New Britain Herald Newspaper, March 19, 1918, Page 5

“Mornings my back felt MEN WHO RETURNED TELL THEIR STORIES Veterans of Trenches Give Latest News of No Man's Land By Sergt. Major J. R, Of “Canadian Black Wateh” Falconer 1 believe if you'ro going to be killed yow'll be killed at home as well as on the battlo field. And if you aro over thero in tho thick of it you'll escape, if only by a hair's breadth, it it isn’t time for you to “‘get yours.” For Instance, take ono morning at Wolverghem: It was just after “stand down’ and Ve wer in our dugouts preparing our breakfast. All of a sudden we received a rally of rific- grenades from Fritz. 1 went out with Nick Nevill who was with me in the dugout, to see if anyone had been hit. ‘While we were going round the trench a rifie grenade went through the roof of our dugout and spoiled our breakfast. It would have spoiled us too, if we had not decided to step out to see what was going on on the outside. [ A month or so later wo were tran terred to the sector in front of Kem- mel Hill, better known as *“Bull- ring.”” We were warned by our in-! telligence department that Frita would make a rald on us In the morning. So we prepared. Our bombers went over the top of our trench and took up a ‘“watchful waiting” position Jjust inside our wire. They lay down as comfortably as possible In about four inches of snow. This was the night of b ruary, 1916. At two-thirty that morning Fritz came over, numbering about seventy strong, and, believe me, our bombers gave them the hottest reception they had had in a long time. Very few of them got back to thelr own lines. Outside of those who wero carried back, never to return, wo succeeded fn taking two prisoners. Those two were very <glad to find themselves safe and sound after sceing the fare | of their comrades. The Hun artillery made the remain- der of that trip pretty warm for us. | But Fritz found a stubborn crowd of men in this company of the 42nd Royal Highlanders and he had to glve it up for a bad job. For In spite of the heavy shelling the boys car- | ried on as usual. By Capt. E. Brooke Baxter Of the 11th Essex Battalion The prisoners we got at times wero like bables after coming through our ©One That Shou'll Be Heeded By New Britain Residents. Frequently the first sign of kidney | trouble is a slight ache or pain in the loins. Neglect of this warning | makes the way casy for more serious troubles—dropsy, gravel, Bright's disease. 'Tis well {0 pay at- tention to the first sign. Weak kid- neys generally grow weaker and de- lay is often dangerous. Residents of this community place reliance in Doan's Kidney Pills. This tested remedy has been d in kidney trouble over 50 years—is recommend- ed all over the civilized world. Read the following New britain proof ot their merit. Oliver Foulds, 374 i Arch street., New Britain, says: “A cold settled on ache my kidneys, causing a dull across the small of my back. caught me when I bent over when 1 sat down, my back seemed to stiffen up and T had to take hold of something to Thelp myself up. especiaily lame and sore. I took two boxes of Doan’s Kidney Pills and they en- tirely cured me.” 60c, at Mtg: | Foster-Milburn | On Her BIRTHDAY END flowers as her birthday gift —that is one token which she will surely appreciate and long romember. Flowers always make friends, they inspire culture, refine- ment and tenderness, It is always appropriate to “Say it with Flowers.” For birthdays, wed- dings, social events, the sick room, to brighten the home, you can best express your sentiments with flowers. Yolz Floral Co. 92 West Main St. | submission terrific fire. I some Huns we took prisoners. Down the lines they came, four of them, big Irussians, and, strutting along be- side them, grinning from ear to ear, carrying his rifte, was a little Canuck tbout the size of a flea, and hc was helping his prisoners along with his square-toed boot. What wonderful history we are making! In this great rush to vic- tory one is lifted and carried beyond hin and there is no such thing \s death. My heart has thrilled with a pride and glory, in the midst of it | that would be hard to describe—to think that I am a Canadian and able (o share in this great struggle for frecdom, as a soldier of the greatest nation in the world. Unless one has been in he cannot imagine the magni of it : One day on a march we passed a French detachment camp, and we were | Off our feet by the straing of “Maple Leaf" on a cornet coming from one of the tents. Maybe that yrenchman n't gat a cheer. he terrible new machines, which we are using are marvels of in- genuity. “Devil Machines” or “Land Dreadnaughts,” we call them. They just ride the smashéd trenches and huge shell holes as a ship salls on a rocky sea. Fritz must think hell has been let loose on them One cannot imagine the magnitude of the work being done. Thousands motor transports, lorries, London that are serving every emer- the guns, troops, cavalry, the ation balloons and our arvelous battle planes. win! Not in a thousand ve Sir Sam Hughes' son, General Gar- net Hughes, was our Brigadier Gen- cral, and besides belng a regular fel- low, he is a splendid and eflicient of- ficer. Britain's work in war-ridden France is wonderful. Kitchener's new armies, the heavy guns, the building obser | of metal roads, feeding her men, con- structing railroads apd equipping the French army with all their require- ments as was necessary In those carly