RAPID PROMOTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 217, 20 February 1915, Page 3

RAPID PROMOTION.

TWO MONTHS' FTHHTiNH. EXPERIEXCKS OF A CLERGYMAN. After seeing much active service and receiving a wound, the Rev. Cuthbert T. Maclean, sou of tlie late Archdeacon Maclean, of (ireymouth and Wnnganni recently returned to England from tin front. 'Mr Maclean, who formerly hud a charge at Devonport, and held a com mission in the New Zealand forces, had prior to the war, been engaged in woriin a large South London parish. Pie vo! linteercd for active service on the declaration of war, and received an a]) pcinlment as lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers. He was in the thick of the fighting round Lille, took a prominent part in the capture of Ln Fosse and Virile, Cliapelle, and was in constant action in the trenches at Ypres, where he was wounded, necessitating attention in a hospital. In letters to friends i„ Sydney, Mr Maclean writes interestingly of his ex-, periences. The first, dated "November 1 \ reads:—"lt is wonderful that I received your letter while actually under fire in the trenches not more than 200 yards from tlie Herman lines. We have been , in these, trenches for nearly a fortnight,' during which time I have not been able to cither wash or shave. You cannot imagine wdiat we look like. We are being shelled day and night, and T am beginning to feel very tired. The irra tlier has been very wet. and the trenches contain fiin of water. The Hermans are, making tremendous, though unsucces■■■.-' fill efforts to break through our lines. The strain is now being felt by all. I am very well, and still whol'e. although I have had some very close shaves. We are not allowed to send anv news, and sitting in a trench in the rain with shells bursting all round one is not a comfortable place in which to write letters." The second letter, written four day.-, later, and sent to a ladv, reads:—'-Thank you so much for sending the socks, etc.' I did appreciate them. Ten days ago. after a short rest, we returned to the firing line, where the Hermans are making their most determined effort to break through to the coast. Our trcnehc were in places only fifty yards away from the Herman trenches, and the Hermans made desperate efforts to drive us out. We got no sleep day or night. To make matters worse, it rained the whole time, and our trenches were inches deep in water, and \v«re wet through the whole time. The last day before we were to be relieved, while I was standing out of the trenches giving direct iuns to an orderly, a shell burst just over mo.- blowing me into a, hole several yards away, and a piece of shellJ caught me in the back. The orderly was seriously hurt. Yesterday morning we returned to the house some 400 yards behind the firing line, where we made a fire, and T found your dry socks awaiting me. I was feeling very tired and sick. I did appreciate having dry feet again. T did not ask you to send any tilings before, as I think tliej private soldiers should have first claim,] their condition being worse than ours., It is impossible to wash our things. I have not been able to get enouah water to wash my hands for a fortnight as all we can collect is u*ot\ for drinking purposes for both men and horses ' T have just heard that owing to another Herman attack, we have to return to the trenches again to-night. I must go back too, as we have no other officer left to take command. Two months ago 1 ; was commanding a half company. Yesterday I was commanding a whole battalion. Such is war. I am afraid this, is all about myself and rather gloomy as lam feeling out of sorts. Tilings are going on well, and I hope to bo enjoying life in a day or two when 1 have recovered from the effects of the Herman shell." The final letter, addressed to his mother, comes from Osborne, in the Tsle of Wight. Tt runs: "I have been bundled across France in ambulances, hospitals, etc; and then in a hospital ship to England, and I am now at rest in an excellent hospital in the Tsle of Wight. Tt was quite impossible for . to write before. About a fortnight ago we-were fighting hard at Ypres, and during a clia'ge in which we drove out the Hermans from the trenches, T was shot in tlie leg and side. I am now able to hobble about o„ two sticks, but will !,•■■ quite well again in a few weks' time. Please do not feel sorrv for me, as 1 am quit,, all right and'am having the time of my life. Also T am enjoviiig the rest, as T have been lighting hard now well over two months. An officer of the ltoyal Fusiliers has a strenuous time of it. as w ( . have been i„ the thick of the fight all the time. When peace is declared, I shall, of course, return to :nv real work in London."