THE WORK OF WAR.

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

THE WORK OF WAR.

PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF AN AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. (Specially written for "Collier's Weekly" by John Robert Clarke.) > After the first exodus from Paris I 1 thought tliat all business was ended, so r 1 began to hunt a way of getting into the fun. As 1 am unfit physically for ) service in the army, I could not enlist, J so it was up 10 nie to find a way of get- - ting in without engaging. .My first I move wr.!i to apply for a position as ! (hauffeur with the French Aviator ' Corps, furnishing my own car. At the t timo I applied Captain Lucia, Comnianciant ot St. Cyr French Army Aviation Headquarters, informed nio that a for the moment he had more cars than - lie knew what to do with, but that in t three or four days 113 would need more, and would then send for me. >' I leturned to Paris, and several days II passed without any message. When 1 r had begun to think they would not need ® me at all 1 learned through a friend, an 'f aviator, that. sinc e L had made my ap--6 plication there had been three men in '' charge—tho first two having been or--0 dered to the front or transferred. ■ r This is typical of conditions during 6 the first three weeks of tho war. Nothing was definite or settled for more than a day at a time. '• Filially 1 decided that the only way 0 1 to do was to make application to field ■t headquarters direct, on the battlefield, which I managed to do. It was the law that 110 civilians should leave Paris in tho direction of tho army, and sentries were instructed to turn back all others; k passes were issued to 110 one, not even J Senators; to be caught within tlie army is zone was to risk execution as a spy; v even if tho captive could prove his inr. nocence. he risked imprisonment. How- [, ever, 1 finally formulated a plan and •_ secured papers that would get fne !S through. THE FIRST DASH. [s September 8. " About 5 this afternoon an Englishman came in and wanted to know if he could r rent a car to go out toward the firing i. line. Ho said that ho was acting as a n courier for an American mining engineer who had come over for his family, and, after taking them to London, had t more time than he knew what to do s with before returning to New York, so •- they had returned to s (>e - if possible, e some of the fighting. After looking 11 over their papers and finding that they were responsible people, I decided to e tako them with me. t September 9. 0 Left Paris 9 a.m. Went direct to 1 Melon, through which town I passed Ii two days ago and found the entire roarguard of the British force, including over 70 planes. On th? way out we were stopped by innumerable sentries, but as my papers were O.K. we tooted : right on without more than a momentary halt. For tlie first 50 kilometres I 1 had to slow down at every crossroad bea cause of trenches and barricades. We passed through Melun without stop--0 ping, and saw just enough English ■ troops to encourage us going on. On ° arriving at Montere.ni we found French •' troops, and when I questioned them they, said they were out hunting German strays who had been left behind on "" the retreat of thp Germans. Many of ? theso were able easily to keep on tho advance, but their enduraiico was spent ' wl'jen the retreat! started, and they ~ dropped out. (Later on, the hunting of strays became quite a sport for those attached to headquarters. When a 3 number of us would get time we would 1 shoulder our guns and, if a forest were 1 near, would go hunting, and tlie sport 1 was quite as exciting and dangerous as ! that of hunting lions or tigers.) Had ! lunch at Monterau and started back to l .Melun with the intention of turning north there, so as to keep at the rear v of the English forces. A few kilometres out of Montereau wc came upon a number of English stragglers having a. hot argument with a French officer. L stopped and offered by services fifi interpreter. The officer began by making a 1 i'.nv remarks about the lack of appreciation on the (part of the English. Then he asked n;e to tell the English boys to go easy and stop at all sentry posts, because in the forest through which they were passing were a large number of Germans, cut off from retreat. and as tb e English and German uniforms bore some slight resemblance to each oilier, sentries were apt to <dioot first and question aiterwards. WITH THE HELP OF THE GOOD ..MARQUIS. From M hm. north-east, we liavo passed through country that was occupied by the two armies, both in advance a,nd retreat. r l he casual observer would not see anything unusual along the road until about 12 kilometres liefore La Ferte-sous-Jouarre. Here we began to come upon camps and signs of recent lighting. At Creey, where no stopped to question the townspeople, we could kar tlie roaring of artillery. This, probably because of tbe rush of wind in the car. we had not noticed until w 0 stopped. My wind shield was broken by the butt of a Sentry's gun several nights ago on the return from Tours. People at Creey say that over 100,000 G. rmans passed through the town in two day;. They either took or broke everything could could lay their hands on - but that ended it. While we weiv talking with the people what appeared to In? a cavalryman rode up. From his uniform it would bo impossible to tell to which army he belonged. as part was French, part English, and the rest Heaven only knows what. He said he was an interpreter with the Brill-h forces, find invited us 1 to accompany him to headquarters, < where we would be permitted to explain our nearness to the scene of operations, j When I assured him this was exactly 1 what I had l>een trying to do all day ho became friendly and informed u? that lie was the Marquis do Yillneati, 1 spoke seven, languages, had been through five wars, was a blood relation 1 of the King or Queen of Greece —I 1 don't remember which —and that he was the hardest-work 1d interpreter in the army, in which fact he gloried. By the time this interesting inventory was complete we arrived at the headquarters of the third army of the British ' Expeditionary Forces, under tho com- 1 mand of General Smith-Dorrien. quar- 1 tored in a magnificent chateau in tlie v centre of the forest. Here I was in- a

vited to descend, enter, and explain. ACCEPTED. When I en id I had conio to offer my services and mv ear the atmosphere immediately grew more friendly, for they -told mo that an hour before T arrived a shell had hit a car standing in front, of the chateau and put it completely out of business. They accepted me on the spot, and T was assigned to Major Xcwbigging. Chief of Signal Service of the Briti.h forces. They oven demurred a little when T told them I would have to return to Paris to get some clothes and arrange mv affairs. I c-i'd I could l>e tack in a day. and rec\ ved a pass good through the military lines. After deciding on a place whe.ro tliev could write the name of the next headquarters. T left-. They advised me to buv a uniform, as they would otherwise have to give me the uniform of a dead soldier. T didn't object to wearing the clothes of a dead man. hut when shown said clothes, and the dirt dnd other things that would

accompany them. I decided perhaps had better buy one. , lief ore leaving I had the ojmtnrifl of ftnding out what would- liajto bee our fate had we been ordinaryfteekei after adventure or news. S eing aevi ra.l men in civilian dress, I started 1 approach them, but was halted by 1 sentry and informed that these me «cre probably reporters cr war oorra pondents, though tlu.v denied th charge. Their explanations were, ban over, not accepted, and they were he] prisoners and wore not allowed to tal to anyone outside the. army. In

of this kind, prisoners are tried ae eoo as possible, and if able to give a fair! good explanation arc sent to the rea for further investigation. If they a* unable to prove their innoceoice, the ar e shot.