days—when one considers it he be- gins think that a Mightier Hand than Britain's is doing it all, as it is impossble for the human mind to grasp the power that lies hehind. Never in my life did I imagine any- thing like it. By Major I. B. Edwards Of the Second Canadian Mounted Rifles (Major Iidwards has seen some of the hardest fighting at the front. He has lost both hands as a result of engagements with the enemy and was also wounded in the hip.) Why spare a shot when a cap- tured German holds up his hands in ? At the next instant, when on back is turned, Fritz will take a shot at you, thrust you through with a bayonet, or fill you full of holes from the shots of a rapld fire machine gun? In the Sanctuary Woods sector a terrific bombardment preceded the onrush of the Huns. On they came, and our forces 2,300 strong, were literally torn—shattered by their aw- ful fire. But we stood by our lines and fought back, inch by inch, the advance of the enemy. We had our orders and stuck to them. Our rifles were broken and we were compelled to resort to hand-to- hand fighting. We clubbed the Huns with our guns, stabbed them, fought them with our fists. The enemy came on to us four lines deep. Our front line and our support were for a time wiped out or badly damaged. We suffered 1,800 casualties in two days’ fighting. The reports that the Germans are afrajd of cold steel are true. When the Huns see our boys trotting toward them with fixed bayonets they gen- erally throw down their weapons and put up their hands, The British have it on the Huns in the fighting in mid-air. The German pilots are a brave lot, but their skill is inferior to that of the Britlsh. I have seen many an enemy planc or sausage balloon brought down In flames by a daring Britisher. The physical fitness of our British d Cs an forces is The v was quite amused at NEW BRITAII! DAILY Swedish system which we follow puts i over. the men in the best shape without sul. But any weakaning results. It is superior to the German system. The training Includes instructions on how to deal him. with an enemy at close range and in him. close quart are employed man one w It you can't there are ail your numerous | helped tratn men for service overseas. Tor service In the Soudan {campaign he received the Queen's Medal and the Khedive of Egypt Med- al, and later, his service in the Boer ymy for War was appraised by the Queen's jore until dal with six fizhting clasps and the King's Medal. Serst. Major Monger is now at the Terre Haute Depot, B. war CIR) I have felt sore when men who had Deen wounded three or four times left the hospital and after a month's hardening drill in my Re- (L serve Battalion, went over to France t i e plac ar or mach By Lieut it clared on the Central Powers and I in a way, I haven’t any kick coming. At the age of eighteen 1 served through the Soudan Campalgn in 1598 and later through the South African war. When first we fought at Belmont by the early morning’s light, The way we stormed each Boers' |~ T crowned hill—'twas indeed a glorious sight. When we reached each topmost sum- mit with a hearty English | cheer | We drove the Boers at the bayonet point like a herd of frightened deer. | You all remember the Modde the fearful carnage there, in France volved in roads, ete. and | TUESDAY, So 1 went to a German con- intended to fight on the side of Germany. consul and 1 finally the papers Now I have destroyed them. I All the tricks known MWill be able to the business without srraine will them. of Alsace Lorraine is sport from the German | the t Te has to agree to come twenty to serve Neglecting to forfeits citizonship and all \t. the age of other means by which he can be put After a out of commlisston. | reventeen ne cannot leave the country By Regimental Sergeant Major | Wthout a G. E. Monger | orities (Sergeant Major Monger joined up . year in with the Active Militla, Rocky Moun- a4 so he { tain Rangers, since then has ;operty ther Six months later he orve 56 days. A another 66 Some eight to ten later rervice. years old he holongs to the army and is home only whole nation is a life of an Alsa my is made mise <n furlough “ian in the 1 Africa, as well as other re- profession of works, knittin 1 joined up as soon as war was de- CiVil engine to and advise the status of the engineer in France. Jt is a mistaken idea that the sapper does the actual work in- construction The sapper in France has no time for he can do is to guide and instruct working partics from infantry and other units. | I saw the One sapper will have the handling | a fight with | of from fifty to one hundred men | o from | nearly cvery day of his life. A field | company may be handled in working factory and | parties drawn from other unit Alsace- | 1,600 men in a night, at two c ssembly points The sappers are there as consulting cngineers to lay out the work, to set k and report on the amount of work done by the working parties | under their direction and to report on | Pwhether this work is satisfactory. If | the sapper's report shows that work- | ing partles have not done what they | should have done, then division head- | led back for | quarters brings pressure to bear so | | | ! that the unit that supplies that work- ing party will not have such a thing occur again. The engineers' training is of a two- | fold nature. They are trained in the | technical duties of enginec and ar given sufficient military training that they may apply their techn back to the There- able. 18th Canadian | knowledge effectively. 