I venture to express the opinion that the simple, direct and soldierly style in which Mr. Harold Harvey has written the notes that accompany his illustrations will be appreciated. His reticence as regards his own doings, the casual nature of his references--where they could not be avoided--to his personal share in great achievements, manifest a spirit of self-effacement that is characteristic of the men of the army in which he fought; men whose like the world has never known. ROBERT OVERTON. TO =LADY ANGELA FORBES= WHOSE WORK FOR SOLDIERS IN FRANCE AND AT HOME HAS BEEN AS UNTIRING AS IT HAS BEEN UNOSTENTATIOUS. CONTENTS FORENOTE =ON THE WAY TO THE FRONT.= Chapter I.--FROM SOUTHAMPTON TO MALTA II.--FROM MALTA TO MARSEILLES III.--FROM MARSEILLES TO ARMENTIERES =AT THE FRONT.= Chapter IV.--SOME SAMPLE EXCITEMENTS OF LIFE IN THE TRENCHES V.--THE LIGHTER SIDE OF TRENCH LIFE VI.--THE "MAKE" OF A BRITISH TRENCH VII.--THE RUSE OF A GERMAN SNIPER VIII.--THREE DEATH TRAPS IX.--GERMAN BEASTS IN A FRENCH CONVENT X.--ANOTHER SCENE OF BOCHE BRUTALITY XI.--THE TRICK THAT DIDN'T TRICK US XII.--THE BARRED ROAD TO CALAIS SKETCHES PRIVATE HAROLD HARVEY _Frontispiece_ ABOARD THE TRANSPORT BIVOUAC AT MALTA CASEMENT GARDENS, MALTA SERGEANTS' MESS ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT, MALTA ON THE QUAYHEAD AT MARSEILLES QUAYSIDE, MARSEILLES FORTY PASSENGERS IN EACH CATTLE TRUCK A WASH AND A WAIT "DOOMSDAY BOOK": A FRENCH LESSON IN A CATTLE TRUCK LADY ANGELA FORBES'S SOLDIERS' HOME AT ETAPLES ROAD TO THE TRENCHES MY SKETCH-BOOK MAP: LA BASSEE-ST. JULIEN OUTSKIRTS OF A VILLAGE MY FIRST SNIPING-PLACE CAPTURED GERMAN TRENCH THE WOODCUTTER'S HUT TYPICAL FIGURES AND FIGURE-HEADS "HAMMERSMITH BRIDGE" "DIRTY DICK'S" "ENTRENCHING" THE PIANO "SEVENTY-FIVE HOTEL" CHICKEN FARM A FRENCH COMRADE-COMEDIAN A TRENCH SNIPER, RESTING A TRAVERSE THE BIRTH-PLACE OF A SONG TRENCH PERISCOPE IN USE "THE WHITE FARM" A GERMAN SNIPER'S NEST "SUICIDE BRIDGE" "SUICIDE SIGNAL BOX" A GHASTLY PROMENADE THE HOLE IN THE WALL A VIOLATED CONVENT WHERE GERMANS RAPED AND MURDERED "THE BLACK HOLE" THE BLACK TOWER WHERE THE TRAP WAS SET "GOLGOTHA" PART I. ON THE WAY TO THE FRONT. A SOLDIER'S SKETCHES UNDER FIRE. INTRODUCTORY. ON THE WAY TO THE FRONT. CHAPTER I. FROM SOUTHAMPTON TO MALTA. [Illustration] On the outbreak of the war I joined the Royal Fusiliers, uninfluenced by the appeal of wall-posters or the blandishments of a recruiting sergeant. My former experience as a trooper in the Hertfordshire Yeomanry being accounted unto me for military righteousness, I sailed with my regiment from Southampton on September 3rd, 1914. We thought we were bound for France direct, and only discovered on the passage that we were to be landed, first, at Malta. I think I know the reason why the short trip across Channel was avoided, but, as it behoves me to be very careful about what I say on certain points, I don't state it.