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A Visit to Three Fronts - June 1916 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
page 44 of 46 (95%)
Yet another type of French general takes us round this morning! He,
too, is a man apart, an unforgettable man. Conceive a man with a large
broad good-humoured face, and two placid, dark seal's eyes which gaze
gently into yours. He is young and has pink cheeks and a soft voice.
Such is one of the most redoubtable fighters of France, this General of
Division D. His former staff officers told me something of the man. He
is a philosopher, a fatalist, impervious to fear, a dreamer of distant
dreams amid the most furious bombardment. The weight of the French
assault upon the terrible labyrinth fell at one time upon the brigade
which he then commanded. He led them day after day gathering up Germans
with the detached air of the man of science who is hunting for
specimens. In whatever shell-hole he might chance to lunch he had his
cloth spread and decorated with wild flowers plucked from the edge. If
fate be kind to him he will go far. Apart from his valour he is
admitted to be one of the most scientific soldiers of France.

From the Observatory we saw the destruction of a German trench. There
had been signs of work upon it, so it was decided to close it down. It
was a very visible brown streak a thousand yards away. The word was
passed back to the '75's' in the rear. There was a 'tir rapide' over
our heads. My word, the man who stands fast under a 'tir rapide,' be he
Boche, French or British, is a man of mettle! The mere passage of the
shells was awe-inspiring, at first like the screaming of a wintry wind,
and then thickening into the howling of a pack of wolves. The trench
was a line of terrific explosions. Then the dust settled down and all
was still. Where were the ants who had made the nest? Were they buried
beneath it? Or had they got from under? No one could say.

There was one little gun which fascinated me, and I stood for some time
watching it. Its three gunners, enormous helmeted men, evidently loved
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