ... A 
 contingent of men from the Fleet here yesterday to see the 
 life, which was interesting ; all fitted up in London with 
 khaki, but retaining their ship badges on caps. . . . Since 
 writing this I have had orders to take command of ' C ' 
 Coy., as from May 24th. This is owing to Tatham having 
 left it. It is, I suppose, by way of being permanent, so 
 that after a month I may please you by becoming a Captain." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " B.E.F., [Ploegsteert] 
 
 " May 31, 1916. 
 ' I have been turned on to a bit of trench-making, which 
 has meant late hours to bed lately. An interesting but 
 hard bit of work last night trotting round after seeing my 
 bit of work started behind the line, seeing how trenches, 
 etc., go — all very rough, long grass and self-sown corn, shell 
 holes, and unused trenches. The Bosch machine guns 
 were too active to be pleasant, but I got through all right, 
 and learnt a lot that I wanted to know. My word ! If 
 you had been with me, what would you have thought ? 
 So absolutely lonely in a way, except, of course, for the 
 Sergeant with me. On a trot like that it is strange to feel 
 that if one were shot, on certain bits of the journey, one 
 would never be seen or heard of again, except for the man 
 with you. Some of our machine guns firing over where
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 187 
 
 I was, and plenty of Bosch ones too, as I say. I came on 
 a party of ' D ' Coy. who had just had two men hit by a 
 Bosch Maxim." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Huts, 
 
 " 4.30 p.m., 31. 5. '16. 
 
 ' . . . I have been detailed to dig a certain line of trenches, 
 and have about forty men each night, working from 9.30 
 p.m. for about four hours. It means a lot of organization 
 and arrangement, and material for riveting, foot-boarding, 
 etc. I started the men on a rough field of self-sown stuff, 
 I think rye, about two feet high, which I suppose has had 
 an undisturbed life behind the line for two seasons. I have 
 not always stayed all the time, but have had another 
 Officer up with me to carry on, but it has meant very late 
 hours to bed. Last night I spent two and a half hours 
 with a Sergeant of mine showing him various trenches, 
 and exploring parts I did not know behind the firing line 
 with a view to knowing them, should we have to reinforce 
 any time. Very interesting, but very rough going. A lot 
 of the trenches had been very badly crumped in, and above 
 ground (as was mostly) full of roughness, shell holes, long 
 ragged grass, self-sown crops, and old unused trenches. 
 The land is cultivated anywhere where not visible from the 
 Bosch lines, and so sometimes, when there is a hill, pretty 
 close up, but it is strange indeed otherwise. ..." 
 
 " 2 p.m., Thursday, 1. 6. '16. 
 
 " A lovely day and all well. At 9 p.m. I went with Arthur 
 to take a funeral of an Artillery Sergeant. Such an impres- 
 sive service, with about six Officers and seventy or eighty 
 men all standing round. Arthur took it very nicely, with 
 the aid of an electric torch."
 
 188 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 " Huts, 
 : ' 4 p.m., i. 6. 16., Thursday. 
 "... Yesterday one of our observation ' sausages ' 
 broke adrift, and went over to the Bosch lines, in spite of 
 hundreds of our shells trying to destroy it, as well as machine 
 guns and rifles. The two men let themselves off in para- 
 chutes, but, I fear, landed in the Bosch lines." 
 
 To his Sister Dorothy. 
 
 "B.E.F., 
 " Monday, June 5, 1916. 
 " I have just had tea, Arthur having come in and had 
 some too, having had a trot round certain trenches. It 
 is splendid having him here. He is doing A.i., and is very 
 fit. . . . Out here there has been a ghastly fight, which 
 will continue for a long time near Ypres. You have doubt- 
 less seen its ' belittlement ' in the papers." 
 
 Letter from his Sister-in-law Esme to Andrew. 
 
 " June 1, 1916. 
 " I can't tell you what it means to me to have you and 
 Arthur together, and I did so appreciate your writing to 
 me as you did. He told me in one of his letters how very 
 thoughtful and careful of him you were that night when 
 you returned at 3 a.m. and found him awake and gave 
 him an extra blanket and cocoa. So like you Andrew ! " 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " 4 p.m., Tuesday, 6. 6. '16. 
 "... I do not know if I have told you the names of 
 the Officers of this Coy : 
 " 1. Lieut A. W. S. Brown. 
 "2. 2nd-Lieut. Vernede. 1 
 
 1 Author of The Pursuit of Mr. Faviel, The Fair Dominion, etc., 
 died of wounds April 9, 19 17.
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 189 
 
 " 3. Lieut. A. Douglas, Lewis gun Officer. 
 
 " 4. 2nd-Lieut. Chamberlain. 
 
 " They are all excellent fellows, and I feel I have got to 
 the best possible Coy. . . . 
 
 ' I spent an interesting walk round from about 9- 
 12.30 last night seeing the work, and finding valuable old 
 trenches in long grass both in front of and behind our line. 
 They would appear to you as rather deep drainage ditches, 
 and not much of a trench, but their value lies in their being 
 unseen by any form of observation, owing to the long grass, 
 etc., covering the sides. Our own trench is a semi-brickwork 
 sort of thing, visible to all the world, and if the -Bosch 
 intended to come, would be the first shelled to destruction. 
 It might therefore easily prove of great value to have these 
 trenches to shove men into where not seen, and splendid 
 field of fire. . . . 
 
 ' We had more rain last night, which was bad for the 
 men, many of whom have to sleep in the trench without 
 dug-outs or cover, except for waterproof sheets, etc., across 
 the trenches." 
 
 His brother Arthur writes on June 6, 1916 : " Andrew 
 and I are not together just now, but only about twenty 
 minutes' walk apart. He is extremely busy and has a big 
 responsibility in taking over a Company. He is splendid 
 with both his Officers and men." 
 
 ' B.E.F., Trenches, 
 " 1.30 p.m., Friday, 9. 6. 16. 
 ' . . . The men work splendidly, and both ourselves 
 and the other Companies have been congratulated by the 
 higher authorities on the excellent work done lately in 
 trenches. Since I wrote this Arthur has dropped in 
 for lunch, also Rev. Reid the Wesleyan parson in this 
 Brigade."
 
 190 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 " June 9, 1916. 
 " I never felt more fit in my life. It is amazing how fright- 
 fully fit I always feel in trenches, due, I think, to the life 
 being free from formalities of parades and other miseries 
 (or such is my opinion) ! From time to time working with 
 the men or trotting round exploring old trenches and gener- 
 ally a simple informal life in any dress, except that steel 
 hats and gas helmets must be worn, is highly congenial. . . . 
 Arthur is reading out the news and says 40,000 Austrians 
 prisoners. The Ypres affair is a very big thing." 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 " 1.30 p.m., Tuesday, 13. 6. '16. 
 " . . . At noon a memorial service in the open here to 
 Kitchener, and these are held throughout the whole Army. 
 Arthur took it splendidly as it was difficult to know what 
 to make it. 
 
 "... He followed what he knew was going to be the 
 St. Paul's service and gave out that he was doing so, having 
 the same hymns, etc." 
 
 " 2.15 p.m. 
 " Have just had a wire to be shown to all Companies 
 saying we have re-taken all that we intended in a counter- 
 attack last night. The firing all night was intense and I 
 wondered greatly what was happening. We first heard 
 that the Bosch had Ypres, but the news is now the other 
 way on ! We took 100 prisoners. Trenches very much 
 damaged owing to our fire. This is very good. I was 
 very anxious as to what was happening." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " B.E.F., Huts [Bulford], 
 
 " 1 p.m., Saturday, 17. 6. '16. 
 " We had a pretty rotten night last night — very heavy 
 firing starting south of our bit of trenches and then carrying
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 191 
 
 on to the north. We heard there was a gas attack and 
 the Battalion ' stood to ' ready to move — then fell out ready 
 to fall in again at a moment's notice. It looked and sounded 
 (from the terrific row of guns, including a 12-inch going off 
 just by us) as though we were in for something, but, though 
 the Bosch did make a gas attack on one bit of the line, I 
 think it was a matter of ' wind up.' . . . 
 
 " The heavy firing started about 10 p.m. and was excep- 
 tional enough to keep us from bed for a bit, but I turned 
 in about 12 o'clock, and about an hour afterwards Brown, 
 who is second in command of ' A ' Coy. and who had been 
 talking in another hut, tumbled in with a shout of IGas.' 
 This had been got from sirens at the Front, intended for 
 the purpose, letting off. The first thing to do is to get 
 braces on and jacket, so that you have the jacket on to 
 tuck the gas helmet under down the neck, and I told Arthur 
 and the others in the hut to do so. As a matter of fact we 
 got no gas here, but they had let some off on certain front- 
 line trenches. All Coys, fell in here, drawing at the same 
 time extra ammunition and bombs ; all in fighting order, 
 with transport all ready, and the Company horse (together 
 with other Coy. horses) brought up for me." 
 
 From the Rev. Arthur Buxton, C.F. 
 
 " Trenches, 
 
 " Monday, 19. 6. '16. 
 
 ' Andrew is in trenches, so we are separated again as I 
 
 stay with Headquarters a little way behind. We've had 
 
 two gas alarms these last three nights, but no gas reached us. 
 
 There was none anywhere near last night, but on Friday 
 
 it came close, though it missed us and three men got it 
 
 badly some way off, and a General slightly. Others got it 
 
 here where we are now. (We have moved since Friday.) 
 
 ' Andrew is splendid, the only bother being that he 
 
 fusses so about me. An Officer last night said that while
 
 192 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 gas alarm was going last night some distance from him 
 down the line, and most people had the wind up, he was 
 ' carrying on ' counting jam tins ! If you are ready for 
 gas with helmet in a certain position, it only takes three 
 seconds to slip it over your head, so there is no need to 
 worry till the alarm is given ! He is known in the Battalion 
 as ' Brave Buxton ! ' " 
 
 From Andrew. 
 
 "Trench I. B.E.F., 
 " 2 p.m., Wednesday, 21. 6. '16. 
 " I saw a lot of Arthur last night. He came up to tea, 
 and stayed till about 2.30 this morning, being very interested 
 in a little night experience in this life." 
 
 Andrew to his Mother. 
 
 "Billets, B.E.F., 
 " 6 p.m., Sunday, 25. 6. '16. 
 
 " I have just finished having a Service for the Company 
 on a meadow just outside where we are. Arthur has gone 
 to another farm to take a Service for other of our men. 
 It was very nice having it." 
 
 " 9 p.m., Sunday. 
 
 " Just had supper so peacefully at a table in the middle 
 of a meadow in lovely bright evening sun. The men are 
 all in such good spirits, laughing and ragging, pigs walking 
 about, one man drilling four young calves in the meadow 
 — ' form fours,' ' cover off ' ' form single file,' and other 
 orders to the accompaniment of loud cheers from the others 
 smoking in the field. The farm people, a huge family party 
 of all ages, bringing in cows to milk, etc. 
 
 " Arthur has had my gramophone, given me by that 
 shop, but I only heard it for the first time this evening. We 
 have also had that during supper. Not a sound of warfare, 
 except lovely aeroplanes quite low overhead. My feelings
 
 FAREWELL TO TTIE SALIENT 193 
 
 are so strange. All this peaceful scene, and absence of 
 warfare, and yet so lately we have lost from our numbers 
 — two men buried a few days ago, and others hit. It is so 
 weird. 
 
 " Since I wrote this, there has been an excellent impromptu 
 entertainment by a Rifleman, 1 also in this meadow, causing 
 much enthusiasm. It is a great joy to have such good 
 spirits. 
 
 " Arthur has a football, which is most useful for the men. 
 
 " I wish I had my gun here for wood-pigeons, who quite 
 disregard mankind just now. 
 
 ' Arthur and Brown were out for a stroll last night about 
 10, and came across a woman and a small child with her 
 • — she appears to have been hunting for a boy of hers, 
 aged about five. Brown knew that a small boy had turned 
 up at our ' D ' Coy., so took her there. She wept with joy 
 to find it was her boy. I think it was the second night that 
 he had been with ' D ' Coy. ! She said she could not stop 
 him running after soldiers." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 
 " July 5, 1916. 
 " Pigot told me yesterday to put up another ' star,' 
 though I do not think I am gazetted yet. This will, I 
 know, please you as it does me. I congratulate you on 
 having three Captain sons ! " 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " B.E.F., Trench 2, 
 
 " July 11, 1916. 
 "... We ' lived ' yesterday for a special ' show ' of 
 ours on last night at 1 a.m. to-day. Up to then the ordi- 
 nary cracks of Bosch bullets (high over where I am as I 
 
 1 Corporal Bodimead.
 
 i 9 4 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 am in dead ground) every second or two, then at i a.m. 
 precisely a very heavy opening of our guns soon to be 
 answered by the Bosch guns. We had a rare row for an 
 hour, during which interesting things happened. I was 
 rather particularly pleased that Arthur was a great help 
 in our dressing station, where I am also quartered. He 
 helped a lot with one fellow especially who was badly hit. 
 You would like to see a dressing station out here at the Front, 
 probably either a sandbag place or the cellar of a shelled 
 down farm. I don't believe any one would mind seeing 
 the dressing done out here- — it is so different to civil life ! 
 Even fellows very bad indeed in such good spirits and joking 
 very likely to others round. Last night several in waiting 
 to be dressed by the Doctor, smoking and talking and dis- 
 cussing things taken from the Bosch trenches. One of 
 my Corporals (a man from Norwich) tremendously pleased 
 coming back with a Bosch marching order of equipment, 
 and pack ; also German gong, trench notice-board, etc." 
 
 July 10, 1916. His diary says : 
 
 " Everything living for our ' stunt ' to-night. Black 
 faces, bombs, rum. Latta killed, also Orchard and two 
 others, 33 wounded." 
 
 Diary, July 15, 1916. (In Trenches) : 
 
 " A peaceful day except for ' Minnies.' Blew up our 
 Stokes gun and 97 rounds." 
 
 " Billets, 
 " July 16, 1916. 
 " If allowed and able I could indeed write you much, 
 but alas ! No ! I got to where I am about 3.30 this morning. 
 . . . The Company were kept late as they had to undertake 
 a weird and decidedly anxious job (which I may not reveal) 
 but which got through all right. . . . Had a glorious bath. 
 . . . You can imagine what this is after several days of
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SALIENT 195 
 
 not having boots or clothes off except to change socks. . . . 
 It is a very real feeling of selfishness that I have being in 
 the midst of things of such intense interest, of which you 
 have no part, not even the papers give an idea of the interest 
 of various things doing. It is a great day to live in and I 
 am thankful in the extreme to be so fit and able to see it ! ' 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 "Billets, B.E.F., 
 
 "July 17, 1916. 
 ' I have just managed to turn the half- grown Billy goat 
 out of my hut where it has inspected everything. ^ . . 
 There is no reason to think the Germans are chained to 
 their guns so don't believe the statement as made in the 
 papers. ... I told you a ' stunt ' mentioned in the papers 
 was not done by us (the 3rd), but we did one the other 
 night. A great many have been done all down the line 
 lately. They are all bound to be decidedly exciting, as it 
 may all go smoothly or be a smash up. The night of our 
 special one I was with my Coy. about 300 yards behind 
 the front line [R.E. Farm] — the men who had been training 
 for it for a few days came up from behind at 10 p.m. . . . 
 their faces were blacked so as not to show up and each had 
 a white mark to identify one another. . . . Watches were 
 of course synchronized and the men were to be in the front 
 Bosch line at a certain moment. The Bosch wire had been 
 previously cut by our artillery fire. . . . The fact of no 
 machine-gun fire from the Bosch lines made me nervous 
 as I feared they had got wind of the move and had their 
 machine guns fixed ready to meet it. Our artillery fire 
 was intense. In spite of Bosch artillery and a beautiful 
 barrage they put on, our men got in all right though the 
 wire was not quite cut and cocoa-nut matting had to be 
 used to get over it. We killed a certain number of Bosch, 
 but brought back no prisoners— -though several interesting
 
 196 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 things from dugouts and trenches. One of my men insisted, 
 though wounded, in bringing back a ' souvenir ' — a bit of 
 Bosch barbed wire ! We got several complete Bosch 
 equipments, trench gong (for giving gas alarm) and whistle, 
 trench notice board, bayonets, helmets, clothing of all 
 sorts, and letters, ration biscuits, etc. (the unit was 
 identified quite clearly) ; also a bit of bacon in a parcel 
 from ' home.' We left no one in Bosch trenches but one 
 man was killed in ' No Man's Land ' on his way back to 
 our lines — his body was recovered next night. 
 
 " . . . . We are shifting huts, bivouacs and tents from 
 this farm to a short way off as it is not healthy enough. 
 . . . The men are being kept much too busy with working 
 parties, etc., and not getting enough sleep or time off, but 
 I hope this may improve."
 
 X 
 
 ON THE SOMME: THE BATTLE OF 
 GUILLEMONT 
 
 July-August, 1916. 
 
 ON July 24, 1916, the Battalion left Neuve Eglise for 
 the Somme district. Andrew writes in his Diary 
 on the 24th : 
 
 " Arrangements re moving. Dinners n a.m. Moved 
 off 1 p.m. Entrained at Bailleul. Left 4.28 p.m., men in 
 trucks ; we in 3rd Classes." 
 
 " My 25. 
 
 " Got to Amiens (Longueval) at 1.30 a.m. Detrained 
 and marched ij hours when halted for cookers and break- 
 fast. Then on to Riencourt (about 14 miles in all). Men 
 very done, feet very bad." 
 
 The next fortnight was spent in attack practice and 
 " dress rehearsals " prior to taking part in the great Somme 
 fighting (the battle of the Somme began on July 1). 
 
 Here follow extracts from letters of this time : 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 "July 26, 1916. 
 " . . . At the moment I can imagine nothing more abso- 
 lutely perfect than to now go up to Scotland for a month 
 with the War over ! Still it will come again some year 
 
 197
 
 igS ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 soon, I hope. It is very excellent being O.C. Coy., though 
 it is not all of smoothest sailing or of the pleasantest, as 
 troubles of discipline etc., are certain to be present pretty 
 frequently. ..." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 "July 28, 1916. 
 ' . . . I can't quite place myself as Captain at present 
 or appreciate that I am referred to when I overhear men 
 speaking of me as ' the Captain.' The one thing I am 
 thankful for is to be it in a regular and really crack Batta- 
 lion. . . . My letters are most hopelessly short and un- 
 interesting, for which you must forgive. ... I think all 
 the time so much of you and want to tell you everything, 
 but it must not be done. . . . The whole of Longueval 
 and Delville Wood seem to be ours. ..." 
 
 Diary — " July 30, 1916. 
 " Paraded 7.30 a.m. and went again about three miles 
 for attack practice. Back to dinners. At 5 p.m. unexpected 
 orders for valises to be in by 7 p.m. Then orders that we 
 entrain at noon at Picquigny. (July 31.) Breakfast 
 7.30 a.m., marched off (from Riencourt) 9 a.m. Three 
 hours wait for train at Picquigny with packs on. Train 
 to Mericourt (a few miles S.W. of Albert), then marched 
 seven miles south to Bois de Tailles. Men badly fell out, 
 very thirsty." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " August 1, 1916. 
 " ' C ' Coy., Arthur included, have just had tea sitting 
 in a wood. Very hot in the sun. Before that I was looking 
 at some Bosch prisoners working near by. To-day Pigot 
 says all men are to cut their trousers down and so make them 
 into ' shorts.' Yesterday we had a march in marching 
 order ; first five miles, then a halt which extended to three
 
 ON THE SOMME : BATTLE OF GUILLEMONT 199 
 
 hours during which time packs were not allowed to be 
 taken off owing to something being expected to arrive at 
 any time, then about seven miles when more men dropped 
 out than I have ever seen do so before. It was very hot, 
 but it was largely due to the men finishing their water-bottles 
 too soon and also either having left behind their rations or 
 eaten them over-night and so being probably faint from 
 want of food. We had paraded at 9 a.m. and got in at 
 8.15 p.m. Fortunately the cookers by leaving overnight 
 had got here first and had tea ready. Half the men on 
 getting here at once departed to look for water, with can- 
 teens in their hands, but found none ; a quart of tea though 
 was ready for each all the time which they got all right. 
 A good many would have approached drinking a gallon 
 if they had had the chance, I think ! I do feel so intensely 
 for fellows feeling seedy like that, and especially through 
 no fault of their own. I did not have my horse and was 
 carrying a good deal, though not so much as the men, but 
 kept cooler than any one I think and felt no worry. It is 
 a blessing to be so fit. One or two men were even sweating 
 through the backs of their jackets, poor dears ! A wash 
 would have been a joy, as you can imagine, but we had to 
 ' turn in ' without. I had, though, a good ' bath ' in a 
 little water this morning." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " August 4, 1916. 
 " Just a line before I turn in though I write by the light 
 of a ' ration ' candle on my rug in my tent. Chamberlain 
 has just come in and said, ' Well, do they expect me to 
 sleep in this ? ' which refers to a terrific bombardment 
 again by our guns of all sizes. He happened to be out on 
 a ridge ' here ' at 9.20 at which moment our guns opened, 
 hundreds of them all together on a small front. They all 
 seemed to open (as no doubt arranged) at the^same~second 
 
 o
 
 200 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 and, be it said, it was the most terrible and awful thing he 
 thinks he has seen out here — the guns with their quick 
 belch-forth of flame and the burst of shells or shrapnel 
 beyond. It is just as intense now (10.30) as at 9.20. I 
 went up to the same point soon after we opened — first 
 impression you would say it was some electrical firework 
 display. The guns are not quite a roar, more a sort of 
 rolling and absolutely impossible to judge the number- 
 it might be 10 or it might be 20. Similar firing went on 
 the whole of last night, starting at 10 p.m. In fact it seemed 
 just as intense the whole time. You are making shells 
 all right in England ! Best thanks, we can do with them 
 all ! " 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " B.E.F., August 6, 1916. 
 " I have been frightfully depleted lately in N.C.O.'s. 
 Two very valuable ones gone to-day. How I loathe this 
 War. It is too vile for words, and also no sign of any end. 
 The Bosche are confident, well fed, and strong, from all 
 accounts, so every prospect of sitting here for years." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " August 6, 1916. 
 " . . . It is a great day to live in and I am thankful to 
 be taking a part. . . . We had an excellent Service in the 
 open this morning — the Brigade there — Arthur spoke well." 
 
