The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-05-11

have been wiped out. We all appre-
ciated the value of O'Leary's sprlntlng
and crack shooting, n when we were
relieved that night O'Leary had MS
arm nearly shaken off by his COM
radeS.
Next morning he was promoted on
the field to a full sergeant by Major
the Hon. j. T. Trefusis, who has o
the d. S. Q.
"Sergt. O'Leary has brought back
the V. c.. to the Irish Guards We
lost ours when Brig.-Gen. Fitz Clar-
Boer War.
The First Battalion of h Irish
Guards has been at the front since
the beginning. We were in the retreat
from Mons. Sergt. O'Leary joined us
about three months ago.. After his
three years service in the battalion
he went to Canada and joined the
Northwest Mounted Police. Although
he is quiet and unassuming he has
many good tales to tell about his ad-
ventures out west. l don't think he
is 25 yet.
"He seemed surprised that his COM
rades thought he had done something
wonderful"
i The Devils Own.
A famous Irish regiment is the Con-
naugh Rangers, who received their
title, THE Devils own just a EN-
fury g in the famous ~peninsular
campaign in Spain and Portugal dur
ing the Napoleonic wars. That they
5 still retain their reputation as a fight
r ing force is illustrated by a letter
l from Private Robert McGregor Of
l the Gordon Highlanders to his father
E describing a thrilling battle some
t where near the FrancO-Belgian from
gian frontier. The letter is as fol-
Q lows:
Il am after leaving the trenches,
where we have been for about ten
0 days, and we are now enjoying a we'll
r earned rest at -. You may have
heard Of the severe fighting by this
e time. 1t was awful, and I am sorry
to say many of our poor fellows will
never come home again.
S Ion the night Of the 26th of De-
cember we were informed thai the
Germans would make an attack or
our trenches, SO not an eye was closed
that night. About 4 o'clock we
thought 1T was a false alarm, and we
y settled down to enjoy 40 winks. whe1
S their artillery opened fire on us. Ou1
q trences Tor two miles were a V shape
and the Huns seemed to direct al
e their guns on this part, but thank.
d TO their craftsmanship, our immedi
y ate nelghborhood didn't get much at
ltention at first.
Isl Fire From Above.
d we were near what l think yo,
20 call the apex OF the V, and howiin,
Is and screaming shells passed over u
Re Wen until we heard the t%hrobbing O
a aeroplane. Then a searchligh
" played on us. followed by the drop
re ping of bright balls which brilliant
m ut up the whole place, and in a fe,
r IN the shells got us and wer
I'd came right into our position an
es knocked over IL Of our fellows. The
UT were practically torn asunder. an
es the whole side Of the trench was tor
ey up.
Our W guns were blazing ava,
and, think, found the fellows VIII
to were annoying us, as their fire gt
re. Stacker and finally ceased. TIL
r. thlng kept up till day dawned, an
He we lost Remainder of sentence cer
.es sored).
ne "Then we saw the Huns advancir
ch as unconcerned~as If on parade Q
nd they came in close formation. ar
he there must have been 10 to OF
h against US. We fired as hard as Y
he could, but they seemed to come O.
(. OF Wher and never halted. Whe
they were getting too close we char,
Us eo. 1t was our only chance VIII,
aid tney saw us leave the trenches tn,
ed they came on to meet us. l don't r
OF then. PA
The ~ was stab and hack, back al
md stao' Q could hear the smash
ere gun against CUR. the thud, thud, b
rec Ueyoho TINS there was an uncanl
sllence, broken sometimes by an GA
get or a groan. How long this went
our l hardly know but it seemed years
me.
ait, we grove them back about 1
yoIuS. Our Oftlcers saw the Germa
leir Reinforced and sounded the retire;
out owing to few machine guns
in couldn't get back to our trench
$50 / Germans, now greatly ~increas,
to came on again and our fellows. OF
IN aoout Nv teft, got ready to meet wi
eep 9eeiaeo certain humiliation.
lost "GOd Save Ireland"
Y. But just at that we hea
Of lAe souno or singing and the SO
q nd | was 0IOd Sa va Irolond - L no