PRIVATES' GALLANT WORK.

Marlborough Express, Volume L, Issue 224, 2 October 1916, Page 2

PRIVATES' GALLANT WORK.

LEWIS GUN INVENTOR KILLED.

TUNNELLING TIHULLS

Piivate Harold Findley, an Australian now in the Canadian Scottish Regiment, who hua been in th© firingline for 17 months, 2 relates a sensational experience which ho, and Pii-vat-b Gi-og'orVj a- comrade; had in. France, while recovering the bodies of Lieirfa.-Cblonel Lewis, inventor of. the- Lewis machine-gun, and a fellowolncer, who were brought down in an aeroplane by German shell-fire. In a letter to his sister in Melbourne, Private Findiey tolls the story:— ''Five days before we went into the trenchos," he ■ writes, "the Germans brought down a British aeroplane in front of the lines ;\ve were about to occupy. The michine was hit by a shell and crippled while patrolling behind fcbs German lines. It was a sight never to be forgotten to see the avisitor volplaning homewards. Unfortunately, the strain on the damaged machine was too great, and, while sti)i at a groat height, it parted in' tho middle. The tail part foil in the German lines, and the body came down in 'Xo Man's Land.' Here tho Allied and enemy lines were only 40 yards apart.. "I was selected as one of the two men sent out to try to recover the 1-odies of the two officers and obtain tho papers they had on them. Owing to the constant machine-gun fire, it was impossible to rush out, so we- had to tunnel to a spot- as near as could be judged by the bodies. Like myself, mv comrade was a'miner, and we went lc* work. We worked almost: night and day, and on the fourth day we saw daylight. We found, however, that >ye had. not tunnelled enough for our purpose, and that the tunnel was too near the surface to hold up the ground abovo it. Timbering was out of tho question, as tha noise would have brought the Germans upon us. "We worked on as carefully as wo could,, and, narrowing our 'trench, y relied ifc as much as possible on the top. We had to work while lying down at full length, and pass the dirt in bag^. along to our trenches. For two additional days we worked on, going night arid day, each taking two hours on and two ■-hours off. Finally we gnt so close to the aeroplane that I could ■ reach out my hand and touch one of .the' wings. ; "That bamo evening a German aeroplane flew over onr sap three times at a very low altitude, and finally dropped a signal right over it-. That meant-danger : for us, and so we worked for 21 hours straight on end until the job was finished. By daybreak we had discovered the first body. It took several hours to bring it in thrcuali the narrow sap to the trench He prayed to be Captain Giile, of the 2nd Life Guards. The second body was that of Lieuts-, Colonel Lewis, «qiiadrori commander j in the Roval Plying Corps, and the j inventor of the Lewis machine>-gun. No wonder they were anxious to recover the bodies.

"After bur job was done we were very jumpy. You mu«<t realise that the aeroplane was almost as near to the enemy's lines as to our own. At night wo '-could hear the German sentries talking plainly. Every now and again they beard the noises we were making, as i-hey .threw star shells from time to timo and lit up the whole scene. We were seven days on, the job, and were constantly ".troubledby the rats. Some of these jumped on my head while I was working, and mv pa 1 got a fright soveral times. He thought that the enemy was on us."