Battalion Quotes

“At the beginning of the war…I had to look in on the War Office, and in a room I found a fellow…What do you think he was doing…what the hell do you think he was doing? He was devising the ceremonial for the disbanding of a Kitchener battalion. You can’t say we were not prepared in one matter at least…. Well, the end of the show was to be: the adjutant would stand the battalion at ease; the band would play Land of Hope and Glory, and then the adjutant would say: There will be no more parades…. Don’t you see how symbolical it was—the band playing Land of Hope and Glory, and then the adjutant saying: There will be no more parades?…For there won’t. There won’t, there damn well won’t. No more Hope, no more Glory, no more parades for you and me any more. Nor for the country…nor for the world, I dare say… None… Gone… Napoo finny! No…more…parades!”

“When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.”

“When sorrows come they come not as single spies But in battalions!”

“It is said that God is always on the side of the big battalions.”

“He was presumably a lover. They did things like commanding battalions. And worse!”

“Never send a battalion to take a hill if a regiment is available.”

“We are at war, and in time of war there is only one rule. Form your battalion and fight.”

“Maybe the same essential download was also being delivered to other people—a massive, compassionate battalion of us—at the same time.”

“Psychology is a soft weapon but you can take outmore enemy battalions with leaflets and radio broadcasts than with high explosives.”