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diff --git a/75487-h/75487-h.htm b/75487-h/75487-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c92e2b --- /dev/null +++ b/75487-h/75487-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,34545 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + Deeds of Heroism and Bravery | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} + +hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 47.5%; margin-right: 47.5%;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} +.tdc {text-align: center;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; + color: #A9A9A9; +} /* page numbers */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.bb {border-bottom: 2px solid;} + +.bl {border-left: 2px solid;} + +.bt {border-top: 2px solid;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: normal;} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} +img.w100 {width: 100%;} + + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} +/* comment out next line and uncomment the following one for floating figleft on ebookmaker output */ +.x-ebookmaker .figleft {float: none; text-align: center; margin-right: 0;} +/* .x-ebookmaker .figleft {float: left;} */ + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} +/* comment out next line and uncomment the following one for floating figright on ebookmaker output */ +.x-ebookmaker .figright {float: none; text-align: center; margin-left: 0;} +/* .x-ebookmaker .figright {float: right;} */ + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: 1px dashed;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +/* uncomment the next line for centered poetry */ +.poetry-container {display: flex; justify-content: center;} +.poetry-container {text-align: center;} +.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} +.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} +.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:small; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; +} + +.fs70 {font-size: 70%} +.fs80 {font-size: 80%} +.fs90 {font-size: 90%} +.fs120 {font-size: 120%} +.fs130 {font-size: 130%} +.fs150 {font-size: 150%} +.fs200 {font-size: 200%} + +.no-indent {text-indent: 0em;} +.bold {font-weight: bold;} +.wsp {word-spacing: 0.3em;} + +p.drop-cap { + text-indent: 0em; +} +p.drop-cap:first-letter +{ + float: left; + margin: 0em 0.1em 0em 0em; + font-size: 250%; + line-height:0.85em; +} + +.poetry .drop-cap:first-letter +{ + float: left; + margin: 0em 0.6em 0em 0em; + font-size: 250%; + line-height:0.85em; +} + +.upper-case +{ + text-transform: uppercase; +} + +h2 {font-size: 130%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.6em; word-spacing: .3em;} +h3 {font-size: 90%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.6em; word-spacing: .3em;} + +/* Poetry indents */ +.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3em;} +.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2em;} +.poetry .indent30 {text-indent: 12em;} +.poetry .indent4 {text-indent: -1em;} + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp100 {width: 100%;} +.illowp15 {width: 15%;} +.illowp5 {width: 5%;} +.illowp65 {width: 65%;} +.illowp85 {width: 85%;} +.illowp45 {width: 45%;} + +.lh {line-height: 1.5em;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75487 ***</div> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 85%"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover"> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h1>DEEDS OF HEROISM AND BRAVERY</h1> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp5" id="i_a_half-title" style="max-width: 6.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_a_half-title.jpg" alt="Decoration"> +</figure> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_a_frontispiece" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_a_frontispiece.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +By J. F. Bouchor<br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent">Honor to the Brave</p></figcaption> +</figure> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center no-indent fs200 wsp"> +DEEDS OF HEROISM<br> +AND BRAVERY</p> +<p class="center no-indent fs150 wsp"> +<em>The Book of Heroes and<br> +Personal Daring</em></p> +<br> +<p class="center no-indent wsp lh">INTRODUCTION BY<br> +<span class="fs130">RUPERT HUGHES</span><br> +<br> +<span class="fs90">EDITED BY</span><br> +<span class="fs120">ELWYN A. BARRON</span><br> +<br> +<em>Profusely Illustrated</em></p> +<br> +<figure class="figcenter illowp15" id="i_a_title_page" style="max-width: 24.375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_a_title_page.jpg" alt="Decoration"> +</figure> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="center no-indent wsp lh"><span class="smcap fs150">Harper & Brothers Publishers</span><br> +NEW YORK AND LONDON<br> +Established 1817<br> +</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center no-indent fs70 wsp"> +<span class="smcap">Deeds of Heroism and Bravery</span></p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center no-indent fs70 wsp">Copyright, 1920, by Harper & Brothers<br> +Printed in the United States of America<br> +<span class="fs90">E-V</span><br> +</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> +</div> + +<table class="autotable lh" style="width: 70%"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"></td> +<td class="tdr fs70">PAGE</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em;" colspan="2">I. FIELD AND TRENCH ORDEALS</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">“And a Few Marines”</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#AND_A_FEW_MARINES">1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Forward Lancers</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#FORWARD_LANCERS">10</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">An Unparalleled Hero</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#AN_UNPARALLELED_HERO">13</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Nemesis of Flame</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_NEMESIS_OF_FLAME">18</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">He Jests at Scars</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#HE_JESTS_AT_SCARS">20</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Epic of the Foreign Legion</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#EPIC_OF_THE_FOREIGN_LEGION">27</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">“Doc” of the Fifth</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#DOC_OF_THE_FIFTH">32</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Couldn’t Stop Them</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#COULDNT_STOP_THEM">35</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">One of Our Boys</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#ONE_OF_OUR_BOYS">41</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Guthrie of the Kilties</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#GUTHRIE_OF_THE_KILTIES">44</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Not So Unspeakable</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#NOT_SO_UNSPEAKABLE">47</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Medical Corps</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_MEDICAL_CORPS">48</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Some Red Cross Weaklings</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#SOME_RED_CROSS_WEAKLINGS">49</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">“Eh! Men, ’Twas Grand!”</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#EH_MON_TWAS_GRAND">55</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">One Survived</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#ONE_SURVIVED">57</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Tank Man Talks</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#TANK-MAN_TALKS">58</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Garibaldi Code</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_GARIBALDI_CODE">62</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Bald Facts</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BALD_FACTS">65</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">O’Leary Stepped In</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#OLEARY_STEPPED_IN">71</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">When the Yanks Went In</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#WHEN_THE_YANKS_WENT_IN">74</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Humor and Heroism</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#HUMOR_AND_HEROISM">79</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">England’s Indian Warriors</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#ENGLANDS_INDIAN_WARRIORS">85</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">A Lively Introduction</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#A_LIVELY_INTRODUCTION">92</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">A Valiant Gentleman</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#A_VALIANT_GENTLEMAN">95</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Where Denominations End</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#WHERE_DENOMINATIONS_END">100</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Buckeyes or Spearheads</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#BUCKEYES_OR_SPEARHEADS">103</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Corporal Holmes’ Way</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#CORPORAL_HOLMESS_WAY">106</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Not Dead But Fighting</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#NOT_DEAD_BUT_FIGHTING">109</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">When the Light Failed</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#WHEN_THE_LIGHT_FAILED">114</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Cloud of Blacks</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_CLOUD_OF_BLACKS">116</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Hubbell Bagged ’Em</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#HUBBELL_BAGGED_EM">121</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Was He a Coward?</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#WAS_HE_A_COWARD">123</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Two Heroes of Hill 60</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#TWO_HEROES_OF_HILL_60">128</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Colonel Freyberg, V. C.</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#COLONEL_FREYBERG_VC">131</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">One of the D. S. C. Men</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#ONE_OF_THE_D_S_C_MEN">133</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Colored Troops Reach the Rhine</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#COLORED_TROOPS_REACH_THE_RHINE">135</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Good Old Potts</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#GOOD_OLD_POTTS">138</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">It Was Up to Bill</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#IT_WAS_UP_TO_BILL">139</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Rendezvous</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_RENDEZVOUS">142</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Staying to the End</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#STAYING_TO_THE_END">146</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Without the Glamour</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#WITHOUT_THE_GLAMOUR">147</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Big Adam’s Hare Soup</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#BIG_ADAMS_HARE_SOUP">156</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">A Blue Grass Canadian</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#A_BLUE_GRASS_CANADIAN">158</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Mistress “Razzle Dazzle”</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#MISTRESS_RAZZLE_DAZZLE">165</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Painter Soldier</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_PAINTER_SOLDIER">169</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em;" colspan="2">II. WOMEN WHO DARED</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Edith Cavell Martyr Heroine</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#EDITH_CAVELLMARTYR-HEROINE">172</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">A Picardy Heroine</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#A_PICARDY_HEROINE">181</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Girls of the Battalion</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#GIRLS_OF_THE_BATTALION">183</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Her Ambulance Unit</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#HER_AMBULANCE_UNIT">186</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">A True Heroine</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#A_TRUE_HEROINE">188</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">A Heroine of Humanity</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#A_HEROINE_OF_HUMANITY">190</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em;" colspan="2">III. ADVENTURE IN THE AIR</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">One of the Great “Aces”</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#ONE_OF_THE_GREAT_ACES">191</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Lafayette Escadrille</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_LAFAYETTE_ESCADRILLE">196</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">A Legendary Hero</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#A_LEGENDARY_HERO">202</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Worthy Citation</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#WORTHY_CITATION">207</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">A Challenge Duel</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#A_CHALLENGE_DUEL">209</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">An American Wonder</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#AN_AMERICAN_WONDER">211</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">One to Twenty-two</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#ONE_TO_TWENTY-TWO">215</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">From Saddle to CockPit</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#FROM_SADDLE_TO_COCKPIT">215</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Dodging “Jack