It is good training for us.

At home a subaltern is merely a machine to carry out orders; he is told to do this, and he does it; for him to think for himself would be a heinous offence.

He is altogether without responsibility, and without initiative and, by the time he becomes a field officer, he is hidebound.

He has never thought for himself, and he can't be expected to begin to do so, after working for twenty years like a machine.
"You will see, if we ever have a big war, that will be our weak point.
If it wasn't for wars like this, and our little wars in India, where men do learn to think and take responsibility, I don't know where our general officers would get their training.
"Well, you must be going.

Goodbye! We shall often meet.