 Diary — " August 6. 
 ' In afternoon walked with Arthur to Fricourt and saw 
 the lines. The mine craters to left of Fricourt specially 
 interesting." 
 
 " August 7. 
 " We move up in support to Guillemont to-morrow. 
 G. is to be taken at 5 a.m. Going up very light — haver- 
 sacks only."
 
 ON THE SOMME : BATTLE OF GUILLEMONT 201 
 
 Diary — ■" August 9, 1916. 
 " At 6.30 a.m. went with Pigot, other Officers, and some 
 N.C.O.'s to see the country at the Front. Went through 
 masses of our guns, leaving Mont-au-Vay on our left, then 
 up west side of Bernafay Wood, then up Longueval Alley 
 towards top of Trones Wood. Wounded being brought 
 down covered with dust. All men looked done up. A lot 
 of dead still unburied West of Trones Wood. Back at 
 8.30 a.m. for physical and bayonet drills." 
 
 " August 11. 
 ' . . . Arthur's birthday. Cake at lunch put me off 
 tea and supper." 
 
 ' August 12. 
 ' Started work again (on trenches at Longueval) at 4 a.m., 
 but had to knock off for 20 minutes owing to more shelling. 
 As last night, had to have a burying party to clear the ground 
 we had to dig. Weird, starting digging and burying before 
 dawn. Buried about thirty, all English. Pay-book and 
 Identity Disc got from most. Lots of salvage about. Men 
 hardly slept last night, with so much shelling, but set 
 themselves well to the work. Thought it was Sunday all 
 day, but Arthur came up in afternoon from Headquarters 
 in Bernafay Wood and said it was Saturday. ... In 
 afternoon we shelled heavily. Our aeroplanes flew very 
 low over the Bosch, dropping white lights. We had 15 
 or 20' ' sausages ' up. Very fine how we allow no Bosch 
 sausages and very seldom an aeroplane. . . . All night 
 heavy artillery fire from both sides — -heaviest continuous 
 fire I ever heard." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " August 12, 1916. 
 ' . . . Many happy returns ! I can send no birthday 
 present from this land as it is torn and bare. What a
 
 202 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 strange 12th August ! I sincerely hope I do not have another 
 out here. It hardly seems possible for the War to go on 
 thus long, and the thought of a possible contrast in a peace- 
 ful Scotch place is almost overwhelming." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " August 12, 1916. 
 
 "... I am feeling more fit than you can imagine possible, 
 thanks to plenty of exercise. Friday night the Coy., 
 after a very hot march, dug from 7.30 to 8.30. I then 
 knocked it off as Bosch shelling was too close and no trench 
 to get into. Started again at 4 a.m., but had almost at 
 once to stop for 20 minutes as Bosch again troublesome. . . . 
 We have trenches 200 yards from our work to come back 
 to, though no dug-outs. The men have to cook their own 
 meals, so they are kept going. I have worked, of course, 
 only a very small part of what they have as I have to 
 supervise the work, plan out trenches and plenty of other 
 things. I had a small cupful of precious water yesterday 
 in which I had a good shave, teeth wash, and bath ! We 
 gave the Bosch a rare ' strafe ' yesterday afternoon to which 
 he replied about 10 p.m. You cannot conceive what the 
 firing from both sides was from then till 5 a.m. It was 
 terrific." 
 
 From his Brother Arthur. 
 
 " August 14, 1916. 
 
 " We are indeed ' On active service,' and life is not all 
 jam. On Saturday night Andrew was in trenches. I was 
 staying at Headquarters ; Andrew in miserable quarters. 
 You know how sheep in Scotland burrow out a cavity on 
 the lee side of the hill to be out of the wind. That is how 
 Andrew and his men were living in little holes in the side 
 of the trench — no ' mess,' no table, etc."
 
 FISHING THE TARVIE BURN WITH ZULU. 
 
 [To face page 203
 
 ON THE SOMME : BATTLE OF GUILLEMONT 203 
 
 o 
 
 Diary — " August 14. 
 ' vSaw CO. at noon, who described when and where we 
 should attack. Aeroplane photos wonderful." 
 
 " August 15. 
 " Not very good night. Had walk with Arthur last 
 night, and prayer. A ' dud ' shell very near. CO. saw 
 all Officers and N.CO.'s at 2 o'clock and described course 
 of our attack, which is now put off till iSth. . . . CO. 
 says A. and D. Coys, are to lead the attack, which is dis- 
 appointing, but not likely to be lack of interest ! Lots of 
 additional guns about the last day or two." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 "Billets, August 16, 1916. 
 " A good deal of rain last evening which was bad for 
 working parties. Our party did not get in till about 2.30 a.m. 
 . . . By the time you get this we expect to have done a 
 bit of work of more than usual interest. I may, or may not, 
 then be able to tell you of it, and now can say no more than 
 that I would not miss it for anything ! Don't be alarmed, 
 my dear, I wish you also could have the interest of it. This 
 morning at 5 a.m. I went with Pigot and other O.C Coys, 
 to see a certain bit of ground. It was more like Scotland 
 than ever in the early dawn. The earth thrown out from 
 trenches and from shell holes looking like heather in the 
 undulating open country." 
 
 In the Somme fighting considerable progress had been 
 made and ground won before the 24th Division, with 
 Andrew's Battalion, was thrown into the battle. North 
 and south of Guillemont, respectively, part of Delville 
 Wood and the whole of Trones Wood were in our hands ; 
 but Guillemont itself, the one big position as yet untaken 
 in the German second line, still held out. On August 18
 
 204 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 Guillcmont was attacked, at first with partial success ; 
 but a few days later the whole position was finally won, 
 though at a considerable cost. It is to these attacks on 
 Guillemont that the following letters and Diary entries 
 refer : 
 
 Diary — "August 17, 1916. 
 ' Left the Bosch trenches (between Montauban and 
 Carnoy) at 5 a.m., with CO. to Sherwood Street east of 
 Trones Wood. . . . Walked with Page, my Orderly, round 
 Waterlot Farm, via Old German Alley, also towards Arrow 
 Head Copse to get a view of Guillemont and our objective." 
 
 "August 18. 
 " Got attack orders from Pigot. Zero time 2.45 p.m. 
 A Coy. were on left, B in centre, D on right, C behind D in 
 ' Sherwood ' trench, and D half in ' Mike ' and half in ' New.' 
 Cut steps to get out by. Shelling tremendous. When D 
 advanced we advanced into ' New,' where we stayed 3 
 or 4 minutes, then advanced into ' Mike,' where we were 
 intended to stay until 4.45 p.m., when advance again to 
 the Bosch line presumed taken. Reported to Pigot at 
 H.O. and ordered by him to reinforce E. of Station. . . . 
 Went back and gave my orders ; very difficult to make 
 myself heard. Heard Brown was killed. Saw Bosch being 
 shot like rabbits, ghastly. When first advanced saw four 
 partridges get up in front of ' Mike ' and fly straight over 
 Guillemont ; thought our barrage must kill one, but didn't ! 
 The 10 minutes hurricane bombardment was terrific. When 
 Pigot told me reinforce he said, ' I congratulate you.' Got 
 over pretty easily. . . . Found B. in a deep 30 ft. dug-out 
 where I made my H.O. ; entrance just like rabbit-hole 
 under large mass of concrete. Place an awful sight of 
 dead and wounded. A fine Bosch Doctor walking about 
 doing good work ; 3 or 4 Bosch wounded by dug-out. . . . 
 C. Coy. dug in well, Railway Station taken without oppos;-
 
 ON THE SOMME : BATTLE OF GUILLEMONT 205 
 
 tion. I had orders to hold the Station and not have less 
 than 50 men in it. There were three machine-guns and a 
 Lewis gun of B Coy. there too. In the Bosch dug-out we 
 found field-glasses, revolvers, endless equipment, iron 
 rations, rifles, Very lights, a bottle of brandy and of Hock, 
 cigars, cigarettes, aerated water, two bugles, flutes and 
 medicine cases." 
 
 " August 19. 
 
 ' Men were digging all night. In case of counter-attack 
 did not allow any one to sleep till well after dawn, though 
 men quite done up. They were completing the Station 
 trenches all night. 
 
 ' The programme was to get to half-way through Guille- 
 mont by a further attack at 5 a.m., but this had to be 
 cancelled as the 73rd Brigade got hung up on our right 
 yesterday afternoon. (It was an ever-memorable sight to 
 see them advance yesterday.) Continued working and 
 clearing dead from dug-outs, etc. Used telephone wire, 
 but frightfully difficult to get bodies out. Buffs got in 
 yesterday on our right quite easily. . . . Venner was 
 killed after we got to Bosch trench ; only saw him just 
 before he died. . . . My Sergt. -Major, also Page my 
 Orderly, killed to-day by same shell. Buried them, and 
 Jock Henderson and Venner, after dark ; also others of 
 our men and lots of Bosch." 
 
 " Sunday, August 20. 
 " A little dozing, but practically no sleep. Dug-out 
 full of debris, signallers, orderlies, etc. Bosch shelling very 
 nasty but ours far heavier. Not much on the Station fortun- 
 ately. We have got the Bosch here all right now, I think. 
 ' Guillemont appears like a ploughed field. Our dug- 
 out has two entrances, both very dangerous. Cleared out 
 the dug-out by a chain of men. In evening put on a work-
 
 / 
 
 206 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ing party to dig trench along lines of Bosch front line towards 
 D. Coy. Men very done, but had to be done by dawn. 
 Five men wounded by digging on to a Bosch bomb. Had 
 a Coy. of Fusiliers to help. Pigot sent in afternoon congrat- 
 ulations on work and also saying, ' Now get some rest.' 
 Did not pass on latter part of message as too important to 
 continue work. Men very rattled. Cpl. Hogben killed 
 to-day, also Wedlock of A. Coy. Arthur turned up in 
 afternoon ; so ripping to see him. He asked where Guille- 
 mont was ! The men remarked, ' He can't keep away 
 from the Front.' From French reports it appears possible 
 Bosch may have evacuated Guillemont, so going to patrol 
 accordingly and snatch the trench east of ' High Holborn.' 
 " The idea was we should be relieved on Saturday, but 
 nothing doing, though Sunday was promised. On Sunday 
 Pigot sent round to say we had to be in till Tuesday, 22nd. 
 Men very done and rattled, and greatly depressed at this 
 news." 
 
 " Monday, August 21. 
 
 " Zero time for renewal of attack for taking Brompton 
 Road and dug-outs at the side was 4.30 p.m. 1st R.F. 
 were on our right ; Queen's beyond them. The 1st R.F. 
 moved on before the two minutes' intense bombardment 
 had begun and were spotted. As soon as they (1st R.F.) 
 had got to Hill Street (i.e. High Holborn continued) our 
 D. Coy. were to advance. Fusiliers got objective, then 
 were driven back and D. Coy. got badly cut up. Chamber- 
 lain observed near dug-out and Vernede at Station ; most 
 valuable reports from both. 
 
 " I had orders to send up a bomb squad to reinforce and 
 to carry bombs, and later 20 men with more boxes. Fre- 
 quently our own shells were doing in our own men. Later 
 got orders to dig new line behind where Venner with a few 
 men was holding^out and to tell him to retire to it. This
 
 ON THE SOMME : BATTLE OF GUILLEMONT 207 
 
 new line was from east end of Station to Brompton Road. 
 Men absolutely done. Sherwood Foresters came and helped 
 dig. Put out covering parties. Looked round for wounded ; 
 found Shaw Stewart killed. . . . We were relieved at 
 5 a.m. by R.F.'s. . . . Total Battalion Casualties : 8 
 Officers killed, 8 wounded ; other ranks 278." 
 
 " Tuesday, August 22. 
 ' Got back at 6 a.m. to ' Sherwood Street,' where at 
 once slept. Went to H.O. n a.m. ; heard we were to be 
 relieved by Cornwalls at 4 p.m. A very nasty day with 
 lots of shelling on the trench, but fortunately no casualties. 
 . . . Went to Carnoy with remnants of D. Coy. attached 
 to us. Just managed to get myself along. Just beyond 
 top of C. had busses to Happy Valley. Men began to sing 
 a little just before Carnoy— joy. Alfred Dunnage who had 
 been on a course had beautiful supper ready for us." 
 
 From Arthur. 
 
 " Tuesday, August 22, 1916. 
 ' I know you will have been anxiously waiting for a 
 letter, but I simply could not write till our time in the 
 trenches was over. It has been awful, and the fact that 
 we both are well and (Andrew especially) have come through 
 without a scratch is simply providential and due to prayer. 
 He has been through an inferno ! I have only just seen him 
 once since Thursday, so can't say much from him, but 
 about (I mustn't give numbers) of wounded men of our 
 Battalion have been through our Dressing Station, so I've 
 heard a good deal of what it was like. I simply can't give 
 a connected account, but just a few facts will show. Out 
 of our mess of 7 Officers, Brown and Venner have been killed 
 and Catchside wounded ; Andrew, Vernede, myself and 
 Chamberlain are all right. A's Sergeant-Major and his 
 runner are dead. Last week I went a walk with three
 
 208 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 charming young Officers, Henderson, Daly, and Barnard, 
 — to-day I am the only one left, all the three killed. Out 
 of four Company Commanders only Andrew and Boscawen 
 are left, the other two wounded badly ; it's too awful for 
 words. It's marvellous that our Dressing Station is still 
 standing ; 2 other Regimental ones are knocked out and 
 a despatching station, and only this morning we had a 
 terrific shelling and of course a direct hit from the big 
 stuff they were sending over would have done for the place 
 and all in it. Two men on Friday were standing in the 
 doorway ; both were blown in — one died in five minutes, 
 the other badly wounded. Oh ! the loss of precious lives 
 is awful, so are the sufferings of the wounded. The constant 
 danger, the noise, the smells are past words. But if I 
 feel it bad, it's ten times worse for Andrew, and even if 
 he doesn't get some decoration you can believe me he has 
 more than deserved it. 
 
 " I trust we will get out all right to-night. I long to 
 leave it all behind and I suppose some unfortunate fresh 
 troops will come in and carry on. I only trust they'll take 
 us right away from these sights and sounds. At home you 
 can't understand what it is, and the many pitiable cases 
 of shell-shock. Many have been buried 2, 3 or even 4 
 times — think what that means to the nerves. After our 
 first night in a fairly decent dug-out, when we'd had a bit 
 of shelling during the night, the Medical Officer confessed 
 to me that he had felt scared out of his wits. Far worse 
 is it when you're above ground or in trenches that may be 
 blown in on you. I must stop. There is reams more I 
 want to write, but you must let me sleep instead. The 
 dug-out of which I spoke is one once used by a Bosch Com- 
 pany. The dressing-station an old Bosch gun-pit. Need- 
 less to say souvenirs are many, though I can't be bothered 
 with carrying them. . . . 
 
 " No further need to worry ; just sing the Doxology^and
 
 ON THE SOMME : BATTLE OF GUILLEMONT 209 
 
 imagine us ' resting ' well behind the line for a month or 
 two at least ; would that we might do the rest at home. I 
 will not post this till we are safely back. Love to all 
 Arthur." 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 " Wednesday, 23. 
 " Both well, got back here last night." 
 
 From Andrew. 
 
 " 4 p.m., 23. 8. 1916. Wednesday. 
 ' Arthur has this afternoon sent you a wire to say all 
 well, by which you will know we have been through some- 
 thing. I return to find lots of letters and six parcels which 
 were kept behind while we were in a show. . . . 
 
 ' I don't feel I can now describe these last six days, 
 they have been too big. We got back late last night and 
 I had a glorious sleep till about 11 a.m. to-day. I was 
 ' done ' and footsore last night, having had practically no 
 sleep ' there ' and plenty of anxiety. . . . 
 
 " A glorious bath this morning in a waterproof sheet, 
 and shave of seven daj^s old beard ! " 
 
 From Andrew, to his Mother. 
 
 " B.E.F., Billets, 
 
 " 5 p.m., 24. 8. 18. 
 ' I have now opened all the parcels, which are truly 
 beautiful ; thanks so much for them. I wish I could have 
 had them where we have been, but such things cannot be 
 got up, and if I had had them before I could not have 
 carried them up. Don't send any more now. Your letters 
 now come along each day, and are most welcome. Please 
 thank Ros for her parcel from Cromer, so beautiful, and 
 full of thought for what I like. Please keep enclosed post- 
 cards found in Bosch trenches.
 
 210 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 " I may not say where I have been fighting, and the story 
 of it must remain till I see you. I know not how to start, 
 continue or finish, as there was too much, all of such moment 
 to us there. On the second day I was watching the course 
 of the fight from about 500 yards to the left from a slight 
 slope, and reporting to Head Quarters by telephone what 
 was happening. I soon had sent away about half my men 
 to carry more bombs up to D. Company, and to support 
 them, and was wondering what my orders would be. I was 
 nominally in reserve. I expected to have to go and rein- 
 force, and probably be wiped out as D. Coy. were, and this 
 order was given me but then cancelled about 8.30 p.m., 
 and told instead to try after dark an advanced trench about 
 130 yards from the Bosch, and tell the remnant of D. Coy. 
 to retire into it. Our men were absolutely done, but we had 
 a Coy. of another Regiment to help us, and we were going 
 to be relieved by yet another Regiment. This relief came 
 off at about 5.30 a.m. At that time, i.e. just as it was 
 getting light, we managed to extricate a wounded man from 
 a 60 feet deep well. The well was exactly at the bottom 
 of a shell-hole, and running back wounded he tumbled into 
 this for protection, and went straight to the bottom. It 
 was in front of our line, and only by chance that I heard a 
 noise as I passed on the top. Amazingly, he was unhurt. 
 I sent to Headquarters, and luckily got some armoured 
 telephone cable, which, tied to a pick, I let down, and 
 with about ten men pulled him up (my men were so done 
 up that it was with difficulty I could get them to give a 
 hand to save this man's life !). He was frightfully exhausted 
 but will be all right. We found a Bosch jammed down a 
 similar hole, which we could not get him out of, and also 
 a Bosch in a deep dug-out, quite unable to get out. The 
 latter seemed broken all over, but lived two days, and the 
 former three days. Such a problem whether to shoot men 
 in such torture."
 
 ON THE SOMME : BATTLE OF GUILLEMONT 211 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 "B.E.F., 
 ' 11.30 a.m., Sunday, 27. 8. 1916. 
 
 ' A deluge of rain this morning and your sympathy would 
 go out to the men who have no cover except mackintosh 
 sheets in a field. Early this morning we paraded and our 
 General congratulated us on the work we have done. . . . 
 
 ' I wrote just to say I was going down for two days' rest. 
 I started off and got to Field Clearing Station, but came 
 back again as there did not seem much chance of any 
 dinner, and I was hungry, having had no tea ! The real 
 fact was I was feeling all right except for a slight cold A To- 
 day our Dr. tells me he wants me to go after all as if I got 
 bad the CO. would drop on him for not sending me ! 
 
