The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1918-08-30
POSED AS WAR 5
GREATEST HERO;
FINALLY CAUGHT
Rene Bertrand Proves Best
Fakir Of Conflict; 'Ex-
ploits' Fade Those Of D'Ar-
tignan.
BOASTED NINE MEDALS

The Associated Press) The heroic
exploits and hair.breadth escapes Of
D'Artagnan as narrated by Dumas in
The Three Musketters fade into COM
parative insignifcance when compar-
ed with the achievements of Rene Ber-
trand as told by himself Minus an
arm and leg with nine medals gilt
tering on his breast, and asserting
that his body bore more than 30 bull
let and bayonet wounds, private
Rene Bertrand of the French Colonel
Infantry" posed in Paris as the great
est hero of the war.
Now he has been arrested as per-
haps one of the wars greatest fakirs
and the police authorities declare that
he lost his leg and arm in railway
accident and that five imprisOnments
instead of five citations compose his
record. 1t was the publication OF Bet
rand's photograph in French news
paper that led to his undoing.
Meantime, while revelng in the
fruits of his own romance, Bertrand
enjoyed the confidence of army Offic.
ers and the credit of the leading Par.
is cafes. One famous and fearless
aviator made private Bertrand his god
son and adopted" him for the bal
ance of the war. t
The medals he wore included the
cross of the legion of honor, the mill,
tary medal, the war cross with seven
palms and five stars, the British mill
tary cross, the Belgian war cross, the
colonial medal, medal of Morocco, and
the medal for saving life, and the med.
al for wounds. In addition he wore
the 'fouragere" of the legion of hon.
or
Where he got them has not been
disclose but to account for them Bet
rand constructed story of wonderful
Incidents. According to this tale he
won the military medal by saving the
lives of two officers and was himself
wounded in the thigh when surround
ed by natives while fighting with the
French Territorial Forces, in Morocco,
In 1913.
Then according to his own story,
Bertrand won the war cross in pa
troll exploit in the present war, when,
after his companions were killed he
captured a whole German cooking out
fit at Laon, having killed most of the
cooks. Next, fighting with the British
on the Somme he won the military
cross by capturing 12 Germans single
handed. Meantime he had been cap
tured five times by the Germans but
always managed to escape.
In the next chapter of his biography
Bertrand appears in the fight around
Monastir on the Macedonian front
where he simultaneously operated four
machine guns and wrecked such an
awful havoc with the enemy that their
attack was beaten Off At the battle
of Monastir he essayed to rescue an
officer who lay wounded in No Mans
Land and was himself wounded in the
abdomen. Despite his pain he dragged
the officer back to safety and went out
again to rescue a wounded nurse. In
the last trip his arm was shattered by
a bullet and later was amputated.
Next we find Bertrand a passenger
on board ship bound for France. The
torpedo which hit the vessel shattered
one of Betrand's legs. Calmly ampu-
tating 1t with his knife Bertrand bound
up the stump, dragged himself to the
rail, threw himself overheard, paused
long enough to rescue the captain and
swan to piece of drift wood where
he lived for three days and three
nights before being rescued by Span.
ish vessel. For this Bertrand said he
received the medal of the legion of
honor.
Numerous stars and leaves of palms
that Bertrand wore upon his war cross
had been acquired, according to his
tale, by IL distinct acts of heroism
worthy of the coveted cross but the
details of these incidents have not yet
srtx 10 tIn NH