New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-27
He Insists on Sharing
Perils with Brother
Officers at Front.
is AN INTERPRETER
FOR GENERAL STAFF
Has Also Acted as Transport
Checker, Making Sol1iers Do
Work Thoroughly.
fBy Cable to The Tribune. J

London, Dec. 27.-"A good soldier
and sportsman" Is the reputation tha'
the Prince Of Wales has gained 10
himself during his comp aratively shor
experience in service, says THE Wees
ly Despatch" and he has gained T.
among men who are among the fines
soldiers and best sportsmen in the
world
Continuing, "The Despatch" says
"The Prince Of Wales did not go GU
to the front to take up some orna
mental and inglorlously safe job o.
the General staff Indeed, there are
no such jobs going in this war. HI
royal highness, as a matter OF fact
went out as a transport officer on Tn
General staff, and as such he puts no
less than fifteen hours in his strenu
Gus, workday, and sometimes he has
twenty-four, or even forty-eight, hour
Of work at stretch.
"As a transport officer il was som'
times the princes duty to attend to
the loading of food wagons, in which
the rations are conveyed to the
trenches. Each wagon contains, as p
rule, two days rations for l,5NO sol
diers. made up in az many separat
packets. One packer stands in tn
wagon and another throws him a
packet, and at each throw says 'OHe,
two, three, etc, until ne has throw
in twenty-five packets, when the Of
fcer supervising the packing shout
'Stopl' and enters the number IN h.
notebook. This process is repeated un
til 800 packets have been loaded into
the wagons The packers are, however.
sometimes careless and lazy, and in
order TO get over their work quickly
will, unless supervised by an attentive
officer, skip numbers when counting II
packets, with the result that the sol
diers in the trenches get short rations
zone packer tried this dodge to get
through his work quickly, when the
prince was supervising the packing.
Twenty-Five should have been packed.
81 make ii twenty said the Prince.
Now just unload the whole wagon and
count all the packets again. There
were 100 packets by that time.
"After a couple Of weeks work as
a transport officer the prince went o.
10 the intelligence branch of the Gen.
eral Staff as an intelligence head to
assist in marking out on mans various
changes that take ace in the DISPOSE
ton of the British troops every day.
When employed in this way the prince
has been several times under fire. Tn,
first time this hapUeVed the prince was
ordered out Of the danger zone. by tn.
officer in charge Of the mapping party
which terribly annoyed him, but he
had. of course. to obey orders.
Subsequently, however, his royal
highness was allowed to share the risks
run by his brother officers when en-
gagged in this particular work. The
prince, by the way, since his arrival
at the front has taken to motorcycling
and two machines have been sent out
10 him by the King, The prince. whe~
at headquarters, shares a villa with
four other officers. His knowledge OF
French and German has enabled him 10
fulfil from time to time the very usefu'
Office Of interpreter. On more than one
occasion he has acted as interpreter at
conversations between Sir John French
and captive German officers"