TWENTY-TWO
We'll be facing Kaiser Bill and his bullyboys.
August 1914 FranceMajor Wilfred Whitehead mopped his brow and raised his binoculars to his eyes again, focussing in on the dirty-grey spirals of artillery smoke that swirled skyward across the other side of the town of Le Cateau, tucked away in the valley of the River Selle, down to the northeast.
His eyes felt heavy and gritty, from too much dust on the French country roads, from too much marching and too little sleep. He wondered what the date was, had to think back, counting out the days in his mind; it must be August 24th, he finally decided. Not even three weeks since war had been declared. No, that couldn't be right, he thought again. Puzzled, he worked it out once more, using the fingers from both hands, ticking off the da
