Evening star., 1915-06-27


new and marvellous flights of fancy.
A little tragedy on the crest of the
high bank spoiled the fun. One of the
observers lncautiously exposed too much
Of his head. Some one near me cried
out:
There's a bloke hit
looked in time to see a sprawling
figure sliding had first down the steep
gravel bank to come up with thud at
the bottom and lie an inert, twisted,
grotesaue object upon which fell a show
er of pebbles and dirt. A group of K.
| A. NJ G. men, headed by All officer-sur-
geon, Strengthened the limp arms and
| legs. Apparently there was nothing to
! do, for they placed the body by the edge
| Of the road, out Of the way Of traffic.
pulled Off the dirty. tattered old service
tunic and laid it over the face.
| stir in the ranks Of soldiers lining
the roadside brought our attention to
the general and his staff. Obviously
something importan, had happened. He
was seen to be issuing orders with mai ny
81 quick flip of his riding crop and half
n dozen aids wheeled about and cam
tered off In different directions. There
| were orders shouted on every side and
a perceptible acceleration of businesslike
preparations the part of the ambu-
|
same time the overhead shells seemed
| to have dwindled in number and the
| tumult of battle to have concentrated at
| points considerably in advance of our
present position.
| sergeant of the r. A NJ. c., round
| ing into compact squads his crew of
stretcher men, explained the situation:
| We've took the first German trenches
out there he shouted. 'The Germans
| are she!ling their old line to drive our
| hIlf b3
proper with machine guns and reserves
and are going to stick it Meanwhile
We've got to go out and get as many
| of the hit as can.
! was hailed by a young surgeon of
icer. who glanced at my Army Service
Corps cap badge and shoulder strap nu-
meraIs, and popped the usual army ques-
ton
What are you on?''
, In America we say. What the
| bIa nkety- blank are you doing here"
! explained that / had been helping
! with supplies when the action began
to assist in any capacity until such time
! as could get back to the division base
where 7 belonged.
The officer turned me over to the care
of an r. A. NJ. c. sergeant major, who
on learning that I knew nothing of first
aid decided not to send me out on the
! battlefield with a stretcher party. but
TO use me merely to assist in loading the
ambulances as the men were brought in
! Through this fortunate decision I was
spared some of the horror of that srisiy
plain. When one remembers that this
strip of ground had been charged over
| by both sides at various times since
November without until now, either
trench being taken. and that the accu-
mulated dead from all those charges had
simply lain just where they fell, it is
easy to understand why l had no par
ticular hankerinG to go out there
/ aad sn.rllcd the place when the wind
blew across il that morning and had
been. for little while, violently i'll.
The British We're determined to I'M
prove the condition of that strip of
battle-ground before. by any chance.
they should have TO retire across II ana
resume their old position. AS the
stretcher bearers poured down the
road and into the communicating
trenches on their way to the held.
squads of royal engineers with picks
and shovels and buckets or creosote
trailed with them. Theirs was the
task of digging pits beside those
masses long dead and shoveling them
| in Each man carried breathing
mask containing gauze Slips wet with
strong deodorizer. Otherwise the job
| would be next to impossible
1t was not long before the first
stretcher party returned. bearing the
wreck of young Highlander who
shrieked with pain as his bearers STUN
bled over the rough way. | have read
| stories by writer's permitted to visit
/ some of the hospitals. Always they
| pay tribute to the mems marvellous
/ control. their silence while undergoing
| terrible suffering. | can only say that,
| excepting the UNCONSCIOUS. IT is seldom
! one meets a badly wounded chap who
| doe ssnot voice his anguish. After their
| wounds have been dressed and an
| opiate administered at the field sta
| tions. the poor fellows relapse usually
| into silence. But at the front not the
least terrible thing about handling the
| wounded is their soul-racking cries
OF all the men | helped put in the am
| balances. not one. save those whom
nature had kindly led into temporary