The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1919-06-02
DIR. +. ]. CAHILL BACK
FROM GERMAN PRISON
WelI-Known Hoosick Falls Physician
Who Entered Service Two Years
Aoo

Back from a German prison camp,
with the tan of service on his face,
Capt Francis ]. Cahill of Hoosick
Falls, reached his home town" Fri
day. Those who saw him serve were
enthusiastic concerning his personal
bravery and the effectiveness of his
service, for he was right up in the
front line a week after he landed in
France, in June, 1917, until he was
captured when the Germans made the
big drive in March, 1918. The sights
Fhea saw he said Were terrible rand
, heart rending. lie was with the Sec
ond-Fourth Oxford and Bucks Regi-
ment of the British. The first battle
he was IN was at Ypres and then
Arras and at Cambria where the
American Engineers threw down their
picks and saved the day. Captain Ca
hill said that at the first dressing sta
tions, first aid was administered and
sometimes ii was necessary to do
more extensive work. The wounded
we're cared for as well as possible so
that they could be transported back
to the base hospitals, generally in
England Amputations were some
times necessary and also the tourni-
quet was applied
Captain Cahill entered the service
in May. 1917 and went over to Europe
on the Orduna. On that ship were
/ Major Quentin Roosevelt and Captain
"Hobey" Baker, both of whom were
killed and Captain Miller OF the Yale
football team. About the only excit-
ing incidents on the trip across was a
/ fire on shipboard and the vessel was
also hit by a Belgian relief ship. The
ship had to go into Halifax for re-
pair..
Captain Cahill was captured March
81, 1918, with about $4,000 others in
the midst of the big German drive on
ST. Quentin. He had been slightly
gassed before but he was badly gas
sed on the day that he was taken
', The Germans, he said, threw gas
shells over the British lines for five
hours at a stretch The prisoners
were taken to Bachant, in the north
ern part of France, and then internet
in the famous Rattstat Prison. BE
yond not feeding them, the German
treated the prisoners we'll, They wer
given bit OF bread in the morninl
and coffee substitute made OF barley
In the afternoon they were offered
bowl Of soup, which was about ninet
per cent. water and the other ten pc
cent. carrots, and this "delicacy" wa
repeated in the evening. The prison
ers were let alone, the populace b.
ing kept away In fact, the prise
: was about seventy miles away froi
n the nearest city OF any size, whic
a was Danzig. There was an Englis
+ library in the prison and the prlsol
ers were allowed to use this and the
were also permitted to play sue
games as indoor baseball and chicke
Often men tried to escape, but n,
many successful getaways We're mad
Those who did leave and were reta'
en- were given two weeks solitary co
finement. The "6u" hit the prisoner
very hard and Captain Cahill helpt
as best he could In the epidem
which ragged there. Finally the re-
Cross packages OF food came throul
and life became more endurable. La
June the prisoners we're transferr,
to a prison at Gaudnz in West Pru
STA. Captain Cahill returned to III
country on the Aquitania and VI
mustered out of service at Camp D
II on April 90.