LETTERS FROM THE FRONT

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume XI, Issue 521, 11 May 1915, Page 2

LETTERS FROM THE FRONT

" These German beggars seemed to have each loophole marked. One of our chaps (in D Company) was shot, and died immediately. The bullet passed through the sandbag and through his neck, and also through the arm of another chap who was behind him. Another of our fellows had his rifle splintered through his loophole. He pulled his rifle out and covered*, the hole with a spade, which was immediately drilled through with a German bullet." — Piper Hampson, of the Liverpool Scottish. "I think the second Canadian contingent is going to surprise England and Germany, as I don't think you could find a tougher lot of men than we have from Winnipeg ; and by all accounts the rest of the men from down East are just the same. Most of them are 6ft tall ; and all big, strong, lusty fellows who can use the gun and bayonet just as they wish. We have all kinds of Mexicans and Americans in our bunch. Canada alone can send enough men to beat the Germans if only Lord Kitchener will allow us to do so." — Private Callie, 28th Canadians. "Apart from naval warfare (in which Germany never had an earthly chance), they can go on for a long time yet. That they will go on is my opinion, but we out here are not in a position to form sound opinions anyhow, and no two of us agree. I don't put any importance either on Zeppelins or submarines, but the German army is a marvellous thing. Do you know that they have even nickelplated the bolts of the rifles to prevent rust? Some of their sniping and machine-gun work is Jevilish."— By an Irish officer. . Private James Brown, of the 6th Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment, whose home is at Rochdale, had a remarkable escape from death whilst under shell fire at Neuve Eglise, about six' miles from La Bassee. 'He was wounded in the left thigh by a piece of shrapnel, and shortly afterwards removed to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. "At the time when I was wounded," he says, "we were at Neuve Eglise, resting after a period in the trenches, although we were being shelled all the time. I was cleaning -up Tound about the quarters .of the regiment, when suddenly a comrade shouted 'Look out, Jim,' and before I kr£w what was happening I was struck in the left thigh by a fragment from a shrapnel Shell which burst close by. I had Princess Mary's gift box in my jacket pocket, and this deflected the shrapnel, which considerably damaged the box and glanced on to my thigh. Here, again, I was lucky, for in my trousers pockeff I had. a purse containing some French coins. The shrapnel struck and tore the purse, twisted the coins, and greatly reduced the effect of the blow on my left thigh. The box certainly saved my life, for had it not been there the shrapnel would have entered my groin. When I was struck I was twisted round and round, and thrown to the ground. For a time my left thigh was numbed, and I thought that the leg was blown oft'. 'The. same shell that struck 'me killed one man and wounded 13 others, so I consider I am the luckiest man in England to day." A Territorial sergeant serving in Egypt writes as follows from Cairo to relatives at Moss Side, Manchester-. — "I was going quite all right, but made a mistake by asking how far station was away. A native, who thought he understood me, very kindly offered to conduct me, but took me instead to the tram station, right in the heart of the native quarter. I said: 'No; want railway station; rjuff, puff/ My guide replied : ' This station.'. Taking his word for it, I was turning into a place that looked like a booking hall, and was nearly .arrested by a native policeman. It was a mosque for women. A big crowd got round me, all jabbering and gesticulating, and I was about at my wit's end. Fortunately a young native of the better class appeared, who had some English, and to him I explained my difficulty. He knew station, and offered to show -me the way. I arrived eventually escorted by the brown gentleman and followed by | a swarm of natives — men, youths, and boys. Cairo is a 'rotten' place, hardly a decent street in it." — Two Men in a Trench. — The following is an excerpt from the letter of a ' sergeant in the Irish Guards, who with a private held a communication trench for a considerable period, and paved the way for a British victory. Sir John French referred' to the incident in one of his despatches : — On February 4 we took up our positions in a brickfield at La Bassee. We were told that the battalion which we were relieving had . been driven out of the trench, which, if recaptured, would lead to the Germans being driven out of the brickfield. I was posted on a barricade which divided the trenches between the Garmans and ourselves. By lying on my back I fortified the place so well that a {irivate and myself held it until the folowing night, when it was decided by our, commanding officer to retake the trench. The time appointed was JB p.m., and at 7.30 I commenced to take* down this barricade. After that we fired a few bombs to clear /the enemy back a piece. I then reconnoitred the trench by slipping over the dead bodies of Germans killed two nights before. Having reported all clear, the platoon filed down the trench and fortified it. And so weli was this done that the Germans knew nothing about it till daybreak. A great fight with bombs on both sides ended in about an hour with victory for us. —Grim Sort of Sport. — Mr Andrew ToddJ of Linlithgow Post Office, who is at present serving with the Royal Engineers at the front as a telegraphist, m the course of a letter under date December 19 to a Linlithgow friend says : " Our division had a bit* of a dust-up last night, and, as usual, came off bestcaptured some trenches-, some maxim guns, and. about 20 prisoners. I saw them come in last night, and se- had my fiT3t look at German soldiers. The Devons led the attack, and distinguished themselves greatly. It was our first offensive move ?ince we arrived this side of the water, so you may guess how great the excitement was, waiting on the result. Tlie Germans on our front outnumber us by 2 to 1, and it's long odds, teeing that they have ceased their mass formation. Th-iy have apparently realised at last that mass formation does not pay. I have ons or two yarns to tell ypu about the trenches that you may find rather interesting. Perhaps it will surprise you to learn that the soldiers in both lines of trenches have become very ' pally ' with each other. The trenches are only 60yds apart at one place, and every morning about breakfast time one of the soldiers sticks a board up in the j air. As toon as this board goes up all firing ceases, and men from either side I draw their water and rations. All through, the breakfast hour, and as long as this board is up, silence reigns supreme, but whenever the board comes down the first unlucky devil who shows event so much as a hand gets a bullet through it. Further along the linp a Scottish regiment mans our trenches. Opposite them in the Gorman lines ia an ex-Glasgow waiter, who calls out for ' Slippery ' every morning. 'Slippery' evidently knows this chap. . . . The Germans very often join m the choruses of our popular songs. At another place the Germans signal back with

