A NIGHT BURIAL.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 280, 25 August 1915, Page 7

A NIGHT BURIAL.

DESCRIPTION BY CHAPLAINMAJOR LUXFORD.

SERVICES UNDER FIRE

The following vivid and sympathetic description of a night buriel, written by Chaplain-Major Luxford to the Rev. 8. J. Serpeld, of Masterton, ap--50 is in the Methodist Times:— "Dear Serpell,—We have been close to the firing lines. Australian chaplains were here, too. I want to .describe an evening duty—burial of the slain. Shall I omit some of the details, or give you a full description, taking an ordinary evening's work as an ißustrtion? The latter couse is preferable. It was a Monday evening. Fighting had not been as hot as usual. During the evening the chaplains detailed for duty ascertained the number of slain comrades in the mortuary. If a man be wounded, after first-aid dressing, he is sent to a receiving hospital: if slain, his body is taken out of the trenches or from the field, and reverently placed in a bomb-proof shelter, which is a smalil plot surrounded by sandbags and covered with canvas. We '.all! it the mortuary. There are times ! when 20 and even 40 bodies have been ! ;here. This evening there were fivetwo were New Zealanders and the oth- '

rs our Australian comrades. A burial party of 14, under a non-commissioned officer, reported to the chaplain at 10 p.m. It is impossible, if we regard life, to bury our dead in the light. Why? Because all sheltered ground is required for bivouacing, so only exposed sites [can be set apart for cemeteries. To

bury up here in the day time would be wicked exposure to snipers. The burial party, having reported, the chaplains led the way through saps, or extended trenches, and then struck out at a l double for the mortuary. •Although I | dark, the snipers kept up fire, and j I spent bullets fell, hence every precau- j tion was necessary. In the mortuary, with the aid of an electric lamp or a /natch carefully covered, so as not to draw fire, we ascertained from identity discs the regiment or unit of our fallen comrades, making a note of the; names and regimental number. On this

particular evening, as I have said, I three were Australians (one a Methodist from Western Australia), two were J bodies of brave young fellbws who had I been found and removed for Christian I burial. Of the New Zealanders, one I was a brave engineer, strong in muscle and limb, and every inch an athlete- | the other was v. fine young fellow from .Canterbury, who had been orderly to I Lieutenant Lawry (son of the Rev S J Lawry). By the way, Lieutenant Lawjry himself i s among the slightly , wounded, and is in hospital. Our burI ial party had been supplied with disinj fectants, and although the work in hand was not congenial, one present jsaid: "Well, boy,, we are on the bat.tlefield, and we can't pick our workI for the sake of comradeship an d the

relatives, let us fall to duty." "Eight," exclaimed the others, and the bodies were lifted into transport carts about 11 p. m . We went down a gully for a mile or more till we reached the littlfa cemetery, where there are I some graves containing as many as 30 bodies. It is laid out for the Austral ian Horse Brigade, for other Australian infantry brigades, and for New ' | Zealanders, with a plot beyond for I

I b ° d ; es of the e ™my. The party set to work a the three different sections. and. after grappa with roots and fibres, the graves were ready. The cnaplaxns then removed the identity a ; scs, winch next day they returned to

we oincer of the regiment to which the comrades belonged. We remarked how composed and determined were the expressions of our fallen brother, ! No sign of painj but a anile that W heroic, which seemed to say, "We have done all we could, we are conscious of being faithful even unto detath " We "| 0" hearts rep Med, "You havc ,'. ihe bodies were placed in the graves ■ Cm,) all kneeling as much under she]'i *er as possible, we recited the WrvJ . o Pt each grave, and offered a praver for rabtivea fur away, who «& g J

through the dull, cold agony of bereavement. We all prayed, we all sympathised. Then we marked the graves with stones or wooden crosses, leaving an understood sign for the site of the next grave, which, alias, will scon be needed. The machine-guns were firing, Japanese shells above us falling in the enemy's trenches. We marched back through trendies, saps, and tracks. I reached my dugout at 2

a.m.; found the regiment was soon to be "standing to arms/' but I lay down, throwing my blanket over me and slept for two hours, thanking Go' 1 T was privileged to do some service for my brave comrades and their loved relations.— With kind regards, yours truljr, JOHN A. IXXFOKD.