He challenged the whole army system of discipline imposed by authority by a new system of self-discipline based upon interest and instinct. His results were startling, and men who had been dumb, blear-eyed, dejected, shell-shocked wrecks of life were changed quite quickly into bright, cheery fellows, with laughter in their eyes.

“It’s a pity,” he said, “they have to go off again and be shot to pieces. I cure them only to be killed⁠—but that’s not my fault. It’s the fault of war.”