Prefatory Note

Headquarters Southeastern Department
Charleston, S.C.

11th August, 1917

Captain Keene has made an interesting contribution to the literature of the present war in his account of service, which covers the experience of a young officer in the making and on the battle front,—the transformation of an artist into a first-class machine-gun officer. He covers the training period at home and abroad and the work at the front. This direct and interesting account should serve to bring home to all of us an appreciation of how much has to be done before troops can be made effective for modern war, the cost of unpreparedness, and the disadvantage under which troops, partially equipped, labor when they meet highly organized ones, prepared, even to the last detail, for all the exigencies of modern war. It also brings [pg vi] out the splendid spirit of Canada, the Mother Country, and the distant Colonies,—the spirit of the Empire, united and determined in a just cause.

This and similar accounts should serve to make clear to us the wisdom of the admonition of Washington and many others: “In time of peace prepare for war.”

Many young Americans are about to undergo experiences similar to those of Captain Keene, and a perusal of this modest and straight-forward narrative will help in the great work of getting ready.

Leonard Wood,
Maj.-Gen. U.S.A.

[pg vii]