With the Serbs in Macedonia

TRANSPORT TROUBLES 75
The mud was our greatest difficulty just then,
and one night it fairly bested us. We struggled
on till we could go no further. To make matters
worse, we had wounded on board at the time,
and were supposed to transfer them at the
dump to the heavy lorries working night and
day between the dump and railhead. But it
could not be done. We just managed to reach
Neokazi village, and there we took possession
of the church, which fortunately had only one
shell-hole in the roof. Then the poor fellows
were bedded down in straw and made as com-
fortable as possible, while messengers were sent
on to our camp, and every empty bottle that
could be raked up was filled with hot tea.
The village pope had a pitiful congregation
that night. The picture of these poor wretches
''
"
cradled in straw and drinking English tea
lives in the memory still. With it there comes
the usual rush of thoughts about the wanton
imbecility of this most brutal of all the world's
games. One cursed the spirit of Nationalism,
lock, stock, and barrel. The Evil Spirit which
to make this mess the Good
urged Germany :
Spirit that led these blood-drained, lice-infested,
pain-racked wretches to fight on and on for
five years till they came to this— away with
them both for ever and ever ! It was all too
appalling. The Western Front, Mesopotamia,