 ' I thought of you when we were doing the attack on 
 18th — -a lovely bright day. My Coy. was behind D. Coy. 
 in ' jumping off ' trenches which had been dug. When 
 ' D,' advanced to the Bosch line, we advanced to where 
 ' D/ had been and were going to stop there for two hours, 
 and also ' D,' in the Bosch line. I had orders while there 
 to go to Pigot about 150 yards off at our H.Qrs. (this 
 previously given). I could not get there for three-quarters 
 of an hour owing to intense Bosch barrage of fire between 
 which I could not have got through. I then bustled safely 
 through it. He had just had word from our front line that 
 they wanted reinforcements at a certain bit of line and he 
 said I must go up. As I left him he said ' I congratulate 
 you,' 1 i.e. on having this responsible job to do. So I went 
 back and took the Company over to the Bosch line we had 
 taken. I then heard Brown had been killed on right of 
 my line. The trench we were in was far from pleasant 
 as only partly dug, and our men were digging it deeper 
 all they could, but a Bosch machine-gun was very nasty 
 
 1 Andrew thought much of those three words — the only reward 
 that came his way for his really fine work at Guillemont.
 
 212 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 along us as well as the shells. We got over well and took 
 a certain number, about 16, prisoners, even though the 
 other Company had been some time in the Bosch line. We 
 then dug hard to make the German trench good to hold. 
 It had largely been levelled by our shells, but still several 
 deep dug-outs. A lot of Bosch bolted out to meet our first 
 line as they got to the trench and doubled back towards 
 us all on their own ! I think we only just got the trench, 
 as there were a lot of Bosch there. Our shelling was intense, 
 especially the ten minutes before we advanced. Impossible 
 to describe what the noise of possibly thousands of guns all 
 firing as hard as they could on to the Bosch line, both 
 H.E. and shrapnel ; then (in the open hedgeless country) 
 seeing the line of our men advance. Probably if a minute 
 later advancing we should not have got in, as the Bosch 
 would have been up and able to fire. Therefore the time 
 of the shelling and to keep absolutely up to it are essential, 
 and to know when the shelling ' lifts ' on further. The 
 Bosch counter-shelling was very heavy, but nothing like 
 ours. I could not make any one hear a word except by 
 shouting in their ears at the top of my voice when our 
 shelling was heaviest and my whistle only reached a few 
 yards ! We were going to advance again at 5 a.m. on 19th, 
 but could not do so as Regiment on our right were held up. 
 " What probably is not realized at home is the extent 
 of counter shelling, not only on the trenches we have taken, 
 but everywhere behind in order to stop reinforcements, 
 etc. Arthur was in a wood f mile behind and had heavy 
 shelling, but got through all right. I hear he worked nobly 
 helping in the dressing-station there. On 20th he came up 
 and saw me. He ought not to have done this as it was 
 not a ' healthy ' journey. I did a lot of observing on 21st 
 of the attack that D. Coy. were doing and the Regiments 
 on their right. Very necessary work, but most unhealthy, 
 as the Bosch were plastering us badly. Pigeons were partly
 
 ON THE SOMME : BATTLE OF GUILLEMONT 213 
 
 used for messages. On 18th when I first went to H.Qrs., 
 I told Pigot that our shrapnel had not sufficiently lifted 
 and was hitting our men who were in the Bosch trench, 
 at which he sent a pigeon ! On 21st we suffered several 
 times from our own artillery very severely, which is worst 
 of all but impossible to avoid when hung up and cannot 
 tell where our men are. Sleep was very scarce. In the 
 deep dug-out where BandC Coys, made their H.Qrs., there 
 was no room, absolutely chock a block with debris, Coy. 
 signallers, etc., and only possible to sometimes have a sleep 
 squatting down. The men in the trenches were all the 
 time in great danger so did not sleep much, and moreover 
 lying at bottom of a trench about 2 feet or 1 foot 6 inches 
 wide at bottom with endless passing along and no room to 
 put feet on either side of the lines of tired sleepers and the 
 tumbling down of earth on to them made sleep difficult. 
 I am sorry to say my Coy. Sergt.- Major was killed. It 
 was a very great time, and as I said to you in a previous 
 letter, I would not have missed it for anything. 
 
 ' It is hard to tell you anything of this show till I get 
 home, though difficult even then I think." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 " Sunday, August 27, '16. 
 
 ' I am afraid this will arrive late for your birthday, but 
 it brings none the less my awfully best wishes for the day. 
 May you be preserved long to me and to us all, and may 
 irapovaia Xpiarov become more and more of a fact to you, 
 whereby you naturally tell Him all that is in your mind. 
 
 ' I cannot say what it is to have the Word of God in 
 my heart to feed on, and to keep such a big view of God 
 all the time, though probably no time to do reading of the 
 Word.
 
 214 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ' I had from about the 16th to 22nd the most strenuous, 
 mentally and physically, time that I have ever had." 
 
 Andrew to Mrs. Prideaux. 
 
 ' We have had a time which has been too much. No 
 one who has not been through such a time can in any measure 
 appreciate what it is. My thankfulness is that there is no 
 chance of your experiencing such vileness. I have a strange 
 feeling of being wrong to be left alive or without a wound, 
 as we were a mess of seven, and I only am left. But I 
 must not depress you ! 
 
 ' Please don't suggest that my men have a good one in 
 me. I sincerely wish it were so, but it is very much the 
 opposite. I feel like Solomon — a man of peace — but with- 
 out his wisdom. We are getting back to all sorts of pri- 
 mitive ways of fighting, but not yet adopted David's sling, 
 but we shall see it before next Spring all right I expect." 
 
 Diary — ■" August 27, 1916. 
 " The Doctor told me he wanted me to go to a Rest 
 Camp. Went in ambulance at 3 p.m. ; the Camp near 
 Buire-sur-Ancre. ' ' 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 "B.E.F., B., 
 " August 28, 1916. 
 " My servant and I came across yesterday afternoon 
 about a mile from where the Battalion is to the Divisional 
 R.A.M.C. Camp. I have a tent and I mess with the Medical 
 Officers. I still have a bit of a cold and am not absolutely 
 put together right, but there is nothing amiss. The value 
 is to get away from the Coy. for a couple of days. . . . 
 A ripping swallow-tail butterfly here the other day. . . . 
 I want to now come and have a long yarn with you." 
 
 " August 30, 5 p.m. 
 " Since writing the first two sheets and signing them I
 
 ON THE SOMME : BATTLE OF GUILLEMONT 215 
 
 have had Arthur most faithfully come and see me. So 
 awfully nice to have him bringing letters from yourself, 
 Ros, Dor, also papers to read, so I'm in luck's way." 
 
 From Arthur. 
 
 ' August 29, 1916. 
 ' I saw Andrew to-day ' resting ' at a Field Ambulance. 
 I fear nothing will persuade him to stay there if the Battalion 
 moves again. He is still not sleeping well, and his mind 
 is going over the horrible time he went through. I don't 
 think he could stand another winter here. He has done 
 his time in the trenches, and ought to have some job at 
 home, if his health is not to suffer. He is a most capable 
 leader, both of his Subalterns and men. He has a better 
 insight into the working of trench warfare than any one 
 I have met out here, and his practical knowledge of the 
 difficulties and needs and qualifications for a Coy. Officer 
 would be invaluable to any Staff. I feel very strongly 
 he ought now to get something less strenuous." 
 
 The following letters to his Mother from his Brother 
 Arthur and from a brother-Officer of his, referring to the 
 Guillemont attack, may be inserted here : 
 
 From Arthur's Diary. 
 ' How loving and thoughtful he was when I went up to 
 see him for a few minutes when he had been through so 
 much and had to stay there in such danger." 
 
 From Lieut. Chamberlain. 
 
 November, 19 16. 
 " Dear Mrs. Buxton, — 
 
 " I feel I should like to write and tell you how very 
 pleased I was to have an opportunity of seeing Andrew at 
 Easneye while on leave. After his long period of trench 
 
 r
 
 216 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 warfare — he must have been nearly eighteen months in 
 France by this time— and, more particularly, after the 
 recent strenuous weeks spent in the Sorame area, he must 
 feel the need of, and welcome a short rest, for the way he 
 has stood the strain of responsibility has been wonderful. 
 Nothing would please me better than to be able to accom- 
 pany him when he returns, and to carry on as before, for 
 after having served under him in ' C ' Coy. for nearly eight 
 months I recognize how splendidly he has always com- 
 manded, and how prompt and eager was the response made 
 by the men. They seemed ever ready to undertake volun- 
 tarily tasks of exceptional difficulty, and their spirit and 
 keen desire to undertake hazardous duties bear admirable 
 testimony to the cleverness of the Officer who commanded 
 them. The very fact that one Platoon volunteered ' en 
 masse ' to take part in a raid on the German trenches — 
 the necessarily rejected ' candidates ' were only appeased 
 with the greatest difficulty — shows clearly the spirit which 
 animated all ranks in the Company, and the way in which 
 they settled down to their programme of training and subse- 
 quently carried out the enterprise successfully, in spite 
 of unforeseen difficulties, proves how keen and proficient 
 they may become. 
 
 ' I shall always retain a vivid mental picture of our 
 advance during the attack on August 18th — the most 
 critical, exciting, and strenuous day of my life. Only by 
 displaying the very highest qualities of leadership — cool- 
 ness, a knowledge of the exact situation, unswerving tena- 
 city and resolution — did Andrew bring his Company through 
 the attack with small loss, carrying the whole responsibility 
 for success on his own shoulders. When he led the advance, 
 the whole Company responded splendidly to a man."
 
 XI 
 VIMY AND LOOS 
 
 September-November 1916 
 
 DURING the few days that Andrew was away at the 
 Rest Camp the Battalion was given yet another bit 
 of work to do, which it accomplished successfully. Andrew 
 did not at all like being out of it. His Diary records (Septem- 
 ber 1, 1916) : ' The Battalion has gone up towards Montau- 
 ban ... to get back lost trenches E. of Delville Wood. 
 At 6.30 p.m. . . . (September 2) we got objective. Very 
 tantalizing being away from the Company. Dunnage 
 killed ; Vernede and Chamberlain hit, so all five officers in 
 C. Coy. now gone. The Battalion (and Division) come out 
 to-morrow." 
 
 He rejoined the Battalion on the 4th. 
 
 His brother Arthur writes to their mother, September 5, 
 '16: 
 
 " Thanks for all yours up to the 30th. Ycu ask how 
 Andrew is. He's all right, much better and rested, but 
 doesn't sleep well, I think, but he has had up to date some 
 pretty poor beds. Andrew returned from the Rest Camp 
 on Friday or Saturday, and was told to stay in the transport 
 lines. This kept him out of another show that our Batta- 
 lion had, for which I was most profoundly thankful. After 
 it, he and I are the sole survivors in our Mess. All the others 
 
 217
 
 2i8 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 were wounded (Vernede, Chamberlain, Catchside) or killed 
 (Vernier, Brown). 
 
 "We now go right back." 
 
 From Andrew. 
 
 "B.E.F., Billets, 
 " 8 a.m., Wednesday, 6. 9. 16. 
 
 "We have had a lot more on since I properly wrote to 
 you last, as the Battalion was up in or near the Front 
 from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4, with, alas, a lot more casualties. 
 I was hardly with the Battalion, as I came back from the 
 Dressing Station in the middle of it. I am very sad to say 
 that both Vernede and Chamberlain, the only remaining 
 Officers of ' C ' Coy. were hit. Not dangerously in either 
 case I hope. We now have had a draft of three new Officers, 
 of whom Northcroft [killed July, 1917] is posted to ' C 
 It is a most tremendous blow losing Vernede and Chamber- 
 lain, as I valued both so extremely as Officers, and both 
 such good fellows. 
 
 " Everything continues more than full of interest, and 
 at the moment the news seems excellent. We heard last 
 night that the French were on the Bapaume-Peronne road, 
 and that we were east of Ginchy Telegraph. Actual gain 
 of ground may or may not be of value — this is all most 
 satisfactory." 
 
 Diary — September 7. 
 " Entrained 2.30 p.m. Arrived Longpre (near Abbe- 
 ville) at 9.30. 35 miles ! Marched till 3.30 a.m. next morn- 
 ing, via Long to Gourannos, arrived very weary. Arthur 
 and I in a small cottage." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " B.E.F., Billets, 
 " 6 p.m., Friday, 8. 9. '16. 
 " . . . We arrived at where we are yesterday morning
 
 VIMY AND LOOS 219 
 
 about 3.30 after a wearisome effort, but hope to now have 
 a rest, though the necessary training that has to go on is 
 almost as much effort as trench life, though of a different 
 kind. . . . 
 
 " Tell mother I will take good care to get all I can ! 
 
 " Tom Buxton turned up suddenly 'yesterday afternoon 
 and had tea ; it was very nice seeing him. He asked Arthur 
 and myself to come and dine at Headquarters, which we did, 
 he sending a motor for us. Quite an interesting evening 
 in which, as Arthur says, I instructed the two Generals 
 between whom I sat in fighting matters. They certainly 
 appeared interested to talk to one who had been actually 
 fighting ! 
 
 ' I wonder if you can picture Arthur and myself in a 
 small cottage, ground floor only, rather back from centre 
 street, and round a corner in a village. Chickens and 
 bantams walk in. We sit in quite a nice orchard outside 
 it. This afternoon Arthur and I cycled (on Signallers' 
 cycles) to a village near, to see another Regiment, with a 
 view to fixing up a Service for Sunday. He has a concert 
 here to-night. 
 
 " The sadness of our losses has not been without its 
 comic side sometimes. There were two brothers in my Coy., 
 one of whom was killed. The other one started a letter to his 
 home to tell them the news with ' I have now much pleasure 
 in telling you.' They get set phrases for their letters. We 
 got this more happily written." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " B.E.F., Billets, 
 " 12.30 p.m., Sunday, 10. 9. '16. 
 " Arthur took a nice Memorial Service, or chiefly memorial, 
 this morning on the village square for the Battalion. 
 
 " Tom Buxton was coming over to lunch to-day and 
 going to bring another Officer from Corps H.Ors., but
 
 220 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 very disappointingly rode over at noon, and said he had 
 to be in at lunch. Arthur has a friend, a Brigade Signalling 
 Officer, who is coming, and an Adjutant is also going to 
 join the lunch, which, by the way, is going to be ' some ' 
 lunch as I bought two chickens this morning. They were 
 brought in alive to me in bed this morning. I had given 
 orders to bring them alive, as people here have all sorts 
 of fancy ways of killing them, and I prefer to do it myself 
 with a stick, though I find it quite hard to kill anything 
 just now ! " 
 
 At the end of September the Battalion moved into the 
 line again into trenches just west of Vimy. 
 
 Diary — ■" September 26, 1916. 
 
 " Walked round front line with Pigot in morn. Rations 
 are dumped each evening from the railway at my dug-out ; 
 3 mules to each truck. The Coy. are responsible for ' Vin- 
 cent Street ' ; commenced work this evening. It is quite 
 alarmingly peaceful here. Heavy firing in morning to the 
 south. Here we have taken Les Bceufs and Morval." 
 
 From Andrew to his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 "B.E.F., 
 " September 28, '16. 
 
 " To-day is Jewish 1st of year (though I thought it was 
 about April). I should like to have gone to a Service they 
 have near here. Perhaps another year we might look in to 
 this Service somewhere, as I should be so interested. It is 
 on the Day of Atonement. 
 
 " I enclose a letter from Daly's mother,— he was a most 
 charming young Officer of ' B ' Coy., killed at Guillemont 
 — which please keep. His death, and one of my Sergeant's, 
 I have felt more than anything I can express to you."
 
 VIMY AND LOOS 221 
 
 " B.E.F., Trench 2, 
 
 " 6.30 p.m., 26. 9. '16. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 " I have no Officer now in the Coy., so have the whole 
 thing to work, which is a bit of an effort, but very interesting. 
 Northcroft who recently came to ' C ' Coy. has now been 
 taken for some special work. I have in fun told Arthur 
 that I must have him as a Platoon Commander, which he 
 rather inclines to. Pigot would, I am sure, be only too 
 glad to have him so ; but in any case he helps much and 
 has just been censoring a vast quantity of letters. 
 
 "It is getting dark very early now, as you will have 
 experienced. I this afternoon was detailed to repair a 
 certain bit of trench, and the whole Company are now on 
 it. I must go and see that it is going all right. I can, 
 however, get no riveting material till 10 p.m. to-morrow, 
 if then, and as the trench is a depth varying from eight to 
 twelve feet, all more or less falling in, I have ' some ' job ! " 
 
 " 8 p.m., 26. 9. '16. 
 ' Back from seeing to the work on this trench and find 
 two or three Orderlies from Headquarters, which is about 
 half a mile from here, with chits about various things. 
 About a quarter of the chits received in this land are marked 
 ' secret,' some of which are interesting, some not ! " 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " B.E.F., Trench 2, 
 
 " October 1, 1916. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 " 7 p.m. had a very nice Service in the half light and 
 dark on the side of the Valley only about 600 yards from 
 Bosch front line. 
 
 ' The new Officer Duncan is such an excellent fellow — 
 so keen to learn and ready to help with everything."
 
 222 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " B.E.F., Billets [Estree], 
 
 " 2 p.m., 8. io. 'i6. 
 
 " A very showery morning. We were going to have a 
 route march at 9 a.m. and paraded for it, but dismissed as 
 too wet, and instead carried on with various drills and 
 practices. 
 
 " At 2.15 Arthur has a Service in the Ambulance Station 
 here. 
 
 " I forgot to tell you what a lot of weasels I saw last 
 time I was at the Front. Two which were running about 
 on top of dug-out in the trench I ' squeaked ' to, and brought 
 them so near that I stopped, thinking one of them was 
 going to jump on to my shoulder, which I did not fancy ! 
 A party of mine digging in the side of a trench sliced away 
 so as to leave a family of mice in a niche — the nest 
 was made of old bits of letters and field postcards. 
 They were not ' red,' but had not yet got hair, or eyes 
 opened. The old one was there, coming up and going down 
 a hole in the back. We did some first aid work by handing 
 her the young ones one by one, and she carted them back 
 down the hole ! 
 
 ' One of my young clerks did good work in Trones Wood, 
 and has got a M.C. for it. It seems strange, for some reason, 
 to picture fellows like that, whom I have seen nowhere but 
 in an office, in a wood like that ! " 
 
 Diary — " October 10. 
 
 " Moved up to-night, sub-sector of left Sector at Vimy. 
 To Carency, then via Hospital Corner, Redoubt Road, 
 130 Road and 130 Trench to Zouave Valley. 'A,' ' B ' 
 and ' D ' are in, ' C ' in support. Had to carry up dixies. 
 Long confab with CO. in even. . . . (nth Oct.) Rather 
 wet. Long walk round with Palmer to see our men working
 
 VIMY AND LOOS 223 
 
 at fire saps. . . . Rats and mice absolutely vile. The 
 place thick with them and their noise." 
 
 " B.E.F. Trenches, 
 " 9-3° P-ni., Thursday, 12. 10. '16. 
 
 " What would you think of the sight of us at the moment 
 — ' us ' consists of Duncan, Palmer, Thorn, Arthur and 
 myself. Just had a magnificent dinner, cooked by our 
 wonderful Coy. Mess Cook, Coleman, consisting of soup, 
 ration meat, potatoes, cabbage, tin of apricots, toasted 
 cheese, and coffee, sitting in a dug-out, whether an old 
 Bosch one or a French one I do not know- — a sloping passage 
 down, and then widened out, so that where we sit is about 
 12 feet long and six wide, in which are two beds, and a 
 table of a footboard with newspapers for a tablecloth— my 
 gramophone going well, worked by Duncan' — such a good 
 fellow, — with a few records I had borrowed. The gramo- 
 phone I had up by my O.M. Sergeant with the rations to- 
 night. A rare good evening within 300 yards of the Bosch ! 
 The dug-out 6 feet 6 inches high strutted up and about 
 ten feet below ground level — ' minny ' (minnenwerfer) proof. 
 For light two candles and a tin of grease— either fat or 
 slobbered candle-grease — with wick made by my servant. 
 Interrupted now by my Sergeant-Major asking if any orders 
 for the morning, and I say ' nothing fresh, except that Mr. 
 Thorn will give the wind report at 3.30 a.m. and the Coy. 
 will stand to at — (I must not say when).' The wind report 
 is from a gas point of view ; fortunately the wind is in our 
 favour. 
 
 " Now Edwards, O.C. ' D ' Coy., has come in, his Head- 
 quarters being near. Atkinson asks me what time to call 
 me in the morning. 
 
 ' A sentry is detailed to call for any early occasions 
 like ' wind report,' sent by wire to Headquarters by sig- 
 nallers — or ' stand to.' We, in the words of the papers,
 
 224 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ' sprung ' a mine this morning, probably in retaliation for 
 which the Bosch gave us a heavy supply of ' Minnies ' 
 this afternoon — they made me laugh. The trenches I am 
 in are open behind and there is little fear of them provided 
 you keep eyes open and do a sprint if one is coming towards 
 you. They are shot up high, and then turn down, and you 
 can see approximately where they are coming. If sending 
 many over this is safer than dug-outs, which may or may 
 not hold them. We sent a lot over in return, also Stokes 
 gun shells. 
 
 " Last night two Cadets from a training school near St. 
 Omer were posted to my Coy. for 36 hours (young fellows) 
 (Tommies training for commissions) for instruction in 
 practical trench life and arrangements. Both very keen. 
 I took them last night round a bit of our front line in the 
 dark, including looking into a mine crater, of which we 
 hold the near lip, and the Bosch the far lip. Our bit of 
 line is, I think, the ruggedest and messiest I have been in 
 with mine craters, saps out from the front line, mining work 
 with its accompaniment of high masses of sandbags, in 
 which the earth is brought out, through which run trenches, 
 or so-called. They are different to what you picture them, 
 in many parts battered to bits, and full of ' mess.' Looking 
 ahead at any point, hard to tell where Bosch is and where 
 we are ! " 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 
 " 9 p.m., Tuesday, 17. 10. '16. 
 
