CAPTAIN "P.W."

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 203, 25 August 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

CAPTAIN "P.W."

HOW THE AVAR HAS CAUSED IHK PRINCE OF WALES TO GROW LP. When the Prince of Wales got short leave to go to Buckingham Palace to say "Good-bye"' to his parents and brothers and sister before going to the Front, Prince John asked him : " What are you going to do when you get there, David!-'' —David being the name by which he is called at home. " David" rubbed his chin and smiled. "I think I'll grow a beard for one thing,'' he answered. Figuratively speaking, tho Prince of Wales has "grown a beard" since th«» war began—that is to say. he has ceased to be a boy and has become a man. The change is very apparent to all who come in contact with him. Always inclined to seriousness lie has taken his share in the war very seriously indeed. His staff work has included carrying dispatches, acting as interpreter, superintending the making of' trenches, and duty as assistant transport officer, and he has been in imminent danger of death scores of times. A FAVOURITE WITH EVERYONE. He has become tremendously popular with all ranks because he has done his job without any suggestion that he was being favoured on account of his rank That he has taken his chances like everyone else is proved by the fact that it is almost seventeen months since he went out as second lieutenant, and he has only just been given his captaincy. Promotion has come the way of a great many other second lieutenants much more rapidly than that. As captain, the Prince of Wales, oi "P.W.," as they called h : m on theWestern front, goes to Egypt, and Egypt with the summer coming on is not exactly the spot people hankering after "cushy jobs'—as the Army expresses it —pine for! But, then, as a certain Tommy writing home put it: "The Prince of Wales is not very big, but he has got a bigger heart than a lot I know at home." One of the best pen pictures of the Prince comes from a distinguished French author, who had 'opportunities of seeing him at the front. Hero it is:— HE'LL STAND NO NONSENSE. "A party of British are just finishing lunch; they do not break off their subdued conversation at the appearance of a soldier who, pipe in mouth, advances and listens to them; he has no ribbon, no officer's stripes, no badge, no ins'jjnia. •' He is not tall, very slender, even .« little frail but for his firm carriage, the peak of his cap low over his fore head, crook - handled walking - stick hanging on his arm, wrists protectel by warm woollen mittens a young man, blue-eyed, fresh-cheeked, clearcom;>lexioiied." Ther is nothing aggressive about the personality of "P.W.", but he has a quiet way of standing no nonsense. One day at the front he was on dutj watching transport wagons being filled. Packages were being thrown up to tho man in the wagon whose duty it was to count them out loudly, pausng as each fresh twenty-live packages were reached. The man in the wagon. " tried it on" with the Prince; to save him self trouble he started calling out "twenty-five!" when he should havo been saying "twenty." But it did not work. "Twenty-five already?' said tho Prince blandly. "1 make it twenty. One of us is wrong. Just unload the whole wagon and beg : n from th.e beginning again."