Republican farmer., 1918-03-22
STAYED BEHIND
GERMAN TRENCH
FOR five WEEKS
Most Remarkable Story of
the War Told By Private
Joe Taylor.
THIGH SHATTERED
BY. A HUN BULLET
Lies inShell Hole and CraWls
Over German Trench to
His Own Lines.

London. March 14.-What is re-
garded as one of the most astounding
stories of the war is told by Private
J. Taylor, of the London, regiment,
VINO has received a Distinguished
Conduct medal. Private Taylor's own
story, as told in the London Express,
is as follows:
1T was during one of the attacks
on part of the Hindenpurg line on
June 16 last year. We had gone over
the top two companies together, fol-
lowing up a successful attack made in
the same direction on the previous
day. This time we were met by a ter
rifle enemy fire, and our fellows were
| dropping like ninepins. I was
stretcher-bearer and was trying to
patch up one of our men who was
down. when was knocked out myself
| by the bullet which fractured my
| thigh.
after that I remembered nothing
for some hours. 1t may have been
day or it may have been two when I
recovered consciousness, with a
parching thirst and a great sense of
WEAKNESS and. pain.
| 81 discovered afterward that we
| A44uSI nave pdSSCO pSyOu0 our ODJ6C-
tive. and we were therefore behind
the enenly's trench and support trench
at this point. His front trench had
been taken on the previous day, and
these he now occupied were not back
ed up by others, but had open coun-
try behind them. did not know at
the time, however, that was behind
the enemy's lines at all. I managed
to crawl into a large shell hole near
at hand, and lay there another day
and night.
Then comrade, a man named
Peters, joined me. He also had been
wounded, but could move rather more
freely. He had found shelter in an
other hole near by4
1--WE could tell the position of our
own trenches fairly accurately by
watching the fire of the trench NOR
tars, which seemed about 1000 yards
away. I was in too much pain and
too weak to move. We lay together
all day in the hole, expecting every
minute almost to be hit, and at night
| Peters crept out and foraged among
the dead for scraps of bully beef and
iron rations' and water from their
bottles. After a few days, mercifully
it began to rain, and by spreading
our capes and a sheet we collected
drops of muddy water, which just
kept us alive.
This sort of existence lasted for
about five weeks. Then one night
Peters went out and did not return.
1 have learned since that he was TAX
en- prisoner
''It was the following night that the
Germans evidently rendered suspi-
cious by the capture of Peters, came
out-three of them-to the hole
where was lying. I lay perfectly still.
One of them lifted my leg, luckily not
the one that was broken, or I should
probably have cried out. They SEEM
ed satisfied and went away.
ST was now left without help in
getting food or drink. During the
next fortnight I eked out the small
remains of bully beef; then for two
days I had nothing. It was then,
feeling that nothing worse could hap
pen to me, that I resolved TO try to
crawl toward our own lines.
'tIt was an inky black night when
I started. 7 had gone some distance
when unexpectedly I came on the
German trench. I could have put my
hand out and touched the men. The
trench-a deep, narrow one-was
lightly held, and it would have been
impossible for me, with my broken
leg, to have climbed out Of it again,
even had I not been seen and seized
I managed to crawl a little distance
along to a quiet point, and then, sum-
moning up all the strength I could,
flung myself across. The Boches
neither saw orfheard.
'~The next thing I knew I was in
their wire, and how I scrambled
through I do not know, was mass
of cuts and blood and rags when it
was. over. I crawled on across No
Mans Land, and presently was
against more wire, It did not occur
to me at the time that it was British
wire, and I was dead beat Just then
a Very light shot up beside me, and
in its flash I saw an unmistakable
British face the other side of the wire.
I shouted, Don't shoot; I'm a Tom
'r.y!' A sergeant called out to know
who I was; then three of them lift
ed me over the wire.
ST must have been a sight; TO
clothes, starved almost to the bone,
bearded, filthy; but the men were
amazed to see me at all. They were
an advanced machine gun post, and
had been watching me crawling to-
ward them, ready to pick me off at
the right moment"
Private Taylor is single man,
about rs, and before the war worked
lin a factory in London. He was sew
en- times rejected for the army owing
4 to the fact that he is blind in the
right eye, but as he was otherwise fit
he succeeded at last in evading the
sight test by a feat of memory and
has developed almost into a marks
man, firing from the left shoulder.
Although he is still obliged to use
crutches he expects to recover the use
of both limbs.
nrrHN EAUE