 " Oh ! If you were here at the moment. Old Palmer, 
 one of our Officers, a splendid fellow, has just expressed, 
 'Well, I'm blessed. I don't know whether it is a mouse or 
 a rat, but one of them is in my bed.' Arthur gets up from 
 where he is sitting (on a bed under the one Palmer is on)
 
 VIMY AND LOOS 225 
 
 with an electric torch, and looks. The mouse or rat turns 
 out to be one of the servants laying out the under bed 
 and just touching the top bed with his back ! . . . 
 
 ' We came ' here ' [Bajolle line down Ersatz] this after- 
 noon by a long communication trench which I have been 
 down several times, taking about an hour. Every time 
 I go up and down it I think of Love Lane, Cromer, along 
 past Colne House, which as a baby was a walk I always 
 seem to have been taken by my nursery maid, but never 
 to the end, and I thought it never had an end ! . . . 
 
 ' Well, I am getting along. I mentioned the ' mouse 
 or rat ' which expression naturally followed on to what 
 we have had the last few nights. I have experienced many 
 mice and rats, but never anything like those outside and 
 inside the dug-out we have been in. A deep one, about 
 twenty-five feet below ground level, going down from the 
 trench by about fifteen long big steps, all timbered, in which 
 we five Officers and my servant slept, he in a small adjunct 
 at the bottom of the steps. The dug-out has two entrances. 
 Rats and mice all over everything, and every one making 
 an awful din by every means, including tearing up newspapers 
 to make nests of. This writing pad I had had sent up by 
 Edge my groom, wrapped in paper, which was half eaten 
 off, and the pad also just suffered, as you will see at the 
 bottom left side. There are a good many real black ones 
 about. It is very disturbing having them sitting on your 
 pillow, touching your head, and washing or scratching them- 
 selves, and at intervals, by mistake no doubt, washing or 
 scratching you, and next minute having to eject one from 
 the commanding position obtained by sitting on your hind 
 leg. In the interval another showers earth over head and 
 face, making itself a new dug-out. 
 
 ' We are more than fit — -trench life always suits me — 
 owing, I think, to the exercise involved, though this has 
 been a pretty real strain. There is far more than enough
 
 226 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 to see to, and you cannot well understand what it means 
 to be responsible for holding a bit of front line when it is 
 new, and a very complicated bit. No wire, owing to its 
 having been blown away, to prevent Bosch from their 
 trenches just by, coming if they wish, to raid or take ours. 
 I don't mean to imply that they could do so, as our young 
 fellows have sharp eyes and quick ears, but I think you 
 would a little get the wind up if you looked over the parapet 
 on a pitch dark, stormy night, and were told the Bosch 
 were 70 or 100 yards off. . . . 
 
 ' . . . I had a rum issue last night, and ordered a ' stand 
 to ' at 6 a.m. chiefly as a means of giving it out, and saw 
 each man drink it. Very necessary to see it drunk, or some- 
 how or other one man may get five or six men's rations. 
 It is the most tremendous thing for the men. This is the 
 first one we have had for a long time. ' ' My word ! doesn't 
 it make my throat lovely and warm ! ' I passed a few men 
 a little time after they had had some ; one handed another 
 a spoon that they had used and remarked with emphasis, 
 ' Here, Bill, smell this ! ' I am going to send this to Bairns- 
 father, as he could make a good picture, and also a remark 
 yesterday by one of my Corporals : ' They can keep their 
 miltary medals and crosses ; them what deserves them 
 don't get them ; what I wants is to get 'ome with my 'ead 
 on. . . .' 
 
 " I have just made a mousetrap out of a large biscuit 
 box. This land is a rare opportunity of learning the nature 
 of rats and mice, as they are all round all the time. Edwards 
 bought six rat-traps yesterday, and caught twenty-eight 
 rats in his dug-out in an hour. Yesterday I had breakfast 
 with one hand, and fed three mice (from my hand) with 
 the other. They came over my bed, a wooden erection 
 about three feet high, adjoining the table. Some nights 
 they are frightfully disturbing."
 
 VIMY AND LOOS 227 
 
 Diary — " October 14, 1916. 
 ' Life is very hard with so much to see to and men often 
 very stupid. Sergeant-Major takes his turn on duty, so 
 is either away or asleep when wanted ! . . ." 
 
 " Sunday, October 15. 
 ; ' More endless hard work with many bombing and other 
 arrangements. Glorious moon again — a heavenly sky and 
 a devilish earth. Lots of ' Minnies ' in afternoon. . . . 
 No man in top of A2 (patrolled at night) or in A3 (held by 
 B. Coy.) as Bosch mine is ready this side of Kennedy crater." 
 
 " October 17. 
 ' A gorgeous day. Relieved at 3.45 p.m. — joy ! After 
 considerable strain of a new bit of line and putting it in 
 order, as always falls to our lot." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " October 19, 1916. 
 ' . . . . This morning I spent some time in an O.P. 
 (Observation Post), a hidden place with just a small slit 
 for the telescope. Very interesting looking down on Bosch- 
 land — here several big valleys. Being a fine day, they 
 have washing hanging up in several places. . . . The 
 moon has been absolutely gorgeous lately." 
 
 Diary — " October 23. 
 ' Went with CO. and Coy. Commanders to see our new 
 area S.E. of Loos ; also Arthur, who is taking over the can- 
 teen there. Bus from Givenchy — for which we were late 
 owing to trying to cut off a corner and badly losing our 
 way in the mist. Weird and rotten piece of line." 
 
 " October 25. 
 " Relieved 11.30 a.m. by 1st Canadians."
 
 228 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 " October 26. 
 "In the evening some of the — — came in for supper 
 after a Court of Enquiry, held in consequence of losing 
 men in their saps. They lost 17, nothing heard of them." 
 
 " October 27. 
 " At 8 a.m. went on to Loos with C.S.M. etc. Coy. ; 
 s'arted at 8.15. Rotten game taking over. Cooked and 
 not much sleep. Arthur turned up to supper and sleep." 
 
 " October 29. 
 " Wired last night. . . . Lots of arrangements and 
 sending down bombs. Bosch nearly got wiring party." 
 
 " B.E.F. Trench 1 [Loos], 
 
 " Noon, Monday, 30. 10. '16. 
 " . . . It is impossible to think of the joy of leave from 
 the place where I now write from. It is a life which no one 
 in England can possibly picture, and I am verily thankful 
 that you cannot experience it. It is almost too severe, 
 the fact of getting Mother's, yours, or other letters, here 
 in the midst of anxiety (as O.C. Coy.), mud, and general 
 vileness — but we survive well." 
 
 " B.E.F. Trench 1. 
 " 12.30 p.m., Tuesday, 31. 10. '16. 
 
 "... Trenches frightfully falling in owing to wet, 
 and real problem to deal with owing to so few men avail- 
 able for work. 
 
 " I and some men of another Coy. who came up for wiring 
 last night nearly got a free ride to Berlin ! Wiring is always 
 a rotten game, as when near up to the Bosch they are bound 
 to see a party in front of the trenches by their ' Very ' 
 lights, which light up like day — far better than ours — 
 which probably means machine-gun or rifle fire against
 
 VIMY AND LOOS 229 
 
 which tumble down if possible (' squatting ' in rabbit lan- 
 guage !) and bless a shell-hole if there is one there. Last 
 night, however, they stopped sending up lights on our front 
 after spotting my parties (I had two out for the purpose 
 of dividing up the men, as otherwise it is true terrors to 
 have a machine-gun spitting into the middle of a big party) 
 and instead they sent out a patrol of eight men to try 
 and cut off some, and they jolly nearly succeeded ! I had 
 just been to one party, and told them to wire further out 
 than they were doing, and then left them to go to the other 
 party. I had hardly got to the other party, who were 
 wiring for the most part on pure white chalk thrown round 
 the sides of a mine crater — exactly like snow, and men on 
 it showing up like men on snow — when my Sergeant from 
 the other parties ran up and said he had tumbled into this 
 Bosch patrol. When I had told him to move forward he 
 had of course taken his ' covering ' party of a few men 
 forward to lie on the ground, and just shown them where 
 to lie, when he saw some men move a few yards from him, 
 and, quite rightly under the circumstances, tumbled back 
 with the others into the trench, but one of the covering 
 party had not done so. As the Bosch were on each side 
 of him, though he was in a shallow shell-hole, this man of 
 the covering party — I say ' man,' but rather boy — had 
 lain still in what was fortunately a small shell-hole. I sent 
 out a patrol and found him there, which gave me, as you 
 can imagine, one of the most joyful moments I can remember. 
 I felt sure they had got him. Men came back torn to bits, 
 getting over the small amount of wire there was there, and 
 now on it hangs the greater part of a man's shorts, which 
 they are still wearing. When I left that party I must 
 have been within a few yards of this patrol, and it was 
 lucky they did not get the lot of us, though they were 
 running a big risk in their enterprise. It was a bad night, 
 pitch dark, and heavy rain. If they had got that man I
 
 230 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 should have felt it a very bad job, as they would have 
 identified the Regiment, besides scoring one up. 
 
 " So you see life is exciting, in fact I have just come in 
 from my dug-out owing to half-a-dozen ' Minnies ' being 
 just plumped from two directions — -the Bosch line goes 
 pretty much round us — on to where I was arranging for 
 certain sand-bags to be dumped, which they could see. 
 These are great big things which you see for a few seconds 
 falling from the skies, but they and we have every assort- 
 ment of these things." 
 
 "... When I came in at midnight- — my armament on 
 those occasions is a bomb in one pocket and revolver in 
 another — I had the great joy of sitting down and reading 
 yours and Ros' letters." 
 
 " B.E.F., Trench i, 
 " 4.30 p.m., 1. 11. 16. 
 
 " Last night got through very satisfactory work. Coming 
 back from our front line about 10 p.m. I told one of our 
 Stokes guns to fire on Bosch front line just two shots, one 
 on each of two places. I saw the first one burst beautifully 
 about twenty feet above the ground, and the second on 
 the ground (the fuzes are about twelve seconds) and then 
 went on to my dug-out. One of my Officers who was on 
 duty in the front line told me, when he came in, that the 
 first one had burst immediately above about a dozen Bosch 
 working outside their trench, scattering them pell-mell ! 
 Isn't it a strange life ! 
 
 " This life is not pleasant, but none the less extremely 
 fascinating. 
 
 " So interesting, the Bosch things we are now using 
 which we captured on the Somme push." 
 
 " Billets, 
 " 5 p.m., Thursday, 2. 11. '16. 
 " I am in one of those times of bliss which it is hard to
 
 VIMY AND LOOS 231 
 
 describe, but which I expect you know the feeling of in a 
 return to home with a welcome there, and every home 
 comfort ! 
 
 " I left a certain place, 1 neither residential, nor one that 
 you would choose for a holiday, this morning ; a vile walk 
 down two and a half miles of trench, fallen in in several 
 places. At one place I looked up to see where I (and my 
 Sergeant-Major) had got to, and what the country was like, 
 and there, like chickens for tameness, was the most lovely 
 covey of sixteen partridges, quite unfrightenable, and just 
 strutting about within a few yards, surprised at seeing a 
 human being, it being land which no one traversed except 
 by deep trenches. Every feather looked so beautiful. 
 Then after a time we got out, and by means of my compass 
 and map made out where we were — big open country, no 
 hedges, only wide expanses of rough ground, with shell- 
 torn coal-mines, sidings, etc. From there we went, after a 
 bit of Leicester chocolate and a cigarette, above ground to 
 a certain point where Officers' horses were meeting them, 
 and right glad I was to give my groom my pack and the 
 rest of the baggage round my shoulders to carry for me, 
 and to get Bummy to take me to my billet, though only 
 about three-quarters of a mile off. 
 
 " When I got to Bummy I put on my Burberry, wet and 
 muddy though it was, as- I felt that somehow my mud- 
 covered clothes were too bad for the ' public ' eye, even 
 near the Front. 
 
 "... It is, as you can understand, like getting into 
 another world after several days of trench life, to have my 
 horse to meet me at one point, then round the corner my 
 O.M.-Sergeant, and then to come into this clean cottage 
 about 3 p.m. where my valise and kit were all ready, and 
 lunch, and very soon a fire going in the small projecting 
 stove. After that to change into clean and dry things, 
 
 1 Trenches at Loos. 
 
 Q
 
 2^2 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 o 
 
 and have a wash, and then sit down to write to you, during 
 which your letter of Monday the 30th comes in. . . . 
 
 " Plenty of room now to empty out pockets, and sort 
 up letters, papers, and clothes, and now soon to sit in a 
 comfortable chair, and read yesterday's Times by the fire ! 
 
 " The only trouble is that my men (who are in huts) 
 have, to the number of 26, to act as guards at once. It is 
 hard to be turned straight on to that, but active service 
 makes it necessary. To-morrow morning they will get 
 baths, and myself too, after many days with no more than 
 my jacket off. " 
 
 " November 6, 1916. 
 "... I have just been a most refreshing half-hour 
 gallop on Bummy on some stubble. 
 
 "... The Kippers were greatest joy and change to the 
 men especially as they arrived when we were in trenches. 
 The men have just had issued most beautiful ' leather 
 erkins.' Really long weather waistcoats, the same as last 
 year, except that these are lined— also soon, I believe, 
 going to have the same mackintosh caps as last year. The 
 only trouble is the load it means for them to carry. The 
 men are wonderfully provided for. ... A football match 
 yesterday, C. Coy. v. H.Qrs., ending in a draw ! There is 
 a boxing tournament to-night." 
 
 Diary — " November 6. 
 " Arthur says that to-day he buried two Buffs shot 
 through one of them not answering when challenged." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " B.E.F., Trench 1, 
 " 5 p.m., Tuesday, 14. II. '16. 
 " Trenches are good friends of mine and I am beginning 
 to know them well. 
 
 " The first two or three days in trenches, especially if
 
 VIMY AND LOOS 233 
 
 new ones, are hard work, but other than this I feel much 
 at home in them. There is a great charm in tumbling into 
 or out of bed without any worry of taking off or putting 
 on clothes. 
 
 ' This morning, half a mile to our left on some ground 
 which I could see, some heavy rifle fire commenced and 
 made me wonder if the Bosch were attacking, when I saw 
 a flock of geese flying high over that part in their usual V 
 formation. The rifle fire was Bosch and us firing at the 
 same time at them ! It is stated that one was brought 
 down in our lines. I have once or twice seen geese flying 
 high in the same direction." 
 
 To A. G. H. 
 
 " 3rd R.B., B.E.F., 
 " November 20, 1916. 
 
 ' . . . There is no doubt I, according to family ways, 
 make too heavy weather of trench life by taking to heart 
 too much until things are as much in order as is reasonably 
 possible. 
 
 ' I certainly do not again want to be more cooked than 
 I was the first three days of each of the last two tours of 
 trenches ! This is due to not making other Officers respon- 
 sible for different things, but the two I have have not had 
 sufficient experience to do so, and also it is not in me to 
 detail an Officer for dangerous work like wiring, etc. If I 
 consider it has to be done, I supervise it — quite wrong, but 
 there it is ! 
 
 " I sadly miss the splendid Officers I had before the losses 
 on the Somme — each one of the four was far better than 
 I. It is the absence of support such as theirs which hits 
 particularly hard, as well as of course the invaluable N.C.O.'s 
 who have gone. 
 
 ' It is inexplicable to me how Staff jobs are given to men
 
 234 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 with no trench experience. The absence of that experience 
 is continuously obvious." 
 
 Diary — "November 21. 
 "Walked with Boscy to H.Ors. where told my leave is 
 from to-morrow (not 24th as I thought), so I go to-night 
 and now write this at Les Brebis. Sent a wire home from 
 Orderly Room. . . . Walked to Mazingarbe and got the 
 9.30 p.m. bus to Bethune. Waited in hotel for 11.30 p.m. 
 train. Train full and cold, not much sleep." 
 
 " November 22. 
 " Boat left Boulogne 9.30 a.m. Good crossing. Came 
 down by 2.53 p.m. train from Town. Mother and Ros. 
 met me. A great welcome."
 
 XII 
 
 STAFF WORK WITH THE 73rd BRIGADE 
 
 December, 1916-FEBRUARY, 1917. 
 
 ANDREW was back in France again on December 3, 
 1916. On December 4 he joined the Staff of the 
 73rd Infantry Brigade, then at Les Brebis near Loos, as 
 a ' learner ' of a Staff Captain's duties. 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " 3rd R.B., 
 " 2 p.m., Monday, 4. 12. '16. 
 " I went direct to our Q.M. Stores, and then walked to 
 Battalion H.O.'s and saw Pigot, who confirmed what had 
 been told me by two Officers, who were going on leave as 
 I got to railhead, that I was to go to the 73rd Brigade, 
 which is one of the Brigades in our Division. I lunched at 
 H.Q.'s and then went on from there. My job appears to 
 be assistant Staff Captain. The Brigadier I know well, 
 but I have not seen him yet. I will give you my address 
 to-morrow. Till you hear this address, write to me as 
 before." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " 73rd I. Brigade, 
 "6 p.m., Tuesday, 5. 12. '16. 
 " At the moment, I feel really ' Company sick,' and long 
 far beyond words to be back with men whom I have such 
 
 235
 
 236 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 a tremendous admiration for, and some of whom I feel I 
 deeply love. . . . On the other hand, I think trench life 
 had become for me a very great strain, not only from the 
 point of view of wondering if the line was being held as 
 well as possible, but also owing to the untold effort of 
 detailing men for dangerous work, such as wiring or patrol. 
 This would not have mattered, except that the nerve strain 
 sometimes became so great, chiefly owing to want of sleep, 
 that I wondered if I was able to deal with any complicated 
 position that might arise. 
 
 " I feel at present very bereft, as in all other ways trench 
 life suits me so far better than a house and comfortable 
 mess, such as I have at present. 
 
 ' I feel God has been so good to me all my time in the 
 Army, and now again such a magnificent leave. 
 
 ' I had to stay a night at Boulogne (Louvre Hotel). 
 If you ever get there, make a point of getting the Proprietor's 
 small daughter of about fifteen to play the piano, and to 
 sing — I don't think I ever heard any one perform so superbly 
 as she did on a small piano in a writing-room where she 
 sometimes walked in and carried on." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " ii a.m., 5. 12. '16. 
 ' They seem an excellent lot of fellows here, and I hope 
 to soon get into things, though at present all is fairly strange. 
 
 " The Staff Captain is Captain Norrie, who does both 
 ' A ' and ' ' branches. ' A ' includes Administration and 
 Discipline, and ' Q ' Supplies (rations, R.E. material, and 
 ammunition) . 
 
 " I feel very sad at leaving the Company without prospect 
 of return, especially when those of the men I have seen all 
 give such a warm though silent welcome — silent till spoken 
 to!
 
 STAFF WORK WITH THE 73RD BRIGADE 237 
 
 " The Bosch did a raid last night at 1 a.m. on our (i.e. 
 the 73rd) front, but got the worst of it, I am glad to say." 
 
 Diary — " December 6. 
 " The Bosch on Monday 1 a.m. raided the Leinsters, but 
 got the worst of it and left a prisoner (wounded)." 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 " 2.15 p.m., Sunday, 10. 12. '16. 
 
 " A different Sunday to yours. Ordinary office work, 
 consisting chiefly of a Court Martial. The labour in getting 
 these Court Martials together is tremendous, owing to wit- 
 nesses being far distant. For this one, three from Boulogne, 
 and two from other Divisions called by the accused. The 
 CM. was put off till to-day owing to these two being called, 
 but neither turned up, one being in England, so the Court 
 had to adjourn without decision. Then last night the 
 President of Court could not leave his Battalion, so new 
 President had to be got. 
 
 "It seems hardly practicable to give such full justice as 
 this out here. It was very difficult for any of the members 
 to attend. 
 
 " All well here, and a bright day." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 "B.E.F., 
 " 4 p.m., Monday, 11. 12. '16. 
 
 • ■••••■• 
 
 " Yesterday I went to see my old Company. I saw a 
 certain number of the men, and a great joy it was too. I 
 also had tea in a very cramped little dug-out which I have 
 lived in, and know well. The best tea that I have had since 
 I got back, in that there were only two cups available, and 
 the tea made and brought in a canteen. I do not like tea
 
 238 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 in a room with electric light and china cups nearly so much ! 
 " I find the men are very grateful for any knits which 
 may be sent, and including socks, which I made a mistake in 
 thinking they were well provided with. Any that are sent 
 me, I shall enjoy to send up to them." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 "B.E.F., 
 " December 14, '16. 
 
 " I am glad you appreciate how much I feel being absent 
 from the Coy. It is indeed most troublous to me, but I 
 think it best, anyhow for the present, from every point of 
 view. ... It is, though, very hard to think of the men 
 in the trenches with attendant risks, and not be with them. 
 
 " I can hardly think that I can ever become efficient for 
 Staff work, as it has sides to it which are not in my line, 
 but should they give me an appointment, I do trust it will 
 not be something involving the wearing of ' red,' of which 
 I have a vast horror, but I suppose it will. . . . 
 
 " If it was not for Mother and Father, (I don't mind a bit 
 about you !) I don't feel I could stand being situated as I 
 am, and not sharing trench risks with the Coy. ; but anyhow 
 I may get back some day. 
 
