LETTERS FROM THE FRONT.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 19 February 1915, Page 1

LETTERS FROM THE FRONT.

'' It nearly breaks my heart to think I cannot send little Violet and Bessie and Liiiie (his three children) something for Christmas; but never mind, let us hop* we shall live for another Christmas. I am not getting on too grand, but must look on the bright side of-things, as I know a few Germans went under from my rifle. I am wounded in nine places, and have such pains in my head they nearly send me mad. 1 have three wounds in my left leg, two in my head, one in my throat, one in ny light hand, and two through the left arm. —Private E. Johnson, Yorkshire" Light Infantry, who, according to an Army chaplain, is actually wounded in 11 places. "I am very lucky/ as we have not got many now who started with us—only 100 out of 1,400; so it has been hot for us. But we aro getting made up now. If you hear of anyone there who wants to come here, tell him to volunteer. We had to carry one of our chaps back the other night. We were in mud up to our knees, and he was 16st."—Private Harry Townsend, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry. " The Germans came through the wood in mass, and when at the edge charged the Wiltshires with bugles '/blowing and yelling like demons. We watched breathlessly. But the boys knew what was doing. At about 75 yards range an officer sprang from the trench and yelled 'Fire.' Then the Germans got a taste of h in the form of 15 rounds a minute. They wavered like drunken mew. The Wiltshires sprang from thev trenches and charged with the bavonet. Tt wa« awful

wiun me Dayonet. it was awtul suspense whilst they rushed, and then came the impact. It was a horrible din, but at the finish what remained of the Germans fled back through the wood, ami as dusk settled down all that could be heard were the groans of the wounded. . . ."—Corporal White, 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays). "For over three months our big guns have averaged 120 rounds'per diem each, and the smaller guns, of course, more than that.. Only the Germans can know what it means when a 601b shell bursts. It holds 690 bullets, and spreads over 150 yards. The enemy have been murdered in masses on the advance, and in one of these affairs our long range guns were only firing at 2,000 yards. Through the field-glasses it was quite easy to see the gaps as they were torn in their ranks " Gunner W. Thrower, E.G.A., • to his brother at Southend. "General French told us personally the other day that we had done very hard fighting—more than any regiment up till then—for we had alreadv been in the trenches 25 days. All England, he said, was proud of us, and that compensated for standing a foot deep in water and-

.-.. „™..vw.. tt «i xwru uccjj in water anamarching seven miles in mud up to our knees."—Private A. Champ, 2nd Batt. Coldstream Guards, to his home in Birmingham; " I had to take a waggon of braziers up to the trenches to warm the men. We passed a little group on the road talking football and smoking their pipes. In the middle one lay on a stretcher with no overcoat on. We knew what that meant, but one gets used to it quickly out here. When we were digging in the garden of our house to-day we came on over £I,OOO in bonds and a great quantity of silver. If it had been in Germany it would have been all right, but we had to find the owner, an old woman."—A Galashiels officer serving with the Army Service Corps at the front, in a letter to his friends. ''' England must win. Our men are extremely brave either behind the gun or rifle, and will stand with ten to one against them. They are well-fed, welltrained, and happy. They have got the right man leading them, and they all would follow him to the grave. The old axiom that one volunteer is better than fifty pressed men in time of war is daily exemplified."—Corporal Minnell, Royal Engineers.

" I will never believe they can try a man for murder after this. The captured Germans tell us they don't mind fighting France, Russia, and Belgium, but they can't face the British cold steel. They all say when captured that they would like to be sent to England. But make them work when they arrive; don't feed them on chocolate. We can do with the fruits and chocolate you are giving the German pork butchers and hotel waiters."—W. Bartlett, Ist Batt. Ring's Regiment. " I'm anxious to come home and see this over, but not until we have wiped these inhuman, brutal, ungodly hordes out of Europe. A little girl, to judge by her features and dress about 15, was assaulted by these brutal Germans, and then nailed on to the front of a house in the form of a crucifix, and stabbed all over the body with knife wounds. This I have actually seen myself. How many young men in England would care to see" their sisters„treated in such a manner ?"—From Gunner W. Palfrey, R.F.A. "We have been in the firing line for nearly a fortnight, and the night we came in was awful. It was not a pleasant experience at first to see mud being splashed up from the top of the trench, but now we a;'e used to it, and it only annoys us

when/we. are digging. When the thaw set in you could not see us for mud, and seeing that we have grown beards and not washed for a week we are real ' Piccadilly nuts.'"—A rifleman of the Queen's ■ Westminsters. " One night come of our men rushed a German trench. One of my men captured a biir, fat German, who surrendered at sight of cold steel. There is a reward for any man who brings in a prisoner, so the Gurkha started back across- the open to our trenches with his captive. Unfortunately our little man got hit in the leg, so he climbed on the German's back, and made him carry him to our trenches, where he triumphantly handed him over, ■ and was then carried off to hospital."—An officer in a Gurkha regiment. r< M,, to , be stllck on guard again, ior the traitors was warm compared to our trenches. I must say that the Ger--5 man snipers relieve the monotony of life. There is very httle fighting done during the day; but af your head stows you hear Ping-ping.and you duck ilKa in pretty quickly. They are great sportsmen. One man .1 potted at signalled 'Wash-out' (i.e., miss) with his spade."—Hubert Parker, 13th County of London (Princess i Louise's) lerritorials. "The Irish Guards caught a couple of spies in their lines the other day. They were disguised as country girls selling fruit to the soldiers. One of them cr o t so daring that ' she' tried to get one°of the Guardsmen to help her. He pretended

to agree, and made an appointment for another night. When ' she' and ' her' companion turned up at the trysting place [ they found a score of Irish Guards. That I night both were shot. They were young ■ German soldiers."—Private J. Coates, » Grenadier Guards. " "Do not be surprised to find the Kaiser ; done by one of his own men some of these tine days. You should hear some of his ' men talk about him. There were-40'cap-I tured yesterday. They were half-starved ' and iu rags. They cursed the Kaiser a i hundred times if they cursed him once, • and they blamed him for everything that » had gone wrong."—Private M. Fullerton, ■ R.F.A.