LOST HIS TROUSERS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 241, 29 June 1918, Page 7

LOST HIS TROUSERS

' '. fr— —- v. 1 . BUT- WON. MILITARY;MEDAL. , .' Sapper Walter K. Stone, writing'to his brother at Camden, New. South Wales, gives an interesting account of a little •episode in "France.. He writes:' "Of, course, it.was.'not.altogether modesty on ."my part that you .were not told, earlier that ,I v had won the Military, Medal.. ...,'W.hen the card of. congratulations was' . 'presented-, to -me on'iiarade, I did. liot know that the M.M. was to follow, and .so. said, nothing, nbout it till the award was gazetted, ..... . "Of course, getting Hie M.M., or any other distinction, is. very much a matter . of luck, for,many daring, and brave things -are. done over .here, especially amongst the privates, that •/> unrewarded because they do not happen to be obp served by a superior officer. Lest you might, imagine mine, was awarded far some conspicuous achievement, T'il tell . you what it was for. The card of congratulation reads: .'For devotion to duty at Mossines, -from June 7 to. I?,'. tut the particulars are as follow: 'During -the big push at Jlessines, while Frit?, was inaking .things lively, another chap and I were sent out to restore a lino of com- ■ nmnication that .had been tmashed. up • by. the German fire. "We ,could" oiily' move, between, the • • flares tliat were being 'constantly sent up, and during the hours'we wore! on • the job. in' a..whirlwind.of exciting-mo-ments, the one. I remembered most afterwards was when I.'was detained Ik .the" trousers on some .barbed, w'-e, and the flares made 1110 a lovely target for Fritz. However, lie missed me somehow;, and before his flares made daylight again I was in a shellhole, without me blooming trousers. However, .we fixed up our. job and. restored tlio communications, • and got back, to be told that under the conditions we.found, we would have been ' justified in returning, without attemptin? what we did, and ) suppose that fact influenced the authorities in granting us both fhe M.M,"