PRINCE’S 15-HOUR DAY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 3873, 9 March 1915, Page 2

PRINCE’S 15-HOUR DAY.

STRENUOUS LIFE AT THE FRONT. WORK AS TRANSPORT OFFICER. (“Weekly Despatch” Special.) “A good soldier and sportsman” is the reputation that the Prince of Wales has gained for himself during liis comparatively short experience. of active service, and he has gained it among men who are among the finest soldiers and best sportsmen in the world. The Prince of Wales did not go out to tiio front to take up some ornamental and ingloriously safe job on the General Staff. Indeed, there are no such jobs going .in this war. His Royal Highness, as a matter of fact, went out as an assistant transport officer on the Stall, and as such lie put in orarery less than fifteen hours’ strenuous work a day, and sometimes twenty-four or even forty-eight hours’ .work at a stretch. As a. transport officer it was sometimes the Prince’s duty to attend to the loading of the food waggons in which the rations are conveyed to the trenches. Each wagon contains as a rule two clays’ rations for 1,500 soldiers made up in as many separate packets. When loading a wagon one “packer” stands in it and another throws him a packet, and at caffii throw says “One, two three,” etc., until he has thrown in twenty-five packets, when the officer supervising the packing shouts “Stop,” and enters the number in a notebook. This process is repeated until the 1,500 packets have been loaded into the wagons. Bickers Sre, however, sometime* careless and lazy, and in order to get over their work quickly will, unless supervised by an officer, skip numbers, when counting in the packets, with the result that the soldiers in the trenches get short rations. THE PRINCE AND THE PACKER. A packer tried this dodge to get through his work quickly when the Prince was supervising the packing. “Twenty-live” shouted the packer and glanced .at his Royal highness. “Tmako it twenty,” said the Prince quietly. “Now just unload the whole wagon and count all the packets in again.” There were 100 packets by that time in the wagon and the packer 'no doubt wished lie had not attempted to deceive so attentive an officer as his Royal Highness. After a couple of weeks’ work as transport officer the Prince went n*.to the intelligence branch of the Genci'nl St &2. As an intelligence officer the Prince had to assist in marking out on maps the various changes that take place in the disposition of the British troops every day. When employed in this way the Prince has been several times under lire. _ The first time this happened the Prince was ordered out of the danger zone by the officer in charge of the “mapping” party, which terribly annoyed him, but he bad of course to obey orders. Subsequently, however, his Royal Highness was allowed to share the risks run by his brother officers when engaged in this particular work. The prince, bv the "way, since his arrival at the front,' has taken to motorcycling and two machines have been sent out to him be the King. In this connection the following incident may he related. It has bee told in all the British trenches and has gained for the Prince a warm corner in Jibe heart of 'tommy. THE INJURED TERRIER. A motor-cyclist came in one afternoon with a despatch for headquarters from a brigauier-general. After he had deliveredjt he had to start away at once on another mission. While making preparations to depart he told a group of officers standing by_ and among whom was the Prince of \\ ales, that when about a couple of miles from headquarters he had knocked down and run over an Irish terrier named Dick, who belonged to a coiporal in the Grenadiers. Dick was being looked after by a soldier at headquarters and was a great favorite but he had wandering habits and sometimes would disappear _ for a coupio of days, spent most likely in vain searchings for his master. “I hadn’t time,”, explained the moto;cyclist, “to stop and I am afraid I must have damaged poor Dick badly. “I will go out and look after him,” exclaimed the Prince at once, who was for the moment free of urgent duties. His Royal Highness was on his motorcycle in a couple of minutes later, and in less than half an hour had returned bearing Dick with him, who was suffering from a broken leg, which the Prince had bound up with _ his own pocket-handkerchief. The Prince had when at Headquarters shares a villa with four other officers. i/is quarters mere are comfortable enough when he is in them, hut his Royal Highness has by this time learnt - that after forty-eiglit hours’ work at a stretch without changing one’s clothes one can go sound asleep pretty well anywhere. The man who can sleep peacefully in an empty motor coal-lorrv travelling about forty miles an hour ovefr rough ground will probably be able to fall asleep under any conditions. This is regarded at the front as the supreme test of a man’s ability to go to sleep under the most adverse circumstances. The Prince passed the test before he had been at the front a fortnight. The Prince’s perfect knowledge of French and German has_ enabled him to fulfil from time to time the very useful office of interpreter. The Prince on more than one occasion ban acted ns interpreter at conversations between Sir John French and captive GV'-man officers. On or.e occasion shortly after the P*-isice’s arrival r.t the front ho gained i ! conversation with a German .prisoner some information of such importan o that it was at orme telegraphed to the War Office and led to important remits.