BRITAIN'S AID TO RUSSIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 November 1917, Page 6

BRITAIN'S AID TO RUSSIA.

INCIDENTS FROM GALICIA. In the general picture of the awful fighting front in Galicia one is apt to the fact that soldierly deeds lof stern dujty, daring courage, and self-sacrifice were manyT"writes a British correspondent from tiie Russian front. Certain regiments from Petrograd maintained the glories of their historic names. The officers of all regiments, even the runaways, won lasting fame in vain. A British officer who wa,s present said; "I saw Russian officers show such unparalleled bravery that nothing I can ever see or hear against tlie Russian officer can outweigh the evidence of that day." There was many a deed of exalted courage and soldierly resource done also by the British fighting men of the Naval Armored Cars Division. For the most part regulations prevent the publication ,of these heroic exploits in the postiion that seems always to bring out the best of the Briton, tlie tight corner. There is no objection to telling the 3tory of one daring deed in so far as concerns not the four who came out alive, but the one who died gloriously in doing. Chief Petty Officer Macfarlane was an Ulstcrinan,. a big man and an old soldier of infinite resource and wiliness. He had served seven years with the 7th Drawa s all through the South African War, and when the great war came was nearer 40 than 30. He was among the first even of that race w'ho are always the first to rush where there is fighting. He was serving with the naval armored cars on the Roumanian front, and so long as there was active work on hand Macfarlane was a tower of strength. On the memorable day of the opening of the offensive on the Galieian front Macfarlane was with a squadron of cars ordered to lead the Russian infantry into action along the southern road to Brzezany. The previous night lie had been among those who went afoot far into No Man's Land and cautiously investigated every yard of the road. At one point a barrier of sandbags three tiers high stretched right across the road from ditch to ditch. It had been formed by a Russian advanced picket, and was to be cleared away by the Russians during the night. At ten minutes to ten nest morning the squadron of British naval armored cars sped forward to lead the attack, upon Brzezany. They came well within range of the enemy guns long before reaching the point where the sandbags still stood intact, and the enemy had evidently got the of that' point to a nicety, well knowing that there, if anywhere, they could catch anything moving. Volunteers was called for to clear away the barrier under a hail ot Maxim bullets and shrapnel purposely concentrated by the German gunners on this marked range. Macfarlane stepped out among the first, as always. The barrier was reached by crawling, without pasualties, and provided comparative safety for tlie five gallant volunteers. It was the old soldier Macfarlane who suggested the cautious removal of the protective barrier in such wise a 5 to protect the flanks of tlie road from enfilading fire and to leave as much cover as possible in front till the last moment.

By dashing out and in between' the shrapnel bursts from the ditches on either side these gallant men. ignoring the Maxim fusillade, gradually got all the bags away from a wide space in the centre of the road, leaving an ample fairway for the passage of the cars which were waiting, also under fire, some way behind. Only when it was well done and the cars passed on with a rush to open the splendid attack upon Brzezany. Macfarlane's body was reverently brought back that night to the l>ase. Indeed the naval -armored cars left neither corpse nor prisoner in German hands throughout their terrible experiences alongside the Russians of the revolution.