BRAVERY

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 23 June 1917, Page 2

BRAVERY

THE BOY AT THE WAR. UNOFFICIAL SOLDIERING. MASCOT WITH AUSTRALIAN UNTI. In the days of Nelson lie would as suredly have been u nimble powder monkey. In these days of elaborate naval and military organisation there was no official place in the general scheme of things for John Wallace Llewchyn Pugh, not yet 17 years old, only 4ft. 9in. in his boots, and with a chest inches smaller than the standard. But the lilliputian, with his eager ! appealing blue eyes, native Welsh audacity, and Cockney shrewdness acquired in London, found a way and he has played his part in the Great Adventure. Now he is in Australia, under the wing of Captain Coates, the secretary of the recruiting committee, a striking example to many big strong men who have yet to learn their duty to their country. The youngster spent some time in France, right in the front lines, and took part in more than one engagement, though he was never actually "on the strength." Chances are he was with the battalion as a mascot. He is so small that the colonel, who seems to have taken an interest in him, could almost have put him in the pocket of his greatcoat. "I WORKED MY HEAD." Perhaps it was as well not to inquire too closely into Pugh's every movement. "I was working," he said 11 "on the wharves at Durban, when I was unofficially taken on the strength of the Australian army. I heard a bugler was ill and that another was wanted. So I went along. I was on Salisbury Plain for two months as a trumpeter.'' "How did you get to France " "I worked my head," naively replied the boy. "What w & s your first engagement?" I "At Flembaix, between July 15 and J 17." "What did you do there?" "I was water-carrier, ammunition carrier, and general nuisance; took messages—anything like that.'' "Did you draw any pay?" "No, only what the Colonel used to give me out of his own pocket.'' "How long were you with, the Aus-

tralians " "Until the first big attack on Bapaume Ridge, when they took the first line but could not get the second." "Did you go right into the firing line in France?" "My word, all the way." "Do any bombing?" "Yes. I cou dlntthrow' ine - Paoo "Yes. I couldn't throw the bombs very far, but I could pull out the pins and drop 'em into the dugouts." GASSED AT BAPAUME. "Why did you leave France " "I was gassed at High Wood. I was sent back to Havre, then to England. Afterwards I got on a boat with some New Zealanders, but. I was so ill I got off at Durban. My lungs were so weak that I stayed at that place for some weeks. When I felt better I came along here. Now lam quite all right, and I want to get out again." The local military authorities have thrown some doubts on the accuracy I of Pug], 's story of bis adventures, and when he came to Austalia earlier in the ye-ir lie was sent to Darlinghurst for three months ponding inquiries. Steps are, however, to be taken to set doubts at rest, for the lad has discovered in Sydney a commissioned officer, who saw him on the Somme in 191 G, and remembers him quite well. It was interesting to hear this officer crossquestioning him about localities he had been in and big men he had met. The boy's ready answers left little or no doubt that he gave them from actual experience. No knew Colonel McNab, of the ,as a little man with ginger hair. His description of the headquarters of the Battalion was nearly perfect—"a big building that looked like an hotel, with the back part broken away; the pigeon house close by near it, an estaminet where we got ham and eggs, and not far off a church with the roof blown off." He readily remembered Tin barn and Bbutellerie avenues in the neighbourhood. —Sydney Sun.