WAR NOTE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVIII, Issue 288, 14 May 1915, Page 3

WAR NOTE.

FRENCHMAN'S Hfili i , I'ICE. M. Rene ]Ja;:iii, ;' .• i i . ,t u French author, tells the . t iary in "L'Echo de I'aris": — A soldier was lying i:. , tiering from a wound which necessitated amputation, but he was so weak that the surgeon hesitated to operate. "if he could only get a littie ill iiul.,'' the surgeon said. "Oh. if that is all that is necessary,'' replied a wounded comrade, a Breton, who occupied another bed in the hospital "then I am ready.'' The (raiisfuxitm was made. The hospital stall' were touched by the mail's devotion. They knew he was \ery poor, and going about quietly they rawed a subscription of 500 francs, which (hey looked forward wii'i delight to offering him. Hut when tliev e.une to his bed one d ly to thank him fr.r the service he had rendered and to give him the money, lie replid: "No! 1 give my blosd, 1 do mil soil it."

TiUHUTK TO THE BRITItfI. j The Novoe Vro»,v» in a Uutiht; in- ; tick- gives an cpprfciutive atvutmti/f the I formation ai:<L organisation of t!i<"; British Army. After gi '.hi;: a re ■nunc of liic exceptional conditions obtaining in, England, it slat es, re\rewing ail ilie (Mil- : ditiuns collectively, that it can only! wonder at the exactitude wherewith the! British for War fuliilhd lsl.s ] promise to begin to land in IVanee ] fresh forces six mouths after tile war! had begun. Germany regard 'il thai British mercenaries with open ciutempt, and also thought that English:,,e:i eon»idvr«l war a sport. Events line jive:: the lie to these views. The .Nnvje' Vremya continues: "When we rec.i.l the large proportion of fallen heri.es given by the British aristocracy we are forced to admire the men who bring to war that, line training and noble ri\al:y which is inculcated into Englishmen through their devotion to sport. Around the \ ser the (.lernian soldiers had opportunities to convince themselves v.-], :L t. a dangerous enemy English sport, ;n>< u are, brilliantly adapting themselves to circumstances and displaying the necessary steadiness at the critical moment." "FINEST LU'E I EVER LIVED." "J wish that you could see rue in conditions that would stop even you from shouting golden plover, but, by' Jove, I enjoy jt—it is the Juu;st lile 1 ever lived." This i.s an extract from a letter which ('attain the Hon. Henry /jyndhmvt Uruce. of the Uoyal Scots, wrote in one of the last li'ttiT.s to liis father (Lord .Aberdarc) a day or two before the i liunic. at Ypies-, in which he was killed. Ait oliiciT of the lioyal Keots tells a story of the assault. "The Uoyal Scots w.tc at that time in the neighborhood of Ypres, where, indeed, they had been for live weeks, previously, holding the enemy with that ten-

ai-:!y tii.it marked the work of all tho Hrit-s'i jorces that line.. All through that lun;.' period Captain Kruce and hi men had been under almost continuous (ire, took part in many brilliant bayonet charges, and in trenches in which the mud was feet deep, mid endured the discomforts and hardships vvitli a cheerfulness that was little short of amazing. As weeks went by our losses in olilcer.s and men were so considerable that Captain Bruce himself v.ns left without any subalterns. At that time he was second in command of the battalion. We received the. order for the offensive on "December 7, and we wow know that (lie movement was very successful. The. f'cots had a difficult position to attack, and the conditions were unusually unhap'py, the ground between the trenches a muddy KWauip. ( aptaiu liruce received a bullet; wound in the forehead when the Scots had advanced to within 4(1 yards of the trenches from which the enemy had to be driven. Tlis death was instantaneous. But the charee was continued with all the vii'or we could command, and we had not Ion:; to waif before, the Cermaus went helterskelter out of the trenches, and we of the l!oyal Scots became tlio possessors of them. Then we einue back to help those who had wounded— and there were many of to burv the dead, anion;/ whom. |l,e last, wa.s Captain Bruce. \\} a j,j ],j m rra (. ]]( ,, lr the place where he nave llp ] ljf . nn(l fd'e sorrow o; the men was inexpressible, lov thev loved Capfain Bruce, who had been such a brave, intrepid and devoted cader. Ait oe 1 ." Ihe r, the Tioyal Scots lost e -i:;-, ers in that assault, and ro ' v!h ';" the British lines was the penem! t,movement of last Mon- " ' uceessful and so decisive a.s l:;c -ma<7e by the Rovnl Seot« "