The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-01-26
Herbert PurviS Who Commanded
Battalion In One Desperate
Charge, Wounded In Leg
GLAD HE IS ABLE TO HELP.
IN GREAT WORLD CONFLICT
Prcud His Country Entered Into
War In Defense Of Right"
..a5,-..4 ..sy.,& n. o. .-s.

Herbert Purvis, one time resident
! of Kukuihaole, Hawaii, and well re-
membered by many here, writes a
] friend in Honolulu that he is an officer
in the English army and that he has
seen considerable fighting in the Somme
offensive, in which he has been wound!
ed, but has now recovered.
/ Purvis' letter, which throws some
very interesting light on certain phases
Of the great war, is in part as follows:
! "I do not know how I can thank
you for the presents you sent us all
and il was too good of you to remem-
Der us, after all these years, and it
makes ones heart warm again. III.
"You say that you are glad you live
in peace in Hawaii under the Stars
land Stripes. That may be so, but for
myself, speaking as an Englishman, I
thank God that don't There are
times in the lives of nations, as of men,
when every honorable and healthy I'M
stinct forces one TO fight for right and
freedom, without counting the cost or
the suffering. ...t
Glad He Can Fight
"Sueh time is the trial we are un.
dergoing now, and, in spite of having
lost the dearest of all my sons, and
the constant peril of my two remaining
boys, /, would not recall, if could, the
. day on which we entered into war in
defense of right, and to punish the
nation that for purposes of selfag
grandisement, let loose this appalling
war.
"Nothing that can imagine could
have been grander than the great up
'rising of the whole British Empire
from Britain to the Antipodes, to fight
for an ideal. We had not been at
tackled, but our honor had, and nj
! though everyone knew that our turn t.
be attacked must follow, stiIl the fac
] remains that every nation under thu
Union Jack rose to fight for the ideal
. and without waiting.
| Millions In The Fight
eve have put millions of soldiers
. into the fight, cannot say how many
millions, for l don t. know, but far il
excess of five millions, and every ont
! of them q volunteer, for compulsory
service has not yet sent man to thu
front as they are not yet trained.
"Having returned only recent,
, from the fighting front, l am full o
! admiration for these men whose superb
|, courage passes belief-a company o
them-under my command in the grea
battle of the Somme on September 10
4 ave advanced under shell and ma
5 chine. gun fire for over four hours
n suffering very heavy losses, in3two line
RI w
= and all the time those men were a
= CHEEKY as sandboys-most were littl
: more than bOys-and when we ha,
reached the limit of our attack OF
> dered them to dig-in and hold tn
a ground we had won, against all tn
counter attacks. .",f
T. Bullet Breaks His Leg
"Just then my leg was broken b
!. machinegun FIRE, but my men carrie
l. out my orders and did not give up a
n inch of ground but held it all the mex
!. night, destroying all the Germans VIII
d attempted to rccapture it with han
d grenades.
e AT the time | was wounded / wa
in command of the battalion, an
;, proud 1 was Of such men, and so, ca
i you wonder that my one. wish is to b
e sent back to them' Few of them II
d main, but we have put our mark o
Il the Hun and nothing gratified me NOR
g than to have these savages comm
IS into me with their hands up, squea
> ng--yes, squealing-for mercy.
e "They all got it, and ii is mos
d astonishing sight TO see our men IS kline
ness to them, no vindictiveness at al
but sharing their rations and cigarette
with the men who have just been figh
D ing against them. '*,
"The war is not over and won't /
= for some time, but the Hun is licke
I man and only fights on because he hi
. to. The end is certain.
Not Long in Trenches
From your letters see that yo
are under the impression that I WI
le in trench warfare. That is only trr
IS to limited extent. All the time
u was in the Somme offensive and,
, course, between attacks we dug-in al
!. held lines of trenches opposite Il
u Huns; yet as soon as we were read
- for the next push 1t was over Il
top and advance. In all cases v
>, succeeded so, that the Huns BEGAN
=" very demoralized.
r. my leg is mended but / still lin
| 90 before "a medical board in +,
days when ! expect to be passed fl
~ light duty / dom think that l CT
~ return to the front until Easter.
~ lin conclusion | would say don