The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-03-03

town. We saw some OF the wiltshire
boys darling around among the Duild.
ings, and asked them II the allies hao
| II. They didn't know. but they SAID
they had seen more Germans around
shooting than should be permitted IN
a we'll captured town. They suggested
that It was q good idea to sneak
around for a while until we found out
who the deuce had the town, anyway.
We had an idea that the allied forces
had the upper hand.
I'VE were concealed at the eide OF
deserted building when big, tall Ger
man private came slowly along. look
ing about carefully and with gun ready
for action. We we're going to shoot
him, but he saw us just as We saw
him, and he stood still undecidedly,
| We captured him and then were not
| sure what we had better do with him.
He seemed to be altogether too decent
chap to kill somehow. We asked him
| who had the town, and he said he
thought the Germans, but that ne
wouldn't bet on It. He spoke perfect
English, and after a bit said that he
was sick of the war. but hated to be
captured
Anyhow, he allowed that he was
the hungriest man in the German
! army We gave him some jelly and
some bread and then decided to 60
back to our lines with him. He was
Arthur Knecht of Elberfeld. railway
clerk and a mighty decent fellow. He
talked of tie German outrages and told
us he~liad nothing to do with the act
oi any individuals and that the Ger
man army was as whole cracker
jack and the best he had seen, bar
none. He made US laugh. He surely
thought little Of the allied forces but
less of war itself.
| Indian Troops Arrive.
ION November 3 the Ghurkas Sikhs
arrived and although they were the
oldest looking set of soldiers ! ever
laid eyes on. they were welcome
| enough and showed up mighty we'll In
| action
when we moved up to HODGE we
| had our first experience with trench
mortars and hand grenades was
| bomb man and it was here | received
my worst wounds We were advanc
| ing during trench action and |. with
a bomb carrier behind me. was follow
| ing two men with bayonets, who indt-
Gated where the bombs were to be
thrown. had just thrown one over 3
trench side when shell burst near
me and killed two men. It opened
great hole in my side and tore strip
out of my leg, lay there for eight
hours and woke up in the Lister in
stitute, at Bethune, where | had been
for two days ! stayed there month
and then returned to London for an
operation. It was the end Of Decem-
Der and did not get back into action
until the following March.
But when | did get back saw
some OF the most terrible warfare |
ever hope to know Of We first went
to KENNEL, and after a brief, but al
most pleasant, rest We took part in the
fighting at Hill No. GO. and let me
state that it was terrible fighting.
When we got to KENNEL, though. we
found our first trench was less than
thirty yards away from the German
trenches. and the German lads kept
throwing things over at US. They
were Saxons, and they frequently In
quired why Anglo-Saxons and Saxons
should fight. Then they would shout
over and tell US not to get fresh,
They never took the initiative IN
throwing grenades, but when one was
thrown over from our trenches they
would throw back about ten to answer
It,
1T was a gruesome place to be. for
there had been many charges and hun
dreds of the dead lay out between the
lines"