HERO-COWARD

Evening Star, Issue 20317, 28 October 1929, Page 1

HERO-COWARD

STORY OF HUMAN PARADOX In a squalid room in one of the most squalid streets in Paris, the writer of this strange story helped to close the. eyes in death of one of the .strangest human paradoxes that ever baffled the skill of a psychologist (says a Sydney paper), Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Perth all knew in turn this strange being, and there must be hundreds of South'' African and World War veterans m Australia who came across him. Ho was baptised in the 'name of John Lester, and belonged to a well-known Scottish family, lie ./as gjveu a good education, and in due course obtained a commission in the Gordon Highlanders, but before two years he was dismissed from (ho service in disgrace as the sequel te a scandal in the mess arising out of the cheating of brother officers and an Australian soldier guest. His family packed him off first of all to South Africa, and from there he made his way (o Australia, settling ae a sheep fanner in Queensland under the eyes of an uncle. For two years he appeared to be doing well, hut when the Boer War broke out the old restlessness seized him, and lie rushed off to Brisbane to enlist, leaving his sheep farm to look after itself. When lie readied South Africa he proved himself such an efficient soldier that the past was wiped out, and John J,ester was given a commission in the Imperial Yeomanry. He served with distinction, and was more than once commended for bravery of the highest order, but one day the strange yellow streak lurking in the composition of a man who was entitled to the designation of “ bravest of the brave ” under normal conditions asserted itself, and when in charge of the advance guard of a force operating under the orders of Lord Methuen, Lester set the example of ignominious flight before a. sudden attack, and, thanks to his cowardice, the column was overwhelmed, and Lord Dlethuen fell into the bands of the enemy. Lester was court-martialled, and in all probability would have been shot but for the fact that officers who knew him were able to produce instances of exceptional bravery. His punishment Was limited to dismissal from the army and cancellation of the V.C. award for which he had been recommended.

Lester returned to Australia, and for a time drifted about, South Australia, but he could not settle down, and ho returned to Europe, and in London lie renewed acquaintance with General Sir Hector DlacDonald, who had been one of nis best friends in South Africa. There is clear evidence that he attempted to blackmail MacDonald, and that when the point was reached where DlacDonald could not or would not pay more, Lester wrote an anonymous denunciation to Scotland Yard. Later, in Paris, as the result of Lester's threats, MacDonald was found dead by his own hand. When war broke out, Lester was living in the underworld of London, and hurried from there to France, where ho joined a battalion of the Foreign Legion. Early in 1918 he was transferred to the British Army, and at tlio first sign of attack Lester’s yellow streak came to the surface again, and lie led a disorderly retreat that enabled the enemy to make a serious breach in the British line. When things were looking their blackest Lester found his courage again, and, collecting around him stragglers from different units, ho threw his command across the route of the victory-flushed enemy, and succeeded in holding the attack. He retired later to'the Paris underworld, where he has lived ever since, directing a band of international rogues.