 " Having this job, which the General regards as,- — and 
 indeed it is, — very important, he has arranged for me again 
 to be Temporary Captain, which I am, though without 
 Captain's pay." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 "B.E.F., 
 " December 14, 1916. 
 "... I sit for work in a room with the Brigadier, 
 Brigade-Major Howlett, and Staff Captain Norrie. The 
 mess is in a house behind; where I and others also sleep. 
 We seldom leave the office till pretty late at night."
 
 STAFF WORK WITH THE 73RD BRIGADE 239 
 
 " December 16, 1916. 
 
 • ••*•*•• 
 
 " There are two such jolly black puppies about 9 or 10 
 weeks old belonging to our Mess. They live in the garden 
 round the house and are a real tonic to talk to — unaffected 
 by war, just ordinary charming pups ! " 
 
 Diary — " December 24, 1916. 
 " A very busy day in the office all day. In evening dined 
 with C. Coy. R.B. at house with white shutters in Mazin- 
 garbe. Bridgeman, Patey, and Northcroft there, a real 
 joy." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 " Christmas Day, 
 " Monday, 9.15 a.m., 25. 12. '16. 
 
 " I have had two or three rides lately, going up to a cer- 
 tain part, though not able to ride the whole way, as within 
 sight of Bosch, but wonderful to be able to get as far as 
 is done. This is owing to the cover a certain village street 
 gives. There are often hurdles or canvas screens along 
 sides of roads in places where traffic can otherwise be seen 
 by the Bosch. I rode the General's little horse the other 
 day, such a beauty. I wished Ros. had it. 
 
 " I have had two ripping good evenings with the R.B. 
 lately. First one with ' A ' and ' D ' Coys, and last night 
 with ' C ' Coy ; all very genial and in good form. They 
 are now only about i£ miles from where I am." 
 
 Diary — " Christmas Day, 1916. 
 " At 7.30 p.m. dined with the R.B.'s at Mazingarbe — 
 17 Officers there. Beautiful room and dinner. A most 
 ripping evening. I thought of our Christmas dinners last 
 year ; who will there be next year and where will it be ? '
 
 240 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " 3 p.m., Wednesday, 27. 12. '16. 
 
 " I take it as a compliment being now acting Staff Cap- 
 tain while Norrie has gone away, as it means a lot of respon- 
 sibility. The work varies from day to day, but there are 
 several things to get on with which mean a lot of time and 
 working out, especially Appendices to defence scheme. I 
 was going hard all yesterday till 12 midnight, which is 
 usually the time we knock off in the office, work starting 
 about 9.30 a.m. When I got back to bed about 12.30 
 the firing was heavy, so I got up at 1 to get to the telephone 
 to see if anything special was on, then at 3.30 a.m. an 
 Orderly stirred me up with a message, so you see there is 
 plenty moving. It is extremely interesting, and I enjoy 
 it much. I only hope the Brigade Major won't get sick 
 from having too much on him. He is a charming fellow, 
 but far from well. He and the Brigadier, General Dugan, 
 are a great deal up the line, often for most of the day, which 
 means my seeing the various Artillery and other Officers 
 who come in, and taking messages or arranging things for 
 them. Or some Battalion ringing up, wanting Artillery 
 retaliation, etc." 
 
 To his Brother Arthur. 
 
 ' Headquarters, 
 " 73rd Infantry Brigade, B.E.F., 
 
 " December 29, 1916. 
 
 "I do feel torn asunder in not being in the trenches, 
 but on the other hand I think best that I am not as the 
 strain is too great now that Brown, Venner, Chamberlain 
 and Vernede have gone. I would revel in it if they were then* 
 to be with me."
 
 STAFF WORK WITH THE 73RD BRIGADE 241 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 " H.Qs., 3rd Infantry Brigade, B.E.F., 
 
 " December 21, 1916. 
 ' I wonder when Sabbaths will return again. I should 
 dearly love a day's rest, but I struggle along in spite of it 
 being Sunday. I am glad to be out of trenches for a bit, 
 as I don't think I could stand the strain as things are at 
 present, and without any of the old time support of the 
 old time Officers. The trenches are, of course, vile from 
 this wet. There is an Officer in where I write now who says 
 he got stuck yesterday, and if he had not had a servant 
 he would be there still in the trench. The effort comes in 
 the discouraging amount of work to do, and the men's 
 vitality being so low, and hence so difficult to make it 
 pleasant. A man here the other day killed himself from 
 overwork in the trenches. He refused to go sick till he 
 could not help himself, and then died soon after he got 
 down. A noble character to stick it thus." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " Headquarters, 
 " 73rd Infantry Brigade, 
 
 " January 1, 1917. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 ' Mother asks what a ' Camouflet ' is. It is a mine blown 
 up with the purpose of blowing in an enemy's mine-gallery. 
 Usually it does not break the surface of the ground, but 
 of course it may according to the depth it is and the amount 
 of explosives used. Usually it is a race between ourselves 
 and the enemy as to who shall blow first. They know they 
 are near one another and both intending to blow the other, 
 and when one is ready they listen for work in the other, 
 in order to blow up the gallery when men are in it. It 
 therefore becomes a time of great excitement for the miners. 
 
 ' , . . Very glad Arthur has six weeks' leave. I don't
 
 242 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 think you fully realize how nobly he did on the Somme. 
 His work in the Dressing Stations was splendid, and done 
 in places under heavy fire, also coming up to see me in the 
 line we had taken that day, which meant a very nasty 
 journe}'." 
 
 Diary — "January 10, 1917. 
 ' Saw the Leinsters raiding party paraded by the Church 
 for inspection. Keenly felt the certainty that some would 
 be killed and many wounded in a few hours' time. The 
 General and Brigade-Major went up to Leinster H.Q's. 
 The left party got in, and the right also after first being 
 driven back. They got eight prisoners, killed several 
 and bombed dug-outs ; our casualties 19. Beautiful arrange- 
 ments with all guns, Stokes, smoke, lachrymatory, etc. ; 
 great number of wire-cutting shells and some torpedoes. . . . 
 Comfort to have it over. Very tantalizing being in office 
 while it was going on." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Friday, 12. 1. '17, 5 p.m. 
 
 ' A very busy day all to-day, but interesting. 
 
 ' I ought to be able to speak on the telephone and sign 
 my name all right soon from the experience I have had ! 
 My great trouble is not speaking French, all the time wanted 
 here, and especially as a Staff Captain. Do encourage all 
 your married children to have a French governess or nurse- 
 maid. When your grandchildren fight in the next war they 
 will thank you. 
 
 " A doctor now here came a long way to give evidence 
 as to the sanity or otherwise of a man up for Court-Martial. 
 It is my job to find him a billet." 
 
 ' 3.30 p.m., Sunday, 14. 1. '17. 
 ' Not so much doing to-day, which is good, especially
 
 STAFF WORK WITH THE 73RD BRIGADE 243 
 
 to-day being Sunday. Conferences are ordinary routine, 
 not pious ones but ones for consideration of how best to 
 beat the Bosch. In all the vileness of war, there is a wonder- 
 ful fascination in tactics to adopt, and in new inventions 
 or improvements. There is wonderful confidence here, 
 which has a splendid moral effect, which the Bosch feel, 
 I think." 
 
 Diary — " January 17. 
 " Canadians (800) raided Bosch and got 100 prisoners, 
 one machine-gun, one trench-mortar. Casualties 19. The 
 raid was at 7.30 a.m. after being put off several days. „ Code 
 words used ' Asquith ' and ' Lloyd George,' the last=OK, 
 i.e. ' conditions suitable.' Heavy snow in night." 
 
 " January 21. 
 " Middlesex raided at 7.30 a.m. With mobile charges 
 blew in 2 dug-outs and a M.-G. position. Our casualties 
 9, and 1 Officer missing. We took three prisoners. Our 
 smoke barrage and smoke feint and tear shells worked well. 
 . . . Gave brandy to one of black pups which has dis- 
 temper." 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 " 5 p.m., Sunday, 21. 1. '17. 
 
 " I have felt so ashamed of my few lines of newsless scrawl 
 lately, but both lack of time and of news have stopped 
 anything decent in the way of letters ! 
 
 " I still spend most of my time in a high square room, 
 with dusty distempered walls, and very dusty spiders' webs 
 all round the top — windows with holes in the glass (these 
 covered up with bits of paper). A good globe of electric 
 light in the centre of the ceiling, and radiator pipes for 
 warmth, so not badly off. Plenty of maps, returns, etc., 
 round the walls— the Brigadier, Brigade-Major and myself
 
 244 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 sit in it — table very untidy according to custom of mankind, 
 and strewn with papers, as you may imagine. 
 
 " I wish I could tell you of the several events of great 
 interest which have been happening here, but am prevented. 
 
 " The other day I was reading an extremely interesting 
 Bosch account of their defence last summer of a certain 
 place on the Somme. The account was, I suppose, captured 
 somewhere. Everything magnificently organized. They 
 paid great credit to the way we attacked. 
 
 ' This hard frost is a great change, and relieves the deep 
 mud on the roads that there has been. 
 
 " Another weird Sunday, and hard to realize. I wonder 
 when I shall next get to a Service." 
 
 " B.E.F., 
 " 5 p.m., Tuesday, 23. 1. '17. 
 
 • ■•••••• 
 
 " I doctored up the other night, and put in a warm room 
 with covering round it, one of the little black pups which 
 has distemper. It is very sad to see a ripping little thing, 
 full of licks and life suddenly begin to waste, and become 
 altogether sorry for itself. I don't know any such real joy 
 as to see pups about. 
 
 "I am glad to say a learner for Staff work — a very nice 
 Captain — has come to-day, so I shall get some help. It is 
 very seldom that a Staff Captain is on his own as I have 
 been, and there is no doubt it has been far too much for 
 my liking." 
 
 Diary — 'January 24. 
 
 " The Bosch raided us at 3 a.m. Only a few got in and 
 left 1 Officer and 5 men dead in our trench. We had 4 
 killed and 6 wounded. They also left a prisoner. 
 
 " Feeling very cooked all day, especially owing to move 
 arrangements, but none the less worked on till 12.30 a.m."
 
 STAFF WORK WITH THE 73RD BRIGADE 245 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 "B.E.F., 
 " 5 p.m., Saturday, 27. I. '17. 
 " No letters yesterday or to-day, and I wrote none yester- 
 day ; life was impossible in the extreme. To-day work 
 has eased off a bit, which is a mercy. 
 
 " We still have very heavy frosts. Several of the Officers 
 on Division and Corps Staff are Harrovians, and were with 
 me there. If you are writing to Harry, ask him if he 
 remembers Kay, also Pope and Sandilands (these two were 
 in Bowen's house), also Boyd Rochford. 
 
 "... I asked Sandilands if he remembered the scrum 
 our house had with theirs outside his house, which he did 
 well ! " 
 
 " 5 p.m., Sunday, 28. 1. '17. 
 
 ' Thanks for Cox and Co.'s letter. It matters little to 
 me whether I am a Lieutenant or a Captain, as long as you 
 don't mind ! (Cox classes him as Lieutenant.) 
 
 ' It is rather strange being reduced while undertaking 
 what is recognized as being a very Senior Captain's show, 
 and in ordinary way involving pay of £400 per annum and 
 two horses, and many other things." 
 
 Diary — "January 30. 
 ' Not quite so cold. Busy day and not feeling very 
 grand. Saw a half-starved collie in afternoon and wished 
 I could have shot it." 
 
 " January 31. 
 ' Slept night 3ist-ist in office on table to be near tele- 
 phone." 
 
 " February 2. 
 ' To-day has been the ' Mission ' and kept throughout 
 the Army as a Sunday. The idea is to show men what we
 
 246 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 are fighting for and that Christianity should come into it. 
 This afternoon went to hear the Rev. H. W. Blackburne 
 (A.C.G. of 1st Army), who speaks well." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Monday, 5. 2. '17, 5 p.m. 
 " Arthur tells of Ros. as a splendid pigeon shot. This 
 is great, and gives me visions of lying up for them together, 
 that is if I get this ' special leave, ' as is very probable appa- 
 rently. I might get it any time after the 8th." 
 
 " Tuesday, 6. 2. '17, 5 p.m. 
 
 " It would have interested you to see all the Battalion's 
 rations, and other units attached to this Brigade, including 
 also fodder for horses, dumped in their own heaps in a line, 
 and then loaded in G.S. waggons. Also the coal and wood 
 dump near by from which units drew their rations. Such 
 good ones too. 
 
 " Then work at the Office, and then up the line to see 
 certain Battalions, and lunched with the Brigade-Major 
 of another Brigade and Division, whom I had to discuss 
 certain matters with. Then back here, and then a stroll 
 round to see other people on certain matters, so that by 
 now a good deal has collected to deal with. 
 . " No news of leave at present." 
 
 Diary — " February 3. 
 " Two F.G.C.M.'s (Field General Court Martial). In 
 one case the verdict ' guilty ' and sentence ' death ' ; but 
 he will for certain get off. . . . The General applied to 
 Division for one month's leave for me." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " February 8, 1917. 
 " Just a line to say I have been granted a long ' leave.'
 
 STAFF WORK WITH THE 73RD BRIGADE 247 
 
 I am due to leave to-night, but Brigade have asked me to 
 stay on a few days." 
 
 The telegram to say he was coming home on leave arrived 
 at Easneye late at night and his brother Arthur (also home on 
 leave from France) took the car down to meet the train. 
 In his hurry he forgot that the Lodge gates were closed and 
 dashed right through them, mercifully not hurting either 
 himself or the Chauffeur and doing remarkably little damage 
 to the car. 
 
 Andrew describes in his Diary his bitterly cold journey 
 from Bethune to Boulogne, and then across, and finally 
 his midnight arrival. " Great welcome at Easneye. Mother, 
 Father, Ros., Esme all at the door in the cold. Provisions 
 all ready and fire in room. What love and welcome . . . 
 who can express their value ? " 
 
 K
 
 XIII 
 VIMY RIDGE 
 
 March-April, 1917. 
 
 DURING his month's leave in England (Feb.-March, 
 1 91 7) Andrew was somewhat exercised in his mind 
 as to whether he ought to continue Staff work or return 
 to the Battalion. His own personal wish was strongly 
 for the latter course. His family, on the other hand, 
 doubted whether it was physically possible for him to stand 
 much more of front line wear and tear, after all he had 
 endured during the past two years, and felt moreover that 
 all his fighting experience both fitted him for and justified 
 him in doing work on the Staff. 
 
 To this question, and other matters, the following letters 
 and Diary entries refer : 
 
 Diary — " February 12, 191 7. (At Easneye.) 
 
 " Shot 2 rabbits and a cock. ... In afternoon Arthur 
 and I bicycled to Bonnington's ; no one in, so on to Huns- 
 don Bury (the old home of their childhood). Walked into 
 house and all round the wood. Saw all the old rabbit- 
 holes ! No heat in hot-house so spiders dead. They have 
 been breeding there these 24 years." 1 
 
 1 Cf. p. 2 above. 
 248
 
 VIMY RIDGE 249 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Bowden Hall, 
 " February 25, 1917. 
 ' . . . The suggestion of D. J. that I should accept the 
 Staff Captaincy of 1st Corps Heavy Artillery is tempting 
 and of Staff jobs I should prefer this to any, but my wish 
 is to get back to the Battalion. I only consider the other 
 because I know your preference for my having Staff work, 
 but I know your real self would wish me to be where I 
 can be of most use, which I am confident is with the Batta- 
 lion. ... Of course P. may have made Battalion arrange- 
 ments by which he does not want me ; in this case I would 
 accept the Heavy Artillery. I have replied accordingly. 
 
 To a Friend. 
 
 " Easneye, 
 
 " March 1, 1917. 
 
 " Bricks have been falling heavily on my head here. I 
 
 feel innocent, but have no witnesses for my defence. Arthur 
 
 writes volumes about my at all costs sticking to Staff work, 
 
 as I cannot stand trenches, which the family swallow in 
 
 gulps. . . . The sad part is that I am undutiful enough 
 
 for none of these things to move me. I confess I am a 
 
 feeble creature to be once knocked over by trench life and 
 
 once by Staff life, but think it good for the Bosch to show 
 
 them that I can still dodge their Minnies and bullets." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " Easneye, Ware, 
 
 " March 6, 1917. 
 " This morning I set nine snares below kitchen garden, 
 showing Sandy the art, then helped Sheppard 1 binding under- 
 wood, then shot spinney by Hilton's with Sheppard and 
 his men, and got one rabbit and one waterhen, for which 
 1 Died in the London Hospital, Nov. 19 iS.
 
 250 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 two I tossed up as to which should go to which man. In 
 afternoon walked with Mother to Widbury Cottages, on 
 way back got two rabbits. One, apparently lightly hit, 
 died just within reach, in a hole. This often happens, rs 
 you know, I am going to have a P.M. on it." 
 
 To his Sister Margaret. 
 
 ' Easneye, 
 " March 9, 1917. 
 " Here's a parcel for you of home-made stuff. The rabbit 
 I snared last night just below the kitchen garden ; the 
 three pigeons were got by Uncle Geoff and myself last night, 
 together with seven others. I wish you had been with us. 
 I got some rippers. 
 
 " Sad to relate, I go to Grosvenor Hotel to-morrow, and 
 leave on Sunday." 
 
 To his Sister Dorothy. 
 
 " Easneye, Ware, 
 " Thursday, March 9, '17. 
 
 " I never answered your ripping letter of Feb. 26, asking 
 me to stick to Staff rather than Battalion work. I am 
 afraid I have not acted on it, but have instead done my 
 level best to get back to the Battalion. ... I have now 
 had some of that which, with an excellent leave, has given 
 me a change which there was no question I absolutely 
 needed. . . . And so I think it right to get back. 
 
 " Also I love being with the men, and can't stand being 
 comparatively away from the risks and vileness, which they 
 have to be in. At present I have heard nothing, though I 
 have written to Division, Brigade and Battalion, to say I 
 would like to go back to R.B. unless they are full up." 
 
 Diary — ■" March 8 (at Easneye). 
 ' Some snow in night. . . . Shot pigeons after tea
 
 VIMY RIDGE 251 
 
 and got ten — all real good ones. Total bag for day — -2 
 cocks, 7 rabbits (Sandy got 4) and 10 pigeons." 
 
 The present writer can testify that the expression " all 
 real good ones " is not at all beside the mark ! He has 
 constantly seen Andrew bring down wondei fully " tall ' 
 birds, grouse and pheasants as well as pigeons. 
 
 On March 11 he was back in France once more. 
 
 Diary — " March 12. 
 
 ' Reached the Brigade, and saw the General who has 
 
 received no orders for me yet. . . . The Town Major 
 
 regrets he has no cellar available as a billet at present ! 
 
 Two shells came over Bethune Station just after I arrived." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 "5 p.m., 14. 3. '17. 
 " (At Ablain St. Nazaire). 
 
 " I have time for a line, waiting for breakfast, after 
 which I shall go across country about three miles to a 
 place where I shall be quartered for a time. They have 
 given me the title of ' Defence Officer, ' for which I am 
 responsible for defences of certain important ground (The 
 Lorette Ridge). 
 
 "With this job I shall be living in turn with four different 
 Battalions, and no longer at Brigade, though not many 
 miles from it. 
 
 " How I am to tell you to address letters I am not yet 
 sure. An Officer here suggests my having an Army post- 
 office to myself. 
 
 " When I got to railhead the Huns gave me a welcome 
 by a salute of two shells put a little way over the Station. 
 One broke a little glass in the Station. 
 
 " My abode in my new quarters will probably be some- 
 where underground. When I got here it was somewhat 
 strange after ' billets ' in England to be told ' I am afraid
 
 252 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 there is no cellar available for you,' by which I instead had 
 what was much more comfortable, a ground-floor room 
 shared with Evitt. They have hardly shelled this place 
 where we are for a long time, but it is expected that they 
 will do so soon, and hence a cellar is safer than above 
 ground." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " 4 p.m., 15. 3. 1917. 
 
 "... The men whom I have specially under my orders 
 (22, composed of men from four Battalions) have gone up 
 to work on certain muddy trenches. . . . 
 
 " I changed my dug-out last night for another little 
 underground place, which I have to myself. My servant 
 (Smith) who is a great comfort, as being very keen to do 
 anything, said he was going to make a palace of it, and 
 after he had swept it out, and got my things in he said it 
 was a dream. I must say he had done it very well by moving 
 a wire bed in, and putting down sandbags and a strip of 
 carpet he had brought here with him, also Christmas cards, 
 etc., on the walls. Another man made me a table out of 
 two sugar boxes. 
 
 " I have not been sleeping well the last few nights, but 
 will soon get into it when I get used to my dug-out, and my 
 work gets into running order. No mortal man could have 
 slept for an hour from about 3.30 a.m. with guns firing over 
 where I was from a few yards off ! " 
 
 Diary — " March 14. 
 " The Middlesex are the Battalion just now in Brigade 
 reserve so I fix up with their H.Q.'s. . . . Went to ' D ' 
 Coy. 3 p.m. and had a walk round with Davis till 5.15 p.m. 
 Mud up to knees in places. A vile land indeed." 
 
