Quentin. We dined well, slept well.
"Noyon is a good spot," he said. "I shall come here again when you
give me a lift."
A few days later my brother was firing at masses of Germans with open
sights, and the British army was in a full-tide retreat, and the
junior officer who had played his gramophone was dead, with other
officers and men of that battery. When I next passed through Noyon
shells were falling into it, and later I saw it in ruins, with the
glory of the Romanesque cathedral sadly scarred. I have ofttimes
wondered what happened to the little family in the old hotel.
So March 21st came, as we knew it would come, even to the very date,
and Ludendorff played his trump cards and the great game.
Before that date I had an interview with General Gough, commanding the
Fifth Army. He pulled out his maps, showed his method of forward
redoubts beyond the main battle zone, and in a quiet, amiable way
spoke some words which froze my blood.
"We may have to give ground," he said, "if the enemy attacks in
strength.
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