The coolness and nerve of the British soldier on the firing line is the
subject of a cable message to the Central News of London:
“The shooting of the British infantrymen on the firing line was
wonderful. Every time a German’s head showed above a trench and every
time the German infantry attempted to rush a position there came a
steady, withering rifle fire from the khaki-clad men lying in extended
formation along the wide battle front. Their firing was not the firing
of nervous men shooting without aiming; rather it was the calm and
careful marksmanship of men one sees on English rifle ranges firing with
all the artificial aids permitted to the most expert.
“When quick action was necessary the men showed no nervousness; they
showed the cool, methodical efficiency for which the British army is
noted.
“If the British lost heavily, the Germans must have lost terribly. One
of the German prisoners said: ‘We never expected anything like it; it
was staggering.’
“The British troops went to their positions silently but happily. There
was no singing, because it was forbidden, but as the men deployed to the
trenches there were various sallies of humor in the dialects of the
various English, Irish and Scotch counties. The cockney was there with
quips about ‘Uncle Bill,’ and every Irishman who went into the firing
line wished he had money to buy a little Irish horse, so that he might
‘take a slap at the Uhlans.’
“As for the cavalry, the officers declare, their charges against the
Germans were superb. They charged as Berserks might have done. They gave
the Uhlans the surprise of their lives.”