Evening star., 1944-11-08
Soldier Hero Carries
Wounded Lieutenant
800 Yards Under Fire
BY L. S. b. SHAPIRO,

North American Newspaper Alliance.
WITH THE CANADIAN 1st
ARMY ON THE sCHELDE ESIU-
ARY.-Of all the vicious actions
fought to clear the approaches to
the Port of Antwerp none has at
tanned the horror Of the attack
along the causeway linking South
Beveland and Walcheren Islands.
OF all the deeds of heroism that
have emerged from troops who were
locked in this close, desperate battle
probably none was endowed with the
inspiration that brought strength
and courage to stocky little Cana
dian from Vancouver, British
Columbia. CorpI. Alex Morris, whose
classic journey of mercy approaches
the quality of a true miracle.
| The causeway is mound Of mud
and cobblestones rising out of the
flood waters of the Schelde Estuary.
1t is about 40 yards wide and runs
straight as die for 1000 yards be-
tween the islands. 1t is bald and
bleak, and anything moving on 1t is
silhouetted like a tin duck in a
shooting gallery.
A Canadian battalion opened the
attack on Walcheren on a foggy
midnight. The leading company
crept cautiously onto the causeWay,
the men carrying their supplies on
their backs. A huge crater in the
dead center of the causeway made
| it impossible even for small
tracked carrier to move across.
Troops Dig In Along Slope.
Corpl. Morris platoon slithered
| forward. Before 100 yards of the
causeway had been covered German
guns on Walcheren opened up with
terrifying concentration of ac-
curate firing. The Germans had
ranged the cauSeway for two days.
Eighty-e lights, mortars, machine
guns and even ack-ack guns raked
the Canadians. The troops dug in
on the slopes Of the causeway and
then moved ahead whenever there
was slight slackening of this hell
ish fire.
At dawn they had progressed 300
yards and the Germans, intrenched
along the Walcheren coastal dixie,
were plastering them at a range of
200 yards. Canadian dead were left
unburied while teams of stretcher-
bearers. wearing large Red Cross
armbands. struggled back with the
wounded
At full light OF day Corpl. Nor
ris' platoon commander, a big, raw
boned lieutenant from Western
Canada, crept along the last stretch
naissance He had moved only a
few yards when a mortar exploded
in the mud nearby. He fell. his
chest pierced by fragment, and he
lay very still
When Corpl. Morris reached him
blood was oozing from his mouth,
but he still breathed. There were
no stretcher- bearers left at this
forward post and the only way back
to the nearest regimental aid post
was along the 800 yards of open
causeway which was covered by
every gun in the German arsenal.
Comrades Don't Explain 1t.
Corpl. Morris flung the lieutenant's s
/ limp body over his shoulder and
started back, stumbling and slip
ping on the muddy slope of the
causeway. How Morris managed to
carry his commander all the way
back to Beveland Island is some
thing his comrades cannot explain
They only know that they saw him
do 1t.
They saw him struggling upright
with his heavy burden through the
hail OF fire that was pinning down
a whole battalion. Yard by yard
with heavy machine gun and NOR
tar fire constantly playing around
him, he stumbled along the cause
way.
The miracle that endowed him
with the strength no battle-weary
soldier should possess also endowed
his journey with success. He
reached the lower end of the cause
way without being hit, and officers
from an artillery observation post
rushed out to carry the wounded
man the last few yards to q medical
officers dugout.
The men of this Western Ca
madam battalion have a lot Of
stories to tell of the murderous
causeway battle. but they talk
mostly about Corpl. Alex Morris
and how he saved his lieutenant S
life. And when they talk about this
it is In soft tones. as though they
were awed by something deeper than
the fortunes of war.