SIDELIGHTS ON THE WAR

New Zealand Tablet, 1 June 1916, Page 19

SIDELIGHTS ON THE WAR

GENERAL. The Koelnische * Zeitung says that M. Bessain, printer and Mayor of Malines, who printed Cardinal Mercier’s Pastoral Letter without having previously submitted it to the censor, has been sentenced to one year’s imprisonment. , A telegram from Amsterdam says: According to a Brussels telegram received here via Berlin, Mgr. Loucin, private secretary to Cardinal Mercier, has been arrested because he was alleged to be connected with an organisation which, as the Germans say, carries on a news service between Belgium and enemy countries. ' The pardon obtained by the Pope for Mile. Renkin, sister of the Belgian Minister of the Colonies, who had been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for having helped Belgian recruits to cross the frontier of their country, was granted by the German Emperor through the mediation of Cardinal von Hartmann, Archbishop of Cologne. Deep regret is universally expressed in Canada at the death at the front of Captain the Hon. Alfred Shaughnessy, son of Lord Shaughnessy, President of the Canadian-Pacific Railway, by whom messages of sympathy and condolence were received from many quarters. Captain Shaughnessy, who held a commission in the Canadian Contingent, was killed in action on March 24. Although a stockbroker by profession, he had been in the Montreal Victoria Rifles some six years preceding the outbreak of war, and before joining his unit at the front he took a special course in one of the Canadian military schools. Lord Shaughnessy eldest son holds a commission in the Canadian Imperial Force. A PATRIOTIC FAMILY. Denis Quin MacSwiney, third son of the late Lt.Col. MacSwiney, of Oxton, Cheshire, was wounded in action on March 20, and died the same day. He had eight gears’ service, principally in India, and went with an Indian division to France in October, 1914, where he had continuously fought for seventeen months. His brother, Brisco Francis MacSwiney, was killed in action last June. There are three other brothers serving the country in the Army. A BENEDICTINE AT THE FRONT. Father John Lane-Fox, 0.5.8., who has been injured in France, is a cousin of the present Member of Parliament for the Barkston Ash Division of Yorkshire, and a monk of the Benedictine Abbey at Ampleforth, near Malton. Twenty-two monks of this Order are serving as chaplains to the forces. Father LaneFox being attached to the 2nd London Division of the Territorial Force. He is the son of Mr., George S. Lane-Fox, a former vice-chancellor of the Primrose League, and is also a brother-in-law to BrigadierGeneral Pereira, of the Coldstream Guards. . Some of the men of the London Irish, it seems, were practising bomb-throwing when one exploded, seriously injuring the reverend- gentleman. At the time he was in the company of Lord Desmond Fitzgerald, who received injuries to which he has since succumbed. Father Lane-Fox is at present at the Duchess of Sutherland’s Hospital at Calais. • .

AN INDIAN PRINCE AND THE POPE. When war was declared between England ■ and Germany a son of his Highness, the Raja of Cochin found himself in Germany. Being a feudatory, prince subject to England, he was detained and prevented from returning to India. At the end of last year the. Raja of Cochin happened to be in Madras, . when .it was suggested to him that he might get the Vatican to mediate with Germany on behalf of his son. Acting on this suggestion, he approached the Portuguese Bishop. of Meliapur with a request that he would use bis good.

