LIFE AT THE FRONT.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 May 1917, Page 7

LIFE AT THE FRONT.

TAIIANAIvI IMPBISSSIONS. In the course of a letter to Mr. Evajlß, master of the Inglewood school, Mr. H. A. Stratford, cx-master'of that school and lately appointed headmaster of the Central School, New Plymouth, says:— Just at present X am somewhere in the north of France, not very distant from a town which has recently heen often mentioned in the papers, but a town 'which is now almost deserted by the civilian population; it once contained over 30,000 people, but the rules of censorship forbid' my mentioning its name. I might mention that when pasisng from one billot to another wheu we are "changing over" wo often pass through a small portion of that nuich-strieken country—Belgium. We have : passed through village after village in ruins, the demolished condition of the buildings bearing complete testimony to the severity of the German bombardment. Many of the buildings must have been very fine, and as they were all either of brick or stone the cost of their rebuilding will bd enormous. Churches seem to have been a special object for the 'Hun guns, many structures which tnusfc once have been very noble, architecturally, being now heaps of marble images, broken glass, and tottering pillars. The whole country round has been intensively cultivated, and (sven now within thi? war-stricken area/ one occasionally sees a farmer of the tougher texture sticking to Ilia little plot. Our boya find those farmers very and often are ablq to purchase from them such things as eggs, bread, Imfctnr, etc., and so get a little variety fronj their fare of bully beef and biscuits. Taken altogether, the New Zealand troops live very well, much better, in fact, than the ordinary "Tommy." iAs moot of them can now manage to speak some French, and as most of the French speak English, conversation can Ibe carried on quite, satisfactorily. I have visited Havre, Rouen, 'Boulogne,, Calais, Btaples, and 1 several smaller places, and everywhere prosperity, thrift and comfort seem to be outstanding features, and in the towns mentioned one hardly realises that a great war is raging only a few miles away. It ia only when one readies the north that the truth is so forcibly impressed on one. 3 We are certainly seeing the country at its worst, not only on account of the war, but 'because of the severity of the winter; snow has been lying feet deep in many places and the thermometer has often registered over "25 deg. of frost, so cold, in fact, that the water in the buckets freezes into a solid block), even inside tho tent. ,Tust recently a slight tliaw lias set in, and so we arc experiencing mud everywhere.

In going round the trenches to-day ■ gum-boots became absolutely essential; > all the men have to "wear them. In the , past the troops have Buffered considerable from trench-feet, • ibut that trouble , has now been almost overcome by the , liberal use of whale-oil and a change of socks every day^ lb is really grand to see how cheerful and responsive our New Zealand boya are under all conditions, Bid though they are being continually bombarded by the enemy they never shirk when their turn come l ; for the fire-ship. Lately we have lost a goodly, number of our fellows through shell and gas, and as a matter of fact we all carry our lives from minute to minute; even while we are resting in billets shells are flying overhead. What is most dreaded is gas, and apparently there are more horrors to come, but it must not be supposed that tho Hun is going to have it all his own way in this respect. .Splendid precautions have been made by the War Office to combat the peril, and with ordinary care a soldier can very satisfactorily safeguard himself. We" all wear two helmets, and we never move without them. The gas i? chiefly of two kinds, chlorine and iPhopphogene, and even one good Ibreath of the former is sufficient to cnuse death. .Tust lately the Boscho has been sending over to our shells containing gas, and these are considered even more dangerous than the ' ordinary cloud-gas. Quite half a platoon of one company were °nsed by a shell bursting just i' l front of a dug-out. Other trifles in the way of explosives that the German sends us are minenwerferß (minnies), whizz-bangs,, and pine-aipples (the latter so named from its resemblance to a pine-apple before it explodes). So far I have been lucky enough to escape, but otio never knows how long one a luck will last; however, I hope some day to cet back to 'New 'Zealand's dvyest town. 71 Life at. the front has it? amusing phases, and we are by no means a solemn crowd. The absence oi water for washing, the necessity for sleeping continually with most of our clothing on, the shortage of eating uteinil?, the inconveniences generally, etc., all add tpiee and humor to the situation. 1 I ' ll ™ found many of the Inglewouil _ School gifts very useful, and I must again thank 'the bovs and girls for them, As I have to get ready for my turn on duty I must now conclude, with best wishes to all for 1917.