Up: Hayward
YOR: 97 of 113
|
|
| |
"One rule of conduct alone survives as a guide to
men in their wanderings: fidelity to covenants, the
honour of soldiers, and the hatred of causing
human woe."
| |
The dramatic culmination
of years of foreboding stirred the entire country to heights of determination
and sacrifice. The nation was "at the ready" to meet whatever was ordained.
Haywards, in common with everyone else, waited anxiously for orders so long
foreshadowed.
The uncanny lull which followed the hysteria of the
German dictator and the annihilation of his first victim came as a reaction
but as a reaction without relief. It had generally been forecast that the
next war would begin where the last had left off with the additional horror
of years of scientific invention.
Those there were, tho, by the nature of their
training, professions or industry, were called upon at once to serve the
country. Others, like Haywards, their activities retarded by general
uncertainty and official restrictions, were obliged to stand by, depressed
and frustrated. To such people, the first few months of the war were
disappointing and exhausting beyond the reverses which were to follow.
The War office survey of three years earlier seemed to have been filed and
forgotten and military reticence blocked every enquiry. At a time when
everyone wanted to be on the march, they were told to stand at ease. Such
a state of affairs was, of course, inevitable but in some industries it
was more pronounced.
|
|