Death”</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#DODGING_JACK_DEATH">221</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Warneford’s Triumph</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#WARNEFORDS_TRIUMPH">223</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">One Minute Plus</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#ONE_MINUTE_PLUS">227</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">“The Pictures Are Good”</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_PICTURES_ARE_GOOD">232</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Subduing the Turk</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#SUBDUING_THE_TURK">235</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">A Daring Pursuit</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#A_DARING_PURSUIT">237</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Roosevelt Boys</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_ROOSEVELT_BOYS">238</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Just What He Wanted</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#JUST_WHAT_HE_WANTED">249</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">“The Red Battle Flyer”</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_RED_BATTLE_FLYER">253</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Pat O’Brien Outwits the Hun</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#PAT_OBRIEN_OUTWITS_THE_HUN">257</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Track and Trackless Winner</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#A_TRACK_AND_TRACKLESS_WINNER">259</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Gunboat (Poem)</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_GUNBOAT">264</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em;" colspan="2">IV. SEA AND SUB-SEA STORIES</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Captain Fryatt’s Murder</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#CAPTAIN_FRYATTS_MURDER">265</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Jules Verne Vindicated</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#JULES_VERNE_VINDICATED">271</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Weddigen’s Wonder Feat</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#WEDDIGENS_WONDER_FEAT">274</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Torpedoed</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#TORPEDOED">281</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Valleys of the Blue Shrouds</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_VALLEYS_OF_THE_BLUE_SHROUDS">288</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Rizzo Sinks the <em>Wien</em></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#RIZZO_SINKS_THE_WIEN">290</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Edith Cavell (Poem)</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#EDITH_CAVELL">291</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">As of Old</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#AS_OF_OLD">293</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Death in a Submarine</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#DEATH_IN_A_SUBMARINE">295</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">A Notable Exploit</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#A_NOTABLE_EXPLOIT">297</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Rescue Extraordinary</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#RESCUE_EXTRAORDINARY">304</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">I Have a Rendezvous with Death (Poem)</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#I_HAVE_A_RENDEZVOUS_WITH_DEATH">315</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Tricking the Turk</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#TRICKING_THE_TURK">317</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Canadians (Poem)</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#CANADIANS">318</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">First of Its Kind</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#FIRST_OF_ITS_KIND">318</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Not to Be Forgotten</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#NOT_TO_BE_FORGOTTEN">322</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Christmas in the Trenches</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHRISTMAS_IN_THE_TRENCHES">324</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em;" colspan="2">V. ESPIONAGE AND SPIES</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Spying at Its Worst</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#SPYING_AT_ITS_WORST">326</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">As to Spies in England</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#AS_TO_SPIES_IN_ENGLAND">348</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Edith Cavell’s Betrayer</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#EDITH_CAVELLS_BETRAYER">352</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Edith Cavell</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#EDITH_CAVELL2">354</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Spy Mill</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_SPY_MILL">355</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Alois the Silent</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#ALOIS_THE_SILENT">357</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Eye of the Morning</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#EYE_OF_THE_MORNING">360</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Better Wrecker than Spy</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#BETTER_WRECKER_THAN_SPY">363</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Delicate Scruples</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#DELICATE_SCRUPLES">368</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Frustrated Diabolism</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#FRUSTRATED_DIABOLISM">369</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Here’s to Constable Richings</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#HERES_TO_CONSTABLE_RITCHINGS">378</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">What Gilles Brought In</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#WHAT_GILLES_BROUGHT_IN">379</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em;" colspan="2">VI. AMERICA AT THE FRONT</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Rock of the Marne</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_ROCK_OF_THE_MARNE">381</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">America’s Highest War Honor</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#AMERICAS_HIGHEST_WAR_HONOR">388</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="ILLUSTRATIONS_IN_COLOR">ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR</h2> +</div> + +<table class="autotable lh" style="width: 70%"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Honors to the Brave</td> +<td class="tdr fs80"><em><a href="#i_a_frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">The Sister of Mercy</td> +<td class="tdr fs80"><em>Facing page</em></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_b_048fp">48</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Sergeant George E. Burr</td> +<td class="tdc">”</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_b_102fp">102</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Captain Douglass Campbell</td> +<td class="tdc">”</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_b_152fp">152</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Corporal Walter E. Gaultney</td> +<td class="tdc">”</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_b_200fp">200</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Sergeant Herman Korth</td> +<td class="tdc">”</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_b_254fp">254</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Master Signal Electrician E. J. Moore</td> +<td class="tdc">”</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_b_304fp">304</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Corporal John J. O’Brien</td> +<td class="tdc">”</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_b_354fp">354</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent fs130"><em>Bravery</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">By RUPERT HUGHES</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Formerly Major United States Army</p> +<br> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Bravery</span> is the beautiful, impatient gesture of the soul at its highest +reach, baring its own breast to a fatal wound in its eagerness to +deal a fatal blow at something it abhors.</p> + +<p>Bravery is poetry, drama in deed instead of word. It has always +been lovable and beloved.</p> + +<p>There is distinguished valor as there is distinguished art, for there +are degrees of courage as of intelligence and talent. Many people +think beautiful thoughts: a few express them. Someone frames an old +idea with an exquisite twist of phrase and a universal proverb results. +So some one citizen expresses in one felicitous act an ideal of his people +and is accepted as their national hero.</p> + +<p>Conspicuous bravery always owes part of its success to good +fortune. At the cry of a leader—or in this war at the arrival of “zero +hour” on the wrist watches—a whole regiment went forward, nearly +every man doing his duty with complete courage. Some heroes were +dogged and unimaginative; some revealed ingenuity or invention. But +to a single man fell the opportunity and the inspiration to do some extra +task with a certain picturesque felicity. His unluckier companions and +his generals rejoiced to celebrate him, diminishing their own prestige +to enhance his. And the story of his happy thought becomes the delight +of his nation, and perhaps of many nations.</p> + +<p>There is a kind of injustice in it as there generally is in awards and +preferments. Where all have forgotten selfishness and comfort and +cast their lives into the furnace, it seems a pity that only a few should +emerge with fame. And yet since we can no more remember all our +heroes than we can call the roll of the stars in our sky, it would be a +mistake to favor no one, to have no crosses of war.</p> + +<p>The schoolboys cherish the name of Leonidas and the 300 Spartans +at Thermopylæ. But they ignore the 700 Platæans who perished also, +and as bravely. This is regrettable, and yet it is better to make a watchword +of the name Leonidas than to forget the whole event because it is +more than the brain will carry.</p> + +<p>Fame is a lottery with a few capital prizes. The winners show +perhaps no more wisdom, no more courage than all the other gamblers. +In the baseball phrase they simply “luck in.” Yet they will get their +names in the papers, people will boast of knowing them; prestige and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</span> +fortune will be theirs and oblivion will absorb the others. But if you +are going to have lotteries succeed, you must offer capital prizes and +pay them. And war is the lottery of lotteries.</p> + +<p>There have always been wars and, unless hope shall triumph over +experience at last, there always will be wars; and there will always be +an appetite for tales of heroism. The earliest literature records them +and so must the latest.</p> + +<p>Since no man has any more lives to give for his country than our +schoolteacher spy had, all heroisms are in a sense equal; for, since a +man risks the only life he has, it matters little how, whether from a +cave-man’s axe or a shell that shoots eighty miles.</p> + +<p>Bravery is no new thing. It cannot be listed as one of the inventions +of this war. It is matter for enough pride that there was no +failure of it in quality, but rather an unheard-of versatility in it, and +an unequaled quantity; for never before was there a war in which so +many soldiers were engaged, or so incessantly engaged or under such +hardships, or such varied dangers. To an extent unapproached hitherto, +nations were mobilized <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en masse</i>. For the first time they settled down +at grips in continuous lines from frontier to frontier with no relaxation +of vigilance or activity through long years of sun, snow, rain, and mud.</p> + +<p>It is curious to note that in this war, innumerable hosts of brave +men were dragged into glory—one might say “kicked upstairs”—by +conscription.</p> + +<p>In America we had the small Regular Army, the slightly larger +and very irregular National Guard; then armies of volunteers, followed +by armies recruited willy-nilly through the exemption boards. Not +only did the draft compel enlistment, but the very prospect of it drove +many men to volunteer before they were drawn. This is said in no +derogation, for obligations vary and many a man who could not find +the way to volunteer was glad to be coerced. And some of the men +who volunteered at once would better have stayed at home.</p> + +<p>Though the American Armies began in various strata, in a very +short time all distinctions were abolished and everybody was “U. S.”</p> + +<p>The glory was similarly shuffled. In the records of achievements +in ground gained, prisoners taken, casualties endured, the Regular Army, +the National Guard divisions and the draft divisions were rivals of such +close conclusion that disputes continue as to the actual priorities. In +any case the margins are narrow. Here also luck played its part, for +the morale of the enemy and the ground to be taken varied enormously +from day to day and from place to place.</p> + +<p>Curiously, the most successful American hero of the war, judging +by the score, was a “conscientious objector,” Sergeant York. His conscience +did not lead him to the fanatic lengths of many others who defied +the government and refused to obey any commands whatever; strange +perverse creatures who were such lovers of liberty that they would do +nothing to defend it, men who abhorred the thought of killing their +fellow creatures so utterly that they would not lift a finger to put a stop +to slaughter and disarm the German butchers. Sergeant York’s religious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</span> +scruples did not carry him so far, yet he was a reluctant and a tardy +entrant into the war, and he was with difficulty persuaded to accept the +immortal fame awaiting him.