in Italy, and had fired the first British shell against Austria. The
Major in command had the reputation of being the most efficient British
Battery Commander in Italy, and, so far as my experience of others went,
he deserved it. He was a Regular soldier, and had served with a Mountain
Battery in India, a service which requires and breeds a power of quick
decision, by no means universal among Garrison Gunners of the Regular
Army. Personally he was a most delightful man, at his best a very
amusing talker, a pleasant companion and an excellent Commanding
Officer. Few officers whom I have met took as much thought and trouble
as he for the material welfare of his men. From his junior officers he
combined a demand for high efficiency with a sometimes wonderful
solicitude for their comfort, health and peace of mind. He never asked
any of us to do more, or even as much, as he did willingly himself, and
if anything went wrong in the Battery, which it seldom did, he never
hesitated, in dealing with higher authorities, to take all the blame. He
had been twice wounded already, once on the Somme and again in the
Italian May offensive. Later on he was wounded a third time.

Captain Jeune, the Second-in-Command, was also a Regular, but very
young. In mind and manner he was older than his years, and he knew his
work as a military professional extremely well. Some found him
truculent, but he never displayed any truculence to me.

On my arrival I became Senior Subaltern of the Battery. The three Junior
Subalterns, Darrell, Leary and Winterton, provided a variety of
companionship. Darrell was a man of business, a most capable officer, a
good Mess Secretary, and very easy to get on with. Leary was a
dark-haired Irishman, who had originated in the County Limerick. He was
a good mathematician, but in conversation was apt to be long-winded, and
had a wonderful capacity for making a simple matter appear complex. He