The Washington herald., 1915-06-02
|TURNEDCAPTURED
| GUNS ON ENEMY
American, Fighting with the
Canadians, Tells of Ypres
Battle.
SPRAYED WITH SHRAPNEL
To Escape Being Bayonetted by Ger
mans While Wounded He Crawls
from Trench to Hospital.
BY JOHN c. FOSTER.

London. June IA thrilling description
of the great battle north of Ypres. Bel
gium, in which the Canadian troops
fought for four days with no food 10
sustain them but tea. was given today
by Philip Sampson. of Chicago. who en-
listed in the Fourteenth Battalion of
Canadian troops. Sampson. who was
wounded north OF Ypres. is now con-
valescing at the Duchess OF Connaught's $
Red Cross Hospital. which was estab-
lished at Cloveden, the home of Waldorf
Astor.
For four days and nights the battle
ragged. and it was certainly one OF the
hottest engagements of the war;" said
Sampson. Sunday. the last day Of the
four days We had absolutely nothing t.
eat, our only nourishment being sugar
and tea.
The Germans opened the attack along
the entire line with bombs. | was one of
n small party that rccaptured the lost IL
Canadian guns and We Immediately
turned them against the Germans.
Artillery No Aid.
"Our position was made doubly hard
by the fact that all the time We were
under fire we received no aid from our
own artillery. In the meantime the Ger
mans were attacking both infantry and
artillery. The fear OF death under such
circumstances passed away after a time
but | was worried by the fact that my
mate. a man from Glasgow, had been
struck.
"All our men were hugging the bottoms
of our trenches. for it was the only thing
We could do. The Germans were spray
ing our line with bursting shrapnel and
suddenly a fragment caught me in the
back. 1t was painful and / thought for
a time ] had been cut nearly in two
After time. although weak from loss
of blood I decided to go to the aid of
my pal ! crawled through the trench
but when ] discovered his body saw
! was too late for him. He already had
died. I unstrapped his watch from his
wrist. determined to take 1t to his moth
er. Here it is on my wrist now.
Death Of "Bunkie."
The death of my 'bunkie' was hard
blow. for a chap gets mighty strongly
attached to a friend at a time like this
IL filled me with hot anger against the
Germans. too. I felt that it was my
sacred duty to carry back some memen-
to of that brave fellow to his mother
He would have done it in case of my
death
The fighting WAS terrifically hard all
the time-no quarter and no Cessa ton
throughout that awful Sunday. Out OF
my company of 200 men, only fifteen
were left.
AT the greatest risk to my life I ma de
my way out of the trench. for | feared
that II ! remained and the Germans cap
tured the works I would he bayonetted.
The Germans had been showing mighty
little mercy to wounded enemies.
Crawled to Hospital.
With two long cuts in my back from
the shrapnel splinters ! crawled on my
for a mile and a half. until
finally reached the first dressing station
at st. Julien. where a surgeon gave me
first aid. From there [ was able to walk
to ipres to have my wound properly
dressed.
But though We had the toughest time
OF our lives and lost heavily. We had the
OF knowing that the great
Prussian guard had been beaten by us
Some of our battalions. 1000 strong. had
been whitfield down to l23 members by
the German fire. but the Prussians lost
more heavily than We did.
NO doubt the Germans have made con-
siderable advance since ! left the front !
but ! will wager they lost ground when
our men began to charge They can't
stand to cold steel. This was shown when
We charged against them. After the
French colonials tAlgeriansy had fallen |
back from the effects of the asphyXiat-
ing gases were also retired but upon re-
ceiving order to counter-attack we de |
scended upon the Germans with a terrible |
onslaught. The Germans went down on |
their knees and cried: Mercy. Canadians
mercy Those who could. ran for their |
lives squealing like stuck pigs