1CSS | Included in their training are driil, experience in | instruction in care of arms, swim- ming, rowing, fa:ld intrenchments and wher . splicing and lashing, B him to talk the use of blocks and tackles, con- contemplate struction of trestles, etc., construction ot as far as England with the 172nd ®nlistment adian En- of casks and boat rafts and piers, con- | B el r s e Al e ey nec i) | struction of pontoon bridges, © etc., | : kept me back for drill. But I guess, I have not found anyone in Canada, Wwater supply apparatus, obstacles, | A not a returned who knows sapping and mining construction and | chas destruction of railroads, telegraphs, etc., road making and repairing, rid- 457 ing and diving drill, stable ment and care of horses, training will in many cases be of great value in civil life after the war. of trenches, Start Today to Buy 78 War Savings Stamps Where every man had his work cut out and helped to do his share. We were there from the break of morning till the last red gleam of sun, Through the shot and shell and the thirst of hell, till the Dbattle was fought and won. There at Belmont we charged with fixed bayonets. The Boers were on the top of the hill we set out to take, and there they had placed a lot of loose rocks. When we were half way up we had quite a time dodging rocks as well as bullets. We reached the top only to see the Boers riding away on their ponies as fast as they could. (By J. M. Donaldson.) We are working for exactly the same ends as the United States citi- zens are trying to attain. We ought to have a most friendiy interest in ¢ach other, and I belleve that with 2 few exceptions such is the case. There are a great many things which serve as handicaps for our work, but we are gettink along quite well at that. Some people who either are misguided as to facts, or else are sceking something for an excuse without any particular regard for the soundness of their grounds, attack the British mission by making the 19im that England i8 not doing her full part in the war. I would be much pleased if all ch would read the recent article in anity Fair touching that point. “Whatever military successes have lieen won by the Allies in this war, no benefit of permanent character could have been achieved had it not | heen for the British navy.” English forces are now fighting on many fronts—in Flanders, in Italy, in Saloniki, in Mesopotamia, at the | Snez, in Palestine, in East Africa, and | wwith the Russiang in Galicla. In Au- Zust of last year, England had 2,000,- 000 men at the French front alone. | Of these 1,670,000 were from the S3ritish Isles; 130,000 from Canada; 139.000 from Australia; 12,000 from India, and 6,000 from South Africa. There were 1,000,000 holding Great Rritain, and 1,000,000 reserves fo ro- plenish the 20,000 weckly lo: The charge that the Canadians and Australians are getting more than their share of the fighting in Fland- ore is concisely answered by the fol- lowing figures for the recent pro- ‘(nged offensive in the Ypres scctor, | ziven out by General Maurice, of tho | Sritish war office on Oet. 4 | The troops which have been en- | gaged in the fighting front from July 315t to the present are composed as follows: British (English) 70 per cent; Colonials 16, Scottish 8, Trish 6. The casualtics in the same period ar Jistributed as follows: British 76, | Cnlonia Scottish 10, Trish 6. By of Alsace Lorraine. (The author, an Alsatian, does not dare to give his name until Prussian militarism is annihilated, as the lives of his father and sisters may be at eiake. He recently enlisted with the | “anadian forces.) | When you read reports regarding the attitude of the Alsatians toward Germany, they are usually misleading and often untrue as far as the ri Alsatians are concerned. Since 1871 many of our people have moved into France rather than go under Prus- sinn rule. My father could not move on account of his business. And many Germans have leen introduced into Alsace Lorraine through the custom of placing a Prussian ser- geant, as burgomaster, in charge of | every town that amounts to anything. To show you the lrue feelings of the Alsatians: When I was a boy, I was sent to a boarding school. The | Alsatian boys lined up one side and | tne German boys on the other. If 8 German licked an Alsatian, he had all the Alsatians to meet. The f Ing was so strong with these boy ‘welve to fifteen years eid, that they would get together with knives and plan to fight the Prussians. One of tr.e rules was that if an Alsatian boy forgot and expressed himself in his own language he was punished by forfeiting 2 whole week's pocket money. I was in this country on business when war was declared. I knew If there were not papers to show that I had enlisted with Germany, the law is such that I would not be able to have our family’s business when it trademark, *“His Master's Voice.” It is on all genuine To insure Victor quality, always look for the famous products of the Victor Talking Machine Company. An Excellent Investment and a Patriotic Duty Easter anthems that will delight lovers of sacred music The approach of Raster brings with it the desire for the beauti- ful anthems and other music of Eastertide. And with the Victrola it is easy to gratify that desire—to actually hear this music in all its beauty right in your own home. 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