</p> + +<p>Sergeant York was a straight-shooting open-living mountaineer. +Yet there were city-bred heroes whose impetuosity led them to plunge +into the war long before it spread to America. One of these was an +actor and a dancer. Wallace McCutcheon, who pretended to British +citizenship, got in at the start, and by sheer bravery and persistence rose +from private to major. He would indeed have been a colonel if his +second wound had caught him fifteen minutes later, for his colonel was +killed then and he would have been automatically promoted.</p> + +<p>There were sons of wealthy parents and sons of humble parents +who joined the French, the Canadian or the British forces and fought +in the skies, or on land or sea for years before the rest of the nation +decided to follow them overseas.</p> + +<p>This was a world war indeed, a universal struggle, and there was +no race, color, condition, creed, or trade that was not represented and +brilliantly represented. Clergymen, priests, waiters, polo-players, convicts, +negroes, musicians, ditch-diggers, gunmen, farmers, chorusmen, +gamblers—the entire list of heroes would exhaust any classification of +the human race or its activities. A complete beadroll of heroes would +fill a city directory, and make the most dismal reading.</p> + +<p>The only way in which justice can be done to anybody at all, is by +omitting even to mention the vast majority, and to select a few at +random, like a clutch of sample red apples from an enormous harvest.</p> + +<p>It is not feasible to attempt internationalism or non-partisanship. +We must ignore the splendid heroism of other nations and leave them +to the celebration of their own heroes and the neglect of ours.</p> + +<p>Of our own there remains too great a multitude to permit a +systematic selection of examples. Some are here because they had the +luck to be observed by skillful observers and recorders, as many kings +are remembered because their historians or poets were superior to those +of other kings.</p> + +<p>This volume, then, has all the faults of any other anthology. Yet +the most imperfect anthology is better than no bouquet at all; and a +bouquet is the happiest representative of a garden, as a framed canvas +is the best memorial of a sunset.</p> + +<p>In this connection, there is a quaint poem of Emily Dickinson’s; +she attached it to some flowers she selected from her garden:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container fs90"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I send two sunsets—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Day and I in competition ran.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I finished two, and several stars,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While He was making one.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His own is ample—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But as I was saying to a friend,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Mine is the more convenient</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To carry in the hand.</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</span></p> +<p>So it may be said of this volume: it does not contain the entire star-crowded +firmament of the War of Wars, but it is “more convenient to +carry in the hand.”</p> + +<p>It would be belittling the bravery of our own men and the men of +the Allies to pretend that the enemy lacked courage. The Germans and +Austrians fought brilliantly, scientifically, ruthlessly. Individuals displayed +the purest heroism and chivalry. But since it is impossible to +catalogue everybody, I imagine that this omission, at least, will be +indulgently regarded.</p> + +<p>America entered the war late but at a time of peculiar desperation. +Her appearance on the field changed the whole balance of power.</p> + +<p>Before this time, the <i lang="it" xml:lang="it">generalissimo</i>, Foch, was like a gambler trying +to break the bank with his last remaining gold pieces. Immediately +after, he was a man with an inexhaustible supply of remittances. What +would have been insane recklessness before now became good strategy, +and he could at last follow out his life-motto: “Attack, attack, attack!”</p> + +<p>On the other hand the Germans, having entered the war as cold-blooded +business men, and conducted it with all the soullessness of the +proverbial corporation, realized speedily that the investment was a failure +and made every effort to get out as cheaply as possible.</p> + +<p>The Allies realized that their victory would be wasted if Germany +were permitted to retire with any prestige. A crushing and undeniable +defeat was of the utmost importance. Hence the Americans were called +upon to attack with human sledgehammers the hinges of the German +defense and the strong points of rearguard action. Their losses were +therefore huge for the brief time of engagement, since they ran to meet +danger with an amazing fire.</p> + +<p>Heroes sprang up, as from sown dragon’s teeth; so fast that there +was no recording them. In air, on land and sea, and under the land +and the sea, our men wrought so godlike well that it is pitiful to leave +any of them without his meed of praise.</p> + +<p>A word ought to be said also, for the prevented heroes, the unwilling +absentees from the battle, those who ate their hearts out in +America as instructors in camps, as dealers in supplies, plodders in +paper work.</p> + +<p>Of the Regular Army officers, who had dedicated their lives to +valor, made bravery their profession, hardly more than one-third were +even enabled to cross the sea, and a large mass of the small portion +that got across was never permitted to come within earshot of the fighting +line. War has no bitterer cruelties than the fate of such men.</p> + +<p>There were National Guard men and officers, too, who had given +a large part of their leisure to military training only to find themselves +condemned to inaction. There was a vast amount of plucking by +surgeons, for disabilities that had not prevented men from earning success +in civil life. But trench life was so searching a test of strength that +youth was almost as essential as in the prize ring.</p> + +<p>Many of the stay-at-homes had a rightful share in the glory of the +men they trained and sent as their delegates to the victory. Conspicuously<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</span> +absent were Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, who did so much +to inspire his countrymen with battle-ardor, and General Leonard +Wood, who built up the whole system of officers’ training camps, advancing +us incalculably along the road to preparedness.</p> + +<p>Then there was the thwarted courage of the countless men who +tried to volunteer from civil life and were refused in droves, or furnished +with an almost ironical uniform to emphasize their domesticity. This +was the swivel-chair army, and the badge of service was the silver +chevron. At first granted as an honor, it proved so unwelcome that it +had to be enforced by order.</p> + +<p>Uniforms of a sort were worn also by Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., +Knights of Columbus, Jewish Welfare Board, Salvation Army, and +other semi-civilians, thousands of whom reached the battle front and +many of whom displayed perfect gallantry.</p> + +<p>Women to an extraordinary degree took part in this war. The +Russian Battalion of Death was the most startling verification of the +Amazonian myths, but in every country there were women unnumbered +who courted danger with a superb consecration to duty.</p> + +<p>There is no stranger or more persistent falsehood than the claim +that women are less belligerent than men. It has been constantly +reiterated that if women had the vote, or even the say, there would +be no more wars. As if history had not abounded in women whose +native ferocity or patriotism inspired them to frenzies of wrath, or self-sacrifice!</p> + +<p>In this war as in all wars, mothers surrendered their boys with +fortitude, or compelled them into the ranks. Mothers without sons to +give envied their luckier sisters. Women made speeches, posters, wrote +articles, poems, songs, did office work, drove ambulances, trucks, and +toiled in munitions factories where danger was more unceasing than on +the battle front.</p> + +<p>The Red Cross women and their untrained aids, many of them +women of noble birth or of the most delicate heritages, shared the hardships +of the men. The Salvation Army women made doughnuts and +pies in the front line trenches. The Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A., and +numerous other organizations crowded to the front. Actors and +actresses faced death in order to make cheer for the soldiers about to die.</p> + +<p>The difficulty was always to keep the throngs back from the fighting-lines +rather than to whip them forward.</p> + +<p>The fighting-line was indeed a vague term, for children were killed +in their cradles in cities far distant from the battle front. Worshipers +in a Paris church were killed on a Good Friday by a shot from a German +cannon fired eighty miles away.</p> + +<p>The raids by Zeppelins and aeroplanes, the planting of explosives +in factories, the sowing of mines in seas, the activities of spies and +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">saboteurs</i> made it uncertain just where danger was. There was courage +everywhere.</p> + +<p>The variety of dangers was beyond anything hitherto recorded, and +a certain supremacy in dauntlessness might be claimed by our generation;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</span> +for men are most easily frightened by risks they are not used to, +and every month seemed to bring some new astonishment. The submarine +and the flying machine had never been employed in wars before. +They were as terrifying to their passengers as to their targets. They +brought remote civilians and non-combatants into their field of fire by +intention or indifference.</p> + +<p>The air-raids over London and Paris and the sinking of the +<em>Lusitania</em> and various hospital ships horrified the world. The first +gas attacks added a new shudder to war. The prolonged and hideous +imprisonment in the trenches where men stood to arms in icy mud kept +the soul and the body on the rack. The hand grenade came again into +fashion with a new deadliness. The machine-gun literally sprayed the +field with bullets, mowing men down as with the scythe of death. The +tanks were such a prodigy as the first elephants brought into battle. +Depth bombs for submarines, land-mines, cannon on railroad tracks, +trench-knives, incendiary bullets, barbed wire charged with lightning—it +would be impossible to enumerate the new devices for inflicting wounds +and death.</p> + +<p>Yet science could not invent a way to frighten men out of their wits +or out of their patriotism. The men in danger simply took what came +and held on while the scientists in the rear devised some new defense +for the new offense.</p> + +<p>Nothing was more spectacular than the development of the air-duel +and the air-battle by whole fleets of airships. The penalty for bad +luck in such an encounter was to fall thousands of feet in a blazing +machine. But candidates for these super-chivalrous jousts were +innumerable.</p> + +<p>Naval warfare had its novelties in frightfulness as well. Vessels +were subject to destruction by a planted or a drifting mine or by a +torpedo shot from an unseen submersible. The destruction of a populous +ship was like the cataclysm that annihilates a city. The tortures of +patrol duty, the management or the pursuit of submarines, the combats +with airships, the protection of convoys, and numberless new-fangled +terrors were all superimposed on the ancient dangers of seafaring.</p> + +<p>Besides the fighting navy there was the mercantile marine charged +with the transportation of incredible amounts of supplies and millions +of soldiers. With these ships the submarine worked fearful havoc, +filling the Seven Seas with hulks and corpses.</p> + +<p>Yet in spite of all the surprises of science, this war, like all other +wars of the past—and it is safe to say of the future—was waged upon +the most ancient lines, and its battle-technic was reducible to simple terms.</p> + +<p>A, B and C attack D, E and F. A superiority in weapons must be +met by a superiority in morale or a superiority in tactics. Ability to +attack and to endure attack are the proofs of fitness to survive. The +victor will be the latter one to quit fighting. While the war must be +won by masses of men, the quality of the mass is the algebraic total of +the individual qualities.</p> + +<p>A hero is a man plus. A coward is a man minus. A few heroes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</span> +will counteract the influence of many cowards or even lend them strength +enough to become heroes also.</p> + +<p>In its individual heroes, moral, spiritual and physical, lies therefore +the prosperity of a nation. It is well that a nation should keep its eye +on its heroes, and reward them well, at least with fame.</p> + +<p>This volume devoted to accounts of individual achievements is +something more than picturesque. It is as important to the record as +the consideration of any of the larger aspects of war. It strikes the +human note, and the human note is vital in so human a thing as a war; +since war gives humanity its widest and fiercest vibration from the +utmost baseness to the supreme nobility.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_SOLDIER">THE SOLDIER</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent fs90"><em>By</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent">Rupert Brooke</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">If I should die, think only this of me:</div> + <div class="verse indent2">That there’s some corner of a foreign field</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That is for ever England. There shall be</div> + <div class="verse indent2">In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Gave once her flowers to love, her ways to roam,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A body of England’s, breathing English air,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And think this heart, all evil shed away,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">A pulse in the eternal mind, no less</div> + <div class="verse indent4">Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,</div> + <div class="verse indent4">In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">From <em>The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke</em>, Copyright, 1915, by John Lane Company.