Officer's Bluff

Horowhenua Chronicle, 18 October 1916, Page 3

Officer's Bluff

■12 GERMANS HELD UP BY ONE EMPTY REVOLVER. AVHAT THE BOSCHE BELIEVES Southampton, Tuesday.—"Oh, I'm a fraud; oughtn't to be here at all." 6aid a captain on; board a hospital ship to-day. Ho had his left arm slung, and a German officer's helmet in his haversack. "There's nothing the matter with me but a bullet through my arm. And, anyhow, logically T suppose I ought to be dead or a prisoner with the Huns.

"We took a trench north-west of Pozieres, you know, and our chaps hurried on to the second line without orders. No doubt they thought they'd cleared the front line. I tried hard to get out after them, but it was awkward place, will a high dialing bit of parados: and you'll hardly believe how important your left arm is till you try a job like that without it. My elbow was broken, you see.

"My orderly was with me. He'd got pipped through the shoulder outside the trench. While I squatted there I heard a scuffling under ground, just round the other side of the traverse I wan leaning 011. AN AWKWARD POSITION. "Took a look round the other side, and found a Uoehe officcr—the -first I'd seen—just appearing at the month and then I ordered the Bosches to of, a dug-out. feeling his way out. I could see the spikes of helmets behind him. So there it was. My revolver was empty. My orderly had lost his rifle away outside the trench. Awkward, wasn't it?

"Well, of course, I pointed my rev"olver at the Boche officer. One does that instinctively, I suppose. And to my surprise he said in English. 'Don't shoot!' I paid I'd shoot the lot of 'cm if one of 'em moved. 'You sit perfectly still. Sj,t right down where you are. Mister Roche, and I'll take you to England : hut if you move you'll get fix .service bullets, alul my men will come along and bury you in your dug-out.'

"They sat down like lambs. T managed to whisper to my orderly, round the edge of the traverse, to get forward somehow and bring some men, and. first of all. to find me a rifle and bayonet, or a bomb, or a toothpick, or some blessed thing better than an empty revolver. SULKY GERMAN OFFICER " 'Now do be careful, Mister 13oche,' I said to the officer. 'I'm a conscientious objector ,when I'm at honu'. and 1 hate, killing like the devil.' (I don't know for the lite of me what mad:o mc tell liiin that.) Hut I shall be bound to give you six bullets if yoti budge one inch ; and they're always big brutes these service bullets; they make a edvil of a hole at close quarters, worse'than two or three rifle bullets.'

" 'We're riot' moving,' said the Bosche. He seemed a bit sulky, I thought. So we sat and waited. My orderly had gone, nothing seemed to happen. I felt for my pipe with my left hand, but it was no go. That arm was out of the business.

" 'Got anything to smoke?' 1 asked a Bosche, and as he niovnd I saw the risk and toldi him pretty sharply to put down the rifle lie carried. 'Over this way, please; gently now, along the ground!' And so I got a first-rate weapon. Seems incredible I should not have thought of that before, doesn't it? That's why I say I ought logically to be dead.

"Well after tliat we gat on famously ±j.e, found a cigar and gave it to me. but I had to pretend I didn't like cigars, because with only one hand in working order I didn't dare to risk lighting it. But that Bosche officer remained curiously sulky. I thought.