Between Mole and Rabbit

Manawatu Times, Volume XL, Issue 13523, 6 October 1916, Page 3

Between Mole and Rabbit

COLONEL OF THE TUNNELLERS. GETTING BACK TO NATURE. Lieut. Leslie May, of Waimate North, writing to his sister, says: — "Last Friday I went to town (London) to be boarded medically again. I went by fast train which does the sixty, miles to town in an hour. I was examined and given another fortnight's leave. I got back here again in the evening, feeling quite done. The trip knocked seven bells oat of me, as, of course my heart will never be as good again as it was before 1 left New Zealand. You see I have had three doses of gas-poisoning (car-bon-monoxide), each of increasing severity, and one .''•■•, of shell coneussion. I should have reported sick, but kept going instead. "There is always one picture of the trenches which comes to my mind. Picture three of us sitting in an uhtimbered dug-our with six feet of clay head-cover, and a most intense bombardment going on with as many as three shells a second landing. Each moment we expected to be our last; the roof was falling in, the walls tottering, odd pieces of steel were flying round, and the air was full of noise and acrid smok >.. We had found some old French night-lights and were industriously slitting them open and tipping the propelling charge into a small heap, so that we could determine whether the explosives fired by heat or detonation. When we had enough we put a match on the heap. It fired by heat, and one of us lost our eyebrows. After a second verifying experiment the bombardment slackened, so w* erawled out of the small opening not quite filled with debris, and discovered how lucky we were. The trenches that had been, round about were blown quite flat, and wo had quite an interesting time dodging snipers as we crawled round exposed places. That was how I filled in a Sunday afternoon instead of going to Sunday School. "One day a Ftaff-Colonel was giving us his opinio w of us. It went as followers:—"Y.m tunnellers are a sort of a cross between a mole and a rabbit, but you have the temper of, a badger.' That is as far as our personal proclivities went; but for our work the authorities have only .praise. "I have been doing a very little boating of late as I haven't been feeling energetic enough. General Eichardson wants m-3 to get fit as soon as possible, and I too wish to get back. War exercises a great fascination oh one. It is rather fun at time, and is very exciting. Over an aeroplane fight I got quite as excited as over a good football match. If, I come through I won't feel at home unless , tuere is someone at every street corner to throw stones at me. At tha 'front we 'get bnck to nature.' Our language during a bombardment or other fun gets also 'back to nature.' If one of our shells explode in Fritzs trenches and blow an odd arm, leg or otherwise into the air, there is quite a chcrous of profanity, expressive of keen pleasure, up and down the line."