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs200 wsp bold">Deeds of Heroism and<br> +Daring</p> +</div> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="AND_A_FEW_MARINES">“AND A FEW MARINES”</h2> + +<h3>Eye-witness Account of the Belleau Wood Action in the Marne Salient +Beginning June 6th, 1918</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">It</span> has been insisted that more than their +share of glory was bestowed upon the +Marines for their work at Château-Thierry, +other units of the A.E.F. being entitled to +share the honors of those terrible but wonderful +days when the barbarians were stopped. +That is of course true, for the battle generally +described as Château-Thierry had to do +with a region, not merely a town, and it was +in Belleau Wood and at Bouresches that the +Marines fought so splendidly and so successfully +to save Paris. Honors conferred in +the early and censored dispatches have since +been more properly distributed, and the various +divisions—the 1st and 2d, the 3d, the 26th +and the 42d—engaged at different points and +at different times, have had the just recognition +of the honors due them. But the distribution +has not in any degree diminished the +proud record of the Marines in maintaining +the place of honor to which they were assigned +June 6th. A very voluminous and authoritative +account of the 6th Regiment, 2d +Division, and its service in France was written +by its commander, Brig. Gen. A. W. Catlin +under the title <em>With the Help of God and a +Few Marines</em>. In that volume one may find +the authentic details of the heroic exploits of +the Marines. But we are now concerned only +with the incidents and events that caused the +French to change the name of Belleau Wood +(Bois de Belleau) to “Bois de la Brigade de +Marine.”</p> + +<p>The first spring drive of the Germans began +March 21, 1918. It swept across the Somme +and over the plains of Picardy irresistibly. +Foch seemed unable to check the advance and +there was consternation among the Allied nations, +and the men in the trenches were +anxious and restless. The enemy were sweeping +everything before them. “With forty +divisions, including some 400,000 of their +best troops, and with the greatest auxiliary +force of tanks, machine guns and poison gas +projectiles ever mobilized,” says Gen. Catlin, +“they rolled on for thirty miles in spite of +enormous losses, advancing at the rate of six +or eight miles a day, capturing men and guns +by the wholesale, and occupying 650 square +miles of territory. There were simply not +enough French and British to stop them. The +Allies resisted heroically, but they were forced +to yield to the unanswerable argument of +superior weight. And where was the American +aid that the French people had been +building their failing hopes upon?</p> + +<p>“Held at Rheims and west of Soissons, the +Germans thrust a U-shaped salient clear down +to the Marne, its rounded apex resting on a +contracted six-mile front between Château-Thierry +and Dormans, but thirty-five scant +miles from Paris.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span></p> + +<p>“Then the harried soldiers of France arose +in their might for a last grim stand. The +name of the Marne was a rallying cry for +them. ‘They shall not,’ they muttered between +gritted teeth; and they did not pass.”</p> + +<p>Fighting shoulder to shoulder with the +French on the Marne at Château-Thierry was +the 3rd Division of Regular troops who had +arrived on May 31st in the nick of time in +support of the French. On this occasion the +7th Machine Gun Battalion defended the +bridge at Château-Thierry with the greatest +heroism, suffering very heavy losses, and to +them especially belongs the credit of checking +the enemy’s attempt to cross the river.</p> + +<p>To the northwest of the town lay Belleau +Wood, a natural fortress which was full of +Germans. Although the enemy had been +checked in the attempt to cross the Marne, his +position in Belleau Wood was a very strong +one, constituting an excellent point of vantage +for a sudden thrust against the Allied line +along the river. Foch now decided to call +upon American troops and the Marines of the +2nd Division were ordered up and sent into +the line to capture Belleau Wood.</p> + + +<h3>IN THE AMERICAN WAY</h3> + +<p>The delay occasioned by the French-American +resistance at Château-Thierry gave time +for the organization of the defensive strategy +which culminated in the battle of Belleau +Wood. It is interesting to know in connection +with Château-Thierry that the Americans +entered under the direction of the French. +General Catlin says apropos of the Belleau +Wood preparation:</p> + +<p>“I think the French hesitated to trust us +too far in this crisis. We were without tanks, +gas shells, or flame projectors. We were untried +in open warfare. But General Harbord +begged to be allowed to tackle the job.</p> + +<p>“‘Let us fight in our own way,’ said he, +‘and we’ll stop them.’</p> + +<p>“The situation was acute; there seemed to +be no alternative. General Harbord was +given free rein, and in that moment we +passed out from our French tutelage and acted +as an American army fighting side by side +with our hard-pressed Allies. The battle of +Belleau Wood was fought by American +troops, under American officers, supported by +American guns, in a typically American manner. +And the battle was won.”</p> + +<p>The details of this battle in the wood are +not to be given here. One or two of the +facts that stand out must serve as illustrative +of the whole splendid performance. The advance +began with the 5th Battalion under +Major Berry and the 6th Battalion under +Major Holcomb holding the center, the +French on the left and the 23d Infantry +on the right, Sibley’s battalion supporting.</p> + + +<h3>FACING THE MYSTERY</h3> + +<p>“We stood facing the dark, sullen mystery +of Belleau Wood. It was a mystery, for +we knew not what terrible destruction the +Hun might be preparing for us within its +baleful borders, nor at what moment it might +be launched in all its fury against us. That +the wood was strongly held we knew, and so +we waited.</p> + +<p>“No one knows how many Germans were +in those woods. I have seen the estimate +placed at 1,000, but there were certainly more +than that. It had been impossible to get +patrols into the woods, but we knew they +were full of machine guns and that the enemy +had trench mortars there. We captured five +of their minenwerfers later. So far as we +knew, there might have been any number of +men in there, but we had to attack just the +same, and with but a handful. Sibley and +Berry had a thousand men each, but only half +of these could be used for the first rush, and +as Berry’s position was problematical, it was +Sibley’s stupendous task to lead his 500 +through the southern end of the wood clear +to the eastern border if the attack was not +to be a total failure. Even to a Marine it +seemed hardly men enough.</p> + +<p>“Orders had been given to begin the attack +at 5 o’clock. The men knew in a general way +what was expected of them and what they +were up against, but I think only the officers +realized the almost impossible task that lay +before them. I knew, and the knowledge +left me little comfort. But I had perfect +confidence in the men; that never faltered. +That they might break never once entered my +head. They might be wiped out, I knew, but +they would never break.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_003" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_003.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Leslie’s Weekly.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Where the Marines Made Their Début</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">This is the road where the Marines in the name of America served +notice on the German war lords that they could not capture Paris.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“It was a clear, bright day. At that season +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span>of the year it did not get dark till about 8.30, +so we had three hours of daylight ahead of +us.</p> + +<p>“As soon as I received the orders I got +Holcomb and Sibley together at the former’s +headquarters, some 500 yards back of the +line.</p> + +<p>“With map in hand, I explained the situation +to them without trying to gloss over any of +its difficulties, and gave them their orders. The +men seemed cool, in good spirits and ready +for the word to start. Some one has asked +me what I said, what final word of inspiration +I gave those men about to face sudden +death.</p> + +<p>“I am no speech maker. If the truth +must be told, I think what I said was, ‘Give +’em Hell, boys!’ It was the sort of thing +the Marine understands. And that is about +what they did.</p> + + +<h3>A BULLET THROUGH THE LUNG</h3> + +<p>“Just about the time Sibley’s men struck the +woods a sniper’s bullet hit me in the chest. It +felt exactly as though some one had struck +me heavily with a sledge. It swung me clear +around and toppled me over on the ground. +When I tried to get up I found that my +right side was paralyzed.</p> + +<p>“Beside me stood Captain Tribot-Laspierre, +that splendid fellow who stuck to me through +thick and thin. He had been begging me to +get back to a safer place, but I was obstinate +and he never once thought of leaving me. +When I fell he came out of his cover and +rushed to my side. He is a little man and +I am not, but he dragged me head first back +to the shelter trench some twenty or twenty-five +feet away. My life has been spared and +I owe much to that Frenchman.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_004" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_004.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Leslie’s Weekly.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The Bridge Across the Marne at Château-Thierry</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Where the 7th Machine Gun Battalion of the 3rd Division Checked the German Drive.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“I have heard of men getting wounded who +said that it felt like a red-hot iron being +jammed through them before the world turned +black. None of these things happened to me. +I suffered but little pain and I never for a +moment lost consciousness. Nor did any +thought of death occur to me, though I knew +I had been hit in a vital spot. I was merely +annoyed at my inability to move and carry +on.</p> + +<p>“The bullet went clean through my right +lung, in at the front and out at the back, +drilling a hole straight through me.</p> + +<p>“No orders as to the adjustment of rifle +sights had been given, as the range was point +blank. Watches had been synchronized and +no further orders were given. As the hands +touched the zero hour there was a single +shout, and at exactly 5 o’clock the whole line +leaped up simultaneously and started forward, +Berry’s 500 and Sibley’s 500, with the +others in support.</p> + +<p>“Instantly the beast in the wood bared his +claws. The Boches were ready and let loose +a sickening machine gun and rifle fire into +the teeth of which the Marines advanced. The +German artillery in the woods increased the +fury of its fire, and the big guns at Belleau +and Torcy, a mile and a half away, pounded +our advancing lines.</p> + +<p>“On Berry’s front there was the open wheat +field, 400 yards or more wide—winter wheat, +still green but tall and headed out. Other +cover there was none. On Sibley’s left there +was open grass land perhaps 200 yards wide; +his right was close to the woods.</p> + +<p>“Owing to the poor communications, the +two battalions engaged in what were virtually +independent actions, and, as I had feared, +Berry got the worst end of it. He had to +face that wide open space, swept by machine +gun fire, with a flanking fire from the direction +of Torcy.</p> + + +<h3>AS SIBLEY’S MEN ADVANCED</h3> + +<p>“My eyes were on what Sibley’s men were +doing, and I only knew in a general way +what was happening to the battalion of the +5th. But Floyd Gibbons, the correspondent +of the Chicago <cite>Tribune</cite>, was with Berry and +saw it all. He was, in fact, seriously wounded +himself, and has lost an eye as a result. Gibbons +says that the platoons started in good +order and advanced steadily into the field between +clumps of woods. It was flat country +with no protection of any sort except the bending +wheat. The enemy opened up at once and +it seemed, he says, as if the air were full of +red-hot nails. The losses were terrific. Men +fell on every hand there in the open, leaving +great gaps in the line. Berry was wounded +in the arm, but pressed on with the blood +running down his sleeve.</p> + +<p>“Into a veritable hell of hissing bullets, +into that death-dealing torrent, with heads +bent as though facing a March gale, the shattered +lines of Marines pushed on. The headed +wheat bowed and waved in that metal cloudburst +like meadow grass in a summer breeze. +The advancing lines wavered, and the voice +of a Sergeant was heard above the uproar:</p> + +<p>“‘Come on, you —— — ——! Do you +want to live forever?’</p> + +<p>“The ripping fire grew hotter. The machine +guns at the edge of the woods were +now a bare hundred yards away, and the +enemy gunners could scarcely miss their targets. +It was more than flesh and blood could +stand. Our men were forced to throw themselves +flat on the ground or be annihilated, and +there they remained in that terrible hail till +darkness made it possible for them to withdraw +to their original position.</p> + +<p>“Berry’s men did not win that first encounter +in the attack on Belleau Wood, but it was +not their fault. Never did men advance +more gallantly in the face of certain death; +never did men deserve greater honor for valor.</p> + +<p>“Sibley, meanwhile, was having better luck. +I watched his men go in and it was one of +the most beautiful sights I have ever witnessed. +The battalion pivoted on its right, +the left sweeping across the open ground in +four waves, as steadily and correctly as though +on parade. There were two companies of +them, deployed in four skirmish lines, the men +placed five yards apart and the waves fifteen +to twenty yards behind each other.</p> + +<p>“I say they went in as if on parade, and +that is literally true. There was no yell and +wild rush, but a deliberate forward march, +with the lines at right dress. They walked +at the regulation pace, because a man is of +little use in a hand-to-hand bayonet struggle +after a hundred yards dash. My hands were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> +clenched and all my muscles taut as I watched +that cool, intrepid, masterful defiance of the +German spite. And still there was no sign +of wavering or breaking.</p> + + +<h3>THE RIGHT QUALITIES THERE</h3> + +<p>“Oh, it took courage and steady nerves to +do that in the face of the enemy’s machine +gun fire. Men fell there in the open, but the +advance kept steadily on to the woods. It +was then that discipline and training counted. +Their minds were concentrated not on the enemy’s +fire but on the thing they had to do +and the necessity for doing it right. They +were listening for orders and obeying them. +In this frame of mind the soldier can perhaps +walk with even more coolness and determination +than he can run. In any case it was an +admirable exhibition of military precision and +it gladdened their Colonel’s heart.