THE GALLANT LINCOLNS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 242, 22 March 1915, Page 3

THE GALLANT LINCOLNS.

"NO GERMAN EVER GOT PAST THEM." A.GOOD RECORD. One of the things, that have impressed themselves on my mind most permanently (an officer of the Lincolnshire- Regiment says in a. letter published in the Daily Mail) was the sound of the first ''Jack Johnson'' ripping through the air. It came fairly early, too, as the regiment was marching to tile front line trenches at the time. Wo were still some two miley or so from the firing line when, without much warning, we heard above our heads a no'se something like running water as it rlpplc.s over stones. Then eighty .yards to our right "Crump!" and a fine ready-made duck pond was, produced. We march through what must have been a. charming village but the wreck, devastation, and ruin of that vilhtge

would make any head ache. All the little household goods were still hanging on the walls exposed to the air. The whole of one side of a bouse I noticed practically blown out, the roof oil', and the washing still hanging 011 the line as it was put out to dry in the kitchen, but hastily left when the Gorman shells commenced to fall. The first advance in- pitch darkness to the firing line is jumpy work. One feels so absolutely at <ea in a country one has never seen by daylight, with' shots flying about all over the place, and not knowing in the least when they are aiming; but one gets settled down after a time, and business commences as usual. My regiment have had their share of hard-work and have done magnificent service, and I am proud to be able to flay it. They have saved th*- situation time after time. They have suffered, a.s any regiment is bound to who have been 'through what they had to face. They captured a whole battery of German guns, and killed every man in it. They have been fiicet* by fearful odds, and stood like rocks.

The greater part of the crddit for this is due to the commanding officer. If ever a man ought to have a Victoria Cross, with two or three bars on it, he ought. He, is always in the thick of the fighting and alw«ys ready to help those in difficulty. Wounded three times —fortunately only slightly-—he is liere still, full of life, and spirit, ever cheerful, and continually in the tiring line trenches encouraging officers and men. A regiment cannot help but- do well with such a We all know, of course, that his services will be recognised, but no honor is too great for him; and there is not one of the round dozen men ill the regiment who have already earned the Distinguished Conduct Medal who would not pin it on their colonel to-morrow.

One night the regiment was ordered out in a hurry where help was required. A certain general >vav riding by, and in the dark said, "What regiment is this." Someone answered, "The Lincolns, sir." "Oh, we are all right, then," replied the General.

The other day an officer belonging to a Scottish regiment asked what regiments Mere in the brigade or division that were supposed to have lost some trenches. The other mentioned the so-and-so's, etc., and the Lincoln?. "Then I don't believe it," said • the Scotsman, "for no Oman ever got through tile Lincolns." I feel it is an to serve with such men, and under .such a colonel. The war seems, I am afraid, to many at home to be nt a standstill, but it is not so really. The state of the country, the water and mud, render it impossible for either side in many places to do any brilliant work or make any real attacks. But we never leave the enemy alone. We are weakening the defence all the time, harassing the enemy with both artillery and infantry. Trench warfare such as this is not pleasant. Apart from the mud and water one sits in there is the unpleasantness of being shelled with huge explosives that blow half the trench into tlie air, bury tin' men, and cause many other inconveniences. We are fighting an enemy who will .stop at nothing to gain his end. It is no good our talking about this and that cppalling act of theirs or saying that they are acting one tiling or another to the law of nations. What do they care? What does it matter tiithem? If they lose, they cannot well lo; e more than all. If they win, they are all powerful, and who is going to punish them for any breach which has been committed.