EXPLOITS OF CAPTAIN XSTRIPPED BY 8 INCH SHELL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 243, 19 January 1917, Page 1 (Supplement)

EXPLOITS OF CAPTAIN X—STRIPPED BY 8 INCH SHELL.

By H. WARNER ALLEN

With the French Amy.

It was after a long walk through tho uniform chaos of the Somme that I came upon, underground, the headqitirtors of a certain General. A captain, whom I had known in Paris, had been, and indeed still was attached to his staff, though he was away recovering from the effects of his fifth wound. Tho golden story of his pluck and adventure may, perhaps be put forward a« some slight compensation for the cruel moral and material devastation of this war. I knew fiagments of this story already from his own lips, and his firends in the dug-out fitted them together for me into a continuous tale, of which I give here the merest outline. An Alsatian, with a fair moustache, clear blue eyes, and something of the Ean ache of a Dumas musketeer about is manner, he was of average height an d'a renowned Army gymnast, .before tli© war he had earned a life-sav-ing medal in a fire, and since the war his adventures have been worthy of Benvenuto Cellini. Hi<j first wound was in the battle of the Marne. He went on an ambulance and was duly bandaged. But the noise of battle came steadily nearer, and Captain X. had no intention of staying in bed if fighting was going on anyiwhere in tha neighbourhood. So he quietly got up and escaped from the ambulance. By a curious chance he succeeded in finding his regiment, and with it took part in the last act of the battle on the extreme left with the army of Paris. He was returned by the ambulanco a', a deserter on account of his disappearance. Between tli© Marne and tho Somme lie wias wounded 011 three separate occasions. Once, when tilings were going badly, and all the other officers it his battalion were killed or wounded, he received the order to do something to restore confidence to his men. He v.a3 anything but clear as to the situation, but he decided that the oest thing to do was to get as near the enemy as possible. So he got out of his' trench and crawled up the slope of tho hill to see where the Germans were. A hasty glance showed him a trench 2tMJ yards or so down the further slope; further investigation was cut short by the vicious protest of a machine-gun. As soon as night fell the captain led hi; men over the crest of the hill and ordered them to dig themselves n about 50 yards from the Boche trench. This was accomplished without alarming the enemy, and they lay there all night, whilo the German gyns kept up a terriffic fire on the slopes~they had just left. As soon as day broke they captured the enemy's trench and 'nstalled themselves thdre. They held on there for 48 hours, without the slightest idea as to what was going to happen. Tho enemy could not play upon them with his guns as they were too close to his own lines, but they v.ero entirely cut off from communication with the rear bv a perpetual barrage fire, and thirst began to be a deadly foe. Tho captain proceeded:—

T saw mv men actually throw away

tho wino they had in their bottles because its after-effect was to increase their intollerable thirst. All thev asked for was water, and that

was the one thing tlut it was impossible to have. Retreat wa« impossible on account of the barrage behind us, and we had 110 idea as to whether there would be any advance in our direction But my luck held, and the advance came. The trench wo had taken proved of real value in tho attack, and my men were relieved. It was. a funny sight to see them taking clown huge drafts -ji water, a liquid for which they generally showed 110 particular preference, as though it was a wine of the rarest vintage, when onco they got back to a place where it was no longer a rarity. TIiEKT).

My friend received his last wound oil the Somme. He had gone out to a German observation post to try and locate the position of some batteries • t F-inoh guns which wore causing a great deal of annoyance. This post had just been raptured, and the only way it reaching it was to crawl from shellhole to shell-hole. It consisted of a sma'll tree sufficiently high to give a fair view over the Hat plains on the south of the Somme. '1 he Germans had fitted up round it n kind of scatfolding, which made it possible tor them to have a view of the French lines without being exposed. When, however, it u'.mo to getting r. sight of the German lines in the opposite direction it was a very different matter. The captain found when ho crawled to the tree, and (limbed up tho scaffolding, that ho was in full view of the enemy. His appearance was greeted by si salvo of shells, which burst much nearer than was comfortable. A splinter or two hit the scaffolding. Said the captain:— To be killed by a «h'dl is. as your

English sailors say, in the commission, but I was determined not to break my neck by a stupid fall out ofa tree. TJie platform on winch 1 •was standing was getting very shaky, .so I tied myself to the trunk of the tree with my belt. I reckoned it would take a direct hit to bring it down. I had no> difficulty in "spotting" the batteries that were firing on us, and, having accomplished my mission, began to clim'j down. At that moment an 8-inch shell exploded immediately beneath me. 1 was in the very centre of the cx-

plosion, and, consequently, was untouched by any splinter. The displacement of air knocked me clean out, and, as 1 discovered when [ came to myself, stripped off me my breeches, vest, and tunic, leaving me as bare as a worm. There were 800 francs in my tunic, and never a trace of them could I find. They had vanished into thin air. Pulling myself together, I took a great-coat off the body of a dead Frenchman lying near, and with only this to clothe me went hack to the poste de commandement. Just before I got there a large splinter of shell hit me on the head; my helmet took most of the shock, but some small fragments entered my brain. I was picked up lying, unsconcious in the trench, and no one could understand what was the meaning of a naked man lying there •with nothing but a private's greatcoat to coven - him. However, someone who knew me identified me, and I was able to give an account of my mission. As a matter of fact the captain remained at his post, refusing to be relieved for three davs.