The Washington herald., 1918-02-07
Wounded Were Killed and
Dead ,Butchered After
Fierce Fighting IN Which
Brave Canadians Were
Overwhelmingly Out
numbered.
By MARY LAW.


reckless Princess Pats Own went into
the fighting at st. julien. Seven came
back. -t --
And one Of this seven Is now In
Washington. He is Sergt. Bernard
Dreyfus, Californian native SON.
of French parentage.
Sergt. Dreyfus has been bayoneted.
gassed and struck by shrapneL As
IL this wasn't enough. even for a
native son." Hun airpianes paid a
brief but memorable visit to the base
hospital he was lying in and his side
was torn open by a bomb splinter.
But" he says with boyish grin.
that pair Of trench feet l was limp
ing around on for a few months got
my goat as much as anything else"
Just now Sergt. Dreyfus is daily ex-
pecting his discharge from the Can
adian army. And on its receipt he Is
going to. try to get into the American
forces. 3,
He has escaped twice from German
prisons, once cutting a sentry's
throat to do so. when finally got
back to England" he says, 'T had
some difficulty in persuading the
English officials that 1 was myself as
I was listed as being killed at st.
Julien"
Germans XIII wounded.
or that hot rain Of shrapnel at st.
Julien, in which the Princess Pats
Own were Englanfs blood-stained
sacrifice, Sergt. Dreyfus doesn't have
much to say. '.T don't like to talk
about Ii" he says. I'VE were sur
rounded and outnumbered. We kept
carrying the hght to them. And hop
ing that reinforcements would come
up. But no fresh troops showed up.
The Huns cleaned US up with shrap-
mel. machine gun fire, bombs. every
thing. IN admit that wished was
in some nice, quiet place, like Hens
Foot Corners. talking about how to
win the war. 1t was all mess OF
blood and bullets with the Princess
Pats men fighting on because they
didn't have it In them to quit. Those
Canadians were great boys 1t was
really easier for them to die than to
give in.
Toward the end the Germans came
over and called on the few of US that
were left to surrender. We did so.
And then they proceeded to kill the
l. wasn't SO bad to see the prisoners
killed. They were fighting mad at
having surrendered to such treach-
erous beasts. But it was horrible to
see the wounded butchered. Often the
wounded in their long agony, had
lost their nerve and-weIl. don't like
to talk about it. But anyone who has
seen anything like that will never say
that We ere just fighting the Kaiser
and not the German people. / don't
mean all the nation. The Saxons and
Bavarians are all right, fair fighters
and a pretty human sort. But the So
called "supermen'' of Prussia are
smut that ought to be wiped on the
face OF the earth.
Describes CrueIties.
II had surrendered, and a big Boche
swung a gun-butt over my head. I
threw up my hands to protect myself
from the blow, and the gun-butt
caught my right. The bones Of my
fingers, forearm and upper arm were
all broken.
Then 1 was taken to Mannheim
prison. We lived on soup made Hike
this: They tied a piece of meat to
a rope and let it stay in the water
few minutes before they fished IL
out. Then some unknown substance
was put into the water to make it
look sort OF substantial and dirty.
They have a great system at Mann
helm for taking the heart out of a
man. There are punishments for
about everything you do. The IA
vorite one is to string a man up
on tipetoe by his wrists for eight
hours. When I first went to Mann
helm was rather fresh. had
habit of strolllng out in the morning
whistling Rule. Britannia or God
Save the King More tact was
taught me by a few playful taps
from the gun-butt Of one Of the SEN
tries
Although sergt. Dreyfus says he is
% years old, he doesn't look a day
over q. His French blood shows very
plainly and he has a very Gallic
trick of Struggling his shoulders. But
when he starts to use United States
you know that he is a good Ameri-
can, and nothing else.
After Sergt. Dreyfus had been in
Mannheim for several months, he
managed to escape. after wandering
about the country for thirty-two days.
living on beets and turnips, he was
recaptured while trying to cross a
bridge.
Fergets His Chiyalry.
When that sentry on, the bridge
gave me the once over, / knew the
game was up" he says. But it
might have been worse. I had got
ten to where I felt that I could
never look q turnip in the face
again"
Then Sergt. Dreyfus was taken to
Ludendorff. A Prussian lady hit
him with a brick as he was being
marched back. That woman made
me forget to act like a gentleman"
said the. Sergeant Luckily she
didn't understand the fine United
States 'cuss words I layished on
her." ..-
Escaping was not a new game to
him now. One night he cut q SEN
, try's throat and escaped with eight
others. The party separated and
Dreyfus with his companion sue
ceeded In getting across the Dutch
border after forty-seven days of
sleeping in bitches and hay stacks
by day and travelling at night.
The burgomaster of the Holland
town we landed in was an English
sympathizer," said the Sergeant,
and very nne man. He smuggled
us across the Channel and our
wandefings were over"
Then sergt. Dreyfus, like a true
native son" went back on the firing
line. He has been through the battles
Of the Somme, Ypres, PIoegstreet,
Dickyeusch Farm, Anas, Messines and
the terrific epic xfmy Ridge. AT yiny