</p> + +<p>“The Marines have a war cry that they can +use to advantage when there is need of it. It +is a blood-curdling yell calculated to carry +terror to the heart of the waiting Hun. I am +told that there were wild yells in the woods +that night, when the Marines charged the +machine gun nests, but there was no yelling +when they went in. Some one has reported +that they advanced on those woods crying, +‘Remember the <em>Lusitania</em>!’ If they did so, I +failed to hear it. Somehow that doesn’t sound +like the sort of things the Marine says under +the conditions. So far as I could observe not +a sound was uttered throughout the length of +those four lines. The men were saving their +breath for what was to follow.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_006" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_006.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Leslie’s Weekly.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">What American Artillery Fire Did to Vaux</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Captured German officers declared that the American fire was the most deadly and concentrated +they had ever faced.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_007" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_007.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Leslie’s Weekly.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">American Soldiers in Vaux</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The capture of Vaux, situated on the Château-Thierry-Paris highway, marked the beginning of the check to the Germans in their drive to the Marne +in 1918. One of the big guns which fired on Paris was situated near here.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“I am afraid I have given but a poor picture +of that splendid advance. There was +nothing dashing about it like a cavalry charge, +but it was one of the finest things I have ever +seen men do. They were men who had never +before been called upon to attack a strongly +held enemy position. Before them were the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span>dense woods effectively sheltering armed and +highly trained opponents of unknown strength. +Within its depths the machine guns snarled +and rattled and spat forth a leaden death. It +was like some mythical monster belching smoke +and fire from its lair. And straight against it +marched the United States Marines, with +heads up and the light of battle in their eyes.</p> + +<p>“Well, they made it. They reached the +woods without breaking. They had the advantage +of slightly better cover than Berry’s +men and the defensive positions at the lower +end of the woods had not been so well organized +by the Germans as those on the western +side. The first wave reached the low growth +at the edge of the woods and plunged in. +Then the second wave followed, and the third +and the fourth, and disappeared from view.”</p> + +<p>About an hour later Catlin had the attention +of a surgeon, but while he lay there gas +shells began bursting nearby and they put +the gas mask on him. “I never knew before +how uncomfortable one of those things could +be. It is hard enough for a man to breathe +with a lung full of blood without having one +of those smothering masks clapped over his +face.” He was got to Lucy for treatment +and then taken to Paris, where quarts of blood +were drawn from his pleural cavity. The +wonder is that he came through it at all.</p> + + +<h3>IN THE BELLEAU WOOD</h3> + +<p>“The action was all in the hands of the +platoon officers. Success or failure rested on +their shoulders. It is not the general who +wins such a battle as that, but the captain, +the sergeant, the private.</p> + +<p>“It has been called an exaggerated riot, +that desperate conflict in the wood. It was +hand-to-hand fighting from the first, and those +Germans, hating cold steel as they do, soon +learned what American muscle and determination +are like. From tree to tree fought our +Marines, from rock to rock, like the wild +Indians of their native land. It is the sort of +fighting the Marine has always gloried in. +And in that fighting they beat the Germans +on two points—initiative and daring, and accuracy +of rifle fire. They picked the German +gunners out of the trees like squirrels, and in +innumerable fierce onslaughts that took place +at the machine gun nests the Marines always +struck the first blow and it was usually a +knock-out. It was a wild, tempestuous, rough-and-tumble +scrap, with no quarter asked or +given. Rifles grew hot from constant firing +and bayonets reeked with German gore. It +was man to man, there in the dark recesses +of the woods, with no gallery to cheer the +gladiators, and it was the best man that +won.</p> + +<p>“The thick woods made the fighting a matter +of constant ambuscades and nerve-racking +surprises, but the Marines tore on. With Sibley +at their head nothing could stop them. +Machine gun nests whose crews held out +formed little islands in the welter about which +the Marine flood swept, eventually to engulf +them. Some of the Germans turned and fled, +abandoning their guns; others waited till +caught in the rear and then threw up their +hands and surrendered; some waited in huddled +groups in the ravines till the gleaming-eyed +devil dogs should leap upon them; some +stuck to their guns till an American bullet or +an American bayonet laid them low. One +by one the guns were silenced or were turned +in the opposite direction.</p> + +<p>“They started in at 5 o’clock. At 6:45 the +report was sent to headquarters that the +machine gun fire at the lower end of the woods +had been practically silenced. At 7:30 German +prisoners began to come in.</p> + +<p>“Night fell with the fighting still going +on and only the flash of shooting to see by. +But at 9 o’clock word came from Sibley by +runner that he had got through and had attained +the first objective, the eastern edge of +the wood. In four hours he and his men had +passed clear through the lower quarter of +Belleau Wood, traversing nearly a mile, and +had cleaned things up as they went. And +only 500 of them started; I hesitate to mention +the number that finished.</p> + +<p>“At 10 o’clock reinforcements were sent in +with orders to consolidate the position.”</p> + + +<h3>THE TAKING OF BOURESCHES</h3> + +<p>In the meantime other Marines, the 96th +Company of Major Holcomb’s battalion and +one of Sibley’s reserve companies, were engaged +with the task of ejecting the Germans +from Bouresches, the town just east of the +woods, as necessary to be cleared as Belleau<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span> +Wood itself. Holcomb’s men got to Bouresches +first and went in.</p> + +<p>“Half of this little force was under Captain +Duncan and the other half under Lieutenant +Robertson. The enemy’s fire, as they neared +the town, was frightful, and more men fell +than kept going. Duncan was shot down +while coolly advancing with his pipe in his +mouth. Robertson, who, by the way, was +afterward shot through the neck near Soissons, +led the remnant on and entered the +town.</p> + +<p>“There were probably 300 to 400 Germans +in that town and the place bristled with machine +guns. There were guns at the street +corners, behind barricades, and even on the +housetops, but the Marines kept on. They +attacked those machine guns with rifle, bayonet, +and grenade in their bitter struggle for +a foothold. They were outnumbered when +they started, and one by one they were put +out of the fighting. But they kept going, +taking gun after gun, until the Germans, for +all their numbers and advantage of position, +began to fall back. And Lieutenant Robertson +took Bouresches with twenty men!</p> + +<p>“He sent back word at 9:45 that he had +got in and asked for reinforcements, but he +did not wait for them. Those twenty men +started in to clean up that town in the approved +Marine fashion, and he was well on +his way when Captain Zane’s company of Holcomb’s +battalion arrived to support him. Then +Engineers were sent in to help consolidate +the position.</p> + +<p>“But the town was not yet fully won. The +Germans began displaying counter-activity, +and the Marines sent back word that they +were running short of ammunition. Lieutenant +William B. Moore, the Princeton athlete, +and Sergeant Major John Quick (of +whom more anon) volunteered to take in a +truck load. With a small crew chosen from +fifty who wanted to go, they started with +their precious, perilous freight, over a torn +road under a terrific fire. The whole way +was brilliantly lighted by enemy flares and +the solitary truck offered a shining mark to +the German gunners. It rolled and careened +fearfully over the gullies and craters, shells +shrieked and whistled over their heads and +burst on every hand, and as they neared the +town they drove straight into the fire of the +spouting machine guns. But John Quick +bears a charmed life and they got through +unscathed.</p> + +<p>“That ammunition truck saved the day at +Bouresches, for after it got in, Zane’s men +proceeded to clean up the town. At 11 +o’clock that night the report was sent in to +headquarters to the effect that the Germans +had been driven out of Bouresches. At 2:30 +a.m. they made an attempt to get in again, +but the counter-attack was smothered by our +machine gun fire.</p> + +<p>“The next day, with the help of the Engineers, +our position in the town was made +secure.</p> + + +<h3>GERMAN TREACHERY</h3> + +<p>“There were evidences everywhere, during +this fighting, of German treachery. Those +Prussians were nasty fighters. The following +is quoted from the letter of a quartermaster’s +sergeant who talked with a number of our +wounded in the hospital:</p> + +<p>“‘If evidence were lacking of ingrained +German untrustworthiness and treachery, the +following from the lips of three men, one an +officer, would be ample. During the progress +of a hot engagement a number of Germans, +hands aloft and crying “Kamerad!” approached +a platoon of Marines who, justifiedly +assuming it meant surrender, waited +for the Germans to come into their lines as +prisoners. When about three hundred yards +distant, the first line of Germans suddenly +fell flat upon their faces, disclosing that they +had been dragging machine guns by means of +ropes attached to their belts.</p> + +<p>“‘With these guns the rear lines immediately +opened fire and nearly thirty Marines went +down before, with a yell of rage, their comrades +swept forward, bent upon revenge. I +am happy to state that not a German survived, +for those who would have really surrendered +when their dastardly ruse failed were +bayoneted without mercy.</p> + +<p>“‘As stated, I talked separately with three +different Marines at different times, and have +no doubt of the truth of the story. When it +spreads through the Corps, it will be safe to +predict that the Marines will never take a +prisoner.</p> + +<p>“‘Can they be blamed? As one man remarked, +“A good German is a dead German.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> +Another said, “They are like wolves and can +only hunt in packs. Get one alone, and he +is easy meat.”</p> + +<p>“‘Little of this sounds uplifting, and +smacks of calloused sensibilities. But the +business that brought these men to France is +not a refined one. It is kill or be killed, perhaps +both, and the duty of each man in the +American army is to kill as many of the +enemy as may be, before he, in turn, is killed.</p> + +<p>“‘I will not deny that my nerves are tense +with horror at what I have seen, and with +pride at what our boys have done, even while +my soul is sick with this closer view of the +red monster, War.’”</p> + +<p>The Marine brigade was cited by the +French army for its work in the capture of +Bouresches and Belleau Wood and the regimental +colors have the Croix de Guerre with +the palm; but, let it be recorded as evidence +of what the Marines were that there were +518 individual citations for conspicuous valor +and extraordinary heroism in action, including +officers and privates.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="FORWARD_LANCERS">“FORWARD, LANCERS!”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>And Captain Grenfell’s Cavalry Troops Lived Over “the Charge of the +Light Brigade”</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> first officer in the British Army to +win the Victoria Cross in the great war +was Captain Francis O. Grenfell. He gained +the coveted reward on August 24, 1914, almost +at the commencement of the British fighting +in Belgium, it was at the time of the +great battle at Mons and the perhaps more +momentous retreat that followed. The gallant +little English army was struggling desperately +to escape from the superior force of +Germans, who gave it no rest. The cavalry +was ordered to charge the enemy—to delay, +head off and harass him as much as possible. +Foremost among the Lancers—mounted soldiers +carrying lances—who were always to the +front in this dangerous and difficult undertaking, +was Captain Grenfell of the 9th.</p> + +<p>The German guns caused terrible execution. +The German infantry came on in dense columns—like +peas thrown out of a sack, as one +soldier described it. They pressed hard on +the whole of the main body of the army but +especially dangerous was the position of the +5th Division. To relieve this section the 9th +Lancers were ordered to charge.</p> + +<p>“Although all knew they might be going +to certain death,” as the story is told by G. +A. Leask, “not one of the gallant men faltered. +They sang and shouted like schoolboys +as their horses thundered over the ground. +They treated the charge in the spirit of sport. +These dashing cavalrymen, as they rode +straight at the German guns, presented one +of the finest sights of the whole war. There +has been little opportunity to engage in cavalry +charges since. Grenfell rode at the head +of his men, encouraging them by his coolness. +One who took part in the charge has said +that he was the life and soul of the squadron, +shouting the loudest, always in the front, setting +an example to his comrades by his fearless +riding.</p> + +<p>“At first all went well. Few of the Lancers +had fallen, and the dashing cavalrymen +were looking forward to a real fight at close +quarters with the German gunners, who were +playing such havoc among our troops. The +men were in excellent spirits, although they +knew their danger.