 " March 15. 
 " Had a dug-out with two B. Coy. Officers — excellent
 
 VIMY RIDGE 25? 
 
 j 
 
 fellows. They and every one here, including the men, are 
 splendidly bright. ... I have 20 men and 2 N.C.O.'s 
 of the four Battalions under me for work on the defences ; 
 5 of these reported at 10.30 a.m. and I took them up Maestro 
 Line. ... In afternoon sent men to learn Bouvigny 
 Wood and others I took up Spur Alley, etc., nearly getting 
 caught in the dark." 
 
 " 4 p.m., Saturday, 17. 3. '17. 
 
 " My job is really delightful, and I am most comfortable. 
 I have just been censoring the men's letters, and find that 
 they too enjoy what they are doing with me. I and they 
 are out a great deal of the day, and have especially lately 
 had a lot of walking and hill-climbing, also muddy trench 
 walking ; in one place this morning in water to only just 
 below the top of my high boots. 
 
 " I am in a very safe place, some way behind the front 
 lines, so you can think of me without worry. It is such 
 luck too being stationary, and not moving every few days. 
 The only trouble is that I have still not settled down to 
 sleep very well, but I am extremely fit myself, and this 
 will soon come. It is a joy to be so much out of doors. 
 
 " I should like to have some other Officer with me to 
 work together and discuss matters and arrangements 
 necessary to defences, instead of being on my own. This 
 may come, but at present nothing doing. The men are 
 entering into the work well, and getting very keen about 
 it." 
 
 Diary — " March 18 {Sunday). 
 
 " Slept better. Men worked on Spur Alley, then I took 
 
 them to Arras Rd. via Ablain trench. ... At 5.30 p.m. 
 
 inspected kit, after which had a short service. News this 
 
 morning of fall of Bapaume and good French advance . . .
 
 254 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 Bosch tried to get me near ration dump with 3 H.E.'s. . . . 
 What an unhealthy place this becomes, and more so every 
 day." 
 
 " 10 a.m., 18. 3. '17. 
 
 " Splendid drying weather here the last few days. Lots 
 of walking round yesterday morning, and again starting at 
 4.45 p.m. going up a hillside in ' dead ground,' i.e. hidden 
 from the Bosch, then into a long trench, and arriving, as 
 I aimed for, at a certain part at 6.15 p.m., when, being 
 dusk, I could get above ground and see the lie of things, 
 as I wanted to do. ' I ' consisted of myself and a party 
 of twenty-two men. Several pairs of partridges about, 
 and a snipe came in quite near me in the dark." 
 
 " 3.15 p.m. 
 
 "... I almost found a robin's nest this morning in a 
 trench, as it flew out from the riveting as I passed, and 
 again from the same place when I returned 20 minutes 
 later. Unfortunately I was in a hurry so could not have a 
 good look." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " March 22, 1917. 
 
 "... Yesterday I was out on the hill from 11 a.m. to 
 4.30. A most wonderfully clear afternoon and wonderful 
 to look back miles into Bosch land. Our shells bursting 
 over various parts. Bosch trains and factories, etc. , carrying 
 on. I have been up again this morning and almost equally 
 clear between some snow storms. ... I spend most of 
 my time in gum boots. My wanderings take me down 
 disused trenches with mud to the tops of boots occasionally. 
 It is pretty hard going, as you may guess, but like a Scotch 
 hill it keeps me fit."
 
 VIMY RIDGE 255 
 
 " 3 p.m., Friday, 23. 3. '17. 
 
 " I am getting on fine, and am very fit. 
 
 ' Every one extremely genial, and being with different 
 Battalions is interesting — some muddlers getting nothing 
 done, others (the Regulars as a rule) with such a different 
 and businesslike feel about them. 
 
 ' This morning I was walking round trenches I have not 
 been in before. I found a large bomb store in a disused 
 one, and near it on a bank an excellent spring of water. 
 I have now found two springs on this hill, both well situated, 
 which rather solves the problem for me of forming reserve 
 water supplies." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 ' Sunday, March 25, 1917. 
 ' Just had a very nice Service with my men in a strange 
 old dug-out, with one candle. We had one last Sunday, 
 and they asked to have another to-day. I shot a puppy 
 last night who had a broken leg. 
 
 ' I am thoroughly enjoying my work, which is to a con- 
 siderable extent an R.E. job." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 ' Monday, 26. 3. '17. 
 
 " The men in H.Q.'s. mess vary with each Battalion. At 
 present it is CO., Father — (a most genial and jovial R.C 
 parson), Intelligence Officer, Adjutant, and Doctor. The 
 latter a very nice chap. Talk is varied, as you may imagine, 
 chiefly perhaps war, but everything else too. You would 
 sometimes be surprised to look in and hear discussions 
 taking place on weirdest things, regardless of guns popping 
 off outside the door. A good many medical ailments dis-
 
 256 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 cussed at supper this evening, including some pet Aus- 
 tralian liver complaint of the C.O.'s which he described as 
 ' like a bunch of uncooked tapioca — that's right, isn't it, 
 doctor ? ' " 
 
 To his Father. 
 " 7-3° P- m -, Wednesday, 28. 3. '17. 
 " How I would have enjoyed for you to spend the day 
 with me to-day — including too last evening and last night. 
 This morn several 5'9's plumped on to trenches on the side 
 of this hill, also very heavy Bosch shell and minnying of 
 our front line which all laid out below me, and in afternoon 
 intense Bosch shelling of the front on a 600 yard front, 
 about two shells a second for over an hour, after that from 
 the top of this ground I watched our shells bursting about 
 two miles off on Bosch back lines ; they also at the same 
 time searching for our batteries. As this sort of thing 
 happens continuously all down the front it gives nothing 
 away to mention it generally, though this was a day which 
 thousands in England would have given up very much to 
 have been with me and seen, also connected of course with 
 numerous warfare duties. Some day I must show you 
 this land, and especially a certain Church (Lorette Chapel)." 
 
 Diary — " March 30. 
 "Went with men putting up notice boards (names of 
 trenches). Terribly hard work walking in trenches. . . . 
 Canadians again came up to hold Ridge while Northamptons 
 relieving Leinsters." 
 
 " March 31. 
 " Just been witnessing Canadians raid South of Souchez 
 river, about 500 going over, Zero time 10.30. Bosch green 
 and red lights innumerable. A wonderful sight and sound. 
 The wounded will soon be coming in to the Dressing Station 
 here in Ablain Str. N."
 
 VIMY RIDGE 257 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " 9 p.m., 1. 4. '17. 
 
 "... Evitt, the Parson who came back with me, 
 came here this afternoon and had a Service just behind 
 some trenches on an old roadway across a hillside. It 
 at once started to snow heavily, so we shifted into a corru- 
 gated iron shelter, which I had just put up for reserve rations, 
 bombs, etc., just by. A good Service. I told Evitt he was 
 consecrating the bomb store. You would have liked to be 
 there, with the experience of our guns firing over us from 
 quite near. You would have liked still more to have been 
 here about 10 p.m. last night, and seen our guns giving 
 heavy bombardment on Bosch lines (firing over us), bangs 
 with sharp flashes and then tearing of shells going through 
 the air with usually a few sparks somewhere in their flight, 
 and then the flashes of the bursts. 
 
 " Everything goes well out here." 
 
 "7 p.m., 2. 4. '17. 
 
 " This morning I went with O.C. Battalion here and 13 
 men to Brigade [at Aix Noulette] to show the men the 
 country, and to see the Brigadier on certain matters. I 
 lunched there, and then came back a different way. Most 
 of the time a driving snow storm. This was in one way 
 fortunate, as I went through a big and lovely wood, and 
 expected to also have to come back through it, and round 
 to my abode by a circuitous route, but the snow made it 
 impossible to cut across open country which in the ordinary 
 way is in view of the Bosch, and important not to show 
 movement in case important things there should be shelled 
 now or at any future date. 
 
 " I have no other Officer yet, but expect one soon, lam 
 glad to say. 
 
 " I have a special and exceptional appointment with
 
 258 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 considerable powers. I receive orders from the Brigade. 
 Whether I am on the Staff or not I can't say ! " 
 
 Diary — " April 2. 
 " Mobbs had a chit that to-day commenced our attack 
 on Vimy Ridge. From which it might be supposed that 
 we had not already shelled it and much less that we have 
 now for weeks been pounding it ! But a pounding indeed 
 it has been, all day tens of thousands of shells. . . . Going 
 to my dug-out again found caterpillar towing big gun into 
 position and another big one on the road also to be placed. 
 The place will be solid with them soon and for miles and 
 miles along the front and in depths. When shall we have 
 the Ridge ? " 
 
 " April 3. 
 " Men on different jobs. Went to cellars with Mobbs 
 to see if he could put men into them as there are now 
 guns in the Sugar Refinery and he wants to clear men from 
 there. . . . Bosch have to-day got several direct hits 
 on Maestro and on Laprade. Shall have to mend them 
 to-morrow. Got back n p.m. Mobbs has orders to relieve 
 to-morrow night ; he has had 8 days in and only 4 out, 
 very sickening. Apparently Leinsters and Middlesex have 
 both had bad time." 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 " April 4, 191 7. 
 " Just had tea and the Doctor in the Mess has said ' Do 
 you know it is Good Friday ? ' I don't think any one else 
 in this City realized it but him. We have had plenty of 
 Church bells ' du pays ' though, i.e. from our guns. . . . 
 I said yesterday I saw a strange bird' — that I could not 
 identify — I have since seen three of them, but none so that 
 I could get any background but the sky. Neither birds
 
 VIMY RIDGE 259 
 
 nor animals care anything for guns. I particularly noticed 
 a few nights ago, some teams of six horses or mules with 
 limbers trotting back past guns firing very heavily almost 
 into their faces from the side of the road and taking no 
 notice whatever." 
 
 Diary—" April 6. 
 ' Lovely morn. . . . Our test barrage on Vimy Ridge 
 began and was wonderful sight. Bosch answered with a 
 barrage, mostly in Zouave Valley. Watched with glasses. 
 Later heavy showers. Major Vanderbilt of Tanks attached 
 for one day ; went on to Brigade — I sent 2 guides withJiim. 
 Got back to lunch at 3.15 seeing various things en route. 
 . . . This afternoon one of our 8-inch Hows, fired before 
 lifting the gun, with result that shot into side of hill a few 
 yards off' — one of team killed, 2 wounded." 
 
 " April 7. 
 " Heavy Bosch shelling. . . . Lovely moon. Cater- 
 pillars panting everywhere as I went to bed at 11.30 p.m. 
 . . . The guns sound bitterer every day." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 '' Easter Sunday, April 8, 191 7. 
 ' It is a strange land to spend Easter Sunday in. We 
 have not had quite the peace that I hope you have, but 
 like David in Ps. xxiii inward peace can be there tho' war 
 without. ... I suppose America has come in for the 
 Entente. I hope it may mean much good to us. I have 
 found 2 most gorgeous masses of snowdrops, each about 
 9 inches square, in an old garden. One of them I shall 
 dig up and put in a tin for this Mess." 
 
 Diary — " April 8, 1917. 
 ' When in Ablain the Bosch put 5 shells very near me ; 
 plenty of splinters, then one of our 18 lbs. prematurely
 
 260 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 burst just by me. Previously in the morning they had 
 shelled nastily on the Ridge. This place is more than 
 unhealthy now. How I wish our attack would come ; but 
 how momentous it is." 
 
 To Jiis Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " 8 p.m., 8. 4. '17. 
 
 " Sunday. 
 ' What an Easter Sunday I have had. I went to lunch 
 with a Regiment some way off to inform them about certain 
 ground, and then to show it them. Shelling was active 
 all day, but I have not had a scratch." 
 
 Diary — " April 9. 
 '. . . At 5.30 a.m. all the guns opened fire simultaneously 
 and the Canadians at the same moment began their attack 
 on Vimy Ridge. The Bosch have several times got wind 
 up and put up a barrage, and we obviously caught them 
 ' asleep.' As a consequence of this we in Ablain have had 
 a quieter day than for a long time past. A counter-attack 
 was expected to-day or very soon and we were wired accord- 
 ingly. Apparently prisoners state that if the Ridge is 
 taken it must be retaken and the Guards' Division at Douai 
 is ready to do so. All O.P.'s (I went up the Ridge at noon, 
 waiting till then in case of orders) report much movement 
 of men, lorries, etc. . . . Apparently all objectives were 
 gained down to Arras and now (11.30 p.m.) I hear there are 
 10,000 prisoners, hundreds of M.G.'s, and 16 big guns. . . . 
 To-night, here, only single gun shots about every 2 seconds. 
 It seems dead quiet ! Will there be a counter-attack to- 
 night ? " 
 
 To his Father. 
 " 5-30 p.m., Tuesday, 10. 4. '17. 
 
 " This morning on the hill where I am I went, as I often
 
 VIMY RIDGE 261 
 
 do, into several O.P.'s (usually called ' Opips ') (Observation 
 positions), sort of dug-outs with slit-like aperture to look 
 through, and looked with telescopes and glasses into Bosch 
 land. It brings a feeling very similar to deer-stalking and 
 I wish you could have it too, as you love such a bird's-eye 
 view with a map before you, and seeing our shells in various 
 parts. O.P.'s are usually gunners' shows for seeing the 
 accuracy of their battery's shooting. Inside is a telephone 
 with a man on it, and you hear from him ' No. 1 gun fired.' 
 Watch the target and telephone back ' Two degrees left ' 
 or whatever it may be ; or ' Unobserved. No. 1 fire again.' 
 Often some Artillery Officer whom I may or may not know 
 says ' Come into my O.Pip and I will have a shoot,' which 
 is always interesting. 
 
 ' I couldn't have a job more to my liking than this one 
 I am on. 
 
 "... Mother asks if I am on a Staff. As I am doing 
 executive work and am not with the Battalion I am still 
 on the Staff, though my appointment is, I think, a unique 
 one." 
 
 Diary — " April n. 
 ' No counter-attack in night. . . . Zero for Leinsters 
 and Sussex in Hache Wood is 5 a.m. to-morrow, also appa- 
 rently for Canadians to take Pimple. The former necessary 
 as overlooking Zouave Valley and also both must be taken 
 together." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " 7 p.m., Wednesday, n. 4. '17. 
 ' I have done a rapid skin of a lovely goldfinch I found 
 dead in a trench this morning. . . . 
 
 ' Events have been developing, as you will now have seen 
 in the papers. Everything seems very satisfactory, and 
 this afternoon we hear that we have Bullycourt, which
 
 262 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 should be important. I want to see the paper accounts, 
 and you want to see the show itself — how unfortunate these 
 things are ! 
 
 ' We are having lots of snow, and the ground is now 
 white with a heavy fall. . . . 
 
 "jjThe position, as you will no doubt see it in the papers, 
 will, I think, do your hearts good and cure all aches. It 
 cures all ours here, or would do if there were any, and 
 rejoices us much. This is probably the hardest knock 
 Germany has yet had, and I fail to see how she can recover. 
 My life has become more ' healthy ' since this push — the 
 Bosch shelling being more erratic." 
 
 Diary — " April 12. 
 ' Canadians attacked The Pimple (on the Ridge) etc., 
 and Leinsters and Sussex Hache Wood at 5 a.m. in rain. 
 It is rather uncertain where the latter two have got to but 
 believe all successful. Our and Bosch wounded coming 
 down to our Dressing Station here. Bitterly cold, but 
 sunny. Took some of the lighter cases into the men's 
 dug-out, where it was warmer, and gave them food, etc., 
 before they moved on. ... As I turn in (11.30 p.m.) 
 a wire to say that from information of a prisoner just 
 captured a Bosch counter-attack is being prepared by 
 Givenchy village. The Canadians apparently found they 
 were holding from Kennedy crater to Souchez river with 
 76 men so kept 300 Cavalrymen who were up digging to 
 increase their number." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " 10.30 p.m., Thursday, 12. 4. '17. 
 
 " Owing to the snow last night, heavy drifts in many 
 
 trenches ; we again made a successful attack at 5 a.m. 
 
 to-day. I gave some of our wounded some of your provisions, 
 
 which they were most grateful for, including the beef tea.
 
 VIMY RIDGE 263 
 
 " The men have had to go through a very bad time for 
 many days with nothing warm to drink, and vile mud and 
 snow. The Bosch prisoners had to carry down stretchers, 
 etc. They were a mixed lot ; some fine men, some poor 
 looking men. I have just looked at Tuesday's paper. 
 The account from the Correspondent is a wash-out as far 
 as this part is concerned. Sunday night was comparatively 
 quiet till 5.30 a.m., when all guns opened heavy barrage, 
 and our men went over at same time, and no doubt 
 took Bosch by surprise. They knew we were going to 
 attack, but expected it between 15th and 20th. 
 
 ' An Officer lightly hit in the head this morning came 
 in to breakfast with us after an exciting attack. The mud 
 was too bad for the men to keep up with the barrage, but 
 we got all objectives, though it did not work in the same 
 clockwork as on Monday. . . . 
 
 ' In one place the Bosch came out of a deep dug-out 
 and fired with M.G.'s on our men who had passed it, and 
 proved nasty. The usual scheme is to leave ' mopping-up 
 parties ' for any trench, etc., passed by the men, but some 
 impossible to see, and trenches are no more. An Officer 
 went down one dug-out without revolver or any weapon, 
 and when there seven Bosch came up from further stairway 
 down, but fortunately surrendered without first shooting 
 him." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " 7 p.m., 13. 4. '17. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 ' This morning I saw a swallow, and on the 10th a red- 
 start, so we are getting on for summer. I told you of the 
 fine bunches of snowdrops in a garden here. My servant 
 has put one bunch in a tin for the Mess. I enclose two of 
 the flowers, as I think they are the largest snowdrops 
 (single) I ever saw. These must also have come up last 
 
 s
 
 264 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 year in the deserted garden where I found them. There 
 are also daffodils just showing a little yellow in the same 
 place. The house, like most here, is not only a heap of 
 bricks, but has followed the usual evolution of disappearance, 
 first woodwork for fuel, then bricks for making up roads, 
 etc. Everything looks very well here." 
 
 Diary — " April 13. 
 
 ' ... At 3.30 p.m. wire from Division to say Bosch have 
 withdrawn their patrols, prepare to move. All stood to 
 and Companies from the hill dumped packs at H.O.'s. 
 I packed up my things. ... I was not on the hill this 
 morning, but they say fires and explosions could be seen 
 in Lens and apparently blowing up roads. Evidently our 
 attack on Pimple yesterday made them change their minds 
 from a counter-attack to withdrawal. Caterpillars now 
 moving guns up. One long How. badly stuck ! Saw one 
 swallow to-day." 
 
 " April 14. 
 
 " Lovely morning. Inspected rifles, then sent men sal- 
 vaging. . . . Fires and explosions in Lens area, but no 
 one knows where our men are. . . . No Artillery observers 
 seem to know where we have got to. A German with broken 
 femur just brought in ; looked very well although had 
 been lying out since morning of the 12th. I asked him 
 if he knew where we were going to attack. He said he 
 did not, though Hindenburg warned them it was coming. 
 . . . The Bosch shelled Vimy Ridge a bit this afternoon, 
 but the strange thing is this which will probably be recorded 
 as one of the biggest battles of the war, it is now almost 
 dead quiet owing no doubt to Artillery not knowing where 
 to fire and moving their guns. ... It is very tantalizing 
 being not actually ' pushing ' myself."
 
 VIMY RIDGE 265 
 
 " April 15. 
 ' A vile day of heavy rain when we want 2 weeks dry ! 
 Went with an Orderly to Brigade, found they had moved 
 to Angres. . . . Several Bosch dead still about. Saw 
 also a Sussex Officer lying killed when advancing on 12th. 
 A sad sight to see 20 or 25 of our dead, who had been col- 
 lected, lying anyhow, clothes covered with mud and heavy 
 rain on them. Bosch were shelling nastily round Fosse 6. 
 My Orderly was hit by a splinter on the thumb, his tin hat 
 saved his head. . . . Roads being made up everywhere, 
 but none the less caterpillars, lorries, etc., stuck axle deep. 
 The lorries though are marvellous in getting out, and wheels 
 don't buckle. . . . The Bosch are marvels in thoroughness 
 of work — splendid trenches though now knocked to bits 
 and everywhere deep dug-outs. We struggle along in mud 
 and with bits of corrugated iron over us ! " 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " 7 p.m., 15. 4. '17. 
 ' My dug-out is right at the bottom of eight or nine steps, 
 and on the left is another larger cellar. The Officers who 
 were in the left one have moved, and I told my servant I 
 would sleep there to-night. He has just come in, more 
 beaming than ever, which is saying a good deal, and I asked 
 him if peace is declared, or what is the matter ? He says 
 he has ' fixed that dug-out up just lovely, got a good fire 
 going ' — there is a grate and chimney in it, as in many of 
 these cellars — -did people live in them, or why a fireplace 
 and chimney ? He has got all my wet things drying, and 
 thinks if I saw it I would sit there instead of in a room in 
 another building which was H.Q. Mess, as I am doing." 
 
