"Private, what is the time?" "We didn't receive any messages and Captain Blackadder definitely did not shoot that delicious plump-breasted pigeon." "WHAT?!" "Do you want to be cremated, Baldrick, or buried at sea?"
Blackadder: I wonder whether, having been tortured by the most vicious sadist in the German army, I might have a week's leave to recuperate. Melchett: Splendid idea! Your commanding officer would have to be stark raving mad to refuse you! Blackadder: Well, you are my commanding officer. Melchett: Well? Blackadder: Can I have a week's leave to recuperate, sir? Melchett: [Outraged] Certainly not! Blackadder: Thank you, sir. Melchett: BAAA!
There have been subversive mutterings amongst the men. You'll recall the French army last year in Verdun where the upper echelons suffered from horrendous uprisings from the bottom! Yes sir, but surely that was traced to a shipment of garlic eclairs? Nonsense Blackadder, it was bolshiness, plain bolshiness! It's no good crushing a revolution over here only to get back home to Blighty and find everyone's wearing overalls and breaking wind in the palaces of the mighty!
In answer to David’s question, it changed in 1916 because they had had to start recruiting men so young they couldn’t grow the regulation moustache, and also it interfered with gas masks, which had become necessary in how trench ware fare had evolved.
Great snippet from the show. For anyone interested: The soldiers were were allowed to shave in WW1 because they had to use gas masks and those don't seal up with facial hair.
Not to mention the enforcement of moustaches until that point was about razor cuts and infections, if Horrible Histories is to be believed (which like. Massive grain of salt tbf)
***** There is no political correctness - as we use to say - but there is that forced urge to blame words/concepts instead of actions. If I would be on an american tv-show, I'd either bring a device delivering the peeping noises myself or I would mention the word "truck" a lot; but I'm a trucker who likes trucking off the real trucks :D
Captain Blackadder: I wouldn't be too hopeful. Any reasonably impartial judge is bound to let me off. Captain Darling: Well yes. Captain Blackadder: Who is the judge by the way? General Melchett: BAAH! Captain Blackadder: I'm dead.
Stephen Fry was memorable in every role he played through the Blackadder series. I heard sometime ago that in his darker moments he's very hard on himself re: his acting ability. I think he's quite an accomplished actor. Granted humour is his niche, but what's wrong with that? A great performance is a great performance, whether it makes the audience laugh, cry or scream with rage.
Look at Ronnie Barker or Robin Williams. Brilliant actor who usually plays comedy parts, then when you see him "straight", that instinct for timing and inflection is a masterclass
He struggled for quite some time with bipolar disorder - I expect that played a large part in him being overly critical of his own abilities. Happily however, since seeking treatment and appropriate help, he's doing much better now. More secure in his self-assessment and much more confident in himself.
Captain Blackadder: I can assure you, sir, that the pooh-poohing was purely circumstantial. General Melchett: Well, I hope so, Blackadder. You know, if there's one thing I've learnt from being in the Army, it's never ignore a pooh-pooh. I knew a Major, who got pooh-poohed, made the mistake of ignoring the pooh-pooh. He pooh-poohed it! Fatal error! 'Cos it turned out all along that the soldier who pooh-poohed him had been pooh-poohing a lot of other officers who pooh-poohed their pooh-poohs. In the end, we had to disband the regiment. Morale totally destroyed... by pooh-pooh!
I think he has let a few more short "meeeh" out during his stint at QI, just some really short that were quickly "passed by". He has got so many arrows in his quiver tho, so he doesn't need to repeat himself often 😁
Stephen knows how to deal with his audience - always leave them wanting more. If the general came out more often, it wouldn't feel as special when he did.
So is the answer to his question: mustard gas. It was used massively in WW1 and the British infantry was issued with gas masks for that purpose. For the masks to function properly there could be no thick bush of hair preventing them to seal off the nose and mouth. So the big mustaches had to go and a small "toothbrush" mustache replaced it. It's where Hitler stole his look from.
Recently, I was reading Agatha Christie’s “Murder at the Vicarage”. There’s a character called “Colonel Melchett”. Even though he’s described as a small, sniveling man, I kept thinking of Stephen Fry’s character.
czcams.com/video/7R38kZN7kgc/video.html Too killing. Its transplendently euphorbic phantasmagoricality is surpassed only by its pepeluxiac synchromaphonical zestibulosity. Cheers!