a spade the result of our firing. That !s, when one of cur fellows fire, .he word ' hit ' or ' miss ' is signalled back. Grim sorf* o_ sport, isn't it?" — Bus Driver's Exciting Adventures.— The experiences of a London motor omnibus driver, who has been invalided home, gives an insight into the" arduous and dangerous work performed by the drivers at the front. On one occasion a convoy, which consists of 26 motor vehicles, by mistake drove right past the British guns, ain- ost up to the, trenches, and well intoi tha firing line. "It was in this way," said Driver Ma .ten. "We had an awkward place to get at, and in the finish had to drive across a ploughed field. There was jusb a single 'cart track, and if one of us had stopped we should have all stuck, the ground was so soft. But we got wrong on a branching road, one way going straight up a hill. We went etraight on up the hill, but we ought to haveT turned off on the other road. There was heavy firing going on all round, and when we got to the top some of it seemed to come from the back. ' It's a bit hot up here,' said my, mate, looking around, and just then over the top of the hill, quite close, came a lot of R.A.M.C. men running. They waved us to stop, and then told the officer we were driving right on to the enemy's guns. It was all right, too. There was no room to turn, and wo had to get on reverse and back out about three miles an hour. No one was hit, however, for they were shelling our guns behind us. One or two shells did fall neai* us, and drilled clean holes in the ground." * — A Remarkable Letter. — .Tliat Germany's feelings are not altogether friendly towards ue is indicated in the following letter which a German officer sent to the officers of a British battalion on Christmas Day : — Gentlemen. — You asked us yesterday temporarily to suspend hostilities and to become, friend® during Christmas. Such a proposal in the past would have been accepted with pleasure, but at the. present time, when we have clearly recognised England's real character, we refuse to make any such agreement. Although, we do not doubt that you are men cf honor, yet every feeling of ours re- ( volts against anj' friendly intercourse towards the subjects of a nation which for years has, in underhand ways, sought the friendship of all other - nations, so that with their help they might annihilate us ; a nation, also, which, while professing Cliristianity, >is not ashamed to use dum-dum bullets, and whose greatest pleasure would be to see the political disappearance and social eclipse of Germany. Gentlemen, you are not, it is true, the responsible leaders of English politics, and so are- not directly responsible for their baseness ; but all the same you ' are Englishmen, whose annihilation we I consider to be our most sacred duty. We therefore request you to take such j action as will prevent your mercenaries, whom you call " soldiers," from ap- \ proachiiig our trenches in future. — Lieut, of Landwehr.