The Seward gateway and the Alaska evening post., 1917-09-14
ALASKAN SENDS A LETTER TO
FRIENDS, FROM THE FRONT

with nurses and V. A. DIS, all gentle
folk. Some come around in the after
noon just to hand out the tea and
buns. Someone came today, and
had a whirl around London in an auto;
the nurse was not in at the time, so
l hoped out. People are always COM
ing with invitations to bun-fghts and
joyrides around the parks.
When l am discharged from the
hospital l get fourteen days leave, so
l will be able to make quite a stay in
Hull and Bird this time. That will
! be about the middle Of June and the
weather should be good l wish you
would send us some Yukon photos if
you have any. Have you some of
those we took along the Yukon?
would like to have a few, now that /
am in England, perhaps for a consid-
erabHe time.
Do you know some of the small
roads we were working in at Bulle-
court were choked up with dead men,
and every time we passed up with a
wounded man we saw men who had
just been killed. We could see men
being killed right in front and behind
us by shells. Every trip we would have
to keep stopping to examine men who
had just been blown up. Arms, legs
and other parts of a mans body were
laying all along the paths. We would
have to step over mems bodies and
pick a way through the dead. We car
ried in German wounded also, and
often thought to ourselves it would be
tough to get knocked bringing in a
Hun. Prisoners were coming in ey-
cry hour of the day, some Of them
being the most comic looking cusses
you ever saw; some tall and lanky
and wearing glasses, while Others
only youngsters about sixteen. l had
souvenirs galore, but most OF then
were left behind when l was wound
ed. About three weeks previously six
of us had a narrow escape Of being
taken prisoners at a place called Lag
necourt. Fritz attacked on a six-mile
front one morning at daybreak, ano
our part was the only place where ne
broke through. and they reached with
in twenty-five yards of road witt
high banks in which us fellows were
We only had about twenty men there,
and were outnumbered by at least 10
to 1; it was only the opportune ar
rival of a company of reserve batta-
lion that saved us. From where We
were on top Of the bank we could see
in front and on both TANKS for at least
half mile, and about five o'clock we
saw the Fritzes coming across the
fields in mass formation, crowds OF
EN-, just like punches Of gray flies
it was when they retreated that they
got socks. We could see the goth
battalion hop over from the road to
our left and the Fritzes throw down
their rifles and run, when a few start
ed they all followed suit. 1t was great
to see them doubling for their lives
across country, and our chaps chasing
them with the bayonet. He did not
have much sand" that day or ne
could pretty near have got us back
to Bapaume if he had kept on push
ing. The officers reckoned the enemy
lost 500 men, and it was all over by
8 o'clock. The papers said that little
scrap was the most open fighting since
the retreat from Mons, and we were
picking up our fellows whilst hand-to-
hand fighting was going on only fifty
yards away.
We had 60 prisoners carrying our
wounded that morning, we superin-
tended, and our chaps took some Red
! Cross prisoners also. The terrible
! Hun looses a HI of lot of his ter
ribleness when once one has made has
acquaintance-he was more an object
of pity to us.
The Canadians did some good work
up at Arras a few days before this
We could hear the bombardment, as
we were not a great distance away
Any Of the boys of the Yukon
this year.
Remind me to Fambanksans who
know me and try to get that elusive
stake"
The government holds two shillings
day of our pay until we return, SC
! I'll have a small one myself by the
time this bally war is over; it looks
like two years yet. Au Revoir,
AfTectionately
JIM.