General Melchett: "Everybody now where's my map, come on" Darling: "Sir." *hands Melchett the map* Melchett: "Thank you." *rolls out map* "God! It's a barren featureless desert out there!" Darlin: "The other side, Sir."
Don't know if anyone was curious or if it's been answered in the comments, but the reason the clean shave came about was for gas masks. Facial hair could prevent a seal, so soldiers began shaving. When they returned home the trend caught on and clean shaven became the norm.
"You know they say that somewhere there's a bullet with your name on it.." "Yyyyeeeah.." "Well, I thought, if I *_owned_* the bullet, then I'd never get hit."
That’s not the only thing that’s very small indeed. Your brain for instance is so minute Baldric, that if a hungry cannibal cracked your head open there wouldn’t be enough inside to cover a small water biscuit.
My Dad didn't have a shave until he was 26. This helped while he spent 3.5yrs in POW camps. The other POW's had to shave using cold water, no soap and blunt blades. Dad avoided all this inconvenience.
Until I heard that bit about the moustaches being mandatory in the British Army I didn't realize how many movies have got it wrong with the face fungus. Zulu and Zulu Dawn for two off the top of my head.
Not quite right a mustache would not interfere with a Resperator " we don't call them gas masks " only a beard gets in the way, 18 years in the Army taught me that. It was made a matter of personell choice
24919344 - Nope, they were called gas masks and those 18 years did not include WWI. There was a no facial hair rule in US military during WWI because of gas masks but in the British military the banned side burns and long moustaches. It is believed Hitler used the moustache he did after service in WWI. A long tash could create a hazard when using a gas mask. The full face respirators they wear now are completely different in design.
24919344 I'd say mustaches were definitley a problem for some soldiers in those days. If it had been a universal problem, I guess the army would have mandated shaving. In any event, the famous Hitler mustache was apparently created due to the gasmask. Hitler, who was a corporal in WWI previously preferred the Prussian style with the twirly ends. But those had to go and that's how he got his iconic mustache...
"Have you seen any German spies?" "Nein." "Nine?!" (Just in case: "Nein" is German for "No" and is pronounced (almost) exactly like the English word "Nine")
Sending Captain Blackadder to the hospital to 'winkle out the spy' General Melchett said 'If you come back with the information, Captain Darling will pump you thoroughly in the de briefing room'. 'Not while have my strength he won't' answers Blackadder. Brilliant brilliant stuff.
Is this also the episode where Stephen brought out a moustache-specific hair net and put it on over the fake mustache? That may have been the hardest I've ever laughed in my life, especially since the panelists were calling it turn-of-the-century fetish wear. Good Times.
"Your Commanding Officer would have to be stark raving mad to refuse you" [two weeks leave] "You are my Commanding Officer, sir." "Well?" "Can I have two weeks leave to recuperate?" "Certainly NOT!" "Thank you, sir." "Baaaaa"
During the First World War, my grandad was charge-sheeted for not growing a moustache. He managed to speak to his CO and get the charge-sheet removed, since he was too young to grow a moustache.
Soldiering is traditionally a man’s job, so to accentuate that manliness, soldiers in the British army were required to wear their mustache, something that women could not do. The same requirement however did not apply to French soldiers because French women can sport a mustache as good as their husbands.
The number of young soldiers had increased rapidly, may of whom may have been too young to grow a moustache. It's unlikely to be the gas as that was first used in 1915, 7 months after the war started
I love that he did the "Baaah,"
And I love that the crowd cheered afterwards.
The love of the character even after all these years.
"Sir, there is a problem with your fiancé Georgina.", "My god, she's not Welsh is she?"
"That was your fiancé, 'chipmunk'. I'm wanted at HQ. If I should die, know this; I'll be back to get you!"
😆😆😆
"Answer the General, Baldrick!"
"I can't answer him Sir, I don't know what he's talking about!"
About 30 miles behind you.
"Private, what is the time?"
"We didn't receive any messages and Captain Blackadder definitely did not shoot that delicious plump-breasted pigeon."
"WHAT?!"
"Do you want to be cremated, Baldrick, or buried at sea?"
@@Jedi_Spartan_38"deny everything, Baldrick." ..."Are you private Baldrick?" "No!"
