The Washington times., 1922-09-18

anotherD wniie the cause OF all
the trouble y also missing. \. :
Fire was; opened by ths, .enehiy al
close range. 81 - q \ ~ = ss ~ Y ~
THE commander Of our llittIe
force was atop d telegraph pole and
had time TO shout q warming an
instant before the firing began.
His men jumped to cover while he
dropped off the pole behind q iow
bank beside the railway Two Of
the four managed to make good
their escape, but the other two---
Lieut.. M. Gleeson and Condt. @.
MoCarthy--were killed. r'tsi Sf
AS they ran across .field Me.
Carthy fell wounded, and Gleesofi
went ON without noticing II. But on
reaching o place Of safety and find
ing his coinrade missing he imme-
diately started to retrace his steps.
Presently he saw him lying in the
open field across which an English
machine gun and about a dozen
rifles were pouring a hail of lead
at about 100 yards range. At the
same time Glees0n saw a party OF
five English soldiers scurrying
around the field to cut off their re-
treat. H.. ing u
Would Not Leave Gomrade.
7''It must have been as evident
asst was 10 my infortnants, who
were. looking on. that no power
on earth could save Mccarthy, but
1t was equally evident that Glee-
son preferred going back and dying
NErtH h 10 a. n -.
Racing down the field, straight In.
to the fusilade Of bullets, he knelt
beside Mccarthy and lifted him onto
his back-with his right hand busily
firing his revolver at the pursuing
soldiers as he carried his comrade
up the field. Another moment and
Gleeson fell badly wounded-whiie
Mccarthy collapsed a few yards
further on. r.
when the British troops came
up on Gleeson they found him stiil
unconquered. With his last breath
he fired his last cartridge at them.
That was the performance OF an
Irish, boy of twenty years OF age
who had never before been In action!
According TO the British officer In
charge-a Lieutenant Gordon OF the
Royal Scots--who had been through
the world war Gleeson was the
bravest man he had ever seen! His
men, however. apparently did not
share his opinion. They frightfully
mutilated the body-as also that OF
Mccarthy. ''...
Commander Saved Men. r
I'm the same brigade area, at
about the same time. ten Of our sol
diers, exhausted after forced
march. were attacked by q strong
patrol ofconstabuiarfy Eight Of our
ten lads had never before been in
action and were unnerved by fatIgife
and the audiences of the attack.
How they were saved by the bravery
and resourcefulness OF their two
officers Is worth telling. ~.
They had started to cross an open
field when the constabularly number
ing twenty-five suddenly swept UP
behind them In lorries and opened
,nre. 1t was a roasting day, and
our men we're completely played out.
The consta5ularly were, Of course,
quite fresh. Our men dashed TO
shelter under orders of their com
mander who himself stood his ground
to ,eoyer their retreat. Almost i'm.
pasdiately, one of the others came
hack to his commander, and
Insisted ,.sn .femaining with him, He
was Brigade Police officer Thomas
Healy. e. II 10
''As these two men slowly retreated
firing at their pursuers, and delaying
lthem-Heaiy,;a at last sank to the
ground in q state Of collapse. He
had not been wounded. His death
was duesto heart failure. He was n
native of iTraiee and had been q
OF the r. I. G. from which
he hdSresigned a year earlier. -,
.One Against Twenty.Two.,
Meantime the others were be.
coming SO exhausted they could
hardly stand. their commander hav-
ir>g now to cover the retreat alone.
being obliged to order, coax. threaten
and appeal to them TO keep moving
Here then was one man fighting
twenty-five men, with eight Of his
own command useless as corn Dat.
ants. He was a good shot. however,
and managed to bring down more
than one OF the enemy at 500 yards
range. The pursuit lasted half an
hour-all Of II uphill--but In the
end the constabuiarly Withdrew.
After almost superhuman efforts
the commander had succeeded In
saving all of this men. except Healy.
"fhese were typical deeds. Ard
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