The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-06-15
William j. r.. Kennedy Injured
Fighting in France.
He Was Discharged After Long
Stay in a Hospital.
TELLS OF HORRORS OF WAR
Says Rats Eat Wounded Sol
dierS Before They Die.
French Never Think of Any.
thing Except Victory.

With dangerous leaks in his heart
valves, the result of the deadly Ger
man chlorine gas William ]. r. Ken
nedy is lying on a bed at 1877 Van
Buren, street. under a doctors care.
Kennedy went to France in 1915 with
a Canadian detachment. He was Civ
en- a discharge in January on account
of valvular heart trouble caused by gas
explosions in the trenches and since
! that time has been struggling to re-
gain his health. For several years
Kennedy was an employe of the Cap
per publications.
Tales of German mutilation of
! French prisoners, desperate battles
thousands of feet in the air, the dread
| ed German gas bombs, the millions OF
rats infesting the battlefields and eat
/ ing into the bodies of helpless, wound-
ed soldiers ard many other dreadful
| details of the Great War, We're told
| today by Kennedy. He came to To-
| peka to visit friends but shortly after
his arrival the valvular heart trou-
\ BILE attacked him again and he has
| been ordered to take to his bed for an
| indefinite period.
| II wanted to see the country when I
J enlisted in Canada, shortly before
Christmas in 1915 said Kennedy Il
| don't care to see much more of it,
| Kennedy asked to be placed in the
aero corps when he enlisted. He did
| MT know any more about a wireless
outfit than a Kansas youth does about
| a saloon but he liked the sound of
aero. He is thanking his lucky stars
! for his choice as never at any time
| was he nearer than eight or ten miles
| to the trenches.
Schooled in France.
In London. Kennedy attended a
wireless school for six months and then
| Ia cfn
near Bordeaux for a short time and
was then ordered to st. Quentin, few
I miles in the rear Of the third line of
| French trenches. once, the GermanS
took st. Quentin and the corps in
| which Kennedy was stationed was
obliged to retreat The French re-
took the town and a wireless station
was again placed at ST. Quentin.
Too far away from the front to be
in danger of German shells. yet KEN
nedy and his companions in their dug
out in the wireless station were daily
in peril danger they could not see
approaching and one they We're una
BILE to combat. The deadly German
gas bombs exploding in the trenches,
blew back from the lines and into the
lungs of the men.
I'VE couldn't see the gas but hardly
a day passed we weren't conscious OF
it." said Kennedy. "A tearing head
ache and sickness told us almost each
day that gas bombs had been explode
ed in the trenches and that we had
been inhaling the deadly gas. 1t fin
ally got me and they sent me to a
hospital in France where 1 remained
for weeks and finally 1 received my
discharge
Still another danger Iurked unceas-
ingly over them-the German air raid
ers The aero corps men worked and
lived in a dug out. The top of the
/, aviation station was painted many,
|, many times. on a bright, sunshiny
day it was painted in a color that
; would make it indistinguishable from
above. on a dark day. the station was
daubed a different color.
The men worked in the station in
: relays, four hours at work and eight
hours at ease One of their favorite
amusements during the eight hours
off duty was to lie on their backs near
the dug outs and with field glasses
, turned to the skies, watch for aero
,, planes.
Fights in Air.
I'VE could tell a German raider by
an iron cross on the bottom, said
Kennedy THE French and British
raiders were marked by circle with
a huge dot in the center"
Many times Kennedy has Witness
ed the aeroplanes thousands of feet
in the air maneuvering for advantage
with machine guns popping. If they
were not equally matched, the weaker
plane would always hurry away but
never when the aviators believed they
had an equal chance didl they neglect
a tight and always it was fight TO
J finish. 49,.
''It was a game of guesswork with
them" said Kennedy. Twice l saw a
German and French airman dash up-
wards at the same time. They met
: head-on in midair and we could see
! them falling"
: Food received by Kennedy and his
| companons was good, he declared.
But in the trenches it was abomina-
e BILE. Here he recited a story pictur-
, ing the horrors of war.
I Richard Wilson was a friend OF
Y mine in Toronto" said Kennedy. we
= enlisted together, went over the ocean
together in the same transport ana
spent weeks of real fun and enjoy
ment in London. He went to The
trenches. I went into the aero corps
Hundreds of times l wondered
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