INCIDENTS OF THE WAR.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 4, 15 January 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

INCIDENTS OF THE WAR.

ENGLISH M.P.'S AT THE FRONT

LONDON. Nov. 13

Unusual interest attached to the opening 0 t thj fifth session of the British Parliament last month on account of tho fact that a number of members of tlie House of Commons are 111 the fighting line. Some of them on homo defence duties with then regiments attended the opening ceremony in tlicr uniforms. One member oi the Com mens, Captain Arthur O Neill. M.P. for Mid-Antrim, has been killed in action A large number of members have sons in tho army or navy, tne.uding tho Prime Minister, 31 r. Lloyd George, Dr. Macnamara. Mr. John Ward, and Mr. Arthur Henderson. Sir Frederick ( avley. M.P.. mourns the loss of a son (Major Caw ley, a brilliant cavalry oib - tor). So does Colonel Burn. M.P. toe the Torquay division, whose eldest- son was killed. Colonel Burn lrin-self is attached to General French's headquarters stair. Mr. -J. M. H ■udersou, M.P., has a son. Can't ain lan Henderson, who too;< jiirt m the glorious charge of tho London Scottish at Messiws. Captain Henderson was wounded, and is how a prisoner in Germany. In the Hotr-vo of Lord-;. Lord (lowne. the Leader of the Opposition was absent through illness. He had not recovered from an operation wiiea lie received news ol the death on the held of honour in France, of his so-;. Lord Neirne. to whom b,, was devotedIv attached. Lord Crewe, the Leader

of tiie Mouse el Lords, was ato .u mourning <>u account of the war. lor his son-:n-law. Captain O'Ne'.ll. Hi" war lii's taken toll of many nohl.> F.iig--1 ish families. Among the peers who have lc-t a .son in the campaign in France ;.re the Duke of Wellington, the Karl of Plymouth. Lord lialiour ot Burleigh. Lord Kiunaird. Lord Saltoun. Lord Forest t. Lord Co.vdray, and the Bishop of Hereford. Peer:- who luve lost a brother include Lord Durnhani and Lord Hamilton of Dalzell. Lord AltenlaUi lias lo.t a nephew, and Lord lhbblesdale one of his sons-in-law. who was a son of the late .Mr. George Wyndliam.

BRITISH OFFICER S CONFIDENCI

An exe llent accoun of the work of the British Army at the front is given in tho following letter from a British ollicer who has been in all th<> heavy lighting of the war. in h's oninion the war will li<. of great iroojJ,. to Great Britain, and mak 0 her t!ie first nation in the world in ?verv way. His emphatic assurances of the superiority of tho British army to the enemy are based on practical experience, and make cheering reading. He says:—"The spirit of our troops is one of stoady confidence. Eightly or wronglv ivo think that we are superior to the Germans in every branch of the service. We are undoubtedly lietter material and far better and more thoroughly trained. This is no idle boast, but is proved every time that we go into action. When we havo been opposed by immensely superior forces Wo have had to give wav. but have nn-er Irnen broken, and with anything like equal numbers we simply go through them. Our artillerv works magnificently and plays havoc in tl'Vr

trenches. Our rifle fire unlike what it was in th e Boer War, is now absolutely deadly. These ar 0 facts I am giving you, and not merely hearsay or rumours. Then, too, our transport works' like a machine. Wo always have our rations regularly for horse and man, wherever we go, and nearly always our mails, besides new equipment whenever we need it. Our flying corps are admittedly superb, and I see their work every day. Personally, I don't think that wo can expect things to move very quickly, but the fate of tlm German army is sealed. Everybody outliero says' that the English seem to have so' much sang-froid and patience, and we must continue to exercise those qualities. In spit 0 of the elaborate spy system of the Germans, we have several times effected large movements of troops without their being aware of the fact." SCENES ON THE BATTLEFIELD. A member of th? Royal Army Medical corps records some of the strange scenes ho witnessed on a battlefield after fierce engagement. "The carnage had been fearful, and flu dead and the dying of both sidles were placed together." he writes. "In one place I saw a British Tommy with a bad wound, lying with Irs head p l l lowed on the shoulder of a dying German, while a Frenchman near bv was doing his best to cheer them up. and emptying lus pockets in quest of some treasures to soothe the last moments of the other two. Close by a British Guardsman was Dropped against a tree smoking a cigarette, and gaz'ng intently at a photograph. Near to him was a wounded Frenchman holding a little glass in one hand, wliila he tried to curl a straggling moustache with tho other. Further along I saw two n) eii— a French artilleryman and a British rifleman—quietly playing cards while awaiting their turn to be taken to tho hospital. Next to them was a man ef the Cameron Highlanders with both leg? shattered, munching a stick of chocolate, and trying to hide the twitching of his face as the pain racked lii-i body. I approached another Highlander/ "It's my birthday the day," was what he sa d. and almost as soon as tho words were out of his mouth he was dead. Und.w a little cluster of trees I found a party of wounded Germans. English and French. They were quietly praying for what they believed was their last time on earth. Beyond them a Sea forth Highlander was lying with his Testament open at the story of the Crucifixion. He was beyond human aid." 37.000 GERMAN CORPSES. Tho awful effect of British naval gun firo from the sc-a in the battle for tho last strip of Belgian coast was conclusively proved after the fighting ceased. Around Dixmude, the advance of tho Belgians over ground held for some days by tho enemy enabled British officers to obtain actual proof of the German losses. It was necessary to send out four parties, numbering in all fully 40(10 men. equipped with spades, to bury the corpses left beh'nd by the Germans. The officers, in charge of 'he parties estimated the German corpses in that one district alone at 37.000. Y.C. HERO. Sergeant-Major White, of the Army Service Corps, lias been recommended for the Victoria Cross for gallantry at Le Cateau. The following is his own account of the incident for which he has been recommended for the most cov.CiVt 1 ) ti/m -bet-iowed on Blritiiah soldiers: —"We got orders at 0-1-5 at night to move a convoy in charge of a capta'n. Wo had not got far before wo ran into an ambush of Uhlans, who gave it to u s hot. We were outnumbered. and I have a distinct recollection of having a go at four with my sword, and accounting for them. But wo had to retire. When we reached a place w here we could pull ourselves together an officer asked if anyone had seen the captain. On hearing that he had been shot down. I .said that I would -ro back for bun. I went- back, and found him lying in the field whero we he.d the scrap. I picked him up. put him across my horse, and galloped back to safety with bullets whistling around. I was hit in both legs, and cr.o has still a bullet in it." Sergeant-Major White served in the i South African war. He was one of the men who carried Lieutenant Frederick Roberts. Y.C.. from the firing zone at Cclenso when the latter was mortally wounded in trying to save tho guns oi his battery from capture by the Boers. Lieutenant- Roberts was the only son <>t tho late Field Marshal Lord Roberts.