 " 11 a.m., 16. 4. '17. 
 ' A gorgeous morn ! Just had an inspection of five addi- 
 tional men's rifles, ammunition and iron rations, and put
 
 266 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 the wind up them, finding, as is almost invariable, that 
 absence of discipline reigns. One man put on charge for 
 being unshaved, and for being caught taking another man's 
 ammunition to make up his deficiency before the parade. 
 " The men I have had with me now for some time are 
 all up to Rifle Brigade standard, but this standard comes 
 as a shock to newcomers ! I am most flourishing and now 
 just going what should be a ripping walk in connection 
 with my work." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " April 16, 1917. 
 
 ' . . . My servant looks after me well, always with his 
 broad smile, none the worse for being like a monkey, and 
 guards my things, though many of his have unfortunately 
 been pinched. You never saw such a dishevelled and 
 slopping crowd as most of the men now in ' here ' are. Caps 
 on back of heads, hands in pockets, hair uncut, and faces 
 unwashed. Largely sloping round seeing what they can 
 loot. How I should like to give them several hours' squad 
 drill, and get some self-respect, and hence efficiency, into 
 them ! 
 
 " I saw some of the Staff at Brigade to-day, and greeted, 
 as is for some reason customary there, by some with ' Hullo, 
 jolly old Andrew ! ' " 
 
 Diary — " April 17. 
 ' In afternoon went with 2 Orderlies up Vimy Ridge. 
 There are now two tunnels, Coburg and G — — . Followed 
 what was Coburg trench but soon lost it and could not be 
 certain of Kennedy Crater, which was at the top. There 
 are two new craters. Walked across and traced along what 
 were Bosch trenches. One or two dug-out entrances not 
 blocked. . . . Lots of Bosch bombs and strange detona- 
 tor-looking boxes, also large trench mortars, probably
 
 VIMY RIDGE 267 
 
 about 150 pounders. . . . Givenchy is as much — or more — 
 ruined as Souchez. . . . The men i/c stores gave me 
 curried bully and jam pudding for supper to-night ! " 
 
 On 20th April, 1917, Andrew and his men were moved 
 back into " rest billets " at Febrin Palfart.
 
 XIV 
 MESSINES RIDGE— AND THE END 
 
 April-June, 1917. 
 
 ANDREW had a passion for thoroughness. Whatever 
 the job that wanted doing, he did it with his might. 
 He was the sort of man that hates to see a thing done in a 
 slack and slovenly fashion. This characteristic stood him 
 in good stead in his soldiering, where patient attention to 
 detail is of enormous importance at all times, and specially 
 in the kind of fighting that has developed in this war. But 
 it was a trial to the flesh when he had constantly to do with 
 others who failed dismally to get anywhere near his standard ! 
 Here is an illuminating entry in his Diary on the matter 
 (April 20, 1917) : 
 
 " I have had a day of criticism of ' men.' Walking 
 across from Ablain to Aix this morning thought of the dis- 
 graceful shirking of work yesterday by some men. Does 
 it do to be kind to them ? But then what a difference 
 between their and my bringing up ! Thought also of their 
 (frequent) waste and inconsiderateness ; and this evening 
 at Maries there was a disgraceful case of thoughtlessness." 
 
 The next few weeks were spent behind the lines. 
 
 Diary — " April 22, 1917. 
 " Communion Service at 9 a.m. Post came in about 10 
 a.m., with five letters from Mother, of dates previous to 
 
 268
 
 MESSINES RIDGE— AND THE END 269 
 
 those on letters received yesterday ; also 3 parcels and 9 
 newspapers. What wouldn't I have given to have had 
 these in Ablain ! but very welcome now. . . . 
 
 ' Generals C, D., Major H. and the C.R.E. had an exciting- 
 experience when in Bois de Riaumont. They met three 
 Bosch who had got through and probably got lost. These 
 at close range opened fire and our four bolted for all they 
 were worth and were unhit. This is all the time being 
 referred to ! It is said that General C. has not yet stopped 
 running ! Anyhow it is a fact that he has gone on leave to 
 England. 1 
 
 To Jiis Mother. 
 
 " 9.30 p.m., 21. 4. '17. 
 
 ' . . . You can imagine the joy of hearing after an 
 interval of nine days, with no letters, and in a rotten land ! 
 
 ' I also saw Arthur this afternoon at 4 p.m. He knew 
 the road I was coming and came to meet us, but was fortu- 
 nate in hitting on me, as I had been trekking for a long 
 time. He was very well. We were able to share your 
 letters, which was excellent. 
 
 ' Apparently you have not received all my letters lately, 
 but this is as I expected. 
 
 Yesterday I was up at 4.15 a.m. and have not had much 
 sleep since, and also rather a strenuous existence, so shall 
 turn in early to-night, and enjoy peace and quiet, as I now 
 can ! " 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " April 22, 1917. 
 ' . . . Arthur told me yesterday of Vernede being killed. 
 I am troubled to hear of it. I shall write to Mrs. Vernede, 
 though I have not met her. . . . Life has sometimes been 
 very unhealthy for us both, but nothing has touched us." 
 
 1 This incident found its way into the papers. See The Times, 
 April 26, 191 7.
 
 270 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 From Andrew to Mrs. Vernede. 
 
 " Monday, 23. 4. '17. 
 " H.Ors. 73 Brigade (Infantry), B.E.F. 
 " I hardly know how to write to you in this most grievous 
 news of Mr. Vernede's death. For some time I have been 
 very much cut off from everything except just what was 
 happening around me, but yesterday I saw my Brother 
 Arthur, who told me the news of his having been killed 
 in action. You know how tremendously fond of him I 
 was, and with his wonderful abilities and mind. I have a 
 feeling of it being altogether wrong for me to be still alive 
 and he no longer so. We so often in C. Coy. were given 
 by him, usually most unexpectedly, some extraordinarily 
 sound and what must have been carefully thought out ideas 
 with reference to tactical, disciplinary or other Army matters, 
 and there is no doubt he should have been O.C. Coy. rather 
 than me. But our time together was the most splendid 
 imaginable, and I shall always look back on it with recol- 
 lections that can never be forgotten. What Mr. Vernede's 
 death means to you I just dare not think, as you have lost 
 one whom you must have loved so much. My Sister 
 Rosamond, whom I have just heard from, speaks of you as 
 giving the impression of being so extraordinarily brave, so 
 I comfort myself that you will not allow your loss to be 
 too overwhelming. When I mention the word brave, I 
 must speak — though you doubtless know of it from many 
 sources — of your husband's extraordinary bravery- — over 
 and over again undertaking and carrying through the most 
 unhealthy bits of work with, as far as I could see, every 
 thought for the men he was with, but with none for himself. 
 He just loved the N.C.O.'s and men, and if at any time 
 anything happened to one he was connected with he felt 
 it intensely. . . . Again my deepest sympathy at your 
 great loss. Of course don't write, but just accept this 
 thought of you,"
 
 MESSINES RIDGE— AND THE END 271 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " April 22, '17. 
 
 ' Well, you can picture me as safe for a while. Life has 
 been pretty unhealthy at times. I have had a dug-out 
 blown to smithereens after leaving it, and an Orderly hit 
 walking with me, and many other very nasty shell inter- 
 views, but none the worse. 
 
 ' How I should love you to see the Vimy Ridge in present 
 state ; torn to ribbons, and most difficult to walk over, 
 with vast shell holes all touching one another. For every- 
 thing of salvage that is visible 100 have doubtless been 
 buried or blown to dust." 
 
 Diary — " April 25. 
 ' I am detailed to go with the General for his inspection 
 at 9 a.m. first of the Northamptons and then of the Sussex. 
 In the evening the Brigade played Northamptons at 
 Soccer. Great number of swallows about." 
 
 " April 26. 
 ' Orders at midnight to say we were to move into Army 
 Reserve in place of the 18th Division who entrain to-night 
 and go down south. We therefore packed up. I was put 
 i/c transport which left at 12.15 p.m. We are stopping 
 to-night at Anchel, and to-morrow go to Nceux-les-Mines. 
 Swallows have disappeared to-day- — perhaps gone on to 
 England — but saw two nightingales near Ferfay." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 (" At Houchin). 
 " April 27, 1917. 
 ' A gap of 48 hours since I wrote the above but I sent 
 two Field postcards instead. I now write from a different 
 billet to what I have been in. Quite nice except that I
 
 272 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 think the old girl downstairs must be making bread or 
 something of the sort and I therefore must flee from the 
 smell of it to H.O. Mess. ... I saw a pair of nightingales 
 by side of road on 26th, but the great number of swallows 
 I saw on 25th have disappeared. I expect you have stolen 
 them from us. There were also lately a great number of 
 chiff-chaffs, but I have heard no willow- wrens yet. . . . 
 
 " As I came along this morning in charge of various men, 
 etc., I had a halt at a place where I was billeted for one 
 night a little while ago and I went in to see the people, who 
 were very genial and gave me a glass of Vin Ordinaire, but 
 before I went in they spotted me passing and vigorously 
 tapped on the window. Many of the French people are 
 extremely genial, which makes all the difference to life when 
 with them." 
 
 Diary— "May 1. 
 
 ' Bicycled to Bruay. . . . Lay down in afternoon, 
 feeling done up, chiefly, I think, owing to sleeplessness. 
 A nightingale was singing in Labuissiere as I came in." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " May 1, 1917. 
 
 "... I think you would like to see and destroy the 
 enclosed two nice letters from people whom I wrote to saying 
 their relations had been killed. Both were quite unknown 
 to me, but I naturally wrote as relatives at home are bound 
 to like as many letters as possible. I was only lately talking 
 to an Officer who had had a great friend of his killed just 
 by him and was the only person who knew what had hap- 
 pened. He asked me if I thought his family would mind 
 if he saw them when he next went on ' leave.' I advised 
 him to do so and at once write as well ! "
 
 MESSINES RIDGE— AND THE END 273 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " May 3, 1917. 
 
 ' Life is still very peaceful for me. I met Arthur at 
 3 p.m. to-day in a certain place (Bethune), and we had tea 
 together in a shop. In all his life I never saw him looking 
 so amazingly well. You were wanting him to get home 
 before 14th so as to see him, and I am delighted to say he 
 has orders to report at the W.O. on 10th." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " May 7, 1917, 7.30 p.m. 
 
 ' In the letter I posted this morning I said I was going 
 out for a Field day. The H.Q. horses were all wanted, but 
 I borrowed one from one of the Regiments and acted as 
 sort of A.D.C. to the Brigadier. A gorgeous day with the 
 greater part spent in a lovely wood (Diary, Bois des Dames), 
 — sandwiches in our pockets for lunch. It did me a world 
 of good. . . . To-morrow I hope to see Arthur off for 
 Railhead and want, too, to see the R.B. What a lucky fellow 
 he is." 
 
 Diary—" May 9. 
 
 ' Due to leave i/c transport at 9.50 a.m. Rode via 
 Chocques to Busnes where we are in the Chateau. So we 
 appear to be bound northwards again. What are we to 
 be in for ? The Chateau is lovely. Moat and water round 
 it and ripping wood and shrubberies, full of birds and wood 
 life." 
 
 " May 10. 
 
 ' Left 9.45 a.m. Went via St. Venant to Thiennes 
 where H.Q.'s are in a school. The Canal crossings very 
 pretty."
 
 274 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 " May 12. 
 ' Left at 7 a.m. for Steenvoorde, riding. Passed 72nd 
 and 73rd Brigades. Terrific hot day. Arranged billeting, 
 etc.forH.O. We came through Hazebrouck. How weird 
 to now again see Poperinghe road, etc. I thought I had 
 left this land for good a year ago. Troops all very done 
 when they got here. . . . Dined at Club here and regretted 
 it" 
 
 " May 14. 
 ' ... At 2 p.m. took the transport via Eecke to Rening- 
 helst where we are in good huts. Evitt (the Parson), 
 Ribot (the Interpreter), and Thorp (the Signal Officer), 
 and I are in one. How strange to be back in this land ! 
 Several sausages and aeroplanes up but very quiet. This 
 place much altered, now apparently all kinds of canteens, 
 etc." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " May 14, 1917. 
 "... The last two nights I have been billeted in a good 
 room of a baker's shop. This morning at about 4 a.m. 
 some troops passed and were very refreshing as it is a long 
 day since I heard men so jovial as they. Not only singing 
 but verily shouting, and most of them a different song, and 
 this even though it was raining hard." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " May 17, 1917. 
 ' . . . I have to-day had a most pleasant surprise in 
 Guy Leatham turning up in our Mess to see me ! He had 
 lunch (and is coming to supper soon). He then took me to 
 where he is quartered to see W alter Pelham (his brother- 
 in-law), who has been out a week as Chaplain to 2 Battalions. 
 It was splendid seeing him and I am delighted he is out, 
 though I wish he was in this Brigade. ..."
 
 MESSINES RIDGE— AND THE END 275 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Headquarters, 
 ' 73rd Infantry Brigade, [Reninghelst], 
 
 ' May 19th, 1917, 7 p.m. 
 ' I am now sitting at the Staff Captain's table where I 
 have been signing various documents for him and the 
 Brigade Major and seeing to various things for them this 
 afternoon. How I wish I might tell you where I am and 
 what is going on ! . . . Since I wrote you in ink Tom 
 Buxton rode over to tea, which was very excellent. It has 
 been really refreshing seeing some of the family lately. I 
 had to leave some spare kit two or three weeks ago at a 
 certain place in order to lighten our baggage and now hear 
 the place it was stored in has had a direct hit from a shell 
 which destroyed it. It may be mine has escaped or not 
 been badly damaged." 1 
 
 Diary — " May 20. 
 'Walked to see that the Transport were all right, then 
 drew money from Cashier in Reninghelst. . . . Bicycled 
 over to Westoutre to see Clarence Buxton in 19th Division, 
 but he was out. The dumps are truly marvellous in their 
 size and contents. Reninghelst at 8 p.m was solid with 
 men strolling about. Very warm evening." 
 
 " May 21. 
 ' ... At 10 p.m. very heavy firing, probably a raid. I 
 have orders to-night to go to Steenvoorde as Adjutant of 
 the Training Battalion." 
 
 " May 22. 
 ' Reached Steenvoorde at noon, relieving S. of the Lein- 
 sters as Adjutant. O.M. and Transport Officer of this the 
 24th Divisional Reinforcement Depot (about 600 men). 
 . . . Have a good billet in estaminet." 
 
 1 This spare kit was found by Arthur the following October.
 
 276 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 " May 25. 
 ' Wire to say we might be moving to-morrow, which 
 was confirmed in the evening. Got out operation orders 
 and made several necessary arrangements." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " May 25, 1917. 
 ' I have a lot doing, but it is quite pleasant work. It 
 involves a good deal of riding round to see detachments at 
 various farms and I am fortunate in having a very nice 
 pony for doing so. Any day now I expect my job to come 
 to an end." 
 
 Diary — " May 26. 
 "... Got to Brigade at 6 p.m. There received orders 
 to go back to R.B." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " 3 p.m., Saturday, 28. 5. '17. 
 
 " . . . I am greeted with the news just received by wire 
 from Division that I am to rejoin the 3rd R.B. In some 
 ways I am glad, and should be very glad, but for the fact 
 that I am not likely to have a Coy. at present, as they 
 have their arrangement of Coy. Commanders. Therefore 
 please write to me once more as 3rd R.B., B.E.F., and 
 address me as Esq. ! I shall join them to-morrow. As far 
 as I know I shall be permanently back with them, but I 
 should have liked to be a Coy. Commander. This though 
 I may find myself at once or very soon. I am extremely 
 fit now again, and to-day more so than ever. 
 
 "... The General, Brigade-Major and all here are 
 very nice in regretting my departure. 
 
 " The horse I have been riding belongs to another Regi- 
 ment. I am sending him back, and asking for a receipt, 
 which is a necessary precaution in this land."
 
 MESSINES RIDGE— AND THE END 277 
 
 Diary — " May 27. 
 ' Left at 11 a.m. on Hill's horse for the R.B. who them- 
 selves move this morning to a farm about 2 miles S.W. 
 of Poperinghe. Found Boscy and Kewley-Pigot had 
 motored to Arras to see Tanks perform. They had heard 
 nothing of my coming, and said I had better fix up with 
 C. Coy. for meals ! " 
 
 " May 28. 
 ' Disturbed at 2 a.m. by Sentry saying ' Gas Alarm ' had 
 sounded. Got respirators handy, but no gas came. Saw 
 Pigot in morning ; he was very warm and regretted he 
 could not give me a Company, as Coy. Commanders have 
 been doing new training, etc. In afternoon bicycled to 
 Reninghelst to see the clay model of ground we are to attack. 
 About 9 x 12 feet, beautifully made. ... A long con- 
 fab with Pigot before lunch with maps, etc. We are to 
 take the furthest objective. The thousands of details of 
 arrangements of every department are beyond belief. To 
 be back with the Battalion with this kind of thing on recalls 
 the Somme days. . . . Officers and men all very jovial 
 as there. ... I think of Daly, Alfred Dunnage, Archie, 
 Joch Henderson, Brown, Vernede, Chamberlain, Venner, 
 Edwards. . . . What will the Company and Battalion 
 be like after this show ? " 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " 11 a.m., 28. 5. '17. 
 "... It is really good to get back to the Battalion, 
 and I expect to enjoy it mightily when I have got to know 
 all the Officers well. More than a half are new since I 
 was here. I think what it would be if we could once more 
 be exactly the party we were a year ago, before the Somme 
 took away three-quarters of us. 
 
 " I have not yet really seen the men, but what I have
 
 278 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 all very genial, and salute accompanied by welcome smiles. 
 ' I write sitting under two rows of elm trees, with delicious 
 cool breeze. 
 
 ' Yesterday I lunched in A. Coy. 's tent, and recognized 
 the man who waited, but could not think why his name 
 was not familiar to me. The reason for this was that he 
 used to wait on me at lunch in the small restaurant in the 
 block of flats above 95 Victoria Street ! . . . 
 
 " . . . Do you remember the trout you caught in the 
 river near where it ran out of the loch ! What joy it was 
 catching the trout in that loch and especially in the caves 
 under the hillsides. Those were good days, and we must 
 have other such before long. There hardly looks the chance 
 of it though this summer ! " 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " 3 p.m., 29. 5. '17. 
 
 " I have just been censoring letters, in one of which a 
 fellow says : ' I don't think I shall bring home a French 
 bride as I have not seen one I like yet ; the Blighty birds 
 are best.' 
 
 " All the men in the Battalion have had trousers cut down, 
 and made into shorts. I have shorts also, and very comfort- 
 able it is to have them again. 
 
 " I think I never saw men so fit as they are, but this is 
 natural from the life they have had lately. We are all in 
 tents. . . . 
 
 " I asked to be attached to C. Coy., my old Coy., and I 
 am glad to say Pigot has agreed. A very nice lot of Officers, 
 Bridgeman (O.C. Coy.), Northcroft, Goodson, Layton, 
 Reade (at present away), and Fenner. Fenner was a Ser- 
 geant in command of the Battalion Stretcher-Bearers, and 
 has lately been given a Commission. He is a real good 
 fellow. 
 
 " The organization of Companies, and mode of training,
 
 MESSINES RIDGE— AND THE END 279 
 
 etc., has been considerably altered since I was here. I am 
 greatly joyed to be back with the Regiment. 
 
 " Regimental life is the obvious game out here, though 
 I am glad to have had the break from trench life, as I wanted 
 a change after 17 months of it." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " May 31, '17. 
 
 "It is a very great relief to me to have returned here, 
 as I was living in terrors of being given a Staff job, which 
 would have been misery to me. Think of wearing '-red,' 
 forsooth. Company life is the life here, but I wanted a 
 change, and was fortunate to get it, and now return, and 
 with the summer." 
 
 Diary — " May 30, 191 7. 
 
 " Left at 8 a.m. with about 30 N.C.O.'s and 8 Officers 
 in a motor lorry to Dickebush, where we got out and walked 
 across the south end of the Lake up to Moated Grange Farm, 
 looking at the ' land of promise ' from different points. 
 Each platoon has its own direction up to our Front Line 
 marked out by lines of little nags. At Moated Grange went 
 up the chimney (which remains there) and had a good look. 
 
 " In the afternoon went (from there) to tea with the 
 Borderers, who will be on our right. ... At 8 p.m. a 
 Boxing Tournament in the field, Officers sitting round the 
 roped enclosure and the Battalion behind them. What a 
 sight — but a month hence how many of them will be casual- 
 ties ? " 
 
 " May 31. 
 
 " Left at 8 a.m. after packing up tents, etc., and marched 
 via Abeele to a farm north of Bois de Beauvoorde. . . . 
 A good mess in the farm. We sleep in tents."
 
 2 8o ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Noon, May 31, '17. 
 
 " We have just arrived at a good farm, having packed 
 up from where we were early this morning, and done a rather 
 dusty march here of about six miles. Fortunately not very 
 hot, but marching order is none the less a heavy load, but 
 being as fit as I am I much enjoyed again having a march, 
 having not had one now for long. . . . 
 
 " Yesterday I left at eight in the morning on a motor 
 lorry with about thirty others on a mission which I may 
 not reveal, and from there to tea with another Regiment, 
 and from there walked back, taking if hours. . . . 
 
