TRAGEDY OF A SHELL FUSE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 117, 18 May 1916, Page 3

TRAGEDY OF A SHELL FUSE.

FOUR CHILDREN KILLED. | The dangers attending the practice by soldiers of bringing back from the I front bombs and shell fuses has again been illustrated by the fatal accident at Moss, into which an inquiry was opened by the coroner for East Den- ; bighshire, at Wrexham. The victims of tli e explosion were Ethel Roberts, aged 5 months; May Roberts, 5 years; Sarah Bagnall, 2 years; Violet Williams, 7 years, and the injured persons surviving are Private Bagnall, the soldier who brought home the bomb, who lias lost a leg; Mrs Bagnall, who has lost one foot and half j of the other; and Mrs. Roberts who has lost both legs. The coroner explained that Private Bagnall, a territorial, who had returned from the front, was exhibiting what was described as a shell fuse, when it accidentally fell on the floor, and exploded with most disastrous results. The coroner remarked that it seemed [ to him extraordinary that men return- i ing from the front should be allowed to bring back such dangerous articles j as the one which Bagnall had in his i possession. " ' BRITISH FORCE IN RUSSIA. ARMOURED CAR SQUADRONS. { That British armoured-car squad- j rons have been at work in Russia since December last is shown by the . arrival in Liverpool of a copy of the \ Archangel Herald, described on the j title page as "the official organ of ) the R.N.A.S. Russian Expedition." The ' issue contains the following message from the King to Commander LockerLampson:

"Tell the men under your command how glad I am that they have been placed at the disposal of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia. I know they will uphold that high reputation which they have already earned in the western theatre of war." The Archangel Herald stated: "Last Sunday morning the armouredcar squadrons established a record ; singing 'God Save the King' further north than any Brtiish field force on active service has ever dene before. The scene was most impressive. There in the half-light, gazing straight before us over the lonely water to the dim-lit eastern sky, where the sun seemed to be struggling to rise, although it never does at this time of the year, we sang lustily in melodious tones with all our hearts behind the words."