The Soul of the Soldier: Sketches from the Western Battle-FrontTiplady, Thomas
History
The Soul of the Soldier: Sketches from the Western Battle-Front
Tiplady, Thomas
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, English
Loving the homeland with a passion stronger than death the Briton leaves
it, for he hears the call of the world borne on the winds and waves from
afar, and cannot refuse it. In foreign lands he lives and labors. He
roams their fields and swims in their streams, but always with an ear
listening for the voice of the Motherland; for he is hers, and at her
service if she calls.
The Declaration of War on Aug. 4, 1914, was the Mother’s call to her
children. Swifter than lightning it passed through the waves and on the
wings of the wind. The settler left his lonely cabin, the gold-digger
his shovel, the prospector his surveying instruments, the rancher his
herds, the missionary his church, the teacher his school, the clerk his
office, and all made for the nearest port. Within a month there was not
a ship on the wide seas but was bearing loyal sons back to their
Motherland’s defense. I have met, in France, British soldiers from
every country under heaven. I bent over a dying soldier near Arras who
was a clerk in Riga, Russia, when the call came. And one night on the
Somme a fine young fellow from Africa entered my tent, and slept by my
side. He was one of the most charming and handsome men I have ever met,
and had come from Durban. He had fought with Botha in Southwest Africa,
and at the conclusion of that campaign had shipped for home. Next day I
took him to Delville Wood for he wanted to see the place where his
brother had died. I found that he was of my own communion and we talked
about some of my college friends who had gone out to Natal. Two days
later, he died of wounds in a dressing station. Most of the transport
officers in our Division have come home from abroad, and have been given
their posts because they are accustomed to horses. One was prospecting
in Nigeria, another salmon-canning in Siberia, a third on a plantation
in South America.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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