New Britain herald., 1918-04-05
HO CAME BACK BALL OF DEATH
Killing Tales Of Life in Trenches
 Told by Survivors
Copyrighted by the British Canadian Recruiting MiSsion)
 By Sergeant II. J. Mansfield,
27th Battalion. C. E. F.


 for. l had been ordered out for some instructional duty when I came across a friend on his way into Kennel. His invitation travel with me" promptly accepted, brought me into the town, which was about half mile from our front line. That noon the Germans started to shell the place. Someone told us there were a lot of old women there and 1 said to my pal, "We'd d better get the old ladies out"
 We worked fast for about an hour and a half and got 16 or IT women and children out. Then We heard there were still some old ladies up- stairs in the Ypres hotel. We went up to look for them. In a couple of minutes we heard sing-sonG through the air. I began to feel pretty yelloW-just scared. The place was struck, walls collapsed and floors disappeared. My chum departed, with the help of gravitation only, to the bottom. I was left hanging by one arm to the top of wall for what seemed like an hour. Time was not measured in minutes then, but in suf- fering. Along came another shell; the wall caved in and I landed some- where else, where I was buried for nine hours. My friend was lucky. be- ing one of the first to be released. It seemed a long time before 1, in pretty bad shape, was dug out.
 The sequel to this story Is interest ing was badly mussed up and the doctors said my arm would have to come off. When l was able to be shipped, they sent me back to Eng land. I was anxious to spend Christ mas with my mother, who had como over from Canada. So on the 7th, or 18th q forget which) of December, I was put aboard the hospital ship "Angleterre.' We were crossing the channel about 25 miles out from Bo- logne. It was about Il o'clock in tho morning. All of a sudden the quiet was broken by a terrible crash. I thought one of the boilers had ex- ploded. The boat was broken in two. I saw geysers of water flying up by the side of the funnel.
 We had been tcrpedoed. Hit in the center. Whistles footed and such crashing and tearing! I knew it was serious. I waited about 15 minutes, then decided there was no chance Of my being rescued. Laboriously I got on a life belt, resting the wounded arm on it. Then I jumped. l never expected to come out Of that The next thing I knew I was drawn over the side of an English submarine, given hot coffee, undressed and rubbed down, wounds were dressed, and l was landed safely in a Dover hospital. From there I was sent to my mother, who was waiting for me in Ramsgate. It was she who fought the doctors and saved my arm
 Daring Escape to Holland.
 After being torpedoed in the Eng fish hospital ship "Angleterre" in tho English chaane4 by a Hun submarine, while recuperating in England, I met my brother who had also made his way to England. a physical wreck, | from the German prisons.
 Frank went over to England to en- list and went into action with tho First Imperials In August, 1914. It was during the battle of the Marne, 1 1 think, that he was taken prisoner.
 His hands, almost shapeless are ] proof of what som etimes happens to 1 Eln glish prisoners who refuse to make 1 ammunition for the Huns to use on | us. After that they sent him to work | in the coal mines.
 Twice he attempted escape, once l reaching the border, and was sent l back. The third time he. worked out l the details more carefully. The first 1 thing he did was to line his suit with l sugar sacks this by way of clothing | when the time came to discard tho l things which would mark him. The 1 Germans make it impossible for their | prisoners to do away with the iden- tifying marks on their sleeves by their system of cutting out the material and 1 sewing in a strip of another color, 111 prisoner finds there is nothing to do but throw away the garment, as the empty hole Is just as good tdentifica- ton as the colored cloth sewed in.
 So when the propitious moment ar- rived. my brother and pal of his, Macintosh, a Scotchman, set forth in their sugar sacks. They had no maps and had to be guided by watch and compass. They had been told by he Germans that there was two hours difference In reckoning time be- .ween Holland and where they were n Germany of which they made men, al note and set their watches care fully by prison time. Eleven days hey travelled through woods and un- Ter cover of darkness, living on roots and what food the November woods afforded It seemed finally that they n uSI nave TeachSut 11oliaha. Iney approached populated districts, but were afraid to come out in the open to get information. A town clock struck the hour of Ii at night. But, of course the Holland clocks would be two hours different, so they figured they must still be in Germany.
 So on they labored. Two more hours Another Dutch clock struck, thls time saying 1 o'clock. Franks watch agreed.
 ''Yet VIC must have passed the Ger man border" Frank reasoned ."rhis