"Hahaha! Excellent native cockney wit eh?! *punches Baldrick* "
Don't forget that if you should falter, Captain Darling and I are behind you
+kflem80 About 35 miles behind you...
😂😂 Thankyou both for making me laugh when I feel really ill.
about a mile behind :D
Kjca you're welcome. Hope you are better now
@@kflem80 About 30 miles behind you.
God, I loved Stephen's portrayal of General Melchitt. One of the best supporting characters on a comedy ever.
'Splendid, splendid, top notch!'
Thank you, Darling
Certainly. Though it may be poo-pooed by some, it cannot be denied.
Row row row your boat, gently down the stream
Belts off, trousers down, isn't life a scream
baaah
"University education, you can't beat it." :)
I liked it when they had that whole Cambridge vs Oxford thing going on.
Exactly, Oxford’s a complete dump!
Jonathan Reiland it is row row row your punt. according to thr subtitles on the dvd.
Blackadder: I wonder whether, having been tortured by the most vicious sadist in the German army, I might have a week's leave to recuperate.
Melchett: Splendid idea! Your commanding officer would have to be stark raving mad to refuse you!
Blackadder: Well, you are my commanding officer.
Melchett: Well?
Blackadder: Can I have a week's leave to recuperate, sir?
Melchett: [Outraged] Certainly not!
Blackadder: Thank you, sir.
Melchett: BAAA!
😍
And you can call me Susan if it isn't so!
Blackadder:
"You twist and turn like a ...twisty turny thing. I say you're a weedy pigeon, and you can call me 'Susan' if it isn't so!"
czcams.com/video/OI84M9RhDKc/video.html
However, before we proceed to the formality of sentencing the deceased,.. HAH!I mean, the defendant, heeee eehee, hehehe eeeeheheh...
The case before us is the Crown vs Captain Edmund Blackadder, THE FLANDERS PIGEON MURDERER!
@@cruachan1191 "I love a fair trial."
Moustache, bushy enough?
Like a privet hedge sir 😂
Doing precisely what we've done eighteen times before is exactly the last thing they'll expect us to do this time!
Which is why Alan always goes for the Blue Whale...
Is this true, Blackadder? Did Darling pooh-pooh you?
There have been subversive mutterings amongst the men.
You'll recall the French army last year in Verdun where the upper echelons suffered from horrendous uprisings from the bottom!
Yes sir, but surely that was traced to a shipment of garlic eclairs?
Nonsense Blackadder, it was bolshiness, plain bolshiness!
It's no good crushing a revolution over here only to get back home to Blighty and find everyone's wearing overalls and breaking wind in the palaces of the mighty!
Lol..I was just thinking about that episode this (xmas) morning, as I made my morning cuppa...and searched for Melchett on youtube and got this gem.
I can assure you, sir, that the pooh-poohing was purely circumstantial.
He's going to pump him thoroughly during the debriefing
Well bugger me with a fish fork!
would that be one prong or two m'lud??
Don't slouch, Darling!
In answer to David’s question, it changed in 1916 because they had had to start recruiting men so young they couldn’t grow the regulation moustache, and also it interfered with gas masks, which had become necessary in how trench ware fare had evolved.
Great snippet from the show. For anyone interested: The soldiers were were allowed to shave in WW1 because they had to use gas masks and those don't seal up with facial hair.
That is the case now, but I don't think this;
i.gyazo.com/779aefce0dd790385902805aa369df65.png
would be affected to much by a moustache.
I read somewhere that A. Hitler had to adjust his full moustache so it would fit better.
@soppdrake The Hitler thing is a myth.
He had a big bushy tache right up to the end of WW1. Then, there was a fashion for one of those little things.
Not to mention the enforcement of moustaches until that point was about razor cuts and infections, if Horrible Histories is to be believed (which like. Massive grain of salt tbf)
@@tairneanaich So, why could you shave the beard, which is more of the face than just the tache. Sounds off.
I wish he'd done more and perhaps said something in character.
He did, wish he'd done more. Like the famous " "Black Bladder" line."
He did. He said baaah
DONT BE REVOLTING DARLING! I wouldn't lick a German if he was glazed in honey!
+Ermofilos Merkouris Everything is allowed in comedy! It would be a sad day for us Germans, if the Brits stop making fun of the hairy Huns!
