People's voice., 1900-09-06
FEATS OF THE WOUNDED.
Wonderful Control Over Suffering
Shown by English Soldiers
ON the Battlefield.

During the present war 1t has been
proved in hundreds of instances that
the British soldier Of to-day possesses
no less pluck and endurance than dis
tinguished him in years gone by.i
Hence we have heard so much about
the heroism of the wounded on South
African battlefelds, and how our va
liant soldiers have grimly continued
fighting after having been shot or
otherwise injured by the foe.
Writing to his friends at home, one
Tommy" describes the amazing ex-
ploit of an officer in one of the bat.
ties fought by Lord Methuen. The Of
ficer was only yard or so away from
him, when he saw him shot right
through the back. Despite this ter
rible injury, the wounded man re-,
mounted his horse, and, galloping to-
ward the enemy, he succeeded in kill
Ing three Beers. Having thus had his
revenge, he rode back to his company
and lay down until he could be car
ried to the ambulance.
Hardly less gallant was the conduct
OF one of the reserTsts, a London
grocer, who belonged TO the mounted
infantry. He had the misfortune to
have his leg shattered and twisted by
shell, but he induced one of his
comrades to pull the damaged limb
straight again and to turn him upon
his face. In this position he lay
steadily firing upon the Beers until
his stock of ammunition was exhaust
ed, which did not happen until he had
fired couple of dozen shots. In the
meantime his sufferings must have
been terrible, but he bore them with
the greatest fortitude.
Marvellous bravery was displayed BY
the marines at the battle Of Graspan.
While he was sounding the Charged"
a bugler had one of his thumbs shot
right off, but he merely shouted:
"There she goes, boys" and proceeded
with his bugling, as If nothing had
happened.
In one OF the armored train disas-
ters a wounded volunteer behaved in
a very plucky manner. Notwithstand-
ipg that his right ear had been shot
away, he continued kneeling IN the
regulation position and firing with ad-
mirable coolness and precision. With
every crack of his rife he would crack
a joke, and this had the effect of keep
Ing his comrades in good spirits and
preventing them getting furried or
excited in their shooting.
On the same occasion, a corporal,
who was desperately wounded and
lying on his back, could use his
tongue, II not his weapons, against
the enemy. He exhorted his comrades
to "give 'em beans" which they did
to the best of their ability-only those
of the leaden variety.
A sergeant, who was pinned to the
ground by derailed truck, the edge
OF which rested on his right hand, de-
,termined that he would not thus oe
incapacitated for the fray. While suf-
fering considerable pain, he dug his
right hand out with his bayonet in
his left, and then proceeded to fire
100 shots at the enemy.
A trooper of the Border mounted
rifles, who had been hit no fewer than
three times by Boer bullets, was,
much to his disgust, sent to the hos
pital. Under his unwelcome deten-
ton there he chafed so much that he
gave his nurses no small amount of
trouble.
One night he oontrived to elude
their vigilance, and escaped from the
hospital, and after he had borrowed a
rife and filed his bandolier with am
munition obtained from other pa
tients, he sailed forth to rejoin his
regiment. The ardent soldier was,
however, overtaRen before he had pro-
ceeded very far, and, as he was still
anything but fit for service, he had
perforce to return to the hospital and
remain there until properly recovered.
Our men have borne their wounds
with the utmost fortitude and cheer
fulness. A private of the Leicester
regiment had an exploding bullet go
through his arm, which would neces-
state amputation. On the way to the
hospital, however, he laughed and
joked, his only regret being that he
would not be able to have another
chance of fighting the Beers.
AT Elandslaagte one of the Gordon
highlanders pressed on to the attack
after being hit In the leg; and it was
not until he had been struck by three
other bullets that he sank to the
ground. Then he took out his pipe,
and, pending the arrival Of the am
bulance, sought comfort in a smoke.
When examined at the hospital he
was found TO have four bullets In one
leg and two in the other. Another
@leaden messenger" had grazed his
skin; while one had passed through
his helmet and no fewer than ten
through the folds of his kilt. Despite
all his wounds the intrepid young SOL
der fully expected he would soon be
fit for the front again.
A gallant marine serving on Lord
Methuen's column, had one OF his
hands shot of and was the next mo-
l. \