One of his men, in relating the manner of his heroic death,
afterwards said to me, 'I loved him, sir, as a brother.' The funeral,
which was attended by Prince Arthur of Connaught and several Generals,
took place under heavy fire. So continuous indeed was the roar of the
shells, that an officer, writing to the papers some time after, related
that it was impossible to distinguish the chaplain's voice. The service
was therefore necessarily brief, and at its conclusion the crowd of
officers quickly dispersed.
An order had been issued for a withdrawal from the Front, and the Menin
road into Ypres was blocked with troops and transport.
A short time previous to this I had the misfortune to be somewhat
seriously injured, for my horse--frightened or struck by a shell which
burst near by, I have never been able to determine which,--fell heavily
on me, severely crushing my left leg. I had been taken in a Staff car to
the 6th casualty clearing station and attended to, but the injured limb
grew steadily worse. In the course of the afternoon, to my great joy,
the 23rd Field Ambulance passed me on its way from Hooge, and I was
promptly placed on an ambulance wagon, on which I trekked through Ypres;
until we reached Dickebusch, some three miles on the south of the city.
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