</p> + + +<h3>“INTO THE JAWS OF DEATH”</h3> + +<p>“Suddenly a murderous fire from the enemy +pulled them up. Grenfell’s cheery voice rose +above the awful din of bursting shells, urging +his men to continue the charge. They recovered, +and followed their leader. Then the +enemy’s fire became hotter. It was like riding +into the jaws of death. Twenty concealed +German machine guns rained death on the +horsemen at a distance of not more than 150 +yards. Even then the gallant 9th did not +waver, for they were led by a hero. Standing +up in the stirrups and brandishing his sword +Captain Grenfell called to his men to ride +straight on. They cheered and obeyed. It +now seemed as though nothing could stop this +wild charge. Both men and horses had become +infuriated.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_011" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_011.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>New York Herald.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The Rifle Brigade Fighting Its Way Through Neuve Chapelle</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">This brigade is the youngest of regiments in the regular British Army. +It was the first to enter the village of Neuve Chapelle.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Grenfell himself seemed to bear a charmed +life, while all around him empty saddles told +their terrible tale. He did not come through +the charge unscathed, but his wounds were not +serious.</p> + +<p>“The Lancers continued to sweep forward +until finally held up by the enemy’s barbed +wire, cunningly concealed in the long grass. +The German trap had succeeded. To proceed +farther was impossible, and in order to +escape total annihilation the gallant horsemen +reluctantly turned their horses’ heads and +rode back. Of the 9th Lancers not more than +forty came out of the ordeal.</p> + +<p>“The charge of the Lancers had failed, but +it will live forever in military annals. It +proved to the world that the British cavalry +was as dashing and brave as in the days of +old.”</p> + + +<h3>GRENFELL RESCUES THE GUNS</h3> + +<p>Grenfell’s second great exploit came on the +same day. It was equally daring. When the +survivors of the 9th Lancers rode off the field +the Captain, although not seriously wounded, +was greatly in need of rest. That, however, +was not yet to be. He had espied a railway +embankment, and quickly made for it with the +men under his charge. When they arrived +at the shelter they found a number of men of +the 119th Field Battery, which had been put +out of action and abandoned. There was the +danger of the guns being captured by the enemy +and turned against the English. It had +been a great day for the artillery, no less +than for the cavalry.</p> + +<p>“This battery had been in action earlier in +the day with the object of delaying the German +advance and relieving the terrible pressure +on the harassed infantry, who were being +driven back from Mons by superior forces. +The 119th Battery had given and received +a terrific fire. One Germany battery had +been silenced by the gunners, who were afterward +attacked by three of the enemy’s batteries +from different directions. The unequal +contest was very fierce while it lasted. All +the gunners had been killed by shrapnel, and +the survivors of the battery were ordered to +seek safety.</p> + +<p>“Up till now it had been found impossible +to attempt the rescue of the guns. They +remained exposed to the German shells and +would have been captured but for the gallantry +of Captain Grenfell. An officer of the +119th Battery, Lieutenant Geoffrey Blemell +Pollard, who had been trying to devise means +to save his guns, came to where the Lancers +were resting, and put the matter before them. +Would they assist him to get the guns +away?”</p> + +<p>Captain Grenfell heard the lieutenant’s request. +He carefully climbed to the top of the +embankment, surveyed the position, and returned. +He had seen that the Germans had +now captured the guns.</p> + +<p>Grenfell determined to get the guns, regardless +of the cost. He asked for volunteers and +before he had done speaking two dozen Lancers +had given in their names. They did not +need to be told that Grenfell would lead—they +had been in the charge with him and +knew that he would not send others to do his +work. They would have followed him anywhere.</p> + +<p>Grenfell led his little party of troopers into +the open. Bullets were flying around, shrapnel +was bursting near. “He was as cool as +if he was on parade,” said a corporal who took +part.</p> + +<p>He led his men right into the hurricane +of shot and shell. Every few minutes they +stopped for breath, then on again. Advancing +at a rapid rate they reached the guns.</p> + +<p>“So unexpected was the charge of Grenfell’s +squadron that the Germans, taken by surprise, +fled in panic. Grenfell gave quick directions; +rapidity of action was essential, for +the Germans in the rear of the guns were +pouring in a rapid fire. One gun was safely +man-handled out of action. Grenfell was +not the man to leave a task half-finished, and, +braving the shells, he galloped back to the +guns. By the time he reached them some of +the battery’s horses had been brought up, and +Grenfell assisted to hitch them to the guns. +This done, the latter were galloped off the +field. Not one gun of the 119th Battery was +lost, and most of the wagons were recovered.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> +Only three men were hit during the rescue +operations. Thus ended one of the quickest +and most gallant gun-saving exploits of the +war.</p> + +<p>“Later in the day Captain Grenfell was +wounded. A bullet struck him in the thigh, +and two of his fingers were injured. He +was brought back from the firing-line, and +an ambulance was sent for.</p> + +<p>“While awaiting the ambulance a motor-car +dashed along. ‘That’s what I want,’ said +Captain Grenfell. ‘What’s the use of an +ambulance to me? Take me back to the +firing-line.’ He entered the motor-car and +went back to fight....</p> + +<p>“Captain Grenfell was twice invalided +home, but on each occasion curtailed his rest +in order to get back to the firing-line. He +was killed while in command of the left section +of the 9th Lancers on May 24, 1915. +The Germans had broken through the line, but +Grenfell held, and in the words of his Commanding +Officer, Major Beale Browne, ‘saved +the day.’”</p> + +<p>Thus died one of the greatest heroes of the +war, a soldier to his fingertips, a born leader, +a true gentleman. His men loved him because +they knew his worth. In his will he +left his Victoria Cross—the most honorable +decoration England bestows—to the men of +his regiment, “to whom the honor of my gaining +it was entirely due.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="AN_UNPARALLELED_HERO">AN UNPARALLELED HERO</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Church Elder and Champion Turkey-Shooter Who Killed 25 Germans +and Captured a Machine Gun Battalion</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Six</span> feet tall, weighing a trifle over two +hundred pounds, brawny as becomes a +man whose time was divided between blacksmithing +and farming, clear-cut and strong of +feature, kindly of disposition but positive and +resolute by the testimony of keen blue eyes +and flaming red hair—that is the general description +of Alvin C. York, native of the +Tennessee Mountains, extraordinary hero of +the Argonne Battle, and modest withal.</p> + +<p>There is no story of the great war that +reads more like an extravagant fiction; but it +is thoroughly attested, its truth unquestionably +established by official investigation and by the +sworn statements of fellow soldiers as one of +the most amazing individual achievements in +the four years crowded with deeds of almost +incredible heroism and daring.</p> + +<p>In a sentence: On Oct. 8, 1918, less than +a year after he joined the army, Alvin C. +York, as Corporal York, Company G, 328th +Infantry, 82d Division, A. E. F., during operations +in the Argonne sector, killed twenty-five +Germans, captured 132 prisoners, including +a major and several lieutenants, and put +out of commission thirty-five machine guns—and +did it by his “lonesome,” subduing the machine +gun battalion with his rifle and automatic +pistol.</p> + +<p>Now, the thing that gives vivid additional +interest to the thrilling story is the fact that +its hero was an elder of the Church of Christ +and Christian Union—a sect scrupulously opposed +to any kind of fighting and firm as conscientious +objectors to war—and was one of +the most devout and earnest members of his +home church, in Pall Mall, Tennessee. And +thereby hangs a romance!</p> + +<p>He had been one of the young bucks of the +region, a typical mountaineer; a dead shot +with rifle or pistol; champion of the turkey-shooting +matches; breezy, jovial, liberal of +oath, free with the demijohn, and not averse +to a fight. He was one of eleven children, +having seven brothers and three sisters, and +when his father (blacksmith and farmer) died +in 1911, Alvin, then twenty-four years old, +took on the two occupations as head of the +family; the older brothers married and went +away. But in hours not demanded by smithy +or farm he followed the bent of his old habits +for the next two or three years, when, yielding +to his mother’s entreaties, he gave up +drinking and settled into sobriety. The “girl +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span>of all the world” urged him to join the +church. So he waited a year, thinking the +thing over. Convinced that it was the right +course to pursue, he joined the church in +1915.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_014" style="max-width: 45.625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_014.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant Alvin C. York</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">As Corporal York of the 328th Infantry he captured 132 prisoners, killed twenty-five German +machine-gunners and put out of operation thirty-five machine guns.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>When the United States declared war and +conscription came, York was second elder of +his church and, naturally, pastor and congregation +urged him to abide by the doctrine of +the church and claim exemption as a conscientious +objector. He was sorely troubled. +He believed in his religion, was soulfully committed +to it, but he loved his country too—and +patriotism is also a religion. He refused to +claim exemption, and went with the draft to +Camp Gordon in Georgia, but was obviously +unhappy in his divided duty. He talked many +times on the subject with Captain Danforth +and Major Buxton. In addition to much reasoning +they cited scriptural passages from the +Old and New Testaments, that convinced him +there are times when the sword is the instrument +of divine justice, and before the 82d +Division sailed for France, the conscientious +objector declared himself satisfied that he was +on the right course, and gave himself wholeheartedly +to the duties of the soldier.</p> + +<p>And a good soldier he was, cheerfully, +promptly obedient to orders, quick in mastering +details, and distinguished by the cool, positive +conduct of the self-reliant by habit and +of the fearless by nature. He was made +Corporal of Company G, 328th Infantry, 82d +Division, a division made up of representatives +of every state in the Union, hence the A. A. +(All-America) in its insignia.</p> + + +<h3>EARLY INTO ACTION</h3> + +<p>Over the sea went the 82d and was speedily +in action, doing valorously in the Meuse-Argonne +battles. And then, Oct. 8, at 6 o’clock +in the morning, the 2d Battalion of the 328th, +Corporal York with Company G, set off from +Hill 223 with the Decauville railroad as its +objective, two kilometers to the west. They +had to cross a valley of several hundred yards +and climb the ridges of a hill, all the time +under machine gun fire from three directions. +The guns from one hill had the Americans +enfiladed, and Acting Sergt. Bernard Early +was ordered to take two squads, and put the +guns out of action. Early had sixteen men +under him, one of whom was Corporal York.</p> + +<p>They set out to climb the hill with a heavy +fire from a ridge at their backs, but the density +of the trees and brush permitted them to +get beyond observation without loss, though +bullets continued to cut through the trees as +they struggled and stumbled upward through +the tangle. They crossed the crest and began +the descent of the opposite slope, and suddenly, +on the farther side of a little stream they came +upon a group of Germans, twenty to thirty +in number, seated on the ground for a meal.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_015" style="max-width: 47.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_015.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood, and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Home, Sweet Home</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Back home again in the Tennessee mountains.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>The Americans fired and there were a few +return shots, but the majority of the surprised +Germans threw down their guns and held up +their hands in sign of surrender, and the +others followed suit promptly, including the +major in command of the battalion. They +were amazed to find that their captors were +American.</p> + +<p>Sergt. Early had them line up and was +just ready to take them out when, in the +expressive words of a survivor, “all hell broke +loose.” Machine-guns placed in “fox-holes” +that had been pointed the other way were +swung round, and from the slope above Early’s +detachment, began a fusillade. The German +prisoners at once dropped down and lay on +their bellies as did some of the Americans, +others seeking the shelter of trees. Six of the +little detachment were killed outright. Early +was shot three times through the body and +Corporal Cutting and Private Muzzi were +wounded. On one side of York was Private +Wareing, on the other Private Dymowski, +both shot to pieces, York untouched. This +fire reduced the party to eight, York and seven +privates. Of the latter, one was pinned behind +a tree, the others were guarding the +prisoners. That is the testimony of the men +themselves. They did no shooting.</p> + + +<h3>“ALL THE TIME I WAS A-USING MY RIFLE”</h3> + +<p>York, when he dropped at the first fire +of the machine-guns, found himself in a little +path by a clump of bushes; the machine-guns +were peppering from a distance of less +than thirty yards, cutting off the tops of the +bushes about York. On his return to the +United States May 22, 1919, York said to +a reporter: “I sat right where I was, and +it seemed as if every gunner was a-firing +straight at me. All this time, though, I was a-using +my rifle, and the enemy he was a feeling +the effects of it. One of our boys yelled that +it was impossible to get the best of the situation, +but I yelled back ‘Shut up!’ I knew one +American was better than ten Germans if he +kept his wits.”</p> + +<p>He had no thought of surrender and “Somehow, +I knew I wouldn’t be killed.” Aiming +as he used to when shooting off the heads of +the turkeys, he spotted Germans in the “fox-holes,” +those firing from behind trees or +over logs, with deadly precision, himself lying +low to have the protection of the German +prisoners prostrate between him and the machine-guns. +He was not the man to miss a +mark at that range. One boche had the indiscretion +to rise in order to fling a small +bomb at the rifleman. The bomb missed its +object; not so the responsive bullet. “I got +him square,” said York.</p> + + +<h3>“I WHIPPED OUT MY AUTOMATIC”</h3> + +<p>“I turned in time to see a Heinie Lieutenant +rise up from near one of them machine-guns +and with six or seven men come charging +toward me with fixed bayonets. They were +only twenty yards away from me when I +whipped out my automatic and I potted them +off one after another.” (This man York, by +the way, in a contest with an automatic pistol, +hit a penny match-box every shot at forty +paces.)</p> + +<p>“As soon as the Germans saw the Lieutenant +drop, most of the machine-guns stopped +firing and the battle sort of quieted down, but +I kept on shooting until the Major with the +first batch of Germans we had come across, +and who was lying on his stomach to avoid +being hit by his own gunners, called to me in +perfect English that if I would stop shooting +he would make them all surrender, so I did. +Then I called all our boys, and their affidavits +show they came, and we herded the Germans +in front of us and started toward our lines. +I walked among four German officers and had +our wounded bring up the rear. The Major +asked me how many men I had, and I just +told him, ‘I have a-plenty.’”</p> + +<p>On the way they stirred up several more +machine-gun nests, one of which put up a fight +and York felt it a regrettable necessity to +“shoot a man there.” After that when a nest +was flushed the Major touched him on the +arm and said, “Don’t kill any more, and I’ll +make them surrender.” This was done and +the hill was pretty well cleared up before they +got to the other side and York’s herd of prisoners +numbered 132, counted and certified to +by Lieutenant Joseph A. Woods, Asst. Division +Inspector, as they were reported to the +P. C. of the 2d Battalion, 328 Infantry, that +same Oct. 8.</p> + + +<h3>PROMOTED AND DECORATED</h3> + +<p>Now what should be done with a corporal +who, with rifle and automatic pistol, outfought +a machine-gun battalion and took 132 prisoners +in addition to killing twenty-five of the +enemy? First they made him a Sergeant. +Then somewhat later, after his amazing story +was officially examined and verified by affidavits, +in the presence of all the officers of the +82d Division, Major General C. P. Summerall +decorated him with the Distinguished +Service Cross, and said to him: “Your conduct +reflects great credit not only upon the +American Army, but upon the American people. +Your deeds will be recorded in the history +of the Great War, and they will have +an inspiration not only to your comrades but +to the generations that will come after us. +I wish to commend you publicly and in the +presence of the officers of your division.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_017" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_017.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Committee of Public Information from Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Major-General R. L. Bullard and His Entire Divisional Staff</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Major-General Robert Lee Bullard saw far more actual fighting than many of his colleagues in the old regular Army establishment. +He led the First Division in France and later received the honor of being put in command of the Second Army Corps, many of his +troops distinguishing themselves at Château-Thierry.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Then the French, to whom valor is a thing +of divine sanctity, awarded him that enviable +soldier’s treasure, the Croix de Guerre, and +in presenting it to him Marshal Foch, who +knows right well what brave deeds are, told +him that his was the greatest act of bravery +and presence of mind under great stress performed +by any soldier of the Allied Armies. +Add to this that badge of nobility, the Congressional +Medal of Honor.</p> + +<p>But with the two crosses on his breast and +the medal in prospect, Sergeant York had a +light in his eyes and a hesitant smile on his +lips when he spoke of a Tennessee girl, “the +prettiest in the state,” that rather suggested +the idea that in his opinion his proudest distinction +would be when Miss Grace Williams +became Mrs. Alvin York.</p> + + +<h3>“I FEEL A HEAP STRONGER SPIRITUALLY”</h3> + +<p>And what could he say to the Church of +Christ and Christian Union Pastor and members +waiting to welcome him home to Pall +Mall and into renewed fellowship? Probably +what he said to the reporter who asked +him a leading question. When he was drafted +he had no real idea what the fighting was +about. “But when I got to camp,” he said, +“and my officers told me we were fighting for +democracy and peace on earth and for the +protection of the small nations, then I knew +it was no sin to kill. In fact, I feel a heap +stronger spiritually than before I went over +to fight. No man could go through what I +did without the help of God. I feel He gave +us our great victory because we were in the +right.</p> + +<p>At a reception given York by the Tennessee +Society of New York, Major General +Duncan, who commanded the 82d Division, +said this:</p> + +<p>“It is a unique distinction for me to have +on one side of me the Admiral who safely +conducted all of our troops overseas and on +the other side one of the most distinguished +soldiers the world has ever produced. His +deeds are of the character that will go down +in history for our boys and girls to read of and +admire.</p> + +<p>“York was awarded his medals for having +been the leader of a small party which brought +in a large number of prisoners after he had +killed twenty-five. When I heard of his feat +I ordered a full investigation, which resulted +in the award of the Congressional Medal. I +am happy to see your society doing honor to a +man who so thoroughly deserves it.</p> + +<p>“I hope your unprecedented policy of banqueting +a non-commissioned officer will be forever +followed and honor done to the man +who carries the gun—the man who goes over +the top.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_NEMESIS_OF_FLAME">THE NEMESIS OF FLAME</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Vision of Inferno from which Even a Dante Would Have Shrunk——“What +Hell Must Be Like”</h3> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_019" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_019.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>International Film Service.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Liquid Fire—The War’s Most Terrible Weapon</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">It was introduced by the Germans and later adopted by the French. The inflammable liquid was carried in tanks on the backs of soldiers and the +flames were expelled through a nozzle at the end of a short hose.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">As</span> a rule the experience of one “caught +in his own trap” is regarded with a good +deal of satisfaction by human nature in general. +The spectacle of anyone “hoist with his +own petard” seems quite in the line of poetic +justice, and there is not much sympathy with +the victim. But there are instances when the +merited recoil punishment is too ghastly, too +appalling to permit of any other sensation than +that of horror, and a French correspondent on +the Somme has recorded such an instance. +One detachment of the French line was under +heavy and concentrated fire, and the commanding +officer thought it advisable to withdraw +the men to a better position, about fifty +yards in the rear. The correspondent quotes +the statement of the soldier left behind to +watch and signal the movements of the enemy. +He says:</p> + +<p>“I fixed myself about fifteen feet up in the +crotch of a big tree and seized a telephone +which was connected with the nearest battery. +From there I could see a German trench at +the edge of a little wood, about eighty yards +from the trench my comrades had vacated.</p> + +<p>“For nearly an hour nothing happened. +Occasionally I noticed heads peering from the +Boche trench, trying to see into the empty +trench which was hidden from them by a +slight rise of the ground just before it. They +would have been a splendid mark for a sniper, +but I had other work this time. Suddenly +a group of about forty Boches crept from +the wood, rapidly followed by the best part +of a company. I telephoned: ‘Enemy advancing +led by a detachment of flamenwerfer,’ for +I had recognized the devilish apparatus carried +by the foremost group. When the latter +were about eighty feet from the empty trench, +they halted in a hollow just below the rise of +ground, and then, with appalling suddenness, +a dozen jets of white and yellow flames darted +up to fall plumb into the trench. The dense +smoke hid the Germans from me for a time, +but, thanks to my mask, I was able to gasp information +to the battery.</p> + +<p>“A few moments later I had a glimpse of +what hell must be like. Our gunners had +the range to an inch, and a torrent of shells +burst right among the flame-throwers, exploding +the containers. Great sheets of flame shot +up, one jet from a container just grazing me, +burning my clothes so that my ribs were +scorched rather badly. But it was impossible +to escape. The ground was a sea of fire. In +the midst of it the Germans, like living +torches, were dying horribly. One man spun +round like a top, not even trying to run away, +until he fell in a pool of flame. Others rolled +on the ground, but the blazing liquid ran over +them everywhere, and I could smell the sickening +odor of burning flesh.</p> + +<p>“I don’t think any of the fire-throwers escaped. +Their screams, heard despite the cannonade +and rifle fire, seemed to continue terribly +long. The company behind them was +panic-stricken. As the smoke lifted, I saw +them moving back to the wood, and our <em>mitrailleuse</em> +did severe execution, spreading +added slaughter over that scene of horror.</p> + +<p>“I was nearly fainting with the fumes and +the pain of my burns. The Captain sent a +patrol, which found me hanging limply in +the tree fork. They had trouble getting me, +but luckily the Germans were too staggered +to interfere.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="HE_JESTS_AT_SCARS">HE JESTS AT SCARS</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Bomb Thrower and Tank Master Who “Paid His Way in Huns”</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">It</span> is very hard to pick out definitely any +single name and exclaim “Here is the +Hero!” Not that that man would not be a +hero, but that he is not the only hero, and +definite naming of some seems to exclude all +the rest. If this book shows anything, it +shows that in the horrors of the vast conflagration—in +the terrible, awe-inspiring strain of +the fighting on earth and on water, and underneath, +and above—practically all the millions +involved proved themselves heroes. Many of +them found no chance to show their valor in +lone ventures, and not all of them lost the +lives they were so ready to give up. But they +were heroes—all of them—though no papers +heralded in brave headlines their deeds of +glory, and no medals shine forth the commendation +of the superior officers. All we +need to see is the mud-stained uniform—and +that look in the eye. This book is really +a dedication to the innumerable heroes we do +not name—heroes to be perhaps ever nameless +in human documents.</p> + +<p>It is hard even where men were given the +opportunity for individual bravery to pick +them out. Official records are brief, and, in +the main, the men themselves refuse to tell. +But <cite>Scribner’s Magazine</cite> has uncovered one of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> +these hard-to-get heroes. He calls himself +Lieutenant “Z.,” and it is only between the +lines that we read of his endless sacrifice, +courage, and death-defying accomplishments.</p> + +<p>The story is taken from letters written by +him in the trenches. At the very beginning +of the war he had enlisted as a trooper in a +newly-formed cavalry regiment. All winter +they waited to be called to action. Spring +came—and yet no call or need for horsemen. +They therefore volunteered to dismount, and +were sent to Flanders. He himself joined +the “Bombing Squad.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_021" style="max-width: 56.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_021.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>New York Herald.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Forward With Hand Grenades</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">A strong arm, a keen eye, and a disregard for danger are the requisites for the man who throws +grenades or bombs.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Bomb throwing, he soon found, is “quite +a ticklish business, needing care and accuracy. +A badly thrown bomb may kill one’s own +men remarkably easily, and in the hands of +inexperienced men I should call them good +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span>allies for the Germans.” But his own efficiency +speaks for itself. In some ten days the +records named him as wounded, and he writes +a hasty letter home to say that he is well. “My +wound is only a scratch on the arm,” he complains, +“and I did not show it to the doctor +until our return to these billets. It is ridiculous +to return me as ‘wounded.’</p> + + +<h3>LIVING NINE PINS</h3> + +<p>“We went into the trenches on Saturday +night last, and came out Thursday morning +just before dawn. Four days and five nights +practically without sleep, and being shelled by +Jack Johnsons more or less the whole time. +It is a one-sided game, with the odds with the +artillery. We sit and hold a trench, being +the nine pins while the guns roll the ball at +you. You can do nothing but swear softly. +No Germans actually attacked our trench, +but they tried to do so on each side of us. +But on Tuesday afternoon about 6.30 p.m. I +got a little of my own back from them. I +had just returned with a sack full of water +bottles from a stream near by behind our +trench, where we dodge snipers, when the +call suddenly came for ‘Bomb throwers to +the front’ and the rifles and machine guns +started a terrific popping. I was in shirt +sleeves, and just slammed on my ammunition +equipment and skedaddled off with my rifle +up the trench towards the racket, incited by a +great eagerness to get into the thick of it.