Corporal Frank Roberts Comes Home.

Samoanische Zeitung, Volume 18, Issue 10, 9 March 1918, Page 4

Corporal Frank Roberts Comes Home.

His Honourable Record. Stirring Times at Battle of the Somme. Ind at trnentieres. A warm welcome is being extended on every hand to Lance-Corporal Frank Roberts (brother of Mr. James Ah Sue), who, having invalided from the Front, has come over on sick leave from New Zealand to visit his relatives and friends at home. His return reminds one of that impressive scene at the Customs House Wharf, now over two years ago—December 23, 1915,—when amid much cheering and more poignant forms of farewell, a little band of ten Samoaborn soldiers left lor New Zealand, the*e to enlist and do their bit in the cause of the world's freedom. The names of the' ten were: Frank Roberts, Oscar, Frank, and Arthur Meredith, Mologa Ah Mu, Allan Williams, Jas. Stowers, Paul Scanlon, Albert Bentley, and Jack Lazarus. As accounting for the present whereabouts of these gallant lads, representing in part Samoa's sympathy with the great Cause, it may be mentioned that Arthur Meredith was returned from New Zealand as being too young to serve ; Scanlon and Bentley, owing to climatic or other adverse influences, were 'discharged ; Allan Williams is doing useful work in England ; Oscar and Frank Meredith, Ah Mu and Stowers are still fighting in France; and poor Jack Lazarus has made the supreme sacrifice. Aad now Frank Roberts is among his friends again, having happily survived the countless perils and privations that face the soldier at the Front. On his arm he wears a stripe, won on the field of battle, an infallible proof that he has done his duty faithfully, that he has proved himself a worthy son of Samoa, and worthy of the Cause he served. He has borne himself as one alive to the appeal: "Act well your part: There all the honour ließ." And Samoa is proud of him. Generous Tribute to Comrades. Of his brother soldiers from Samoa Corporal Roberts speaks in most generous terms. He is loud in his praise especially of Oscar Meredith, who is surely bearing himself as a soldier should. " We all called him Father," says Frank; '' and like a father he was to all of us. He was always ready to assist and advise. He did his own work cheerfully ; if he saw one of us with a job that he thought was too heavy he would take it on himself." This is high praise indeed. Ie tie Land of tie Ptolemies. After eleven weeks' training at Narrow Neck, Roberts embarked at Wellington on May 6, 1910, with

the 4th Maori Contingent (Tweltth Reinforcements) for Egypt. On thtir way out the troops stayed three clays in Albany and two days in Colombo, arriving at Port Said on June 15. Train was then taken for Tel-el-Kebr, where they stayed seven weeks, being quartered with the Australian Light Horse. Here they put in some sound work training and getting fit. This was done between 6-8 a.m., and 5-8 p.m., the rest of the day being too hot for work. Frequently this routine was varied by marches out in the desert. Twice only had Frank leave, and once he went to Cairo in company with Oscar Meredith. He and Oscar spent a good deal of spare time together digging for " treasure" in some old trenches near by, known as Kitchener's trenches. There was no fighting. It was very hot during the day—" hotter than Samoa " the sand was like " burning fire." What him most of all he saw in the land of the Pharaohs ? The skies, dazzling blue by* day, and the burning stars by night. He was glad to get away from Egypt.

Heartp Greetings in France.

The contingent left Alexandria for France near the middle of August in the old Cunard Liner the " Ivernia." Tbey were escorted by a destroyer, and every man kept a sharp eye on his lifebelt, which he used by night as a pillow, On reaching Marseilles they entrained for Le Havre, where on their arrival they heard that the " Ivernia " had been torpedoed on her way back to Egypt. Tnair journey through France was like a triumphal procession ; women threw flowers in at the carriage windows, and distributed among them cigarettes and sweets. On the fifth day after their arrival at Le Havre they crossed the Channel to Southampton, and there took train for Salisbury Plain. Here all the boys from Samoa and the Maori lads —86 in all—were attached to the Pioneer Battalion. They practised trench construction, and did some bayonet fighting, bomb-throwing, and physical drill, with several route marches. After only eight days of this they were given four days' leave, and all the Samoa boys went on a visit to London.

Visit to London.

