German's Pipe of Peace

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 290, 8 December 1936, Page 10

German's Pipe of Peace

SEARCH TOR SERGEANT FAILS A search on behalf of Herr Paul Keil, arising out of the unofficial truce on the Western Front on Christmas Day 1914, for a sergeant whom he presented with a pipe, has been unsuccessful. "Wo felt that when we began our inquiries on Ilerr Keil’s behalf nearly a year ago that it was wellnigh an impossible task,” an official of the British Legion told a London newspaper representative, "and wo have had accordingly had to abandon them. “It seems likely that the sergeant, who belonged to tho Scots Guards, was killed in action or died shortly after the war. Herr Ivcil originally had his name—he recorded it in a small notebook in No-Man’s-Land —but when he was made prisoner in 1916 the book was lost, and in tho course of years he forgot its contents. "The Guards sergeant apparently offered Herr Keil a fill of tobacco, and Keil, accepting, brought from his pocket a new pipe he had received from homo as a Christmas gift. r lne se'rgeant admired the pipe and Keil pressed it on him. They talked for a long while, exchanged names, shook hands and parted. “In a letter we have just had from Herr Keil he tells us that he has received many letters from British exService men, and also communications from the private secretaries of the late King and King Edward. He had hoped to visit Glasgow—where he believeu uie sergeant came from and where tho pipe was on loan at a museum—but was unable to afford the journey.”