Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-03-18
APPRECIATES SUPPLIES
SENT FROM VIRGINIA
iounR British Soldier Writes From
Hospital to Brother In
lticlimUnd.
HOW 1T FEELS UNDER FIRE
Crawis Nearly Two Miles With Bull
let in Thigh to Dressing Station
Wliilc Shells Burst Owe. Head and
Path Is Filled with Dead.


How n young British soldier apprc-
Gates supplies sent to him Il the front
hF the War Relief Association of Vir- |
Sinia is told in tho following letter.
written by T.. T.. Day. of Me Kings
own Rifles. to his brother, VI II. Day.
'l3 West Franklin Street. After OK
pressing his gratitude To Virginia the
Young soldier. who was wounded in
IA" British advance OF September 10,
i"ls, describes what 1T is to be under
smell fire. ana says that no words can
depict bombardment NThn letter,
dated from "a hospital near London"
follows:
expect You have heard from mother
ihat was wounded in the big advance
on September 10 She told me,,he had
written 10 you. have not been able
I" use any inl: until now. as HAY.
been in bed all the time, and we are
not allowed To use ink in bed
First of all. want to TIL you
mat received som" shirts ahd Socks
"hiic was at the base in France that
cam" from the War Relief Association
OF Virginia, and can't toll you how
much ! appreciated them. Several Of
our fellows have had things that ramc
from Virginia. including beautiful
:.
ana many ether things. ana | on<s wtsh
IN" good people in Virginia co4id soc
~" comfort they are giving ~ Not
81 our brave fellows. II ,hcSS: could f.
'hey would feel amply rewarded for
IN" trouble they ar" taking
Our women at HON. ar. wbrl,inu
daE aud night on hospital supplies and I
lhnrs for tn" men IN the trenches bat (
the demand ~ greater than the supply,
are Am.rica's help is deeply .apprc-
c'at"d This ~ "a tremendous hospital (
mere are over 1000 beds in and
nearly all are fun, and there aH over
eight miles OF corridors It's Ike a
Young town.
II am glad 70 say AM getting on
We'll. but very slowly. manage, 10 &c,
put my foot I" the, ground yeGn You
say You would like to hive d fSw de-
taile-i viii try TO give you f3R
w" moved from the base 10 "a ter-y
tain villhg. nearer the line. wherr, we
stayed about :, week 4, wasi cult g |
nice there. and very p.accful:, from
here We moved UP to the back ri the
line and 'hivouackcd there Il day lr
Two before The big attack on tn 18TH
~ September.
TELLS HOW IT FEELS II
TO III: UNDER SHELL. FIRE /
W. moved UP to the rear or the
support trenches the night before !
and just as we had arrived and thought
"" We're well out Of range OF tho Car
man artillery, several big shells, came
over and burst quite close To us: how
'vrT. they soon stopped, and we settled
down in she'll holes for the night
rnoauwhilc our artillery was firing
away NIL night and the shells were
screaming over our heads, hut We got
used TO IT,
I'VE got up about A NJ. and got
ready to go on 1--WE did not knou III
al q lg,.I t,,,,
We marched OF ur,thr supports, and. =
At about dawn AT certain minute. the F,
bonn hhrdmcnt proper began No words !
could describe il. and no one who has
not experienced II can have amy idea |
~ what il il Ike. Try To imagine
thousands Of guns OF all calibers |
hciching forth as fast they can be /
fired. The noise was beyond dcscrip- |
ton. Will not attempt 10 describe it.
our Job was TO take the fourth Ger |
man line. and we followed the others !
NJ who were taking the front lines /
After some difficulty, we got to the |
second line, and took refuge from ma
chine guns by tank which was
standing there. Then we advanced un-
dor machinc-run fire and took the
third line. II had been badly knocked /
about. and We had TO dig another !
trench TO make room for us: il was I
while we We're digging that ! was hit I
hu a machine-gun bullet. II wen,
through my left thigh
After being bandaccd up by a /
stretcher bearer, ] lay FOR about an /
hour in a shell hole. and then II got
too hot. as Fritz d Co. began TO shell |
us severely. SO I crawled into the
trench. and hobbled and crawl.d back |
along it TO the dressing station. which /
was about two milcs away. II took |
me four hours "a was very dif,icult. |
as the trench was blown about so and |
full Of dead Germans. Ny wound !
panied m" II good deal. too.
However finally reached the dress |
ing station, and was very lucky to do /
so. as all tn. time | was under n !
terrific shell fire from the German guns /
! was taken of in Red Cross am
bulancc I" tho clearing station. and |
III" next day got to hospital on the /
coast. After being there about a week !
was brought here. OF course, if | |
could talk 10 You. could tell YOU many /
more things. but Well have 10 leave
that To IL later date. There are n .
great many Australians coming in now
With trench feet ! think there will |
he a big push during the spring, as
there are hundreds Of thousands of /
men being sent over now"