WITH FRENCH'S FIGHTERS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 80, 3 August 1915, Page 7

WITH FRENCH'S FIGHTERS

DR. DILLON CARBERY. Dr Dillon Carbery.j in an interesting letter dated June lb to iiis people iu Stratford, gives an engrossing account of the work of our troops in the West. With kind permission of Mrs F. f. Uniacke, we aro able to publisli extracts from his letter:—

18th June, 1015

Dearest People.—Since last I wrote, we have had a bit of a job of work. Our Division attacked and took some lines of German trenches, so we went to work—ami I believe did our job to the satisfaction ol all concerned. 1 had some German wounded through my hands; they all seemed very depressed, and thought.no end of our | guns and grenades.. What I saw were I Wurtemburgers, who were of various ages from 18 to ~IU. There were over a hundred unwounded prisoners near by our dressing station. I had a chat with one or two. They all said the same thing, that our guns gave them a terrible doing, but that the lighting 'over on the other side, i.e.. against the Russians, was much more severe. (Some were out three to six months, I and one of the wounded, an Ersatz Reservist, only three days in the field. I was much amused to find that he had a new pair of field grey braces of the same colour as his excellent clothing. It was quite pathetic to see our wounded with the German wounded trying to converse and exchanging I.souvenirs. One poor German lost all his buttons and shoulder straps; iu fact they very nearly stripped him, and all he had to show for it was a few Woodbine cigarettes. One German had lost his cap. and explained that it had taken itself off for a souvenir. | They all seemed grateful for the little we did for them. We could only give them some tea—we had nothing eke available—but as they had been provided with bully beef and biscuits, they fared well enough. I am quite sure that they all thought that they wore going to have their throats cut. I What is so very dreadful about the Regimental life is the loss of the offiIcers who sit by you at table, and for whom one feels quite a brotherly feeling after a very short time. They are So heroic. The Infantry officers are so gallant and true that it knocks you a bit when they go out. At the very (time when our late O.C. was dying |in a trench, the second in command and T were busy trying to make a savoury*for his dinner when he returned. Poor, fellow, he never lived Ito eat his share. It was only "mock crab," but it tasted ljke Wormwood Scrubs as we made a foeblc attempt to gulp some'of it down that night. It was our last day in that spell in the

(trenches, and he had no right to be where he was, but he would see everything for himself. He was in our worst trench soventy yards from the -enemy and using his periscope. He was tall, and one of those infernal steel bullets aimed at the sand bags and designed to pierce them, tore I ihalf of his skull away—he only lived a few moments. He was a tall slim iman with beautiful brown eyes, fine 'soft hair, and an aquiline nose, a sweet smile and the far-away look of a dreamer; his face would have been effeminate, had it not bolfui for the nose, as he grew P 0 hair; lis manners gentle kindly and very liveable. His loss was badly felt b>' everyone. The second in command is a small fair pale-faced man with a monicle, but a veritable Saint. He reminds me of Bortran du Quexlin or tho sans pour ot sans reproche type. I was sorry to leave him. He was in New Zealand at the time of the visit of the Imperial troops. Wounded at the Aisne, jho was treated in Paris, and returned to his regiment many months ago, ! and is the very last of the officers who came out with the battalion. The rest are all dead or home, wounded or sick. It is a privilege to live with men like these—cheerful always, faithful unto death, they face the petty duties of the day with the same devoted purposefulness a.s they cany out, their more exacting obligations in the face of the enemy. Our wounded wore greatly bucked, and tho whole Division quite pleased with itself. There was a great slaughtering of Bodies according to all accounts, and tho net result an improvement of the Ypres line. We shall probably go into reservo again for a while, as our Division will hardly be required to make another attack for a while at least. I speak without the book, as wo really know nothing about movements. As a matter of fact, a German officer who was amongst the ■prisoners told me that they knew about the attack three days before it camo off, and that they had a regi- j ment in reservo which could not come | up on account of the fire curtain pro- j duced by our artillery. This may | have been all bluff; anyhow, their j •spy system is pretty good—wo have many evidences of that. A Regiment went into the trenches on our right one night—they had been away from that part of the line for some time—and no sooner had they got comfort- '

ably nettled in than the Bodiessang out "Hello! Blankshires, back again.. how did you like your trip to Wipers? How's the Colonel?" Tun weather is lino but a trifle colder. Jn fact a great coa t an advantage. Two days ago I was standing at an improvised dressing table in the open dressing wounded, to-day is distinctlychilly. We have tents, however, to sleep in, which is an advantage while the cold snap lasts.

We are in the usual farm under tall trees, with a waving corn field on one side, a paddock with cows on, the other; a huge barn is available for the sick .Hid lame, the., 'est aie in tents, . • • where 1 lost much

'weight, but I still have asuperb figure ,and indeed feel very fit. Some of the officers of No. 9 are out of sorts, so that 1 have hopes or getting back to them s<#i. 1 was' with the Regiment during the attack. We had no idea until the day before that there was anything on'. One frf the charms of this life, if any, is the fact that you never know where you will be nor what you will be doing twenty-lour hours later. As a rule, there is a change of scene but not, much change in the things one does.

We had an excellent dinner tonight, soup, fish, joint, sweet, to wit, oxo—tinned salmon—cold ham and tinned peaches—tea—bread and butiter ad lib. 29-5-15.

Dearest People.—After n spell <>l cold misty weather, wo arc joying beautiful summer days. Lwas a bit seedy when last 1 wrote, : 'but thank goodness am quite mysell again. There was another gas attack recently out on our left. The smell woke us vij> however, and some of the men got on their respirators, ■hu.t-, of course it was nothing to worry about. If the respirators are properly adjusted and certain precautious are observed, there is little to fear, it is a great worry, however, seeing to the masks. Solutions and sprayers Quelle canaille que cos Allemands! During the recent attack they used stink bombs containing formalin, smarts the eyes and is nasty..tout harmless. The gas is very dangerous if breathed at close quarters, hut we have now excellent means to combat the danger. 'Hie whole affair is becoming more disgusting as time goes on, and all to no purpose as far as one can see. The streams on our front now show large quantities of arsenic. A few Are suffering from the effects. Our people have'water brought up to the trenches every night, but water may he a difficulty if we advance. All are <rM Daly has come in. it may help to settle the Dardanelles dilemma, once ths't Sob is over, things will move in the Balkans. The war will last (some time yet, how long no one can snv, but T think well into next year.

T am still in the same place, and expect to he, when I say place, I mean places, because we move every now and then, but never far in and out of reserve. The main line has,.pot shifted in our sector for,,over six,■months.

A thousand* sandbags, going.up to X 43 trench, anil more gas solution wanted in Y 24. Water flowing into 227 shows a grain of arsenic to the pint. Five stretchers wanted in 229. More choride of lime for dead men (Turks let us hope) in front of X43j etc., etc Will the MO. collect a sm--pie of water in XYZ 105. Divisional Order!

This' is the detail that does not appear in the daily digest of great advances and piercing of lines!