In the long road to victory they had left many of their best by the wayside. The casualties in France were close on 15,000, nearly 300 per cent. of the original strength. Of these some 5,000 were dead. As evidence of the fury of the Western campaign, it may be noted that the South African contingent in East Africa was nearly twice the size of the forces in France from beginning to end, but its losses were not more than a quarter of theirs. How many, especially of the younger officers, whose names are recorded in the earlier actions, survived to advance on Le Cateau? Yet the amazing thing is that in a Brigade which was so often severely engaged, and in which the uttermost risks were cheerfully and habitually taken, any came through the three years’ struggle. There are men who fought from Agagia to Le Cateau and have now returned to the mine and the farm to be living witnesses to their miraculous Odyssey. Wherein lay the peculiar strength of the Brigade? It has been a war of many marvels. We have seen pasty-faced youths from the slums of cities toughen into redoubtable soldiers, and boys new from office-stool and college classroom become on the instant leaders of men and Berserks in battle. The Brigade had the initial advantage of drawing upon men of a fine physique, and, in many cases, of practical experience in a rough and self-reliant life. Its recruits, too, as I have already said, showed a high average of education, and many who never left the ranks were well qualified for commissions. They developed rapidly a perfect _esprit de corps_, which, because they were so few and so far from home, was more than the solidarity of a fighting unit, and became something like the spirit of a race and a nation. I do not think a more perfect brotherhood-in-arms could have been found on any front. Lastly, they were commanded by officers who had their full confidence and affection. The successive brigadiers, the battalion and battery commanders, and every officer understood the meaning of “team-work,” and loved and respected the troops they led.