The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1917-06-09

just received from him. Covert
Iron Sixth" Brigade, composed of
Canadians and Americans, was lying
on q cot in Brook War Hospital,
wooIwich, London, suffering from
wounds on his back, head, arms,
neck, and ears at the time he penned
his missive, April 20. At that tins
he was recovering from his many in
juries and may be entirely well by
now.
In the letter the youthful soldier
tells of the charge on Vimy Ridge
in great detail, including. the opera.
ton Of the British tanks"
Crushed By Bursting She'll
Speaking of his own injuries he
says he was standing guard near the
machine gun OF the Sixth when a
high explosive shell burst over his
head and crushed him to earth.
Here is his own story, as detailed
in the letter:
Dear Arch:
81 am going to give you a little
more information about my trip over
the top at Vimy, which led to my
nnal mistreatment at the hands of
the wicked Hun
The battalion left the camp near
Mt St Eloi, en- route 10 the line at
$50 D. m, Sunday night, April s.
We arrived at our destination about
q. m, next morning. Ny platoon
was crowded into q wine cellar
amongst the ruins of Melville st.
Vast. You can imagine for yourself
how much sleep we got before going
into the attack. when our barrage
opened up before daybreak. The
tanks went over the top FIRST, and
though not yet scheduled to appear
on the surface, thanks to our platoon
officer, most of us went up above to
witness the weird spectacle Of tanks
in operation, despite the danger Of
enemy shells. 1t sure was an inspir-
ing sight.
Ordered Below.
After having satisfied our curlos-
ity, we were ordered below again to
await our turn in the game. The
Fourth brigade started the infantry
advance on our front, followed by the
Fifth. Then our brigade, The Cast
Iron Sixth started in to do its bit
We went over exactly at $40. 1t
remained for the Twenry-ninth bat
TALON to take the ANAL objective,
nearly two miles away. d Company
was to make the fnal charge and
establish advanced outposts. On our
left was an Imperial Company. on
our right, c Company, Twenty-seV-
enth There were two waves each 10
a company. The greater part OF the
way we had remarkably few casual
ties. On the other hand, the enemy's
were very heavy.
a+Our artillery was putting up the
! greatest bombardment in the history
OF the understanding Ike -FOUR
and a half times as many guns were
being used in this advance as we're
employed on the Somme- Everythlne
was done like clockwork. AT set
times we halted for certain periods,
awaiting our barrage to lift. As we
advanced on our way forward scores
of prisoners were seen coming In.
never saw such a downcast
miserable bunch of beggars In all my
life. They were all as pale as ghosts,
thin, haggard-lIke scared rabbits.
Here and there we saw some OF our
own dead. sitting or lying in uncan-
niIy natural positions just as they
were probably before receiving their
death wounds Undaunted by these
horrible sights, we continued on.
Ground Torn Up
The ground we advanced over was
actually torn up by the terrinc.artil-
Iery IRE which preceded US; hardly q
square foot of soil remained untouch-
ed. The enemys barbed wire was
blown to atoms. There was not a
trace of an enemy trench left. Hun
dreds of the Germans must have been
buried in their deep dugouts. the dug
outs they were wont to boast could
not be penetrated by British shells.
Though every man of US had nxed
bayonets, there was no need to bring
them into play. Apr ximately 200
yards from our objective d Company
halted for the barrage to lift.
Though still attached to the N. G.
section had a special job to perform.
1 went out, ahead to cut barbed wire
in order that D Company might have
q clear path ahead. Not until we