SALVATION ARMY CHAPLAIN AT THE FRONT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1626, 19 October 1916, Page 4

SALVATION ARMY CHAPLAIN AT THE FRONT.

Writing' from the tiring line in Frnnee in August, one of the Solvation Army chaplains says; — “Another week Ims gone, and 1 still have to thank God for Ills eare and protection. For the first few flays I went to bed wondering whether we would lie shelled during the night, as we are liable to be at any time; now the thought never enters nty lifip], iilthough never a night has passed for weeks but what I have closed my eyes with the roar of guns all round, and with star shells lighting up the country for miles away. Sometimes I imagine the whole business of exploding shells and bring of guns is a huge orchestra. You hear the growling, sullen and ominous, of the howitzers, followed by the plaintive sound of the missile (lying through space, then sonic more of the smaller field guns lend a hand, while in bet weep one hears the tap-lap tapping of the machine guns, for all the world like a typewriter going, and the treble parts are supplied by the sharp crack ot rille bullets. Trench mortars and hand grenades all assist in increasing the awful din. Behind the screeching and moaning of flying shells there follow the groans of the injured and dying, and the sharp staccato of the machine-gun or rifle bullet only too often means the laying low of many n promising life. Last Saturday afternoon 1 ran out a few miles with our second in comma lid (a major, born in my native town), and accompanied him on an inspection of some work our men were 'doing close to the firing line. We got tlipfe safely, and were returning through it village where there was an old church, This building was being shelled, as we passed up the main street. Some of the shells were bursting ahead of us on the road, and we took shelter behind a small, well-built villa. Immediately afterwards a shell came over and burst over the house, scattering its contents in every direction. I looked around the corner to see what damage was done, and then heard the dull “plonk” of a gun in the enemy’s lines. 1 knew the sound well, and a. second or two

later recognised the screech made by the approaching shell. You generally get a few seconds notice in this way. I pressed myself Hat against the wall, and in a moment the shrapnel burst over our heads, hitting the officer on the side of the temple, and injuring a soldier in the leg and a lad in the chest, 100 yards up the street. For a moment I thought I was hit, and felt greatly distressed to see my friend lying huddled on the ground, quite unconscious. I have seen him since, before he was taken to the hospital away from our district. We hope he recovers. One of the strangest sights here is to see shells landing on a prominent building, and within a few hundred yards to see children playing a game something like hopskotch, and women leaning out of the upper windows, looking at the show like some great pantomime affair. For some weeks the men have been at it day and night, and the only way in which one can sec them is by going out to the trenches or wherever they are working. It means little rest often, but one must keep in touch with them. What with visiting tin* lads in their abodes —some queer places they live in, too —looking after stray men, and seeing to tin* censoring of letters, and other business matters in camp, 1 have lew spare hours.