Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1918 edition. Excerpt: ...One will remember the perfect setting in the valley of vineyards, and the panoramic glories of the guardian mountains, their peaks showing clear and defined through vague and fleecy wreaths of morning mist. There will be memories of the Indian bazaar, the sharp ejaculatory cries in Hindustani tongues, the babble of the syces, the cooks, the bhisties, and the sweepers, and at all times the faint sickly smell of the burning ghee. Outlasting all will be the link it represents in the quick-moving chain of British strength beyond the seas, the part it played in aiding the capture of Jerusalem and the stemming of the Austro-German hosts on the plains of Northern Italy. Now let us return again to the North. A base remount depot, which we will call " A," has, of course, easy access from the sea. From the spot where it is situated you look towards an historical city, through which a river famous in commerce, romance and tragedy, passes out on its ever-widening passage to the sea. You contemplate that vista of ancient monuments mingling with the tall chimneys of modern industry, and your imagination flits centuries back to the distant ages when the Norsemen came, when English and French fought as fierce opponents, asking and giving no quarter, and when treachery, bloodshed, and swaying battles were part of the unhappy lives of each succeeding generation. Odd contrasts indeed! This depot may be said to have had its origin half in York and half in Waterford, the divided forces becoming united at their first French base on August 19, 1914. They were there only a fortnight, and then at a time when the Germans were seriously threatening the northern coast of France they were hurriedly shipped and put out to sea. For three days they were...