The Snowflake herald., 1917-12-14

the British generals had decided it
was time to get through with the side
show in Belgium, and this was the
reason why they had sent regular
troops like the Australians in to re-
lieve the Canadians.
Then some sensitive Canadian wished
the Australians luck and hoped they'd
finish it up as well as they had the
affair in the Dardanelles. After that
our two days. rest was made up prin-
cipally of beating 1t out of estaminas
when strategic requirements suggest
ed a new base or beating 1t into esta-
minas when It looked as If we could
act as efficient re-enforcements. That
fight never stopped for forty-eight
hours, and the only places it didn't
include were the church and the hos
pitals. I'll bet to this day that the
Belgians who run the estaminas IN
POperinghe will duck behind the bars
If you just mention Canada and Aus
tralia in the same breath.
But I'm bound to say that it was
good, clean fighting. Nobody fired a
shot, nobody pulled a bayOnet, and no.
body got the wrong idea about any
thing. The Australian heavyweight
champion who landed on me went
right out in the street and saluted one
of our lieutenants. We had just one
satisfying reflection after the fight
was over-the Australian battalion
that relieved us fell heir to the coun-
terattack which the Germans sent
across to even up on our bombing raid
Down to the Somme.
We began our march to the Somme
by hike to st. Omer, the first British
headquarters in Europe Then we
stopped for week about twenty miles
from Calais, where we underwent a
course of intensified training for open
fighting The infantry tactics, in which
we were drilled, were very similar to
those of the United States army, those
which, in fact, were originated by the
| United States troops in the days of
Indian fighting. We covered most of
the ground around Calais on our stom-
/ achs in open order While it may
seem impertinent for me, a mere non
com, to express an opinion about the
larger affairs of the campaign, think
I may be excused for saying that the
war didn't at all take the course which
was expected and hoped for after the
fight on the SOmme. Undoubtedly the
allies expected to break through the
German line. That is well known now
While we were being trained near
Calais for open warfare, a very large
force of cavalry was being assembled
and prepared for this same purpose. 1t
was never used.
That was last August, and the allies
haven't broken through yet. Eventually
/ believe they will break through, but
in my opinion men who are drawn for
service in the first half million of our
new American army will be veterans
in Europe before the big break comes
which will wreck the Prussian hope of
success in this war. And if we of the
U. s. A. don't throw in the weight to
beat the Prussia ns now they will not
be beaten, and in that case the day
will not be very far distant when we
will have to beat them to save our
homes and our nation. War is a dread
full and inglorious and i'll smelling and
cruel thing. But if we hold back now
we will be in the logical position of a
man hesitating to go to grips with
drunken, savage, shrieking, spewing
maniac who has all but whipped his
proper keepers and is going after the
Onlooker. However, / wish we had
had two months more of weather on
the SOmme. There might have been a
different story to tell.
SimpIified Medicine.
We got drafts of recruits before we
went to the Somme, and some of our
wounded men were sent back to Eng
land, where we had left our safety
first battalion" That was really the
Fifty-frst battalion of the Fourth divi-
sion of the Canadian forces, composed
Of the physically rejected, men recov-
ering from wounds and men injured
in training. The Tommies, however,
called it the safety first or Major
Gilday's Light infantry" Major Gil
day was our battalion surgeon. He
was immensely popular, and he
achieved a great name for himself. He
made one realize what a great per-
sonal force a doctor can be and what
an unnecessary elaboration there is in
the civil practice of medicine.
Under Major Gilday's administration
no man in our battalion was sick if he
could walk, and if he couldn't walk
there was a reasonable suspicion that
he was drunk. The major simplified
medicine down to an exact science of
two forms of treatment and two rem
edies-"number nines' and whale oil.
Number nines' were pale oval pills,
which, If they had been eggs, would
have run about eight to an omelet for
six persons. They had an internal
effect which could only be defined as
dynamic. After our men had become
acquainted with them through per-
sonal experience they stopped calling