Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-10-04

THREE OF HIS BATTERY
HIT AT THE SAME TIME
British Driver Tells of Crawling to
Place of Safety to Find Dead
Men All About Him.

Men All About Him.
Foreign Correspondence OF The Star.
LONDON, September 2o.-Three dead
men propped against a wall. gazing
with Mortified eyes at their wounds.
That is the one clear memory that
Martin Lynch brought away from the
war.
Lynch is a driver in the royal field
artillery. He is now getting well in the
Waterloo Hospital After listening to
him his hearers appreciated the fright
full agony that is covered by this sim
gle line in the story of yesterdays bat
tie:
Wounded. one thousand"
Il don't rightly remember the three
or four days before I was hit," said
Lynch. I'VE had been on the go all the
time. day and night. Our horses were
worn. out, although We had drawn
fresh ones twice. II we were not being
attacked by the Germans at night we
were on the march. We never rested
while the hroses were able to go. 1t
was rotten
The men were unable to show a light
at night because the enemy was all
the retreat of the English army fol-
lowing the battle at Mons Sometimes
the Germans found them with the
searchlights.
US" said he. My word"
But this seems not to have made any
impression upon him. The men were
deadened and stupefied by fatigue and
lack OF sleep. Now and then the guns
would stick fast on a hill and the
gunners would put their shoulders TO
the wheels.
They didn't even cuss. they were
that DONE" said Lynch.
When He Was Hit.
Three Of the battery were hit at the
same time Lynch escaped with a bull.
let through the thick part Of his leg.
Another had wound in the body. The
third man was killed outright. He was
on the gun carriage at the time, and
in the rigor OF death his hand clenched
upon the rods.
I'VE didn't know he was dead until
he didn't get OF to do his share. One
OF the men shook him, thinking he was
asleep, and the body rolled on in his
arms"
On this hill Lynch discovered for the
first time that his leg had stiffened
and grown numb. He tied q handker-
chief about the wound outside his
tronsers a. tightly as he could in order
want to be left behind. The third man
was put on the gun carriage. He said
he wasn't badly hurt.
by and BY said Lynch. II got SO
couldn't handle my team. So they put
next to me had been shot through the
bowels. could hear him saying some
thing over and over as the gun went
on. But the noise was that high you
couldn't make out what he said"
At last the drivers pulled up to give
the exhausted horses a chance to
breathe. Then Lynch made out what
II was his elbow mate had been say
ing. Over and over again, under his
breath. he was repeating these words:
Christ! Christ Jesus.
When the subaltern in command Of
the gun approached the wounded man
stified his whispered prayer. But at
last the lureh OF the gun forced a cry
Sheltering a match in his cap, he
glanced specifically at the mans hurt.
Take Adams of the gun." he or
dered.
The sentence of death had been pass
ed. The lieutenant was pitiful, but he
had no option. A dying man was mere
weight. Adams made no protest. Az
the men lifted him down Martin Lynch.
dazed by his own suffering and loss OF
muir:
Christ! Christ Jesus!"
They put Adams by the side Of the
road. where grinding wheels and clat-
tering hoofs would not strike him, and
rumbled on.
Feared It Was His Turn.
The hours passed. Lynch was by this
time sick from the reaction of his
wound. His hands seemed strength
less But in some manner he managed
to hold to his seat. Now and then he
would awaken to fuller consciousness
and look YEARLY for the light in the
sky. Somehow, it seemed to him that
If morning would only come
He did not know when the order was
given to unlimber and reply to the
German fire. He knew that he was be-
ing pulled OFF the gun none too kindly.
tag tried led to resist: FOR it seemed s sen,
poor Adams. Some one swore at him.
that relieved him. No one
swears at dying man. He gave him
The first round fired by his battery
aroused him. The shock of the next
discharge restored him to his senses.
He knew the battery would be tar
get fog German shrapnel. BY the light
OF the next shot he saw a little hut
some distance away and crawled to it.
Once in the darkness he touched some-
Again he put his hand on mans leg
and the man did not stir. So he got to
the hut. A light rain had begun to
fall. He was alternately fevered and
chilled. By pure chance he happened
on the tiny fireplace in the peasant cot
take. BY il was 4 slender stock of
twigs-a bundle of the sort one sees in
the back blocks of France and Bel
sium. where firewood is incredibly pre-
cious.
II 'ad some wax matches" said
LYNCH. big ones. They was like a
candle, almost"
Where Corpses CAPPED at Their Wou
His wound was aching miserabIy, but
his head had been cleared by the effort
of creeping to safety. He managed in
the darkness. to whittle a silver for
Under. and heap a few twigs to-
yether. and set fire to them. Discovery
was no longer to be feared He knew
hat he must abandon hope OF going
With his battery. When the order to
tall back came no one would worry
lbout ~ wounded man. He had seen
he guns gallop off too often. So he
ooked about him by the light of the
little flame.
There was three dead Germans prop
BED against the WALL" said Lynch. "One
lad sort OF fallen over sidewise, but
he other two had their legs spread out
o hold 'em up. Each had been shot
through the body. and each was look