Excerpt from The Passing Legions: How the American Red Cross Met the American Army in Great Britain, the Gateway to France The exhilaration and incentive which came of service at the front, of contact with actual warfare and the sharing of adventures and dangers with fighting troops were denied to the American Red Cross staff in Great Britain. But, for all that, its work never once lacked a superb inspiration nor was it devoid of moments of sheer drama. Its service lay back of the lines, among those either on the way up for a million American soldiers passed through England on their long journey to the battle zones or on leave or returning, wounded and worn, from the firing line. To these men it ministered in many ways which are past forgetfulness. In a war extending over so vast a theatre and for so long a time, the activities of the several American Red Cross Commissions abroad must Often have been identical in both intent and execution. The aim of the writer, therefore, has been rather to avoid such coincidental details of history and helpfulness and to narrate those achievements which distinguished the work in Great Britain, those which, in the swift emergency preceding them, in their setting and their drama are without counterpart in the chronicle of any other Red Cross effort in Europe. It has not been possible, in recounting these narratives, to present the names of all those who had a part in the work, but this can take nothing from the heart and high pride with which their service was given nor from their share in a great achievement. The writer wishes to make grateful acknowledgment to many members of the staff for aid in the compilation of this volume, for access to archives and to other written records Whose artistry inspired him not a little. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.