Journey To The Center Of The Earth In Hindi 720p 2439l

On August 16th, the division entrained for Leighton Buzzard, and thebattalion spent four days in billets at Dunstable, 8 miles away,before setting out on the 20th on a 70-mile trek to its finaldestination at Chelmsford. In spite of the heat, the dusty roads andthe small opportunities afforded since mobilisation for practice inmarching, the journey was successfully accomplished in four days. Theinhabitants of Stevenage, Hoddesden, Waltham Abbey and Fyfield, wherewe billeted in succession, to whom the passage of troops was still apleasing novelty, and the provision of billets more than a businesstransaction, received us with every kindness. Thus Chelmsford becamethe adopted home and theatre of training for the battalion, except forthe period September 24th-October 16th, which was spent in threeadjacent villages, Broomfield and Great and Little Waltham. The relationsbetween the town and the soldiers were excellent throughout, and manywarm friendships were made; while in the surrounding (p. 003)country thelandowners and farmers made the troops free of their land, therebygreatly assisting the field training, which was carried on uninterruptedlythrough a fine autumn and a wet winter. We lost in September for dutywith the New Armies the permanent sergeant-instructors, one of whom hadbeen attached to each company in peace time, but were fortunatelyallowed to retain our regular adjutant, Captain G. M. Sharpe, and theR.S.-M. (afterwards Lieut. Hanney, M.C.). About the close of the yearthe double-company system was adopted, under which the two headquartercompanies became 'A' Company, under the command of Major Hedges, whileCaptain Battcock commanded B Company, composed of the men fromWallingford, Wantage and Newbury, Captain Lewis C Company, fromWindsor and Maidenhead, and Captain Thorne D Company, from Abingdonand Wokingham. Many memories will remain with us of the laborious daysand nights spent throughout those seven months, of company training inHighlands, fights on Galleywood Common, route marches up the longslope of Danbury Hill, journeys to Boreham Range in the darkness of awinter dawn, returning after dusk with a day's firing behind, and longhours spent in guarding the Marconi station in rain, snow and mist.All ranks were very keen and eager, especially before illness, themonotony of routine and disappointment at receiving no orders foroverseas, produced some inevitable reaction. Colonel Serocold hasindeed expressed his opinion that the battalion, while under hiscommand, was never better trained than at the end of November, 1914.

The prolonged and terrible struggle which was now about to begin wasthe last attempt to break through in the west on the old plan. Theimmense collection of guns, ammunition, railway material, and everykind of transport aroused high hopes. It was believed that thebombardment prolonged throughout many days with an intensity fargreater than before the Somme would overwhelm the German resistance,and open the way to the Flanders coast and to the submarine bases thenat the most successful height of their activity. These expectationswere disappointed. The German positions no longer consisted ofcontinuous trench lines, which could be reduced to shapeless masses ofearth. An organisation of great depth had taken their place. Machinegun nests and pill-boxes scattered about were almost indistinguishablefrom the sea of mud in which they were placed, and defied accurateaerial reconnaissance. In this fortified zone the foremost lines wereweakly held, and the British troops after taking them found the mainresistance still before them, when their energies were almostexhausted by their painful journey through the mire. The artillery haddone its work only too well in tearing the soil to pieces; but hadnone the less left intact many a pill-box which would only succumb tothe direct hit of a 9.2-inch shell. The dice of success were thusloaded heavily against the attackers, and complete victory wasrendered impossible by the incredible weather. The great (p. 120)storm whichraged throughout the initial attack on July 31st was succeeded byalmost unprecedented rain throughout August. The brief improvement ofSeptember relapsed into the deluges which made the last stages of thestruggle for Passchendaele so heroic a feat of endurance. The lastmonth of the Somme Battle had been terrible, but the whole of theevents now to be described were fought under far worse conditions. Notrenches or dugouts were available for sheltering the troops in thebattle area, of whom only a small fraction could be accommodated insuch pill-boxes as remained intact. The corduroy paths by which alonerations and stores could be brought up were gassed and shelled nightand day; one false step was to be engulfed sometimes beyond hope ofrecovery. The artillery were in little better case, their guns wereplaced almost wheel to wheel in the open, always sinking deeper intothe morass, and unable to move away from the storm of shells. Thelight railways on which they depended for a regular supply of shellsoften sank themselves from lack of solid foundation. Far behind,junctions, dumps and rest camps were attacked by long-range fire andbombs, with a violent persistency quite unprecedented until the Marchdays next year. The ordeal was bitterly hard, and the prizeincompletely won, but the spirit of the British Armies rose supremeover all, and the German defence was taxed to the uttermost.