But bit by bit the pleasing fabric of THE SONG OF TIADATHA was built up, and we are happy to be able to present it at last in complete form. THE SONG OF TIADATHA is unique in war literature. It tells a story which is common to very many members of the Salonica Army, and tells it in a fashion which is a most happy blend of descriptive realism, humour and sentiment. Longfellow’s metre has often been copied before, but I think never so well as this and certainly never with such happy results. Floating as gently along as Hiawatha in his canoe, we follow Tiadatha’s adventures from the day when he ceases to be a “nut” in St. James’s Street, joins up, and goes to France; we come with him to Macedonia, and accompany him as he does the hectic round of Salonica’s dubious amusements; watch him building his dug-out up on the Doiran Front; share his feverish activities during the nightmare experience of the Great Fire; attack the frowning Bulgar mountains in his company; and finally, with much good work well done, go back to England with him on leave—and look enviously on as he takes to his arms again his green-eyed Phyllis. There is something in THE SONG OF TIADATHA that all of us have experienced. That is one reason why it appeals so strongly to the B.S.F. But another reason is that THE SONG OF TIADATHA is something absolutely our own. Nobody can appreciate it to the full who has not belonged to the great family of the B.S.F. And as you men of that Army have had trials which have been peculiarly your own, so it is right that you should have a pleasure in which nobody outside the family can fully participate. H. C. OWEN. SALONICA, _January 1, 1919_. PUBLISHERS’ NOTE TO THE FIRST BRITISH EDITION As Mr. H. C. Owen (the Editor of the _Balkan News_) says above, THE SONG OF TIADATHA tells a story which is common to very many members of the Salonica Army; he says further that “nobody can appreciate it to the full who has not belonged to the great family of the B.S.F.” But we venture to think that it is a story which cannot properly be regarded as of local significance and interest merely. It typifies experiences which innumerable soldiers must, in their various ways, have undergone throughout the various theatres of the war. Thus THE SONG OF TIADATHA may be regarded in a sense as a little epic of the Great War, and, though it may find special appreciation among the great family of the B.S.F., its qualities are such that it may be expected to find appreciation among the great family of readers generally, soldiers and civilians alike. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION 7 I. THE JOINING OF TIADATHA 13 II. THE TRAINING OF TIADATHA 18 III. TIADATHA’S WOOING 23 IV. TIADATHA’S DEPARTURE 29 V. TIADATHA IN FRANCE 35