 " The whole Battalion were going to have tea with the 
 Regiment I mentioned above, but had to be put off at the 
 last minute, as a working party of five or six hundred were 
 required at once. A great pity, after they had made all 
 arrangements to give us a welcome. We (about eight Officers) 
 had tea on the grass with a piper playing to us, and when 
 we went, had their band playing us about a mile down the 
 road. . . . 
 
 " We had great Boxing matches in the meadow of our 
 farm last night. Officers sitting round the ring, and the 
 Battalion in a line about sixty long, looking over a wire 
 fence about five deep. Such a sight of brown faces and 
 R.B. badges." 
 
 The next few days were spent, in the neighbourhood 
 described in Diary entry of May 31, in constant and detailed 
 practice for the forthcoming attack. On June 4 they moved 
 off up the Line. 
 
 " 2 p.m., Sunday, 3. 6. 17. 
 
 " We are leading healthy lives, billeted still in farms and 
 out a good deal of the time doing training, which is inter- 
 esting. Knees, as always when we first wear shorts, getting
 
 MESSINES RIDGE— AND THE END 281 
 
 a bit sore from the sun. Shorts are a great comfort, as you 
 can imagine. 
 
 ' A ripping letter from Rachel at Noseley yesterday, all 
 about chickens and animals. So refreshing, and a change 
 from the thought of warfare ! 
 
 " We have lots of caterpillars of amazing colours and 
 beauty about the hedges." 
 
 To a Niece (Rachel Hazlerigg). 
 
 " Sunday, June 3, 1917. 
 
 " My dear old Rachel — 
 
 " You can't think how I loved getting your letter 
 telling me of your animals and the carrier pigeon. It is 
 such a different world that you are in to what I am with 
 war going on, but some day I shall come back and see 
 all your things, and keep some perhaps myself like I used 
 to do. I am writing this, in the middle of cultivated fields 
 where we are practising. In the hedges here are lots of 
 caterpillars ; some in bunches in thick webs which they 
 have made, and some lovely coloured ones with yellow 
 lines, and red and black lines down their sides. 
 
 ' I am wearing ' shorts, ' so my knees are getting sunburnt 
 and quite sore. At present I am in a farm with lots of white 
 pigs about which the farm people try to sort up and put 
 in different sties, etc., calling out all sorts of funny noises 
 to make them come. The same way they shut up ducks 
 at night and calves. They had a great hunt after two 
 calves yesterday, which got out into the corn. My men 
 helped get them in. 
 
 " The War is going very well, and the Germans must be 
 feeling very uncomfortable, I think." 
 
 Diary — "June 4. 
 ' In afternoon" marched off into camp at Heksken (S.W. 
 of R< ninghelst), just above where the Sussex were. Arrived
 
 282 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 at 6 p.m. hungry and dry. . . . Had dinner at 9.15. 
 Officers in tents ; men piled arms and slept in rows. By 
 moonlight they looked like rows of dead on a battlefield. 
 Tremendous firing by our heavies. This is ' W ' day (being 
 3 days before the assault ; ' Z ' day is the day of assault). 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " 2 p.m., Monday, 4. 6. '17. 
 ' I continue awfully fit, living a most healthy life. It 
 may soon again be difficult to get letters and also to send 
 any, so keep this in mind if none turn up ! You will know, 
 if this happens, that I am doing something that I would 
 not miss for anything. 
 
 " We continue to have glorious weather, though rather 
 colder at nights. . . . 
 
 " You would be so amused to hear the men come into 
 the kitchens of these farms and talk : ' You cook two boiled 
 eggs comprez,' and then ' You no comprez,' ' No bon,' 
 etc. 
 
 " I have to-day received a most lovely parcel from you 
 with fresh butter and bacon and tinned things. It is very 
 strange that I have wanted nothing for six months, but 
 this has just come right, and I expect to be very glad of 
 it. I was going to buy half a pound of butter this evening. 
 You have an instinct for these things ! Don't send again, 
 as I shall want no more for six months. 
 
 ' When practising yesterday, two calves got out into 
 the crops to the great joy of my men, who assisted the 
 farm people in getting them back, which was difficult, as 
 they were out to enjoy themselves. . . . 
 
 ' Don't be troubled at my return to the Regiment. It 
 is such a joy to me." 
 
 Diary — " June 5. 
 ' A fair night, but ground gets harder every night !
 
 MESSINES RIDGE— AND THE END 283 
 
 Tremendous hot sun. Breakfast outside tent. We move 
 at 10.45 p.m. to-night." 
 
 " Later. After dinner a big blaze made by burning boxes, 
 etc. A great sight to have all the men round in a circle, 
 all as brown and fit as you ever saw men. Calls for Bodi- 
 mede who came and amused every one and after him other 
 performers with songs, etc. Marched off at 10.45 via 
 Reninghelst to within a quarter of a mile of La Clytte, 
 where we are in tents on left of the road. Interesting thus 
 to come pretty near behind the heavy guns all firing heavily. " 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " 12.30 p.m., Tuesday 5. 
 
 " Just had a short Service in shirt sleeves, and Communion 
 Service following. We had no Service on Sunday, and this 
 was a nice arrangement. Plenty of firing in the distance 
 to accompany it. . . . 
 
 ' How rotten the ink running out in your pen. Do have 
 it put right if out of order. How I should love a family 
 lunch party here. It is now being laid on a mackintosh 
 sheet in our tent. You would be interested I think. 
 
 ' So glad your little dogs are well. Give old Fritz my 
 love. 
 
 ' I have got a special job with men of all companies 
 under me." 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 "June 5, '17. 
 " Just a line of best love as always. 
 ' Having most gorgeous weather. Men are just sleeping 
 in coats and blanket on well-worn grass. Officers in tents, 
 or likewise outside. . . . 
 
 1 The old ground seems to get harder and harder to sleep 
 on, but I flourish well none the less ! "
 
 284 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 To his Sister Rosamond. 
 
 " June 6, '17. 
 
 " Just a line written from a tent. 
 
 " Life is very big and interesting. Apparently we are 
 getting submarines, and out here the Bosch must be having 
 a real bad time. 
 
 " Stick it ! " 
 
 Diary— " June 6, 1917. 
 " Continued heavy firing all night." 
 
 5}» "JC »J» 5J» JjC 
 
 The above is the last entry in his Diary. " Z " Day — 
 June 7, 1917 — arrived, and for Andrew it turned out to be 
 the day of his going " over " into the shining country . . . 
 and so he too laid down his life for his friends, and passed 
 over, and — " the trumpets sounded for him on the other 
 side. . . ." 
 
 He was killed near Oosttaverne, after the successful 
 attack on the Messines Ridge. The 3rd R.B. had gone 
 " over the top " and taken their objective. Andrew fol- 
 lowed immediately behind in charge of a party with the 
 rations and ammunition. In order to save the men as 
 much as possible he himself carried a " U " Pack consisting 
 of four petrol tins of water slung round his waist — " He was 
 always like that," Corpl. Bodimede adds, " trying to save 
 the men and doing the hard jobs himself." After they 
 had finished their job successfully, Andrew took Bodimede 
 with him to visit his Company, to find out the result of the 
 attack and who had been killed and to see those who had 
 come through safely. A machine gun was sweeping the 
 ground round them, and they had scarcely started before 
 Andrew cried out, " Bodimede, I'm hit, they have got me 
 this time," and fell into Bodimede's arms. Captain Fenner, 
 at great personal risk, ran out to do anything that was
 
 MESSINES RIDGE— AND THE END 285 
 
 possible, but Andrew did not speak again and in three 
 minutes he was gone. 
 
 His body rests in the N.E. corner of Oosttaverne Wood 
 with a rough cross over it. 
 
 Blow out, you bugles, over the rich Dead ! 
 
 There's none of these so lonely and poor of old, 
 But, dying, has made us rarer gifts than gold. 
 
 These laid the world away ; poured out the red 
 
 Sweet wine of youth ; gave up the years to be 
 Of work and joy, and that unhoped serene, 
 That men call age ; and those who would have been, 
 
 Their sons, they gave, their immortality. 
 
 Blow, bugles, blow ! They brought us, for our dearth, 
 Holiness, lacked so long, and Love, and Pain. 
 
 Honour has come back, as a king, to earth, 
 And paid his subjects with a royal wage ; 
 
 And NoWeness walks in our ways again ; 
 And we have come into our heritage.
 
 XV 
 POSTSCRIPT 
 
 FOR nearly a year before his death Andrew carried 
 about in his pocket a letter to be given to his mother 
 in the event of his receiving a fatal wound. A portion of 
 this characteristic and beautiful letter is printed below. 
 Any reader of the letters in this Memoir of Andrew will 
 have noticed that the great bulk of them are addressed 
 to his mother, and may also have descried, between the 
 lines, the very beautiful and almost lover-like relationship 
 that existed between them. She was all the world to him, 
 as he to her ; they possessed that utterly perfect fellowship 
 which, enjoyed for a while on earth, has its abiding home 
 and richest fruit in the Eternal. 
 The letter is as follows : 
 
 ' In the event of my death please forward this letter to 
 
 " Mrs. J. H. Buxton, 
 " Easneye, 
 
 " Ware, Herts. 
 " enclosing envelope and letter (unopened) in another 
 envelope. 
 
 "A. R. Buxton." 
 
 " B.E.F., B. 
 
 " 3-3° p.m., Friday, August 4. '16. 
 ' I am writing a line to keep in my pocket, only to be 
 posted should I be fatally hit. 
 
 ' This sounds rather a strange thing to do, but I believe 
 
 286
 
 POSTSCRIPT 2R7 
 
 you would like it, or otherwise a sudden discontinuance of 
 letters without any word from me would be a sort of shock 
 to you. . . . Should this occur, I want no shock or worry 
 of any sort to you or any of the other dear ones, so please 
 just carry on the same as usual, but more rest and enjoy- 
 ment, and less work ! 
 
 " Things are moving out here, as you will see in the 
 papers, and every prospect of our now being put into 
 something. It is very, very great to be living in these 
 days, and taking part in what is on hand. I should not 
 be sorry to get through it without knowingly having I done 
 in ' any Bosch, but I am out to shoot them if I can, as it 
 is my job to do so, and I certainly should ' get in ' first if 
 any close work came along ! 
 
 ' Besides being one more letter to you, I can now again 
 tell you that no words of mine can express what yours and 
 Father's and all the other dear ones' love has been to me, 
 not only out here at the War, but from the time I was 
 born till now. 
 
 ' David and Jonathan loved, and many have loved, but 
 I cannot think that there ever was such love as you have 
 showered upon me. How I can picture you looking round 
 the door of my bedroom in the morning if any time I was 
 seedy to see if I was awake, and now I have had a letter 
 from you every day when away from home. ... I can 
 never thank you as I should wish to do. 
 
 " If I am knocked out, as I presume will be the case if 
 you get this, I do most particularly hope that you will 
 not be troubled at it — I shall have gone on before you and 
 the other dear ones to a far bigger and more glorious sphere, 
 and shall right well be on the look out for you all when 
 your call comes along too. How we shall all rejoice together 
 then — all with our ' robes made white in the Blood of the 
 Lamb.'
 
 288 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 ' I do hope I get a good run of open fighting before I 
 get knocked out ! 
 
 " Dearest of dear love to you all, 
 
 ' Your ever very loving son and brother, 
 
 " Andrew." 
 
 " 3 p.m., Monday, June 4, '17. 
 ' Rather a jump in dates since the above was written 
 (i.e. before we went to the Somme Battle) till now, but 
 I have had the letter in my pocket all the time. 
 
 ' We now in a few days go in to another big fight, which 
 will be a far more wonderful show, with Tanks, etc., there, 
 and probably more artillery. Multitudinous and more 
 than detailed arrangements have been made. This Batta- 
 lion goes ' over ' (I was going to say where but dare not, 
 in case this got mislaid before the event — I know you will 
 want to know where, but you will soon hear !) and has 
 important work to do. 
 
 ' Is it stupid to leave this letter ? I think not. I think 
 you would like it. 
 
 " I see, though, I have said nothing of a message to all 
 the servants and people on the place, all of whom have 
 been so extraordinarily kind, and so interested in my 
 doings. To all the very best of wishes for themselves, and 
 for relatives who may still have to fight. 
 
 " Yours, Father's and all others' love seems to be now 
 greater than ever. 
 
 " It seems a shame that I alone of the family should see 
 such a piece of history as this will be ! 
 
 ' As always, 
 " Thy very loving Son, 
 " Andrew." 
 
 Andrew, with his radiant face and radiant soul, was 
 precisely " the sort of person you can't help loving." It
 
 POSTSCRIPT 289 
 
 can easily be imagined, therefore, how, after his death, the 
 flood-gates of the love he had inspired were opened, and 
 burning words striving to say what he had been to those 
 who knew him and loved him came pouring in. He, how- 
 ever, more than any man would hate encomiums — in his 
 lifetime it always remained for him an unsolved mystery 
 why people seemed to like him ! — and of the many things 
 that have been said about him only a very few are set down 
 here. 
 
 From his Commanding Officer, Colonel Pigot, D.S.O., M.C. 1 
 
 " 8. 6. -17. 
 
 " Dear Mr. Buxton, — 
 
 "It is with the very deepest regret that I have to 
 tell you that Andrew has been killed. He was just coming 
 back from the Front Line after our attack yesterday, when 
 he was hit by a bullet, and died almost at once. 
 
 " I can't tell you how much I deplore his loss. He had 
 been with us a long time, and on ever so many occasions 
 had shown himself a very brave man. 2 Every one loved 
 him, and all the men of his Company will, I know, regret 
 his loss. He was always doing his best to make his men 
 comfortable, and I can assure you he will be a very great 
 loss to us all. 
 
 " He was buried this afternoon, and a cross will be put 
 up on his grave. 
 
 " If there is anything else I can tell you, please let me 
 
 know. 
 
 " Assuring you and Mrs. Buxton of my own and my 
 Battalion's deepest sympathy with you in your great loss, 
 and will you kindly tell the Padre how very sorry I am ? 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 " R. PlGOT." 
 
 1 Now Brig. -General. 
 
 2 A common soubriquet for him, among officers and men, was 
 " Brave Andrew," or " Brave Captain Buxton,"
 
 2Q0 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 From the Quartermaster of his Regiment. 
 
 " 8. 6. '17. 
 " Dear Madam, — 
 
 " Andrew asked me to send the enclosed to you if he 
 should not come out of the attack alive. 
 
 " I am so sorry we have lost him ; I think he was one of 
 the truest Christian soldiers I have met in the 29 years I've 
 been in the Regiment. 
 
 " I'm so sorry I cannot give you details of his death, but 
 I'm sure Colonel Pigot will write you at the first opportu- 
 nity. 
 
 " I wonder if it would comfort you to know that Andrew 
 attended a Communion Service on Tuesday morning, just 
 before we moved into our battle stations. 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 " L. Eastmead." 
 
 From a Brother Officer. 
 
 " France, July 7, '17. 
 
 " Dear Mrs. Buxton,' — 
 
 ' Thank you so much for your letter, but I did not 
 wish you to trouble to write. I was so grateful for your 
 sending the enclosures, and it is no wonder to me that he 
 was so beloved by all, as he was one of those men whose 
 religion shone forth in his every act and gesture, and yet 
 he never appeared sanctimonious, as with it he combined a 
 wonderfully tolerant mind to all. 
 
 " I shall never forget the way he was always tackling 
 the villagers here about their dogs, and how an old woman 
 who used to tie her dog up so tight that it could hardly 
 move became very angry, and nearly turned him out of 
 the house, so that evening he and I went down and got 
 over the fence and lengthened the dog's chain, and nearly 
 got caught doing it. 
 
 "... I was behind the line near where Andrew was
 
 POSTSCRIPT 291 
 
 killed, and only wish that I might have seen him, but his 
 influence will never die and he will strengthen the link with 
 the wider sphere to which he has gone. If only there were 
 more like him in the world, war would cease. ..." 
 
 From one of his greatest Friends. 
 
 ' Andre v/ has been in my thoughts all the day long, 
 and to-night he is still in my thoughts. It is just as if 
 ' Curly ' was my own brother : it is a great deal more than 
 if I had just loved him as my friend. Others have been 
 like that to me, but ' Curly ' was so different from alt, and 
 now all my life must pass without him. You can tell how 
 much I feel for you, if I feel this for myself. Nothing but 
 my deepest love can ever follow him ; never a cloud or a 
 day's estrangement ever came between us. I would like 
 to tell you all ' Curly ' has ever been to me and ever will 
 be, the truest, dearest, most glorious friend that a man 
 ever had, the very soul of purity and goodness, that often 
 blessed me by his influence ; a never-failing joy whenever I 
 saw him. ..." 
 
 From another Friend. 
 
 " So many pictures of him are in my mind to-night, but 
 none more precious than when he was bending to kiss you 
 [his mother] at the Station — his head uncovered — when he 
 went back last June. 
 
 " He sent us such a wonderful letter in September when 
 he was the only one left out of the Mess of seven. Not 
 only in that letter, but in everything he did, one felt his 
 nearness to the Unseen, his utter goodness. I remember 
 so well his saying, ' I can't talk about these things ; to me 
 Jesus Christ is just everything.' 
 
 " W. and I always felt we would like his help more than 
 any one's about our children, and often told him so. He
 
 292 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 promised to write a book about education some day. What 
 a sound, sane, helpful one it would have been. One hopes 
 and prays that some of his spirit may be the heritage .of 
 our children." 
 
 There is the old saying that a man is never a hero to 
 his valet ; but the butler at Andrew's home, after knowing 
 him from boyhood till his death, could write of him : 
 
 ' He was more helpful to me than any one I have ever 
 met on earth." 
 
 This power of his, to communicate to others something 
 of his own quality, to inspire them with his own shining 
 ideals, is referred to again and again in the letters, and 
 the writers are people of both sexes and very different ages, 
 standing and outlook. An Eton boy x says : 
 
 ' He was so splendid and ' white ' . . . whenever I saw 
 him I felt I was in the presence of one who was a true English 
 gentleman, one who feared God." 
 
 A very beautiful Memorial Service for Andrew was held 
 in Stanstead Abbotts Church on June 14, 191 7. About 
 that Service there was an atmosphere of triumph. As his 
 brother (the Rev. Arthur Buxton, C.F.) said in his moving 
 address : 
 
 " We have tried to make everything at this Service as 
 bright and happy as it ought to be. Our Saviour is alive, 
 so is our brother. 
 
 " We often spoke of what we would do after the War : 
 of how we would take a house in Scotland, and use it as a 
 meeting place of the family. It was to be like Dalcrombie, 
 where he was for a holiday in 1912, where the moor came 
 right up to the house, and the grouse would sit on the garden 
 wall, and call to us in the early morning, and the trout 
 
 1 John W. D. Birchall, who died of appendicitis, August 26, 
 1918, aged 16.
 
 [To face page 293
 
 POSTSCRIPT 29 
 
 •5 
 
 would rise on the sparkling waters of Loch Ruthven, down 
 below — and now, anything, however lovely, will fall flat 
 without him. But he will be busy now with another house 
 in that place of many mansions, alongside the Master 
 builder. He will put into that all the loving labour and 
 thought for which he was so wonderful in his care for his 
 friends down here below. . . . 
 
 "... We are proud of this ' beloved Captain,' this ' man 
 greatly beloved.' German bullets cannot destroy a soul 
 like that. We can hold our heads higher, and feel we have 
 grown a bit, because he lived among us, and was one of 
 us." 
 
 These extracts may close with the letter which a little 
 niece (Hannah Buxton) of Andrew's wrote to his mother 
 when she was told about his death : 
 
 " Dear, dear Granny, — 
 
 " I remember when Uncle Andrew was here he did lots 
 of things with us. He helped us put up bird boxes. On 
 Friday morning we tried to shoot something, but couldn't, 
 and in the evening we had great fun with him ; he carried 
 three of us at once. On Saturday, first we had a game of 
 hockey, then we went to catch the bus, but as it did not come 
 we stopped a little blue motor and he went in that. Before 
 he went he gave us each a shilling. I loved him very much. 
 He loved everything out of doors, spiders and birds, fish 
 and fishing, and all green things. ... He sent me a P.C. 
 with ' Dinna forget me, lassie,' and I won't forget him. It 
 was a picture P.C. He used to take Darky Daniel down to 
 the bath-room with him, and Dan said that he turned on 
 the taps for him and that he liked the cold water. Dan 
 used to talk to him about the taps and pipes and the num- 
 bers on the telegraph posts. He was always asking us to 
 come and stay with him at the Front. . . . Before he
 
 294 ANDREW R. BUXTON 
 
 went out to the Front we helped him put on his puttees, 
 and he gave me an old body of a wooden spider ; it had 
 lost its wire legs. I have got it. It was at Easneye. It 
 was the day he went to the Front for the first time. . . . 
 I am glad God took him because he will be so happy in 
 Heaven." 
 
 Printed in Ureal Britain hr Kobkrt Scott. Publisher, Patbknobteb Kow, Londok, 
 
 bij BC I'LLR & TA.\M.lt. Fkojik
 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
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 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
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