Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-03-11
SOLDIERS AVENGE
COMRADE' DEATH
British Officer Writes How Five
Men Formed Themselves
Into Gang.
FEUD AGAINST THE BOOBIES
During Raid They Shower Ger
mans in the Trenches
With Bombs.
FEUD AGAINST THE BOOBIES

4 LONDON, March lo.--A young British
officer. writing from the front some
| where in France" tells an interesting
story of the revenge planned and car.
1 ried out h. Il number Of soldiers fol-
I lowing the death of a comrade He
SAYS:
II 'poddy Morgan had been killed by
y promiscuouS buni thrown by n Boche
lurirg raid. The Boche may have
acted in tho cool Innocence of inner
/ sonal v'arfarc--had he known the con-
sequences OF his act he would probably
have eaten that bomb before he threw
it, As il was. Doddy Morgan's Ave
best pals formed themselves into a
BLACK hand gang and swore par
/ ticu.or and very pc sci.al blood fued
against the Toche.
Dan Wheeler was the lance corporal
and leader OF the gang. Young MINIS
was his rusty lieutenant Their
articles of association we're to kill
':"ches. to kill more Eoches. and to
Xii SIN more lsochcs. Mind YOU they
we're all l'ds under twenty-one-
Rhondda golfers. very illiterate and
full OF strange oaths. but they brought
10 bear on their self imposed mission
an earnestness and zeal that might
have sae we'll on n Tristan or a Gala
had. They did not make overmuch
noise. but each one set to work. thor
/ ougniy and methodically, to become an
expert in the use of TIE Mills bomb
which to-day is possibly the mos. de-
vastating individual engine OF war.
DETERMINED TO AvENGE
DEATH OF THEIR CoMRADE
When ! took over the platoon I
was told that the "Bl; elk Hand" gang
were rough lot. difficult to handle.
ala not find them So To me they
seemed fellows who. while absolutely
liked in their determinat ion to exact
The price OF their comrades life, were
somewhat sheepishly ashamed Of that
determinations: like children who,
caught in game of make-believe.
VIII hang their heads and become
dumb. albeit the game is very real
| To them.
In the fullness of time there came
an order that should take a raidlnr
party over the top. Less than a quar-
ter OF an hour aftorward the Black
Hnnd Gang had volunteered as one
manor perhaps volunteered In hard
~ the right word: they begged, pray
"a ana besceched that they should go
over. Apart from anything else. they
were now tho best bombers in the
company. so my consent was no un-
willing one
ON the night of the raid the five
wer" the merriest and most satisfied
soldiers on the western front Their
"ehhlns waistcoats were >Sbulging,
their pockets were full, and they had
'hSpahncd two or three of their own
particular cronies to he Well up be-
hihd with reserves OF bombs At first
SY,1t -.
SPIN them up. for, l have said,
they wcI~, our best hombers, and there
was queer complement to invcsti-
/ gate.
H0NRS NOT I.It.rYTIS
i TO he WASTED
one investigates most Boche works
with bomb thrown on as a visiting
card. Wheeler and MINIS found ont
all there was to be known OF that en-
placement I'm two minutes by the clock.
ana al total expenditure of one
homo: for they had seen no Roche. and
bombs were not lightly to be wasted.
Then they Joined the other Black
! flanders
Much happened that night of
which. perhaps, ] shall write again;
hut this story has to do only with
! the primary avenging OF Doddy Nor
gan. There was a very pandemonium
of noise. and the Very and she'll
flashes were making tho place as light
as day. For quar.er OF en- hour 7
! had too much IL do TO attend to minor
enterprises. 1her ! walked along tho
| trench
IT was Il typical trench. A little
way along was Il big dugout with three
entrances At one MINIS and another
| Black Handler were bombing down
ips
nave turned half IA hemisphere blue
/ il The roar OF the guns had not lulled
II at birth. At the mex. entrance was
another OF the gang, very cool and
! collected, tossing his bombs down as
ono throws balls Il coconuts at tho
village fair.
\ ~ the third entrance. on each side,
I stood Wheeler and the nth member OF
/ The Snns with hayouctS nj the guard
ready to deal with any ill-advised Huns
VII" should try to make a dash for
+. safety. They stood there like statues
l"' eternal vengeance. ono forgot they
/ We're only boys. Their faces bore
7 Took that would have struck terror
!" IN" stone heart OF gargoyie.
/ Wheeler was q nineteen year-oid kcol-
/ licr lad with Observation-Disclosures com.
/ plcXion.
FRENZY or ixiLI.ISG
y has THEM IN GRIP
II was time to get out and back
To our line II took me some time to
! get those five away. The frenzy OF
i lilinE had them IN stern grip. There
were no more than t.!enty Germans In
! mat du"out. and they had thrown suffi-
int bombs TO kill zoo. All the reserve
lad been used up. Perhaps that helped
PERSUADE them that it. was time to
\ trek.
We got back across No Mans Land
under a hail of shrapnel. jumped into
our trenches. reported the success OF
our raid. had lot OF rum. and SO to
bed
Next morning. in reserve. came
across MINIS peeIing potatoes.
Have a good time last night.
asked him In passing. Not 30 bad.
SIR he answered. with shespish grin,
and went on peeling his potatoes.