The enemy's fire was particularly deadly at this point, and it
seemed impossible for a messenger to get through, but no man hesitated.
The first fell dead before he had traveled many yards, the second had a
leg shot off, the third by amazing luck got through without a scratch.
Deeds of this kind have endeared the French soldier to Tommy Atkins more
than all his extravagant acts of kindness, and the sympathetic bond of
valor has linked them together in the close companionship of
brothers-in-arms.
Having shown what the British soldier thinks of the French as fighting
men, it is pleasant to turn to our Ally's opinion of Tommy Atkins. Here
the letters deal in superlatives. M. Duchene, French master at
Archbishop Holgate's School, York, who was wounded with his regiment at
Verdun, writes in glowing terms of his comrades' praise. "Ah, those
English soldiers!" he says. "In my regiment you only hear such
expressions as _'Ils sont magnifiques,' 'Ils sont superbs,' 'Quels
soldats!'_ No better tribute could be given." Another Frenchman with the
army of the Republic is stirred into this eulogy in a letter to a friend
in England: "How fine they are, how splendidly they behave, these
English soldiers! In their discipline and their respect for their
officers they are magnificent, and you will never know how much we have
applauded them.
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