"In bidding it farewell, I wish to thank officers, N.C.O.'s, and men (including the gallant comrades who have fallen in the fight), for their gallant services when in the 99th Infantry Brigade. It is they who have borne the brunt of the hardships and the fighting, and it is they who have won the war. "I cannot express how sorry I am to lose the Battalion, or how proud I am of the honour I have had of having had it under my command. "Good-bye, and good luck!" +-----------------------------------------------------+ | THE BATTLE OF DELVILLE WOOD--AN ADVANCE IN FACE OF | | HUNDREDS OF MACHINE GUNS--A PERSONAL NARRATIVE | +-----------------------------------------------------+ THE BATTLE OF DELVILLE WOOD--AN ADVANCE IN FACE OF HUNDREDS OF MACHINE GUNS--A PERSONAL NARRATIVE To the personal side of the late war we have, in a measure, been introduced by various war correspondents. But there has always been something actually lacking, and that something is the touch and the atmosphere which can only be introduced by those who have been through the baptism of blood and fire. In the following pages the _real_ touch is introduced. Every incident is told by a man who has actually seen and experienced what he describes. These incidents are in the actual words of the writers. Nothing is altered. Here, then, is the story of the capture of Delville Wood by the 1st Sportsman's Battalion in 1916, told by Major N.A. Lewis, D.S.O., M.C.: "For two days before the fight the Battalion occupied some trenches near Bernefay Wood, and sustained a number of casualties from shell-fire. Battalion headquarters was a shelter dug in a bank at the side of Bernefay Wood. This shelter was constructed by Albany, the sculler, and as he was killed in the fight it was his last job as dug-out constructor. Needless to say, he did this job excellently. "For some hours before the Battalion moved off to take up its position, the Huns shelled the area with gas shells. Fortunately, however, just before 11 p.m., the time for starting, a breeze sprang up, and we were able to move without wearing gas masks. "The move up was not pleasant. The area had been much fought over, it had been impossible to bury the dead for ten days, and it was a hot July! "Our artillery was firing to cover our move up. Just after passing Longueval one of our shells dropped, unfortunately, near the platoon which, with the C.O., I was following. As luck would have it, though, only one man was badly wounded. The platoon, of course, went on, and the C.O. went over to the man who had been hit. "'It's hard lines, sir,' said the man. "'I know it is,' said the C.O., 'but you will soon be all right. The stretcher-bearers are coming.' "'Oh, it's not that,' was the man's rejoinder. 'It's being hit now! Here have I been all this time in France without having a real go at the b----s, and now the chance has come, here I go and get knocked out.'