Nelson's history of the war. Vol. XI., The struggle for the Dvina, and the great invasion of Serbia

126 HISTORY OF THE WAR.

rifle bullet a soldier who seemed destined to high

Oct, 27 command, and who possessed in a tion of all who served with him. Brigadier-General the Hon. J. F. Trefusis, who had served with distinc-

unique degree the confidence and affec-

Mineo BT re a i I a

tion in South Africa, had begun the war as a captain in the Irish Guards. He attained command of his

battalion in December 1914, and seven months later, at the age of thirty-seven, succeeded General Heyworth in command of the 2oth Brigade, be-

coming the youngest brigadier in the British army. -

His cheerfulness and keenness made him an ideal leader both in trench warfare and in the September attack, and his great mental powers and complete devotion marked him out for the highest military tasks. He had both the incommunicable ardour of youth and the balance and tenacity of experience. Like Hugh Dawnay and John Gough, it was his fate to die before his work was well begun, not the least of those inheritors of unfulfilled renown ” whose names brighten and sadden the chronicle of war.