Picture Show (Sassoon collection)/Devotion to Duty
DEVOTION TO DUTY
I was near the King that day. I saw him snatchAnd briskly scan the G.H.Q. dispatch.Thick-voiced, he read it out. (His face was grave.)'This officer advanced with the first wave,'And when our first objective had been gained,'(Though wounded twice), reorganized the line:'The spirit of the troops was by his fine'Example most effectively sustained.'
He gripped his beard; then closed his eyes and said,'Bathsheba must be warned that he is dead.'Send for her. I will be the first to tell'This wife how her heroic husband fell.'