The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1918-04-26
hut the average English officer II a

good sport. He will sit on q fire step
and listen respectfully to Private
Jones' theory Of the way the war
should be conducted. This war is
gradually crumbling the once insur-
mountable wall Of caste.
You would be convinced Of this II
you could see King George 60 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 Is he reads the In
scription. And a little later perhaps
bend over q wounded man on q stretch.
er, patting him on the head.
More than once In q hospital / have
seen q titled Red Cross nurse fetching
and carrying for a wounded soldier,
perhaps the one who In civil life de-
nvered the coal at her back door. To
day she does not shrink from lighting
his tag or even washing his grimy
body.
Tommy admires Albert Of Belgium be-
cause he Is not a pusher Of men; he
leads them. With him it's not a case
Of take that trench" It 10 "come on
and we will take It"
It - amusing to notice the different
characteristics Of the Irish, Scotch and
English soldiers. The Irish and Scotch
are very impetuous, especially when It
comes to bayonet fighting. while the
Engiishman, though a tri1e slower,
thoroughly does his bit; he is' more
methodical and has the grip of q bull
dog on a captured position. he Is
slower to think : that Il 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 rife to- see that It
is in working order and will fire prop
erly. After this examination he is sat.
isied 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 1t Is so rusty-but he
splits 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 "knzac," 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 al fol.
lows: Prussians, Bavarfans and Sax
ons.
When up against O Prussian regf.
ment 1t Is a case Of keep your napper
below the parapet and duck. A bang
bang all the time and q war is on. The
B~avardans are little better. but the
Sa1ons r fairly good sports and are
willing occasionally to behave as gen.
tlemen and take 1t easy, but you can
not trust any of them overlong.
At one point Of the line the trenches
were about thirty-two yards apart.
This sounds horrible, but In fact 1t was
easy, because neither side, could shell
the enemy's front.line trench for fear
shells would drop into their own. This
eliminated artillery fire.
In these trenches when up against
the Prussians and Bavarians, Tommy
had a hot time Of it, but when the Sax
ons took over" 1t was a picnic; they
would yell across that they were Sax
ons and would not fire. Both sides
would sit on the parapet and carry on
a conversation. This generally consist
ed Of Tommy telling them how much
he loved the kaiser, while the Sa1ons
informed Tommy that King George
was q particular friend Of theirs and
hoped that he was doing nicely.
When the Saxons were to be relieved
by Prussians or Bavarians, they would
yell this information across No Mans
Land and Tommy would Immediately
tumble into his trench and keep his
head down..
If an English regiment vas to be re-
neved by the wild Irish, Tommy would
tell the SaIons, and Immediately a vol
ley Of Bonner und Bntzens" could
be heard and 1t was Fritz's turn to get
a crtck In his back from STOPPING, and
the people in Berlin would close their
windows.
Usually when an Irishman takes over
a trench, just before stand down" in
the morning, he sticks his rifle over
the top, aimed In the direction Of Ber-
lin. and engages in what is known as
the mad minute" This consists of
firing fifteen shots in a minute. BE
Is not aiming at anything In particular
just sends over each ahot with Q