Battlefield Bets

Levin Daily Chronicle, 7 May 1918, Page 4

Battlefield Bets

HOW SOLDIERS GAMBL.3. A liU'E FOR A~ SHTLT.ING. The great sporting strain in i'ominy Atkins' nature is seen in everything that he puts his hand to—-f'iu or fighting. Here i< >■. striki.a<.' ri.ono • of huuiucr brave rv, nr d Toioaiy's i"'B Tii' a gamble, ali .i. o 0u.., i»ld It an oillcer of mi .o'Milrv rogiin'Vit. "What ou have you get there?" he swkod, noticing a ?ec; ; . i< of his men jxO'.fi.i to tho German's lire but still p.J-ig dD.v'.i into a trench.. "A dead German, sir," was the startling reply. "What in .he ivorli are you doing with a dead German?" quoted the Oiiicer.

Then he Icivnod the f-tocy It appeared that daring Oermau MiacU a ,v r.if h's • ICJS huci s-pied >< jurticulH'Jy

tall German, who, being in easy tars>et, ii..d fall.'ji. Two of the men had made a bet as to the man's girth, and a third had risked going forward to drag cim into ttie British trench. The German measured Oft flin in height, and had a waist of 53in

"And what was the amount of the best?" asked the officer curiously.

"A bob, sir!" was the reply. A soldier told a correspondent that they gambled in the trenches on the next man to be killed. ".We'd get up a little sweepstake, draw names, and— wait! There is always a favourite. I held that not altogether enviable position three times. But I disappointed my backers I One day I noticed that a fellow a few yards away kept on turning round to look at me. He did it so often that at last I realised with a bit of a shock that he had drawn mo in the sweopstake. He was waiting to see me tumble down with a bullet through me! It would have been worth 15s to him."

That the sporting instinct of the British soldier is always uppermost was again peculiarly illustrated when the Northumberland and the Eoyal Fusiiers made their splendidly successful Ssli at St. Eloi.

It was a neck-and-neck race for the liouour of being first into the German trenches, and the rival regiments were cheered by their wounded partisans, j sets were freely made, but there was one Scot without money. He had in his hand, however, a bandage which he was about to apply to a wound. Seeing a Eoyal Fusilier with a cigarctte in his hand, but no bandage he called out eagerly, "Ah'll lay ye ma bandage tae your fag the Geordies get their first." The bet was made. The Gordons won, but the Londoners weren't far behind.

. FINISHED THE GAME. And just to show you that the true porting spirit is very much alive in the army of to-day, hearken to this tale of the boys in far-away Egypt. During the last Turkish attack on the Suez Canal, a battalion of——were told off to take Hill 21, and the villago of nti. Previous to the attack the boys >d iMsrched 15 miles across the desert :-•! Ivmtara. However, they plodded ;i -1. to th' ir surprise, found not a i-!: .f- defend the hill. Orders came

en for them to lie on the summit till

"m'ther orders arrived. Accordingly the boys got out their "Size 4" (a constant companion through thick and thin), and commenced a "half-time" r-mie. Things went well till the score rested at 3—2. Then the Turkish field pieces boomed out and a strong counterattack was launched against Hill 21. "he Turkish troops could be seen adncing across the plain below. Just as the news conveyed to the

ootballors-'of the attack a hot engagc- ! mcnt was taking place at the goal of 'he losing side. Loud above the din the voice of Sergeant K. was heard ih outing: "Blowed if we will chuck it For them dirty greasers." The game vas finished with the scoring of the fourth goal for his side by the raucous oiced sergeant. Then there was a rush For rifles. Need we say that the "greasers" were repulsed. What critic (or iessimist) said the spirit of Drake or Plymouth Hoe was dead? More than anything, too, do our Canadian cousins deprecate the interfcr"ice of "Jack Johnsons," "Blacfc \Tarias," "Fat Berthas," etc., with their play. And thereby hangs a tale. The German artillery were doing their best to erase a small town from the .map. Every few minutes there would be a deafening crash, and the remains of a house would soar skywards enveloped in a cloud of smoke. In a field in the outskirts of the town some Canadian soldiers, relieved from the trenches for a few days, were indulging in their favourite game of "baseball."

The pitcher had just pitched tho ball, md the bntsman had hit an easy catch

ne of the fielders when a huge shell landed in the adjoining field. The fielder's attention was fixed on the shell which burst with a deafening crash, and he missed the catch.

"For the love of Mike!" roared the pitcher, who was a typical Irish Canadian, "if you are going to play baseball, play baseball, and quit watching the shells."