The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-07-25

held there. under what cover they had
by the renewed blasts Of shells-puttins
the machine guns out of action again
(which suddenly ceased, for the Germans
were coming on again
Supreme Effort Comes.
Now was the supreme effort. It wa
as a nightmare in which only the objec'
tive Of effort Is recalled and all else ID
a vague struggle of all the strength one
can exert against smothering odds. Nc
use to ask these men what they thought
What do you think when you are climb
ing up a rope whose strands are breaking
over the edge of a precipice? You clint
that is all.
The P. P.'s shot at Germans. After a
night without sleep. after a day among
their dead and wounded, after the tor.
rents of shell fire. after breathing smoke
dust and gas-these veterans were In q
state of exultation. entirely unconscious
of dangers Of their SURROUNDINGS. mind
less of what came next-automatically
shooting to kill. as they were trained to
do even as a man pulls with every ounce
of strength he has in him in the crucial
test of tug of war.
Corp. Dover had to give up firing his
machine gun at last. Wounded. he had
dug it out of the earth after an explo-
sion and set 1t up again. The explosion
that destroyed the gun finally crushed
his leg and arm. He crawled out of the
debris toward the support trench which
had become the fire trench, only to be
killed by bullet.
The Germans got possession of sec.
ton of the P. P.'s trench. where. it is
believed, no Canadians were left live
But the German effort died there. II
could get no farther. This was as near
to Ypres as the Germans were to go In
this direction. When the days work
was done and there. in sight of the field
scattered with German dead. the p. P.'s
counted their numbers of the SIS men
who had begun the fight at daybreak
One hundred and fifty men and four Of
ficers-Niven, Papineau. Clark and Van
denberg-remained At for duty.
Vandenberg is a Dutchman-but mostly
he is Vandenberg. To him the call OF
youth is the call to arms. He knows the
roads of Europe and the roads of Chihu.s-
hua. He was at home fighting with Villa
at Zacatecas. and at home fighting with
the P. P.s in front of Ypres.
March Out Unbeaten.
Darkness found all the survivors among
the p P.'s were in the support and
communication trenches. The fire trench
They crept out only to bring IN any
wounded unable to help themselves. and
wounded and rescuers were more than
once hit in the process. 1t was too dan
gerous to attempt TO bury the dead who
were in the fire trench. Most of them al
ready had been buried by shells. For
them and for the dead in the support
trenches inferred by their living COM
rades, Niven recited such portions as he
could recall of the Church OF England
service for the dead-recited them with
a tight throat Then the p. P.'s unbeat-
en- marched out. leaving the position to
their relief, a battalion OF the Kings
Royal Rifle Corps.
fought for England as one British SOL
der said. how can any able-bodied
Englishman at home fail to enlist?''
Such is the story of a hard fight by
one battalion in the kind OF warfare
waged in Europe these days-a story
only partially told-a story to make a
book. Many British battalion has
fought as we'll. All the praise that the
P. P.'s. millionaire or laborer. scape-
grace or respectable pillar of society,
ask, is that they were worthy OF fight
ing side by side with Mr.. Thomas At
kins. regular. There are the other Can
duldnS VINO nave Deen III the tnlCh OF
too. At best one poor little finite mind
only observes, through a rift in the black
smoke and yellow smoke OF high explo-
sves. and the clouds of dust and military
secrecy, something of what has happen
ed In small section of that long line
from Switzerland to the North Sea many
times. And these were called the P. P.'s.
Leaning against the wall in a corner
Of the dining-room OF the French chateau
were the P. P.'s colors. Maj. Niven took
off the wrapper In order that I might see
the flag with the initials ~ tho battalion
which Princess Patricia embroidered
with her own hands. There's room. one
repeats. for little sentiment and a lit
tie emotion. too, between Halifax and
Vancouver.
of course, we could not take our col
ors into action said Niven They
would have been torn into tatters or
buried in a shell crater. But we've al
ways kept them up at battalion head
quarters. ! believe we are the only bat
talon that has. We promised the prin-
cess we would
In her honor an old custom has been
renewed in France: Knights are fight
ing in the name of fair lady.