SALVATION SONGS
ON THE BATTLEFIELD. A Salvation Army bandsman and a motor driver in the R.F.A., who was wounded at the battle of , tells a thrilling story of his experiences with tho Britisli Expeditionary Force. On his part of the battlefield there were, to his knowledge, at least thirty Salvationists in the firing line. “ We gob everything ready (lie said) for tho enemy, the trenches dug and the guns fixed, and then came the worst job of all—waiting. For 35 hours we lay there, watching and listening for the first sign of the Germans. Then for five hours the buttle lasted without cessation. “Now the enemy seemed to be beating us, then, again, they retreated. All the time my comrades were falling round me, and tho Gormans were falling in hundreds, too. So thick were the enemy’s dead that when the advance was given we simply had to force the motor up and over heaps of bodies—there was nothing else for it. “ In following the retreating Germans six of us got lost, and tor four davs we tramped about without a mouthful of food or drink! By day we lay concealed iu the corn or grass fields, and by night we crept along, without any guide, only hoping and praying—l’ve prayed many times iu tho past, but never so much as 011 these nights—that all would como right. “ On the first day wo were fairly well, on the second we wore very hungry, on tho third our tongues were hanging out, and two of my comrades went mad. “ On the fourth night we fell in with a Britisli ambulance section, and were taken into camp. As I was passing an ambulance tent I heard someone singing:— I’m a child of a King, I’m a child of a King, With Jesus my Saviour, I’m a child of a King. “ In the stillness of another night from one of the tents I heard:— Then we’ll roll the old chariot along, And we won’t drag on behind, “I toll you it was thrilling. Two or three Salvationists were having a ‘ free and easy,’ and after tho chorus had been sung once or twice I heard it taken up by other Salvationists in other tents. Presently from many parts of the camp could be heard the old Salvation Army song. It was splendid 1”
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD19141126.2.94
Bibliographic details
SALVATION SONGS, Evening Star, Issue 15660, 26 November 1914
Word Count
390SALVATION SONGS Evening Star, Issue 15660, 26 November 1914
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