They arrived in the Capital one morning about 10 o'clock. When they stepped out of the Liverpool Street Station into the road they were fairly bewildered by the traffic; they feared to be run over every minute. Some of the boys stayed at the Union Jack Soldiers' Club; Oscar, Jim Stowers, Swanny and Roberts put up at the Y.M.C.A. in Leicester Square. As soon as their lodgings were fixed up they went by the Tube (under the Thames) to the south side, where from a motor bus they saw many of the sights, and at night they went to the theatre. The next day four of them,—Oscar and the three others mentioned above —engaged a carriage for the day. It cost them 5s euch, and in it they made a grand tour of the city. First they visited the Tower of London, where they saw many weird and wonderful and ancient things. There were the quaintly attired Beefeaters, the block and axe that did summary execution in the long ago, dungeons dark and creepy, instruments of torture, the Crown Jewels, reminders on every hand of events covering a history of a thousand years. Then they went on to St. Paul's Cathedral, where they mounted to the famous Whispering Gallery ; went through Hyde Park and saw the Albert Memorial, Rotten Row, and the Serpentine; over to Buckingham Palace, and then to tho British Museum. Bosides theso, with luncheon sandwiched in between, they saw the

Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square, the Strand and Charing Cross, the Law Courts, the Exchange, Tower Bridge, the Monument commemorative of the Great Fire, Cleopatra's Needle on the Embankment; and 11, Portsmouth Street, the Old Curiosity Shop immortalised by Charles Dickens. In the evening they patronised a picture show. A great day !

On the Rocks.

The next morning the four mates went over to the Union Jack Club to see the other fellows and compare notes of their experiences. They, too, had been doing the sights, though the two parties bid never encountered each other. While in the Club a man-of-war's man —a petty officer—came over to them and asked if they hailed from Samoa. Being answered, to their surprise he greeted them with " Talofa," and shook hands heartily all round. He had, it seemed, visited Samoa in H.M S. " Porpoise " about 19 years ago. He asked a number of questions about Apia, and was anxious to know if the Tivoli and the Apia hotels werestill in being. It was now Friday morning. The party had arrived in the Metropolis on Wednesday, intending to stay over Friday night. " But already," said Roberts, " I was ~' stoneybroke.' 1 didn't think that mattered much, though: I could borrow a few bob from one or two of the others. To my surprise and disgust, to the disgust of us all, we were all fairly broke, so there was nothing left to do but to make for the railway station and back to Salisbury Plain. And only two days after our return to camp we received orders to pack for France. Our stay in England lasted but three weeks."

Battle of tie Some.. II Veritable Inferno.

The truops duly embarked from Folkestone, about 800 strong —all New Zealanders—and, escorted by five destroyers, made the journey in safety to Boulogne. Arrived there they entrained for Etaples, where they were in training for eight days, practising night attacks; then on to Albert, where they received their first baptism of fire. Near where they were billeted there was an Australian battery with 13-in. guns in a concealed position. These guns kept up a continuous cannonade night and day. On the third and last day of their stay here, a shell came over from the German line resulting in eleven casualties —five killed and six wounded. After this they put in a couple of days at a point about three or four miles from the front line, their quarters being in an old German trench. On the 14th September they were marched up into the front line on the Somme. All the way up was a scene of desolation. They were traversing giound held only a few weeks before by the enemy. . There was no vegetation, shell holes were everywhere. Here and there were heaps of shells abandoned by the retreating Germans. The ground was honeycombed with trenches and dug-outs, and in some of ihese latter remains of German handiwork, in the shelter of some rising ground, Roberts aud his party were billeted. The advance was to be resumed on the following day, and they received orders to stand to. The next morning a terrific bombardment began. " Immediately behind us were some 8-pounders and behind them the bigger guns. The cannonading was deafening, and went on incessantly day and night. At night time especially the scene inspired one with awe. As soon us dark came on tho

bombing squadrons got to work. Overhead we could hear the planes sweeping to and fro. Sometimes they were Fritz's machines, and then our searchlighta would play upon them and we could follow them in their flight as though it were day. Then the air guns would flash and bark, machine guns rattled, and bursting shells break all round the visitor. Fritz drops a few bombs in quick succession, and then makes a hurried dash for his lines. Our excitement grows more intense every moment as wo strain our gaze following the retreating airman. Will the guns get him before he reaches safety ?"

