Um, ok...so I've had a horrible stint of writer's block of late? No other excuse for how long I've let this story go. *hides*
For endgegner07, whose fanart has kept this thing alive for me.
Fragments from the desk of Mr. Mycroft Holmes:
Memorandum
URGENT
Mr. Mycroft Holmes
August 22, 1914
9:25 a.m.
Sir –
My apologies for beginning your morning like this, but:
Attached are the first reports regarding the Casteau confrontation (1). If you would like my summary rather than the official paperwork until post-morning coffee, that is atop the stack.
The French have been halted completely in the Ardennes, according to our reconnaissance, and the 3rd Colonial is all but decimated. (2)
We are still receiving scattered and conflicting reports regarding large German forces on a course of interception just north of the Expeditionary Forces. Actions to be taken?
-Wilkins
--
Re: Memorandum
Wilkins –
Make the coffee black, and get me reports on the French 5th. No actions at this time (and no, that was not my decision).
-MH
--
Memorandum
URGENT
Mr. Mycroft Holmes
August 22, 1914
5:35 p.m.
Holmes:
Charleroi and Alsace-Lorraine have fallen. General retreat of all French forces. (3)
Kitchener
Secretary of War
--
Mr. Holmes –
Sir, if you'll pardon the familiarity, it has been almost two weeks since you spent a night at your club. Don't you think you should for one evening put down the paperwork and rest your eyes a bit?
Oh, and your brother was in here earlier, sir. Twitchy as usual, but not overly distraught when I said you were in a Council meeting. As you no doubt have deduced, I prevented him from smoking until I left to check the post. My apologies for the smell.
-W
--
Memorandum
Mr. Mycroft Holmes
August 22, 1914
5:50 p.m.
Holmes, what the devil is Sir John French doing? We've heard nothing from him besides the standard reports. (4)
Kitchener
--
Re: Memorandum
Mr. Secretary:
Apparently he believes the Expeditionary Forces to be better off encamping at Mons, despite the gap between them and French reinforcements. (5) I reiterate, as I already have several times, my doubts as to the man's competence.
MH
--
Excerpt from the diary of Dr. John H. Watson, Royal Army Medical Corps:
August 22, 1914
Mons-Condé Canal
10:16 p.m.
This is the first opportunity I have had in which to write a word of these past few days. And even now, I find it oddly calming despite the tension with which the air seems to be charged, to sit and scribble away by lamp-light. If I could only block the sounds of hundreds of men checking weapons and talking in hushed voices, replacing them instead with a quiet rain and horses' hooves and cab-wheels, then I could almost imagine the circle of light to be merely my own desk in my own home.
Unfortunately, I cannot, and probably should not even be imagining such things. We have other issues to hand that are far more important.
One thing that I had forgotten about war, is that we have no way of knowing how other areas are progressing. We have heard gunfire, and word-of-mouth reports of fighting closer than we were at first led to believe, but will know nothing until it is upon us. And the waiting – I had forgotten how horrible the uncertainty is! Retreats being called when there is no enemy upon us – at least one that we can see – orders being given and retracted with no explanation, and always that strange calm tension surrounding everything said or done.
Some of these young fellows, having landed with great anticipation and exuberance, have since realised what we veterans already expected – that this is not a great game, and it is only the beginning.
But enough of this tedium, for nothing can or will change it, and only time will ease it.
I am quite surprised to discover that I am not the only man in our regiment at least, who is well over middle-aged; actually there are a few of us (6), and it was a bright spot in an otherwise heinously wet and miserable day to meet a man who had survived Kandahar, all those many years ago.
I am under no delusions that I shall remain at the front here for long, nor was he – that is the work of younger, more physically capable men, and I anticipate field hospital work, for it would be in that capacity that I could do the most good in a terrible situation.
However, that will come later; right now, we are merely doing as we are commanded, which apparently is to block the Germans from their ruthless advance until lines are well-drawn and established.
I wish I could hold the same optimism about this process as the young fellows I talked with this evening. One of them most cheerfully lit off a cigarette and exclaimed that he had no doubt this would 'all be sorted out by Christmas!', and I did not disillusion the poor lad; reality shall do that quickly enough.
But we must conserve lamp-oil, and I want to at least begin a letter to Holmes tonight, and I will therefore end this entry and hope to continue in less wretched circumstances.
Despite the fact that we have heard nothing, I somehow have a most chilling foreboding of some impending danger – and over these years I have learned to trust my instincts. But perhaps, after all, it is simply the overtaxed nerves of an old campaigner. Only the morning will tell the tale.
--
Fragment from the desk of Mr. Mycroft Holmes:
Memorandum
URGENT
Mr. Mycroft Holmes
August 23, 1914
9:15 a.m.
Mr. Holmes:
The German 1st has engaged the Expeditionary Forces at Mons (7). You were right, sir, though that knowledge does not make anything better, I know.
Mr. Asquith has called a meeting with the Council for 10:00 sharp. I shall file reports from the Western Front until that time and have them for you.
-Wilkins
--
Addendum: Off the record, sir, your brother is waiting in the outer office, in my frank opinion looking close to a panic attack.
(1) This little-known incident, the first action involving British soldiers in World War One, preceded the Battle of Mons by just 24 hours. During this battle it was the turn of the infantry to engage the enemy while the cavalry stood by, awaiting further orders. Later in the day, as German forces threatened to overwhelm the British infantry, a famous retreat was ordered…what became known as 'The retreat from Mons', which took the BEF out of Belgium into France and almost to the gates of Paris…
-- The First Shot: 22 August 1914, by Richard van Emden (http: // www ..uk / history /worldwars /wwone /firstshot _05 . shtml)
(2) Fierce fighting erupts in the Ardennes [morning], halting the French offensive: the first-rate French 3rd Colonial Division is destroyed at Rossignol - bloody battles are fought at Virton, Tintigny, and Neufchâteau. (http: // cnparm . home .texas. net /Wars /Marne /Marne03 . htm)
(3) French defeated at Charleroi. Alsace-Lorraine: French defeat, Luneville lost; General withdrawal. (On This Day: 22 August, 1914 - http: // www. firstworldwar. com /onthisday /1914_08_22 .htm)
(4) Sir John French failed to maintain frequent or reliable communication with his field commanders…(The Battles of the British Expeditionary Forces, 1914-1915, by Fred R. Van Hartesveldt; pg. 7, p. 3)
Sir John French aborts his plans for a British attack [evening], blaming the French 5th Army's retreat, although 5th Army isn't retreating yet. The advancing BEF halts at the Mons-Condé Canal [night]. (same source as [2])
(5) A nine-mile gap has opened between the BEF and the left flank of the French 5th Army. (same as [2])
(6) "…especially the reservists, oldish men who had been called from their homes, bundled once more into uniforms, hurried to a foreign land of which they knew nothing, and pushed into a battle which showed great promise of being a 'debacle'…" (Contemptible, a Soldier's Tale of the Great War; WWI Series by Casualty; Kindle Edition)
This book details a British Expeditionary Force soldier's deployment into the thick of France during these early weeks, and is a magnificently matter-of-fact presentation of those days that has influenced and will influence much of my portrayal here of Watson's diary writings. Directly quoted matter will be cited, but the tone and attitude of this story will be very similar to Contemptible.
(7) The Battle of Mons: the outnumbered BEF temporarily checks the advance of Kluck's 1st Army, inflicting heavy casualties [] (same as [2])