office with the Pope to secure his son’s freedom. The Bishop interested himself in the case and lost no time in communicating with the Holy See, with the result that last. month he had the satisfaction of receiving from the Papal Secretary, Cardinal Gasparri, a telegram informing him that through , the Pope’s intervention the Raja’s son had been set at liberty, and according to the German Foreign Minister’s communication, would soon be on his way home. THE GERMANS AND CHURCHES. In an account in the Times of a visit to the Belgian front. Lord Northcliffe writes:-‘Our way lay through ruined sixteenth century Flemish villages, where the churches in almost every case had been shelled to fragments, and where also in almost every case the carved wooden Christ (often as not of the fervent Spanish type dating from Spanish times) remained, as by some miracle, untouched. I was long loth to believe that the Germans selected churches as artillery objectives, but personal examination of more than 100 shelled towns proves it. And with the churches usually goes the churchyard open coffins, shrouded corpses, and grinning skulls show that the modern Prussian takes as much pleasure in revealing the secrets of the grave as he does in the destruction of his enemy’s wife and child.’ 1 DESTITUTE BELGIUM. The further appeal issued by the National Committee for Relief in Belgium , signed by the Lord Mayor, Cardinal Bourne, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Chief Rabbi, the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Lansdowne, and other representative men, reveals a strong case for the urgent need of immediate support to this fund (says the Universe).. The penultimate paragraph. in the appeal should strike a responsive chord in every British heart : — ‘ Is there any debt of honor more pressing or any work of humanity with a stronger claim than that of helping to keep body and soul together in the men women, and children in Belgium, who, in spite of misery and privation, endure all things and loyally await the coming of the Allies?’ And let, this fact sink well into the mind. Germany, contrary to every civilised precedent, has openly expressed her intention not to supply the Belgian population with food. Over seven million defenceless civilians in Belgium, for more than a year and a half, have suffered a tyranny almost inconceivable to those in our own uninvaded land. Nevertheless, they have maintained a resistance none the less courageous because it must be passive, and, with almost negligible exceptions, they have refused to work for the Germans. Practically half of the whole of this population in Belgium, through no fault of their own, are now destitute and live on a pitiful ration. What does this refusal to work mean for the Allies? A glance at Poland answers the question with smashing force. In Poland, where there is no neutral channel for the distribution of relief, the civilian population have been allowed to die like flies, and over 300,000 able-bodied . Polish . men have been driven into Germany, there to work in the mines and industries, thus freeing 300,000 Germans to go to the fighting front. The same thing would undoubtedly happen in Belgium but for food which reaches the Belgians through the Allies. Of one fact in connection with this fund . Britons cannot be very proud. A million and a-half has been altogether subscribed 1 (a million short of what is. required), and of this total a million has come from Australia and New Zealand. Wake up, England! BRAVE BELGIANS. The wonderful courage and patience , of the Belgians continue to win the approval of all races. A contributor to the Century Magazine (Mr. Arthur Gleason) adds hist tribute to many others that have appeared. He says: Our corps has seen the Belgians every day for several months. We have seen several skirmishes and

