New Britain herald., 1919-07-24
TELLS OF SEEING
 HUNS RAZE TOWN
One Long Yank Host" Between
 Opposing Armies

Boston, July 24.-The deliberate
 and wilful destruction of a French
 town by retreating Huns was re-
 counted today by Thomas Haydock of
 Brockton, Mass, the sole eyewitness
 for several hours to the burning of
 Attigny.
 Haydock, who has just returned
 from a years service with the Sec
 ond division, in which he was d sec-
 retary for the Y. M. c. A., actually
 drove a camionette loaded with can
 teen supplies across No Mans Land
 during the Champagne offensive. He
 was in search of one of the regiments
 in the line and had been misdirected
 by a soldier.
 Driving past a French mounted pa
 trol at the foot of a hill, he came
 unexpectedly to the edge of a burn
 ing village. Although most of the
 towns in the vicinity were shoulder
 ing as a result of the terrific shell
 fire to which they had been sub
 jected, Haydock instinctively sensed something amiss.
 After four hours of wary inves- tigation on foot, while buildings col lapsed and loud detonations indicated where the Hun mines had been plant ed, he decided that the enemy had evacuated after setting in motion their hellish machines of destruction All the public buildings, including the l church and the hotel de vile were either in flames or SmOuldering ruins His most startling discovery, how ever, was that Thomas Haydock, erst- while respected Brockton citizen and business man, was in sole possession of the town somewhere between the Allied and German lines. On his left he heard intermittently the 'taCll-a- tack-a- tack of the busy machine guns, while an occasional "Whe-e-e-' Zzzing! of a "bON-Car" arrival point ed out where Jerry" was plopping his shells. Nor did this knowledge | tend to cheer him any.
 That evenng when things had quiet ed a little, he determined to make ] his way back to the safety of the , front lines Upon arriving at his camionette he found a French dis mounted patrol in possession, who received him with fixed bayonettes. After a great deal of di culty in | trying to explain his position-wild gestulations being of no avail-he | finally pacified the French command CT by distributing packages of bis cults among the soldiers from the supply of "Y'' eatables he had on board.
 That night, while the Hun pound 1 ed out his hate with a deadly vehe- | mence, Haydock took refuge with his new found friends in a nearby eel 1 lar. Fortunately his camionette es- 1 capped serious injury and the follow l ing morning, after dispensing the l peace-making biscuits and chocolate 1 bars again, he returned safely to his 1 base.
 1 During the St Mihie1 drive, Hay | dock said that the chief of the 23d 1 field hospital called on the '4' to 1 help out with some transportation. ] With another secretary, he took an A. F. c. truck loaded with hospital supplies and equipment forward ill 1 the wake of the retreating enemy. ] After some close calls on the traffic | damned roads they arrived at Thier- l court. thirty-six hours after starting. 1 We brought a truck load of refu-
 gees back" he said, and their help l | old French woman-they were aU 1 old men and women, or children l told me how severe the Hun had been 1 during his four years of tyranny and 1 misrule. She said they were worked 1 harder than they were physically able 1 to work without regard to age or sex. l The children were severely beaten if 1 they refused or shirked their tasks" Haydock spoke highly of the Red Triangle personnel With the Second division. many of whom were deco rated for personal bravery and fort- tude. Miss Oral Henthorne of Port 1 land, Ore, he said, deserved the | highest praise. She was constantly l under shell fire in advanced hospitals | and had earned the undying gratl- | tude of the wounded Thomas Will 1 bor, of Connecticut, twice decorated, was almost shot to pieces in the Champagne.
 r l.