Think of the time when a little band of these splendid lads were cut
off by a sudden descent of the enemy in force! They were holding a bit
of trench, which was powdered to ruins by shell-fire, and they were
half-buried under the wreckage; but they dug themselves out again, and
fought with such resolved fury that not all the forces of the foe
could overwhelm or overawe them. _They held their ground for three
days_--though every man who wasn’t killed was wounded. When they were
at last relieved they were cheered wildly by the troops who watched
their limping march down to billets for rest, heroes all, without a
single exception!
Such is the “way” of the Worcesters--such has always been their way
from their beginning. Unflinching valour, duty, and love of country
beyond all love of life, has made them and still makes them what they
are. They, and all their brave and noble kind, have fought and are
still fighting for us that we may dwell in our homes in peace. It
must now be our pride, as well as our honour, to prove our gratitude
to them, not only by words but deeds. Many of them will return to us,
broken men, deprived of health, strength, and all ability to work
for their living--crippled, blind, disfigured--suffering too from
what we may call mind-hurt beyond remedy. That is to say, the awful,
ineffaceable impression of ghastly sights and sounds, so inhuman, as
to shame humanity. What shall we do for our self-sacrificing defenders
when they come home? How shall we assuage their sufferings and seek to
make them forget the terrors they have confronted for our sakes?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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