A despatch from Sir John French describing the operations of
the British Field Force from August 23rd to 28th was issued on Thursday morning. Although it is a narrative of constant retreat, it is as reassuring as an announcement of two or three victories. A finer feat of arms, we venture to say, has never been performed by British troops. The force, owing to circumstances, found itself in a very bad hole, and we do not suppose that any other army in the world would have extricated itself with such skilL Most other armies, baying less individual resource than our highly trained officers and men, would have been annihilated under the conditions. Retreat is supposed to destroy moral, but we believe that this particular retreat has simply proved to our troops that where skill and coolness are the decisive factor they have nothing to fear from the Germans.
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