A little piece of military ephemera found while we were out on patrol in West Norfolk, me driving and the boss up in the turret.
This is a Soldier's New Testament from the Second Boer War, a small and slim volume that fitted neatly into your tunic pocket. In times of stress when bullets from the sniper's Mauser are zipping around your head, it would provide strength and succour, but it wouldn't save you from a bullet; not like a belt buckle or tobacco tin.
In the preface there's a quote from General Wolseley saying that it would be of more use in the field than a Marshall's baton, ah, the beauty of being out of range.
We think the preface is debatable. To paraphrase an American Navy Chaplain in the Pacific in World War 2, 'Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition'.
Not necessarily in that order.
