STORIES OF THE VICTORIA CROSS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 175, 28 August 1909, Page 3

STORIES OF THE VICTORIA CROSS.

THE PLUCK OF SERGT. PATRICK MULLANE. ' Twenty-nine year* ago occurred one of the woac tragic episodes in iuc hisu«ry of the UrumU Army. The -a..guana ( iiua commenced what they iei...cu a • tAoly Hal,' and*iU,UUU of tuera niaicueu uu iuindaaar, ihea in possession ol th*. General burrows, wno was |kiquu in a atrongly fortilied camp aboui Uiiica iruiu Kandahar, dmuod u tij to stop their progress; but tue odds we too great, iie nad only one brigade with uim—just over 1000 strong—u'uich was overwhelmed. A Iriginiu. massacre ensued, aud nearly the whole ol tue British lorce was annihilated. A few survivors of this terrible disaster tied towards Kandahar, amongst them being a number of the Royai Horse Artillery, nut lor whose bravery not a single man,of Burrows' army would have escaped. Many were the gallant deed {■erformed by these few survivors, be* amongst them all stand out the de«t. of .Sergeant Patrick Mullane. Seem, one of the drivers fall from a horse a. tached to the gun which held the Aig&ans in cheek, he rushed back a..,, ap.ripgiag from his horse, placed i..e wounded driver on the limber, to wii.... he &ecured him. Tueu, mounting iu. horse of the team, aud with u« # \\. Afghans upon linn, ne steadily drove By his daring and pluck he nut on, saved the driver's life, but thoae of under his command. Ivor was this the only brave feat which Sergeant Mullane performed during that terrible retreat to Kandahar. Many of the wounded died for the of a little water to moisten their parched throats, while strong men fell down exhausted. The inhabitants ot the villages through which they passed came out in force and cut off any stragglers tempted to leave the ranks to quench their thirst. Nevertheless, Sergeant Mullane daringly entered one of tne villages, the inhabitants of which were bitterly hostile, and managed to secure a plentiful supply. For these acts he was awarded the Victoria Cross, j Gunner James Colliss, .also of the Royal Horse Artillery, and belonging to Sergeant Mullane's party, wad awarded the VXJ. for his pluck on that tragic I day. He was as full of humor as if on I the barrack-field at Woolwich, cheering, the wounded, procuring them water j when practicable, and binding their wounds. There was still something greater to be done. A defile was reached | in the wretched road and all became blocked. The Afghans were upon thcni.j The gun with the wounded was in the; refer. The enemy closed and opened fin*, point-blank, on the maimed men. Colliss, in order to draw the lire off the wounded, dashed obliquely towards thel Afghans, carbine in feand. They imme-1 diately directed their fire upon him, and he replied, Not a bullet touched, though hundreds were fired at him. The gun moved on -and the wounded were saved.—Tit-Bits.