Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-03-19

lfltlIl dlltI HIuSl SoaNiiS'
so you see. Mr.. Atkins has his fun
mixed in with his hardships and, con-
trary TO popular belief. the rank ana
lille Of the British army in the trenches
is one big happy family. Now IN Eir-
ginia, at school. was fed on old Nc
Cuffs primary reader, which gave IN"
an opinion of an Englishman about
equal To a &c Minute Mans backed up
by Il Sim Fciner's. But ! found Tom
my t. he the best Of mates and q gen
tlrman through and through. He n"V"
thinks of Knocking his officers. If on.
makes Il costly mistake and Tommy
I:tyS with his blood. there is no GEN
rr:l condemnation OF the officer. He
is lust pitied. II is exactly the same
as it was with the Light Brigade at
Ralaclava, ~ say nothing OF Gappipoli'
Ncuvc Chapelle and Loos. Personally
| remember Il little incident where
twenty of us were sent on i trench
RAID. only two Of Us returning. but
viii tell this story later on.
said il was Il big happy family. ana
SO It is. but as in all happy families.
there are servants. so in the Britsh
army there are also servants. Officers
servants. or 20. =" as they are termed.
In the American army the common
name from them is dog robbers.
From q controversy in the f.nSliSh
nnu.rs Winston Churchill made the
statement. as far as can remember,
that the officers servants in the Brit
ish forces tOtalcd nearly two hundred
thousand. He claimed that this re-
moved two hundred thousand "Nccp-
ti,,uIlv good and wcll-train"d lighters
from the actual firing line. claiming
that the officers. when selecting a
man for servants duty. generally pick
ed the man who had been out the
longest and knew the ropes.
But from my observation | find that
a large pcrccnctagc of the servants do
20 over the top. hut behind the lines
they very seldom engage in digging
parti,s, latigues, paradcs or drills.
This work Is as necessary as actually
engaging in an attack, therefore
think il would he safe TO say that the
alI-ruund work OF the two hundred
thousand men are about equal TO fiitN
thousand men who are on straiSht
military duties. In numerous instances
otfioers' servants hold the rank ol
lance -corporaIs and they assume the
duties and authority of butler, the
one stripe giving him precedence over
the other servants.
There are lots of amusing stories
told of 30. ="
ON, dny one of our majors went in
To the servants billet and commenced
"hlinding" III them. saying that ms
horse had no straw and that ne per-
sonally knew the straw had been is
sued for this purpose. He called the
lance corporal to account. The cor
poraI answered, blind me. sir. the
straw was issued, hut thcr" wasn't
enough left over from the servants
u,
the 'ay To 'clp out. sir.
Il is needless to say that In" serF-
ants dispensed with their soft beds
that particular night.
Nevertheless il is not the iauit oi
the Individual officer. il Is just the
survival OF q quaint old English GUS
tom. You know an EnGlishman cam
not be changed in n day.
But the average English officer lsa
GOOD sort. He will sit on fire step
and listen respectfully to lrira''
Joncs's theory OF the way the war
should he conducted. This war Is
gradually crumbling the one" inSur-
mountablc wall OF caste.
You would be CONVINCED of this II
YOU could see King George go among
his men on an inspecting tour under
fire. or pause before a little wooden
cross in some shell tossed field with
tears in his eyes as he reads the in
scription. And little later perhaps
bend over a wounded man ON Il
strctchcr. patting him on the head.
More than once In n hospital have
seen Il titled Red Cross nurse fetching
and carrying for q wounded soldier
perhaps the one who in civil life de-
livcrcd the coal at her back door. To-
day she does not shrink from lighting
his fag or even washing his srim\
body.
Tommy admircs Albert of Belgium
because he Is not Il pusher OF men:
hc leads them. With him it's not
case of take that trench" 1t is come
on and we will take It,"
II is amusing to notice the different
of the Irish. Scotch
and English soldiers. The Irish ana
Scotch are very impetuous. especially
when 1t comes TO bayonet lighting.
while the Englishman. though trtii"
slower, thoroughly does his bit: he *
more mcthodical and has the grip oi
a bulldog ON captured position. lie
is slower to think: that is the reason
WHY ne never knows when he Is lick
ed.
Twenty minutes before going over
the top the English Tommy will sit on
the fire step and thoroughly examine
the mechanism of his rifle to see that
il is In working order and will fire
properly. After this examination he
is satisfied and ready to meet the
Boches.
But the Irishman or Scotchman sits
on the fire step, his rifle with bayonet
fixed between his knees. the butt OF
which perhaps is sinking into the mud
the bolt couldn't be opened with
team OF horses 1t Is so rusty-but he
spits on his sleeve and slowly polishes
his hayonet: when this is done he also
is ready to argue with Fritz.
II is not necessary to mention the
colonials Ohe Canadians, Australians
andrew Zealanders). the whole world
knows what they have done for Eng
land.
The Australian and New Zealander
is termed the "Anzac." taking the