*****
There is no political correctness - as we use to say - but there is that forced urge to blame words/concepts instead of actions. If I would be on an american tv-show, I'd either bring a device delivering the peeping noises myself or I would mention the word "truck" a lot; but I'm a trucker who likes trucking off the real trucks :D
Ermofilos Merkouris An excellent idea. Good food puts a warm glow on most things, and in sufficient quantities makes people too sleepy to argue.
Which German are we talking about here?
Captain Blackadder: I wouldn't be too hopeful. Any reasonably impartial judge is bound to let me off.
Captain Darling: Well yes.
Captain Blackadder: Who is the judge by the way?
General Melchett: BAAH!
Captain Blackadder: I'm dead.
Alas, poor Speckled Jim. Tasty, though! God I love that episode 😂 READYAIMFIRE!!
@Narya Fire Aye that he was! The episode is hilarious. 😅
You shot my speckled Jim!
"I don't care if he's been rogering the duke of York with a prize winning leek! He shot my pigeon!"
FLANDERS PIGEON MURDERER!!!!
Well tally ho yipperdy dap and zing zang spillip, ready for bullying off for the final chucka?
kflem80 No sir I'm absolutely terrified!!!
kflem80 Answer the General, Baldrick!
Don't worry. Should you faulter captain Darling an I are behind you
I can't sir, I don't know what he said
ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE BIG PUSH!?
Stephen Fry was memorable in every role he played through the Blackadder series. I heard sometime ago that in his darker moments he's very hard on himself re: his acting ability. I think he's quite an accomplished actor. Granted humour is his niche, but what's wrong with that? A great performance is a great performance, whether it makes the audience laugh, cry or scream with rage.
Look at Ronnie Barker or Robin Williams. Brilliant actor who usually plays comedy parts, then when you see him "straight", that instinct for timing and inflection is a masterclass
@@auricstormhe was awesome in the netflix Sandman show
His Jeeves is just about perfect.
He struggled for quite some time with bipolar disorder - I expect that played a large part in him being overly critical of his own abilities.
Happily however, since seeking treatment and appropriate help, he's doing much better now. More secure in his self-assessment and much more confident in himself.
In "Wilde" he delivered a breathtaking performance, rivaling any other movie actor you can think of.
"But you see Sir, my medium, is light.."
"Good point. I tell you what, we'll put up some flares.. you'll be lit up like a Christmas tree."
Well bugger me with a fish fork. General Cecil Hogmany Melchett.
Captain Blackadder:
I can assure you, sir, that the pooh-poohing was purely circumstantial.
General Melchett:
Well, I hope so, Blackadder. You know, if there's one thing I've learnt from being in the Army, it's never ignore a pooh-pooh. I knew a Major, who got pooh-poohed, made the mistake of ignoring the pooh-pooh. He pooh-poohed it! Fatal error! 'Cos it turned out all along that the soldier who pooh-poohed him had been pooh-poohing a lot of other officers who pooh-poohed their pooh-poohs. In the end, we had to disband the regiment. Morale totally destroyed... by pooh-pooh!
I wonder how many times Stephen Fry had to practice that line in order to say it without bursting into laughter
I'm rather surprised that Stephen didn't pull out Melchett more than just this once.
Bravo, man! Well done you!!
I think he has let a few more short "meeeh" out during his stint at QI, just some really short that were quickly "passed by". He has got so many arrows in his quiver tho, so he doesn't need to repeat himself often 😁
Stephen knows how to deal with his audience - always leave them wanting more. If the general came out more often, it wouldn't feel as special when he did.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING, DARLING?
David Mitchells joke rather overshadowed by the appearance of General Melchett ..lol
So is the answer to his question: mustard gas. It was used massively in WW1 and the British infantry was issued with gas masks for that purpose. For the masks to function properly there could be no thick bush of hair preventing them to seal off the nose and mouth. So the big mustaches had to go and a small "toothbrush" mustache replaced it. It's where Hitler stole his look from.
Recently, I was reading Agatha Christie’s “Murder at the Vicarage”. There’s a character called “Colonel Melchett”. Even though he’s described as a small, sniveling man, I kept thinking of Stephen Fry’s character.
Elton will have stolen the name. Vile weasel of a man.
Baah!
God, it’s a barren featureless desert out there isn’t it?
Sir, the other side.
"What in the name of Bonaparts balls is this fellow doing now!!! ", LMAO.