battles, and many days of shell-fire, and the impression, of watching perhaps 20,000 Belgians in action ■ is that of excellent fighting qualities, starred with bits of sheer daring as astonishing as that of any other race. With " no country left to right for, homes either in ruin or soon to be shelled, relatives under an alien rule, the home Government on’a foreigh soil, still, this second army— first having been killed—fights on in good spirit. Every morning of the summer I have watched those of them that have been resting in La Panne, hoys between eighteen and twenty-five, clad in fresh khaki, go riding down the poplar lane from La Panne to the trenches, the first twenty with bright silver bugles, their cheeks puffed and red with the' blowing ; twelve- months of wounds and wastage, wet trenches and tinned food, and still they go out with hope. * This writer’s admiration for the work of the priests and religious is frankly expressed in this passage : And the helpers 1 of the army have' shown good heart. The splendid priesthood ’of Belgium, from the Cardinal to the humblest cure, has' played ' the' man. On the front line- near Pervyse, where" my wife lived for three months, a priest has - remained* through'’ the daily shell-fire to administer last rites 'to his ’ dying.' soldiers, and to comfort the fighting men. Just- before leaving Flanders, I called on the- Sisters in the convent, school of Fumes. They were still cheery and busy in their care of sick and wounded civilians. Every few days the Germans shell the town from seven miles away, but the Sisters will continue there through* the coming months, as through the last year. The* spirit of the best of the race is spoken in what King Albertsaid recently in an unpublished conversation to ; thegentlemen of the English mission: * The English will cease fighting before the Belgians.’ THREE CATHOLIC V.C.’s. Stirring stories of gallant deeds were recorded in a special supplement to the London' Gazette issued on April 1. Of the six new recipients of ' the- Victoria Cross there announced, three, it has transpired, are Catholics. Unfortunately, one, Corporal William Richard Cotter, of the East Kent Regiment, is now f known to have died after his great deed. Corporal Cotter was a native of Sandgate, near Folkestone; His* parents, who live -at Barton Cottage, Sandgate, received the news of bis death on* March 25 from' the Catholic chaplain, who stated that their son had had his leg amputated* and died shortly 'afterwards. The loss to the regiment, he said, was a great one, as he was a very brave, fine fellow. It was at first thought that he* Would get better, but he -never-rallied. Cotter was wounded on March 6, and he- died a few days later. .He was thirty-four years of age, and was an old boy of the Catholic school at Folkestone. He was always fond of « adventure, and ran away to sea. When, after twelve years in the ‘Buffs,’ he-came out on the Reserve in 1914, he- was employed by the Sandgate Council. He'was called* up at the outbreak of war. He lost an eye* as the' result of an accident, but notwithstanding that fact he was sent .oh active service. With the ■ exception of -two months, during which he was sent home to have-an-eye fitted, he had been on active service ever since. Mr. and Mrs. Cotter had five sons, all of‘ whom joined the colors in either the army or the navy. Three of the five are dead, while of the-remaining two one is in the navy, and the* other at- Salonica. Following is the ’ official description of the deed which earned Corporal Cotter the V.C.; —For most conspicuous- bravery and devotion to duty. When his right leg had been blown off at the knee, and he had also been wounded in both arms, he made his way unaided for fifty yards to a crater, steadied the men who were holding it, controlled their fire, issued ■ orders, and altered the 1 dispositions of his men to meet fresh counter-attacks by the enemy. For two hours he held his position, and only allowed his wounds* tb'biJ 1 roughly dressed when the attack had quieted diJWift. He could not be moved, back for fourteen hours, and } during all this time had a cheery word for all’ Who passed him. There is no doubt that his magnificent courage helped greatly to save a critical situation.

It is a curious fact that of the score or so Irishmen Who have Wdri the Y.C. in the present war three should bear the name of Kenny, and equally remarkable .is, the fact that each of the three should have secured the honor in the same Way — namely, by rescuing wounded' under heavy fire. Private Henry Kenny, of : the* North- Lahcashires, who is the latest winner of the distinction, may well take equal rank with his gallant’ namesakes. He went out on six different occasions, and on one day under very heavy shell, rifle, and machine-gun fire, and each time succeeded in carrying to a place of safety a wounded man who had been lying in the open. Kenny was himself wounded in the neck when handing the last man over the parapet. . . - . Private Kenny was born in London and is of Irish descent. His mother, who resides at Hackney, was interviewed recently. ‘We are all Irish except myself,’ she Said, adding, * and my’ children are all Catholics.’ She herself is a Londoner, and her husband was born ill r Yorkshire, but his father and mother came from Limerick, the mother’s name being McNamara. Henry had served eight years in the army,' three of which were spent at the Curragh, and after the proclamation of war he was called to the colors as a reservist. Mrs. Kenny has another son in the army, and she says that the family first heard of the prospect of a V.C. from another soldier, the heroic Henry not caring when he was at home wounded some weeks ago to allude to the matter, hardly daring to think that what he had done deserved so high a distinction. Private William Young, of the East Lancashire Regiment, whose winning of the Victoria Cross was also announced on April 1, is a Catholic and resides in Preston, his' home being in Hey sham street. He has a wife and nine children, the youngest of whom was horn after he had gone to the front. He was born in Glasgow, joined the army in 1899 at the age of seventeen, and was on the reserve when war broke out. He went to France in September, 1914. He has been both - wounded an gassed, and had only just returned to the trenches when he performed the heroic act for which he* has now been honored. While rescuing his sergeant Private Young had both -his jaws fractured, and was also wounded in the chest. He- is s at present in Exeter Hospital, having an artificial jaw fixed. Mrs. Young, when visiting the hospital, asked her husband if he did not think it silly to risk his life the way he did, considering his large family. Unable to speak, owing to his injuries, he wrote : ‘ I would do it again.’