New Britain herald., 1927-11-11
ENGLAND HAS ITS
 SERGEANT YORK
ArmistiCe Day Recalls Heroism
 Of William AIney

London, Nov. II If you were Introducing William Amey former lance corporal In the Warwickshirc infantry. to an American. the best way to do 1t would be to say:
 This man is the Sergeant York Of England"
 Sergeant York, you will recall, was selected as the greatest ind- vldual hero of the A. E. r. Similar ly, William Amoy could easily be picked for corresponding rank among England's heroes. And Arm istice Day is an excellent time to tell about him.
 Hard Prize to Win
 Amey, to begin with. holds one of the most highly prized dccora- ton in the world the Victoria Cross. The V. C.. granted only for deeds of the highest heroism, usual ly goes to 8 man after his death, for the simple reason that q deed that merits the honor usually ends fatally for the doer. An officer has 10 recommend the hero for the Y. C.; the colonel of the regiment, the hrlgadier general and various lieutenants and major generals have to approve the rcCommenda- ton, and finally the king himself must pass on il.
 But Amey got one - and is alive today to tell about it.
 Amey joined up in 1916, at the age of 35, from bennington. His army career was without any un- usual incidents until the closing fortnight of the war, when the 18th British army corps was engaged in the last "big push" in the vicinity Of the St. Quentin canal, near the spot where Quentin Roosevelt lost his life.
 At 5:3n on q. chilly, foggy morn ing Amey's battalion went over the top. with the village of LandreCies as its objective.
 The whole country was wrapped in thick blanket of fog" says Amey. Part of our outfit went forward so fast that 1t failed to mop up, and our men were falling victims to machine gun nests that had been left undsturbed. It was easy to get lost Or separated in that fog. Directly, l found myself ac- companiod by only one man. stumbling along through muddy field
 "On one side of the road was a thick, high, tough hedge. Judging by the lights we saw in the fog we concluded that German gun fire l,,t |
 Come on.' 1 said 10 my pal. We're going 10 see what's on the other side of that hedge
 Seven Machine Guns
 50 we busted through, at the cost Of come scratches. Crlckey. There behind that hedge were seven machine guns, sticking their shouts through the hedge while the Ger mans, safe and sound. were pepper ing our men. took my rifle and shot down one crew. The others saw us, but they couldn't pull their machine guns out of the hedge and turn them on US, and they didn t. have time to pull their service re- volvers. They just ran for 1t and disappeared in the fog.
 "Come on.' I said 10 my pal, we're going after them. You know, when your blood is I'D you don't think about danger or the odds against you or anything of that sort. You just keep going, Well, we went. We saw TO trace of the gunners. But directly we saw something big and dark loom up III the fog. l thought it was a little fortress, but it was only French Farmhouse. '.,There was no sign Of life, and I barged in through the open door. The rooms were empty, but there was a stairway that led down 10 a deep cellar. l shifted my rifle, took hand grenade and started to tiptoe down that cellar stair. For a minute l was dazzled by the light. The Germans might have been short on food but there | certainly was no candle shortage. l In one corner of the cellar there | were 50 Germans, and it seemed : like every one of them had lit n ! candle. Near the stairs huddlcd . the French family - two old men, ! two old women and some kids. T raised my hand grenade and . told that German crowd to put their . hands up and keep them up. They [ did.
 Captured Whole Crowd "One Of the old women was so glad to see me she kissed me, and . one of the old men slipped me glass Of cognac. I told him in my best FrenCh-which isn't much--to . go up stairs and call my pals. Then . I told those Germans l was going up and that they were to follow mo in single file, every man with his hands up. Every man was to leave arms Of every kind down in that cellar. I said that the first man that disoteyed would be shot dead, They came up, the whole 50. By that time some of the soldiers of my section had been summoned by the old Frenchman and we bagged the whole lot.
 T suppose I owe my life to a
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