Oxford eagle., 1918-06-20

Ivered the coal at her back door. To-
day she does not shrink from lighting
his fag or even washing his grimy
body
Tommy admires Albert Of Belgium be-
cause he is not a Dusher Of men; he
leads them. With MIN It's not a case
Of take that trench" 1t is "come on
and we VIII take it.
It Is amusing TO notice the different
characteristics of the Irish, Scotch and
English soldiers. The Irish and Scotch
nrc very impetuous, especially when II
comes to bayonet fighting, while the
f.nglishman, though a trifle slower
thoroughly does his bit; he is more
meihodlcal and has the grip Of bull
doc on a captured position He is
slower to think that Is the reason why
he never knows when he Is licked.
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 prop
erly. After this examination he is sat
isfed and ready to meet the Boches.
But the Irishman or Scotchman sits
on the fire step, his rife with bayonet
fixed between his knees, the butt of
which perhaps is sinking into the mud
the bolt couldn't be opened with a
team Of horses ii is so rusty-but he
splts on his sleeve and slowly polishes
his bayonet; when this is done he also
Is ready to argue with Fritz.
1t Is not necessary to mention the
colonials (the Canadians, Australians
and New Zealanders), the whole world
knows what they have done for Eng
land.
The Australian and New Zealander
is termed the "Anzac." taking the
name from the first letters of their Of
fetal designation. Australian and New
Zealand army corps.
Tommy divides the German army
into three classes according to their
fighting abilities. They rank as fol
lows: Prusslans. Bavarlans and Sax
ons.
When up against a Prussian regi-
ment 1t is o case of keep your napper
below the parapet and duck. A bang
bang all the time and a war Is on. The
Bavarlans are little better, but the
Saxuns are fairly good sports and are
willing occasionally to behave as gem
tlemen and take IL easy, but you can
not trust any Of them overlOng.
.#a r.ofr+ - tl5 Ifv, III g.. -
were about thirty-two yards apart.
This sounds horrible. but in fact It was
easx because neither side could shell
the eneiuy's front-line trench for fear
shells would drop into their own. This
eliminated artillery ire
In these trenches when up against
the Frussiaus and Bavarians. Tommy
had q bot time Of IL. but when the Sax
ons took over" II was picnic; they
: would yeli across that they were Sax
ons and would not fire. Both sides
~oH.d sit ou The parupet and carry on
a conversation. This generally consist
/ ed of Tommy telling them how much
( De- loved the kaiser. while the Saxous
4 informed Tommy that King George
was a particular friend Of theirs and
hoped thar he was doing nicely.
When the SaxouS were To- he relieved
by prussiaus or Buyarians. they would
ycll this Information across No Mans
Land and Tommy would immediately
tumble into his trench and keep his
head down.
II an English regiment was to be re
hevcd by the wild Irish, Tommy would
tell the SaXons and Immediately a vol
leg of "nonner ind Blltzens" could
he heard and 10 was Frltz's turn TO get
a crick in his back from STOPPING. and
the people IN Berlin would close their
windows
Usually when an lrlshman takes over
trench. just before stand down" IN
the morning he stick his rifle over
The tou ahmed IN the direction of Der
In. and engages IN what Is known ms
the "mHI minute This consists oi
firing fifteen Shots iu @ minute II.
is nst --- ~ anything iu plrl...'a
--. 4- over each shot Wi.a d
prayer, hoping that one OF his straw
VIII get some poor suSpecting Frit.
IN the napier hundreds Of yards be
hind the lines. u generally does: that,
the reason The Boches hate the mar
} from Erin's isle.
The SaX0ns. though better than tn,
Prussians and Bayarians. have nastl
trait Of treachery in their makeup.
At one point of the line where tn,
trenches ere very close. stake wa
driven into the ground midway be
tween the hostile lines At night whel
Ii was his turn, Tommy would craw
TO this stake and attach some Londol
papers 10 Il. while al the foot he woul,
place tins Of bully beet. fags, sweets
and other delicacies that he had re
ceived from Blighty In the ever looked
for parcel. Later on Fritz would com
out and get these luxuries.
The next night Tommy would 90 ou
TO see what Fritz put into his stocking
: The donation generally consisted Of
paper from Berlin. telling who wa
winning the war, some timed sausage.
I cigars, and occasionally little bee
: but a funny thing, Tommy never r,
J. turned with the beer unless n A,.as IL