PLAIN TALE OF WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 133, 29 October 1914, Page 6

PLAIN TALE OF WAR.

REALISM IS SOLDIER'S DIARY. TRAGEDY OF "POOR OLD DICK." Paris, September 1.3. This is a faithful copy of the diarywritten laboriously in the washingbook of Driver , of the 4th Ammunition Column, 3rd Section, E.F.A. The fighting, and he was in the thick of heaps of it, does not seem to have moved him half as much as the disturbing fact that soon after he got on lYeneh soil tho horses of which ho had charge took a bad epidemic of colic, that he had to live most of the time~ on rabbits and apples, and that he had nothing, or nest to nothing, to smoke. Well, we started off from Hendon on Saturday, August 21, to entrain at Park Royal, and we got to Southampton about two o'clock next morning, Got horses on board all right, though the friskiest of them kicked a lot. . . Got to Havre safe. Good passage and quick. My little lot camped in a villago outside the town. Food good—rabbit and potatoes »nd plenty of beer, not our English sort, but the color of cyder. Us four enjoyed ourselves with the family, had a good time, and left 10 o'clock next day well filled up.

■'PEOPLE AWFUL KIND." Our objective was Compeigne. We got through ail right, watering our horses on tin; way from pumps ami taps at private houses. The people were awful kind, giving us quantities of pears, and filling our water bottles with beer. That was a.l right. Our welcome was splendid everywhere.

At Compeigne we got into touch with the-Germans. Very hot work. All our guns in action all round, and the pcoplo of the villages Hocking in a panic toward. 'Paris. It made us feel downhearted what we saw here.

We marched from Compeigne about 11 o'clock on the 31st, which was Sunday. Our way was 'through a prettr little village, where the people tore down the heavy-laden branches of the damson trees and sent us oir munching the fruit and very cheerful. The way was hard. Terrible steep hills which knocked out our older and weaker horses. Collick (eolic) broke out among them too, and that was bad. We lost a good many. A SURPRISE NEAR PARIS. We grot within six hours of Paris when the Germans surprised 'us and drove us bade. We skooted quick and dodged them in the dark until one o'clock in the morning, we lay down on tho roadside, men and horses together, fagged out. Slept until 5 a.m., and then'marched on again, still retreating. Hot as . Nothing to eat or drink. Plenty of lea but nothing to boil it with, At last we i got some dry biscuits and some tins of marmalade. Bill ~ whose teeth were bad, went near mad with toothache after the jam. But toothache is better than starvation, anyway. ... We marched through Bal'cntir and Pierreponds. Food on fchu way—applea and water. Now we make o'ur war through the woods towards the ferry. No dead horses, thank God, to-day. 'f hope wo have checked that collide, but my horse fell into a ditch through the wood and could not get out for over an hour. I couldn't go for help fcecftuse the Germans had got the range of the place and their shells were rippimoverhead like blazes. °

Poor old Dick (thohorse), he was that fagged out by the long march. At last I got him out and went on, and by luck managed to pick up my pals. The woods were 23 miles long. We thought we should never get out—they seemed everlasting. It was night and moonshine when we at last got to Satinoss Satucrn. (?) We are all stoney broke, havcing had no money yet since we left Southampton., which seems years aad years. THE GUNNERS' WAR HYMN. At 4 a.m. next morning we got t» Eeary and right into the middle of it, with our tired horses and us tireder

] The Germans were lambing into us with their artillery, and poor old Dick gat Mowed up. I thank Cod I wasn't on him just then. ... ■Half the horses of L Battery Koyal i Artillery got smashed, and we had to I hung in our poor old tired ones to Ml up. Only a few gunners were left, but they stood by firing on still and singing, j "Onward Christian Soldgiers." Then I the Germans charged, and our gunners did a bunk, but not before they had tdrove spikes into the guns so as to make I them useless to the enemy. They said ■ they guessed they would get them back i in a day or two, and if they did they 1 could repair them easily enough. 'The Germans don't know these tricks, and we 1 . can do them down any time. ■,' September 1. —The bajttlo still going on ■ : very fierce. . . (Xo more is said about ■ tho fight, for "colliek" among the hones had again broken out, and our gallant ' driver is much more troubled about that ■ »nd the job he has in stopping it, than L i the actual fighting). ) 1 I SPOILS OF WAR. ! . September 2. —More fig'.iting, and wor- [ ser than ever. I don't believe we shall i i ever get to Paris. . . . Now we come to Montagny, and lighting all the time, i Kabbits and apple* to eat, gallore, but [ still no money, and no good if we had because we earnt spend it. We've got ' nothing to smoke, so we are not ix'.f . happy. I don't think! We have also t captured a lot of German horses, mostly 1 officers' chargers, which have galloped . into our lines. 4 suppose tiie officers arc - corpses. I stopped one and found a i yellow packet of French cigars in one of the saddle bags. It wasn't half all right, I tell you. September 3. —We progressed this Jay four miles in twelve hours. Took the , wrong road, and had to crawl about the ; woods on our slummocks like snakes to F dodge the German snipers. We had one ride between four of us, and took it in [ ■ turns to have goes. We shot,one b.igliter j ; and took another prisoner. They were I both half starved and covered wjth soars. I Then the rille jammed and we had no- J ;'! thing to defend ourselves with. j At last we found the 1114111 body again. 1 I They wanted more horses, and we were i I just bringing them up and putting th.'in , ' to the guns when a German areyplane i , came over and us and due round pretty | ! low. The troops tried to fetch him 1 ■ (down, and some bullets went through | ■ j the wings, but he got too high. We were ',l still letting go at him from the low 1 trees where we were lying when we J suddenly found out his game. He got ■ up higher and dropped a bomb in the' ' middle of us, but it exploded very weak, and nobody was hurt. BORROWED CHICKENS. Next day' we started on a night' march, a } nd got to Lagny Thorigny, and camped outside the town, where the I people fed us on rabbits again. I said j I was sick of rabbits, and me and Bill j j walked across to a farmhouse and bor- i rowedx three, chickens, which we cooked. It was fine. There we heard good news, and found that the guns of the L Bat-1 tery had been taken back from the Germans by the Thirty-second Brigale K.I'.A. Outside Lagny there was more, fierce fighting—2o miles of it—and the Germans were shot down like birds. We got in another hot corner, but managed j , to get out just in time, after mending 1 1 tho Ij Battery guns, which had been ' 1 . spiked by our chaps two minutes lie- ; . fore the Germans collared them. Wo : had just left our camp and some waggons there, when the German shells fell , into it and blew, it all to bits. '

LUCK AT LAST. September 3 (continued).—Firing is still going on, but it is not so fierce, though scouts have come in and told us there are 10,000 Germans round us this day. To-night I got two ounces of navy cut. It was prime.

September 4.—We marched from camp at 5.30 p.m., and kept on marching until three in the morning September B.—We were marching on further away from 'Paris. We shall never get there, I guess. September 11. —Marching to Crecy. Passing hundreds of bodies lying about like rotten sheep. We are behind the main army now, but can hear the gum going.

September 12.—1n the village of Crecy. Plcntv of food and bouses to sleep into. Here we have got to stay until further orders. Coliick still very bad.