The arrival of the train was heralded by distant cheers, which were taken up by the assembled crowd, and, finally, there came the answering cheers of our men, whose lungs, whatever otherwise was their bodily condition, did not appear to have suffered from their long captivity in Germany. Thus was removed all question as to the feelings of the German-speaking Swiss towards British soldiers. Never for a moment had I had any doubt of their being well received, but that the reception should have attained such proportions and fervour was quite another matter, and went far beyond anything which I could have possibly foreseen. There is no doubt that the achievements of the first hundred thousand of our men in France and Belgium had made a strong appeal to a people whose history is a long story of heroic struggle against great odds. It is true that the prestige of the British had suffered in Swiss eyes in the past. The suffrage of the whole population during the South African War declared itself in favour of the Boers, who were thought to be the victims of the ambition of the stronger Power. Like themselves, the Boers were a small people in contact with more powerful and autocratic neighbours, and instinctively Swiss sympathies went out to them. But we had redeemed ourselves in their eyes since the war, and, as I read the meaning of the manner in which they met our men, these same Swiss wished to offer a tribute to the British people, as represented by the survivors of that first heroic army. Both officers and men were full of appreciation of the goodwill shown to them from the moment of reaching the Swiss frontier. The fact that they had at last left Germany seemed to them almost too good to be true. They had refrained from giving way to any signs of demonstration on leaving Constance, for fear of being turned back, and as they had no means of knowing when they had quitted German territory, perfect silence was maintained until they saw men waving to them and cheering from the fields, by which they realized they were amongst friends, and had cast off the dust of captivity. Then, at last, they felt able to give rein to their pent-up feelings. So it had been all the way to Zürich, every village along the route turning out to greet them as they passed by. I could see that this outburst of emotion after the suppression and antagonism of the years of captivity was having a very trying effect, for all ranks looked dazed, and appeared only half conscious of what was taking place around them. I mentally registered the fact that, to all outward appearance, there could be but little difference between shell shock and the emotional shock of pleasurable impressions so suddenly experienced.