Jack Lazarus' Death.

In this inferno our gallant lads from Samoa put in twenty-thre6 days. They could see little of what was going on in front of them, only day by day they noved slowly forward, their work consisting in the repair of trenches deserted by the Germans and in helping aenerally to consolidate the ground Won. In these captured trenches were many dead Germans. They saw literally hundreds of corpseg. It was here, eight or nine days after their arrival, that Jack Lazarus was killed, also a Tongan half-caste named Mitchell, married to one of the Scanlons in "aleula. _ Just about nightfall. Lazarus was working with Oscar Meredith digging a trench, about fifty yards away from where Roberts also was working, when a shell burst and a fragment struck Lazarus in the back. Roberts heard him cry out and rushed to his assistance, but it was Oscar and a Fijian half-caste named Charlie Wearsau who carried the injured lad down to the dressing station. At the time they did not think he was mortally wounded. He was put in the train for the Base Hospital, and a day or two afterwards, to their great sorrow, they learned the news that their comrade was dead.

At Armentieres.

From this position Roberts and his comrades were transferred to the trenches before Armentieres. Here they had another rough time, the German shell fire being hot and incessant. " One day," he says, " Frank Meredith and 1 were sent into the front line to dig a trench to let some water away, when the Germans began to bombard. Shells were dropping all around us, and I was just telling Frank it was getting too hot, we had better finish, when I fell into a deep hole full ol water. After that our officer told us to knock off and get back to our billets, which we did quick and lively. On our way back shells fell several times quite close to us, and we were lucky to get back in safety. I oonsider thia the narrowest escape from shells I ever had."

First Sight of Snow.

The weather hereabouts was very bad aud exceedingly cold. Hailstorms were frequent, and hard frosts almost continuous. " I now saw snow for the first time," says Roberts. " One morning when we got up everything was white over with snow. We were all greatly oxoited at the spectacle, and were soon snowballing one another in the trenches." Towards the end of November Frank Meredith, Duffy, fcswanny and Roberts were dratted on to a training school near £sterre, where they were, employed clearing water from the trenches until January 11 of last year, when the severe weather told on Roberts, and he was ordered into hospital, a victim, the doctor said, of tuberculosis. Here he met Ah Mu, with about fifty other New Zoalandurn. After three weeks spent in the Canadian Hospital Mo. 3 and a

Imrt 9tay in a convalescent home in Boulogne he was " boarded " at Etaples and was marked " P.B."— to be employed at the Permanent Base. There he put in two weeks as a steward, wh> n intimation came through that men %vere wanted for t l, fi Veterinary Corps at Calais. Roberta volunteered /or this work, and was appointed, his duties being to help in looking after wounded horses.

Promoted Lance Corporal.

Five weeks later he was on the Ypres line, taking up fresh horses a nd bringing back wounded animals. It was while he was engaged on this work that he received his Lance- Corporal's stripe, Major Edgar, N.Z. Medical Corps, recoinmoiuling thepromotion as a reward i'or the diligence he displayed in discharging his duties. At length, however,, he was gassed,. At the time he was in charge of eight horses, taking shelter from gn R shells which were falling in the vicinity. One of the shells burst only a few yards away and Roberts put on his helmet, which, however, whs leaking and the gas got inside. Overcome by the noxious fumes, he fell to the ground, and when he came to found himself lying i n hospital. There he stayed six weeks, being again boarded, and this time marked for New Zealand. Returning to the base at Etaples, he met Oscar Meredith, who was just about to come out of hospital after a bad attack of bronchitis. Three days after he left for Torquay ( and there was given six weeks' leave of absence. He had a free railway pass, with which he visited London, Edinburgh, and as far north as Aberdeen, then south again through Wales and back to Torquay. Roberts left Liverpool on November 19 for New Zealand, via the Panama Canal, arriving at his destination on the sth January last. At first the authorities in Auckland intended sending him to a convalescent institution, but on his representations that he would like to visit his triends at home, generously allowed him to do so. He is nn full pay, with instructions to stay in Samoa and await further orders.