The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-09-22
CARRIES FOUR WOUNDS.
Walter WEIGH, Ex-Soldier, Comes Back
to Vermont.


! Walter Welch, well known in Burling
ton and Essex Junction where he lived
for some time, arrived in that city
Tuesday en- route to his home in South
Royalton, with four wounds in him, re.
ceived on the front in Belgium. He is
now well on the road to recovery but
the wounds still cause him trouble and
he can do little in the way of exertion
so he has been given a three months
| furlough with six months hospital leave.
WEIGH received all four of his wounds
when he went over the top" with 50
other American members of the same
| platoon in Canadian regiment. They
went over in a bombing raid and of the
81 only 80 came back, and of that num-
Der most were wounded. Welch's wounds
are all in his legs. One is fro mshrapnel
in the ankle and the other three are from
machine gun fire. This rate of loss is
not up to ordinary among troops who
first went into action when not as much
was known about fighting as now. Some
platoons in the early days were wiped
out entirely but things are getting much
better now for the allies have learned a
lot about fighting.
The Canadian outfit which WEIGH Joined
was one of the first to go over seas and
they left Canada the latter part of July,
1915. They were put into action about
five months later and WEIGH was only in
the trenches five weeks in all before he
got his. Since that time he has been in
the hospitals. The action in which he
was engaged took place between Hill so
and Bickerbush. The men who were
killed in his platoon were mostly from
Massachusetts and New York.
WEIGH says that the Saxons who were
taken prisoners were a good lot of fell
lows. A good many of them seemed
glad to be taken prisoners even at that
time. He didn't speak so we'll of the
Prussians He said that there were many
Prussian prisoners, contrary to general
opinion and that some of the guard were
now in captivity.
WEIGH had an excellent chance to as
certain what the different hospitals had
to offer and prefers by far those in
France to those in England. Although
in the hospitals in England there was an
abundance of good food when one started
IN the convalescent end of your wounds,
1ne didn't fare as well in England as
me did in the trenches if one could get
o it. Another thing in favor of being
n France is that one is not in fear OF
he air raids.
In the opinion of Weleh, Germany is
10 where near licked and is showing no
igns of weakening. The fact that The
lilies have lost so heavily does not mean !
here is anywhere near the same loss r
,mong the Teutons. One lieutenant in !
lis regiment, who was giving instruc- /
ions in bombing, got to mokeying with =
bomb and it went off, killing the in +
tructor. of course, great strides have /,
een made in the past two years and .
he loss is probably now naerly even. I
Some peculiar things happened in the n
anadian regiment. One man put in % !
lonths at the front and never got
rratch. He was then given a furlough
nd went to London and got run over
V an automobile and died from his in
Iries.
When asked If there was any disatis-
action among the prisoners with the
erman regime, WEIGH said that he did |
OF hear them discuss it. They didn't
ave much of an idea of what they were
Citing for and so far as that went the
mericans who went across with the
anadian troops didn't either. He, him
II. went over in a spirit of adventure
II he is now over crowded with adven-
Ire. He is sick and tired of carrying
much adventure around with him. The
lly adventure he would ike for the rest
his life would be to 90 back to the
achinist trade He was glad he got
lrt early in the game TO gave him ."r-
er adventure.