Pioneer press. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1882-19??, 1915-01-23
HOW TWO BAD BOYS
MADE GOOD IN WAR
ular Heroes and the Pride Of
Their Towns.
BY p. M. SARLE.


Formerly the despair Of their par
ents and teachers. Driver Job Henry
Drain, 9th Battery, Royal Field Ar
tillery, and Lance-Corporal William
Fuller, of~lhe Royal Welsh Regiment,
are now popular heroes and the pride
of the towns Of which they were once
considered the disgrace. For the bad
boys" Of Barking and Swansea have
won the little bronez crosses which
enable them to place the letters "
G.. after their names, and which put
est heroes for all time. Barking in
Essex, and Swansea, in Wales, are
tar apart and Drain and Fuller may
never meet, but their stories are SUI
ficiently similar to tell together.
Drain is the son of a Barking la
bOrer, and as boy he never made
any pretense about wishing to lise
in the world. He hated school, and
playing truant as often as he dared.
His teacher at the little Back-lane
Church school demonstrated with him
and, punished him, but in vain.
Drains ambition in life was to mind
COWS. He could not work up any en-
thusiasm for the three RS. He un-
derstOod COWS, and preferred to be
with COWS, and when he was KEEP.
away from them and forced to go lc
school he made himself general
nuisance. He was placed in the
Walthamstow Truant School,
Job throve exceedingly at the re-
form farm, and curiously enough,
took readily to the physical and mil
itary drill apart Of the curriculum
he was clean-built, well set up
youth Of sixteen when three years
ago he was told that he must choose
a career and leave his place OF de
tention. He elected to join the army,
and entered the Royal Field Artillery
as a 'boy."
boy" Drain found horses quite as
fascinating as he had formerly found
COWS, and proved SO good a horseman
that on reaching the military age OF
seventeen he was mustered Driver"
and appointed to the 37th Battery. He
was eighteen and half when the
great war broke out, and his battery
was one Of the first in the field, hav-
iEg moved to France with the Irish
division. At Mons and during the IA
looked after his par of gun horses,
in fine style, but it was at LIE Cateau,
on August 288 that he had the OppOr-
tunity of showing that bad boys at
school were not necessary incorri-
gible.
There his battery got into a tight
guns must be captured by the adj
vancing Germans. Guns are the ap-
pie OF an artillerymans eye and his
officers called for volunteers to save
them. Most of the gunners had been
killed but with 4 comrade, Driver
Frederick Luke, the Bay Boy OF
Barking" dashed through q hail OF
bullets and hitching up his teams
brought back three guns in success
sion. Before the two heroes got the
third gun away the German infantry
were within hundred yards, but the
worst boy in the school never finch
ed, with his comrade, galloped back
to the battery with the precious tielt
pieces.
Both were awarded Victoria Cross
es, and one Of the first things Drair
received was a telegram from the
Mayor of Barking: "Heartiest con
gratulations. The town Of Barkine
is proud Of you Then came a sim
liar message from the Wathamstow
reform farm and the teacher who
had given him up in despair. The
teacher who has some skill with the
brush, is painting a portrait of the
hero to hang up in the school il