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any inkling of it. You may not like what you see, but do not on that account fall into the error of trying to adjust it to suit your own vision of what it ought to have been.
    Thirdly, it is now widely held (or at least it has been widely stated) that the dropping of atomic bombs was unnecessary because the Japanese were ready to give in. I shall have something to say of that bombing later—and not entirely, perhaps, what you might think—but for the moment I shall say only that I wish those who hold that view had been present to explain the position to the little bastard who came howling out of a thicket near the Sittang, full of spite and fury, in that first week of August. He was half-starved and near naked, and his only weapon was a bamboo stake, but he was in no mood to surrender.
    Finally, if any young soldiers of today should chance to read this book, they may understand that while the face of war may alter, some things have not changed since Joshua stood before Jericho and Xenophon marched to the sea. May they come safe to bedtime, and all well.

Chapter 4
    “Aye-aye, Jock lad, w'at fettle?”
    “Not bad, sergeant, thank you.” “Champion! They tell us yer a good cross-coontry rooner?”
    “Oh…well, I've done a bit
…”
    “
Girraway! Ah seen ye winnin' at Ranchi—travellin' like a bloody trail ’oond w'en the whistles gan on. ’Ere, ’ev a fag.”
    “Ta very much, sarn't. M-mm, Senior Service…”
    “
Sarn't's mess issue, lad. Tek anoother fer after. Aye, ye can roon…woon a few prizes in Blighty, did ye?”
    “Well, now and then…seven and six in savings certificates, that sort of thing…”
    “Ah'll bet yer the fastest man in't battalion, ower a mile or two. Aye, in the brigade, likely—mebbe the division—”
    “Oh, I dunno about that. There must be some good runners—”
    “Give ower, Jock! A fit yoong feller like you? Honnist, noo—wadn't ye back yersel agin anybuddy in 17th Indian? Well aye, ye wad! Ootroon the bloody lot on them, eh?”
    “Well, I'd be ready to have a go…”
    “Good for you, son. An' yer a furst-class shot an' a', aren't ye? Good…yer joost the man tae be sniper-scout for the section.”
    “Eh? Sniper-scout? What's that?”
    “Weel, ye knaw w'at a scout does. W'en the section cooms till a village, the scout ga's in foorst, t'see if Jap's theer.”
    “To…er, draw their fire?”
    “
Use yer loaf, man, Jap's nut that bloody stupid! Usually, ’e let's the scout ga through, or waits till ’e's reet inside the position an' then lays ’im oot, quiet-like. So the scout ’es tae keep ’is wits aboot ’im, sista, an' as soon as ’e spots Jap, ’e fires a warnin' shot…an' boogers off. So ’e'd better be a good rooner, ’edn't ’e?”
    “Does it matter? I mean, if he's surrounded by bleeding Japs, he might as well be on crutches—”
    “Doan't talk daft! If ’e's nippy on ’is feet ’e can git oot, easy! Didn't ye play Roogby at that posh school o' yours?”
    “Yes, but the opposition wasn't armed. Oh, well. Here—you said
sniper-
scout. Where does the sniping come in?”
    “Aye, weel, that's w'en we're pullin' oot of a position, nut ga'in' in. Sniper-scout stays be'ind, ’idden in a tree or booshes or summat, an' waits till Jap cooms up…”
    “And then snipes one of them?”
    “Aye, but nut joost anybuddy. ’E waits for a goodtarget—an officer, or mebbe one o' the top brass, if ’e's loocky—”
    “Bloody lucky, yes.”
    “…
an' then ’e nails ’im—”
    “—
and boogers…I beg your pardon…buggers off.”
    “That's reet, son! ’E gits oot an' ga's like the clappers—”
    “
Being a good long-distance runner. I see. Flawless logic. Well, it must be a great life, as long as it lasts—”
    “Well, it's a job for a slippy yoong feller, nut owd fat boogers like Grandarse, or ’alf-fit sods like Nick an' Forster. Ah'm glad ye volunteered, Jock. ’Ere, ’ev anoother fag.”
    “Thanks, sarn't, but I wouldn't want to