TEA!
czcams.com/video/7R38kZN7kgc/video.html
Too killing. Its transplendently euphorbic phantasmagoricality is surpassed only by its pepeluxiac synchromaphonical zestibulosity. Cheers!
"We didn't receive any messages, and Captain Blackadder definitely did not shoot this delicious plump-breasted pigeon."
General Melchett: "Everybody now where's my map, come on"
Darling: "Sir." *hands Melchett the map*
Melchett: "Thank you." *rolls out map* "God! It's a barren featureless desert out there!"
Darlin: "The other side, Sir."
Im getting a chuckle reading all these Blackadder references :)
Don't know if anyone was curious or if it's been answered in the comments, but the reason the clean shave came about was for gas masks. Facial hair could prevent a seal, so soldiers began shaving. When they returned home the trend caught on and clean shaven became the norm.
I miss General Melchet! And Blackadder, and Baldrick!
"Darling?"
"Yes, sir?"
"You are a complete arse!"
God it's a barren featureless desert out there
Lol one of my favorite lines
"I'm sure we'll be combing women out of your moustache for weeks, Sir."
BAAAAA!!
So talented
Hand me that black cap, I'll be needing that.
"You know they say that somewhere there's a bullet with your name on it.."
"Yyyyeeeah.."
"Well, I thought, if I *_owned_* the bullet, then I'd never get hit."
And the chances of there being TWO bullets with my name on it are very small indeed.
That’s not the only thing that’s very small indeed. Your brain for instance is so minute Baldric, that if a hungry cannibal cracked your head open there wouldn’t be enough inside to cover a small water biscuit.
My Dad didn't have a shave until he was 26. This helped while he spent 3.5yrs in POW camps. The other POW's had to shave using cold water, no soap and blunt blades. Dad avoided all this inconvenience.
Steven Fry is a national treasure😂😂😂😂😂😅😅😅
Dare I say, Fry for Prime Minister?
I believe that the regulations changed in WW I because a face w/o facial hair would accommodate a gas mask better.
You are exactly right. Chemical warfare made the tradition of mandatory mustaches lethal.
Dastardly chemicals.
given mitchells (perhaps only his onscreen persona) reputation for being a history nut i highly doubt he didnt actually know why the shaving occurred
Funkopotomis: very true.
Because so many of the soldiers were young men and boys who couldn't grow them fully. So regulations were dropped to accommodate them for morale.
Until I heard that bit about the moustaches being mandatory in the British Army I didn't realize how many movies have got it wrong with the face fungus. Zulu and Zulu Dawn for two off the top of my head.
I wish the sheep laugh had been longer.
"Before me move to the formality of sentencing the deceased, I mean the 'defendant', heh heh heheheheheheheheheh!!!"
I think it's supposed to be a donkey bray - a reference to lions led by donkeys.
General Melchett haven not aged at all...
Did they mention the reason they allowed the removal of mustaches in WW1 on this show? It was so you could get a proper seal with gas masks.
In that case surely they should have banned moustaches, not made it optional.
Not quite right a mustache would not interfere with a Resperator " we don't call them gas masks " only a beard gets in the way, 18 years in the Army taught me that. It was made a matter of personell choice
24919344 - Nope, they were called gas masks and those 18 years did not include WWI.
There was a no facial hair rule in US military during WWI because of gas masks but in the British military the banned side burns and long moustaches.
It is believed Hitler used the moustache he did after service in WWI. A long tash could create a hazard when using a gas mask.
The full face respirators they wear now are completely different in design.
24919344 I'd say mustaches were definitley a problem for some soldiers in those days. If it had been a universal problem, I guess the army would have mandated shaving.
In any event, the famous Hitler mustache was apparently created due to the gasmask. Hitler, who was a corporal in WWI previously preferred the Prussian style with the twirly ends. But those had to go and that's how he got his iconic mustache...
radialwellendichtrin Yes because Chaplin never had one o\
Ah, tally-ho, yippety-dip and zing zang spillip!!
Looking forward to bullying off for the final chukka?
security is not a dirty word. crevis is a dirty word security isn't.
There's another dirty word 'job"
What is the scale,darling?
Err 1 to 1 sir.
"Look there's a little worm"
The single greatest QI moment ever...
Great moment. Loved it when I saw this on tele.
