The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-09-05

Table In the Cente- Of the Group
In the firsf place. had forgotten to
remove my wrist-watch. This watch
had been broken in my fall from the
air. but / had II repaired nj Courtrai.
In the leap from the train. the crystal
had been broken again. but 1t was
still going and would probably have
been of great service to me in my
subsequent adventures. but the swim
across the canal ruined ii.
Then, too, had not thought to take
my map out of my sock and the water
damaged that. too.
Thereafter. whenever I had any
swimming to do. was careful to TAX.
such matters into consideration. and
my usual practice was TO make IL
bundle of all the things thar would be
damaged by water and tie II to my
them dry.
1t was now daylight and knew that
II would be suicidal for me TO attempt
to travel In the daytime. My British
uniform would have been fatal to me.
decided to hide In the daytime and
travel only at night.
Not far from the canal could see a
! heavily-wooded piece of ground, and 1
made my way there. BY this time 1
had discovered that my left ankle had
been strained In my leap from the
train. and when 1 got to the woods
was glad to lie down and rest. The
wound in my mouth had been opened.
too. when jumped. and 1t would have
been difficult for me to have swallowed
had not the piece of bread. which was
to serve for my breakfast. got Wet
when l swan the canal. found safe
hiding place In which to spend the
day and / tried to dry some OF my
clothes. but slight drizzling rainfall
made that out of the question. knew
that / ought to sleep. as I planned to
travel at night, but sore as / was,
caked with mud and blood. my CLOTH
Ing soaked through and my hunger not
nearly. nppeased, sleep was out OF the
question. This seemed to me about
the longest day / had ever spent, but
! was still to learn how long day can
really be and how much longer a night.
When night came l dragged myself
together and headed northeast.
My clothing consisted of my Flying
Corps uniform. two shirts. no under
wear. leather leggings. heavy shoes, a
good pair of wool socks and German
cap. I had wallet containing sew
erHl hundred francs In paper money
and various other papers. / also had
jackknife which had stolen one
day before from the property room at
1 oil 4hn <.(-
fccts taken from prisoners were kept.
For day or two had carried a knnp-
sack. but us had nothing to carry in
1t discarded 1t.
| travelled rapidly, considering my
| difficulties, and swan a couple of
canals that night. covering In. all Der
maps ten miles before daylight. T:see::::
located In some low bushes, lying
there all day I'm my wet clothes and
finishing my sausage for food. That
| was the last of my ratlons.
That night made perhaps the same
| distance, but became very hungry and
thirsty before the night was over.
] For the next six days still figured
that I was In Germany. and was iiv.
ing on nothing but cabbage, sugal
beets and an occasional carrot, always
In the raw state just as got them
out Of the fields. The water drank
was often very rank. One night lay
In cabbage patch for an hour tapping
the dew from the leaves with my
tonguei
During this period realized that
must avoid meeting anyone at all haz
| orfla xva 9 In tho auafuvsa fr.nnfrv n nd
my Uniform would have been a deat
! give-nway. Anyone who captured nut
or who gave information from which
my capture resulted might have beer
sure Of handsome reward. ! knew
j that It was necessary for me to make
i progress ns fast as possible. but th'
main consideration WIS to keep out q