_Captain W. H. Eve--October 9._--“We are trying to be patient, knowing very little and hoping for the best. A few days after I got back from leave we were moved off, at the beginning of our offensive, the 22nd [September] to be exact, and were kept in constant readiness for nearly ten days. We were all cramped up in a tiny dirty little village, with all our poor horses in the open, a bad place, with a rotten water-supply, and we had wet cold weather too. Of course we were desperately excited, but we weren’t allowed to know much. Then on the 1st we moved on here where we are now, and where we are more comfortable than we have ever been before, in a large village, ourselves, the Third, and Brigade Headquarters, and very nicely situated, and good country. I was very lucky in the area allotted to my squadron, and have got the whole of my men and horses comfortably snug under cover, and it is a real pleasure to see my horses.... Of news we know no more than you do from the papers, and, as I say, have simply to try and be patient, and trust the powers that be, and hope for the very best.... [Illustration: D SQUADRON QUARTERS AND MESS AT BETTENCOURT. AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 1915] [Illustration] [Illustration] [Illustration: CAPTAIN EVE’S DUG-OUT AT AUTHUILLE SEPTEMBER 1915] [Illustration: LT. J. V. DAWSON IN HIS DUG-OUT AT AUTHUILLE. SEPTEMBER 1915] “Meanwhile they seem desperately hard up for officers for some of the Infantry--more senior officers, that is--and have lately been sending all round the Cavalry for fellows to volunteer to take command of battalions and companies.... The other day the Colonel asked me if I would care to take promotion to Lieut.-Colonel to command a battalion of infantry, and they have been asking others also. I refused, but for a man who is ambitious irrespective of what brand of the service he gets his promotion in, you can see it is a tremendous chance.... But I doubt if they will get many men to volunteer for it.... It is extraordinary though, and to me seems such a very short-sighted policy, for when our time comes where will they find _our_ officers?” That was the problem which many Cavalry officers had to face, and it is not surprising that most of them, loving their own branch of the service, and still believing, or at least hoping, that the Cavalry would yet get their chance, should have shrunk from sacrificing their Cavalry training, even for such promotion. It was a clear proof of the great straits to which the losses of the war had brought the Infantry, on whom the brunt had fallen. The letter goes on:-- “News from Russia appears to me all good, and it does look as though the tide were turning at last, and the Germans had shot their bolt, and were up against it.... It’s such a huge thing this war, and there is such a tremendous lot one wants to know, and so very little one does know. But I feel as confident as ever, as I think we all do out here.” They all did throughout, happily for England.