Might be one of the only people who could just make a noise with his mouth and get a cheer
What's amazing is that the moustache genuinely did get a website that day. xD
It had a website within 20 seconds of the broadcast. I watched it when it first came onto BBC2. I imagine it was started by someone in the audience.
"Have you seen any German spies?"
"Nein."
"Nine?!"
(Just in case: "Nein" is German for "No" and is pronounced (almost) exactly like the English word "Nine")
That wasn't general melchett saying it though.
@@RedFloyd469 Still one of my fav lines in the series.
Ich, Couch, I hävent sien anie dschörmen speis, no
Your commanding officer must be stark-raving mad to refuse you...
Andy Parry well you are my commanding officer sir
Daniel Hall can i jave a few days off to recouperate
Certainly not
Very good sir
+Andy Parry Baah!
YOU SHOT MY SPECKLED JIM!
Don't slouch Darling
I only want to make you happy, darling!
Well, bugger me with a fish fork!
"If we _do_ happen to step on a mine Sir, what do we do?"
Clint Tapper Well, normal procedure, Lieutenant, is to jump 200 feet into the air, and scatter yourself over a wide area.
Speckled Jim R.I.P
Agreed. "... if not very nearly dead, then very actually dead."
"I want to cover you in pepper...and sneeze all over you!"
Who doesn't love Old Walrus Face?
"My Speckled Jim!"
Sending Captain Blackadder to the hospital to 'winkle out the spy' General Melchett said 'If you come back with the information, Captain Darling will pump you thoroughly in the de briefing room'. 'Not while have my strength he won't' answers Blackadder. Brilliant brilliant stuff.
This is the first time I gave a thump up on request!
Stephen : BAAH!
Announcer : And he's here tonight!
[speckled jim walked on stage]
That should be General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett (VC, DSO, KCB), good sir.
when I saw this on my tv I even said "YAY!" Out loud :D
Brilliant!💙
LOVE THIS
HE DID THE THING! HE DID THE THING!
Everybody's gangster until Melchett shows up
Is this also the episode where Stephen brought out a moustache-specific hair net and put it on over the fake mustache? That may have been the hardest I've ever laughed in my life, especially since the panelists were calling it turn-of-the-century fetish wear.
Good Times.
"THE FLANDERS PIGEON MURDERER!!!!'" 😂
"How could you know such a thing Blackadder ? These plans are top secret"
Ade Larsen 'If it's Top Secret sir, it means everybody knows.'
It's the same place we used last time and the 17 times before that.
"Your Commanding Officer would have to be stark raving mad to refuse you" [two weeks leave]
"You are my Commanding Officer, sir."
"Well?"
"Can I have two weeks leave to recuperate?"
"Certainly NOT!"
"Thank you, sir."
"Baaaaa"
David Mitchell is so angry when the answer could simply have been "gas masks, mate"
And make a note of the word gobbledegook. I like it. I'd like to use it more often.
During the First World War, my grandad was charge-sheeted for not growing a moustache. He managed to speak to his CO and get the charge-sheet removed, since he was too young to grow a moustache.
0:45 morthasa - you owe me a screen clean and a new keyboard. I just launched a full mouthfull of cider over both...
I must say Captain Blackadder iv got to admire your balls
I don't care if he's been rogering the Duke of York with a price winning leek! He killed my pigeon!
Soldiering is traditionally a man’s job, so to accentuate that manliness, soldiers in the British army were required to wear their mustache, something that women could not do. The same requirement however did not apply to French soldiers because French women can sport a mustache as good as their husbands.
One thing I’ve learned is never ignore a poo poo!
Rajnikant! They’ve got Rajnikant in the background!
“Who is the judge, by the way?”
“Baaaaahh!”
“I’m dead!”
That's a Tamil magazine! And the actor Rajnikanth!
The fact that I knew that made me strangely happy inside...
If anyone's moustache could win a war, it's Melchitt's moustache. Baaaaaaah!
Bill Bailey must've felt quite paranoid during movember!
“Baaah”. I’d have been inconsiderate not to.
I want Stephen Fry to give me a mustache ride.
"Steady, steady"
That moustache suits Stephen very well
Never ignore a pooh-pooh!
Or you might have to disband the regiment
The number of young soldiers had increased rapidly, may of whom may have been too young to grow a moustache.
It's unlikely to be the gas as that was first used in 1915, 7 months after the war started