</p> + +<p>“After a long time, as it was a long way, +crouching and running and crawling I got +to where I could see our men throwing bombs +into the Germans. You could hear nothing +for the noise, for it seemed as if every German +rifle, Maxim, and big gun was turned +on that spot; their shrapnel was going +‘Brrangg’ overhead and their shells going +‘Whangg’ all about. I took a few shots at the +devils with my rifle, by way of resting and +getting my breath, and then I got hold of a +box of bombs and started to crawl and drag +it up there. The box was heavy and, to my +delight, another young chap, a Strathcona, +came and helped me. We dragged and +humped it along, over bumps and across shell +holes and over our dead, until we got to the +extreme point where the Germans were retreating +up their trench and being bombed +by our men unmercifully. There I found +my own Sergeant of our bomb throwing squad, +to my great relief.</p> + +<p>“I had never thrown a live bomb in my +life but soon found out, as it is quite a simple +affair and they were lovely bombs for working. +You could see a clump of German bayonets +huddled like sheep, over their parapet +top, and you chucked a bomb into it and +prayed for the explosion. When it came the +bayonets wavered and wabbled and then disappeared. +If the bomb did not explode you +waited and backed up because those plucky +Germans lighted it again and threw it back. +And so on and so on. I <em>know</em> I got 3 +bombs into them fairly and squarely and heard +them explode and saw the bayonets flop down. +We finally got to a place at a turn in the +trench, an angle, and our men, the —— something +or other, were firing directly across +us, excitedly of course, and they killed about +12 of our men there, two of them being of +my squad and within a few feet of me, and +two more were wounded. I was by that time +about played out and the bombs were all exhausted, +so we sat down to wait for more, +and when they came I could not get up, for +I had cramp in both of my legs and had to +be rubbed and rubbed. That must have been +about 8 p.m. But I could drag around, so I +dressed two wounded men and helped to fill +sand bags and pass them along until 10 p.m. +I should judge. About 10.30 p.m. the only +officer present told us the thing was over for +the time and no more could be done, and we +crawled back, as the rifles and Maxims and +shrapnel and Jack Johnsons were just as busy +all the time. The Sergeant and I got back +to our own trench after 11 p.m. and I was +more than tired. Never have I been so played +out in my whole life. We lost three killed, two +wounded, and another who went off his head +later, out of nine, including the Sergeant, out +of our bomb throwing squad. And I had not a +scratch. Just a bump on the breast bone +from something kicked up by a Jack Johnson. +It was a bad thing for the Germans but we +lost a lot of good men there.</p> + +<p>“Our troop was 38 strong but now only +26 are left. We were in the foremost British +trench of the British front here and our +Troop had the post of honor. So we ought +not to mind anything.”</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_023" style="max-width: 48.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_023.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant John F. Nugent</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>42nd Division, 165th Infantry, 83rd Brigade</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He was recommended for the Distinguished Service Cross for three days’ fighting in the Château-Thierry +Sector. He was mentioned for having maintained liaison under heavy bombardment, as +well as having performed first-aid work.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span></p> + + +<h3>“PAID HIS WAY IN HUNS”</h3> + +<p>Our bomb thrower was twice promoted for +bravery, and finally was offered a commission +in his regiment “for setting traps for Fritz +when he goes a-sniping.” A bomber is called +on to do a lot of work besides bombing, such +as crawling about at night sniffing trouble, +and likely points where Huns may be blown +sky high. He would like to get a quick promotion +but “at any rate,” he writes, “I can +truthfully say that I have already blotted out +enough Huns to pay for my scalp, if that +business deal comes to the point of record. +And it is a most cheerful and fortifying sensation. +I would like my epitaph to read ‘He +paid his way in Huns.’”</p> + +<p>Wounds, yes, and minor disabilities, but he +writes, “I don’t need my left side to throw +bombs and the Lord has spared my right side +for a special purpose. I have got more than +my share of Huns as it is and I firmly intend +to get some more. Three of us, with sufficient +bombs, accounted for 46 dead Huns, 26 +wounded and 22 prisoners in one single afternoon. +This was a redoubt which they surrendered, +after they had had enough.”</p> + +<p>He was finally sent away to an Officers’ +Training Camp and after six weeks came back +to the front as first lieutenant. In the meantime, +though, his regiment had been remounted +and was doing patrol duty. Patrol duty did +not suit Lieutenant Z. He therefore joined +the Machine Gun Corps, and spent several +months in a “Tank Menagerie.” At Messines +Ridge he led a division of the “Rhinos” +into battle. The Military Cross he won there +is only small evidence to the steadfast heroism +he displayed that day.</p> + +<p>He was well acquainted with conditions by +that time. His description of a battle at the +Somme shows that:</p> + +<p>“I was only fifteen hundred yards from our +front line, and the place taken was on an upward +slope, so all was in full sight. At the +given moment, 4.45 p.m. of a lovely summer +evening, up they went, ‘over the top,’ famous +Celtic regiments, all together, a long and gallant +line. Bayonets sparkling in the sun, up +the slope they go! Behind me our massed +batteries are making one great crashing roar +till your temples throb and throb, and ahead +of our men the very earth is heaving and +moving amidst a fog of green and black and +yellow and gray smoke. Now, No Man’s +Land, so long a desert, is full of life and +death and joy and misery. White vicious +balls of shrapnel puff above; or deadly black +and green ones, and below the great spouts +and mushroom columns of jet-black smoke +spring up like fungoid growths here and there. +The shrill rat-tat of machine guns and the +pop-pop-pop of rifles can be heard. On the +little figures run and jump, and the bayonets +gleam and sparkle, and the first line disappears +into the trench ahead, and you are left +to imagine what follows. Still, No Man’s +Land is well populated. Wave after wave is +speeding straight ahead. The ground is dotted +with immovable dots, and others which can +crawl. A bright magnesium star shoots up +well ahead, and the batteries lift their fire +without checking. The waves all surge forward +and out of sight at last, and No Man’s +Land is left to its misery. Then you see the +stretcher-bearers out there among the great +grinding ‘crumps’ and the shrapnel, calmly +picking up their men, and back they come +slowly. You watch one group of five. Four +bearers and a mangled something which is +alive. A monster spout and cloud springs up +near. They swerve and crouch for a few seconds +and on they come. Another black death +entirely hides them from view, and you wonder. +No! Here they come. So slowly and +steadily through the cloud, and you say to +yourself: ‘Hurry, hurry; for God’s sake run!’ +But they don’t. They walk slowly and carefully +with their burden, straight and the shortest +way. Some win home and some do not. +Other men are carrying others, and some +hobble and limp and stagger by themselves. +And all the while the big shells burst and +the shrapnel sprays the ground.</p> + +<p>“No Man’s Land is again a desert, dotted +with dots of death.”</p> + + +<h3>A GO WITH A TANK</h3> + +<p>On June 6th he was given orders to lead +a tank through battle. He must have had +brave folks at home to write:</p> + +<p>“When you get this, I shall have been +through the mill and either all right, in hospital, +or blotted out, so don’t worry. As soon +as I can I will write and let you know the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span>news; if I can’t, some one else will. We +hope to make a page of history, and go into +it with light hearts and great confidence. +This place is Bedlam, the lions about to be +fed, the parrot-house at the Zoo, and a few +other noisy places combined. I went through +gas last night near dawn, and had no respirator +(forgot it). Held my breath till I nearly +burst and blew up, and made record time. +Beyond a harmless whiff picked up when I +exploded for air, which has made smoking less +of a pleasure, no harm done.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_025" style="max-width: 45.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_025.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant Grady Parrish</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>42nd Division, 167th Infantry, Company “G”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He reorganized his platoon and personally led it in the attack on Côte de Chatillon. By his daring +acts he broke up a heavy enemy counter-attack on his front, thereby setting to his men an example +of exceptional heroism and devotion to duty.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Good-by. I have had a long run out here, +and I must not complain, and I have thoroughly +enjoyed it and would repeat it, every +bit of it, if it were necessary.”</p> + +<p>The next letter speaks for itself:</p> + +<p class="right"> +“<span class="smcap">In Belgium</span>, June 10th, 1917.</p> +<p class="no-indent"> +“<span class="smcap">Dear M.</span>:</p> + +<p>“Your letter found me in hospital and was +most delightful company. My trouble is not +much, just a bullet through fleshy part of +right forearm and a graze in the side, and I +am up and about and going back to my lot in +a day or two. We were an active part in +the great drama of the 7th, and what with the +bursting mine-earthquakes and the tempestuous +bombardment, one was lucky to be left +with one’s senses. I, personally, was very +successful, reaching all my objectives and getting +slap into the blue-gray devils, Bavarians, +and blazing away like a dreadnought. Oh! +The sights which were seen! Luck, good and +bad, was with me, for my bus caught on fire +in action just where the thing was thickest, +and I ordered the whole crew out, with fire-extinguishers, +to put it out. Out we went +and got busy. I left my crew on the sheltered +side (more or less), but my corporal, +without orders, got on top, while I went to +the exposed side, vociferously ordering the corporal +down, and we got the blaze out between +us.</p> + +<p>“Meantime one of my crew was bowled +over. We got him back inside and later he +came to and is recovering. Where I was +the bullets were splattering around me and +hitting old ‘Squash ’em Flat’ and splashing +me with fine sprays of broken metal, and +there it was I got my trifling wound and +scratches, but it was only bad Bavarian shooting +that kept me and my corporal (who was +untouched) from being turned into human +sieves. After that, we carried on, and as I +had finished my job to the last letter, we came +on home, and I brought the old thing back +safely.</p> + + +<h3>SOMETHING OF A MYTH</h3> + +<p>“Our game sounds comfortable and protected, +but that is a myth. It is a mystery +how ever any of us got there or got back. +You feel very important because you are +heralded, followed and encircled by miniature +geysers of earth, smoke and biff-bang! Your +own infantry flees from you as if you bore +the plague. A good many of our lot got into +serious trouble, and quite a few faces of chums +are missing to-day. The day for the British +Army was a veritable howling success, and +the Boche fought here with no spirit at all. +They bolted like rabbits, throwing away rifles +and equipment, some back to Berlin and some +to us, hands up, and Kamerading. Our casualties +were very light, indeed, owing to the +absolutely artistic work of the artillery; and +with our airmen the combination is unbeatable. +These wonderful airmen! Like meteors +in the sky, they swoop and fly, entirely regardless +of everything but the job on hand.</p> + +<p>“Our men fight so cheerfully and whimsically +and sarcastically. There is no vestige +of hate toward the Boche, only an abiding +disgust and hearty contempt—a feeling as +toward a mongrel who has fairly gone and got +hydrophobia and must be killed to save valuable +human life. We are really most jubilant +over the past three days’ work, and every +one is smiling and happy and cracking jokes. +Gramophones are whirling at top speed, bands +are playing in the camps, pipes are skirling and +moaning and quickening the pulse, and the +Hun is licking his wounds in silence over +there to the east, in silence and afraid.”</p> +<br> + +<p>The War Office took cognizance of the little +affair:</p> + +<p class="right"> +“<span class="smcap">London</span>, July 12th, 1917.</p> +<p class="no-indent"> +“<span class="smcap">To</span> ——:</p> + +<p>“Beg to inform you that Lieutenant Z., +Heavy Branch Machine-Gun Corps, was +wounded June 7th, but remained at duty.</p> + +<p class="right"> +“<span class="smcap">Secretary, War Office.</span>”<br> +</p> + +<p>On June 20th the Military Cross was +awarded to Lieutenant Z.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="EPIC_OF_THE_FOREIGN_LEGION">EPIC OF THE FOREIGN LEGION</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Its Wonderful Story Will Stand as One of the Vital Things of the War</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> self-redeemed have always had the +world’s sympathy—sometimes they have +won the world’s acclaim. Visitors to that +shrine of French honor and glory, the famous +Hôtel des Invalides, may now see the battleflag +of the Foreign Legion, draped between +the flag of the Cuirassiers who fell at Reichshofen, +and the standard borne by the Garibaldians +in 1870-1871—not only draped in +that honorable association, but wearing on its +folds the cross of the Legion of Honor. And +those who know will tell visitors that that +flag was the flag of the redeemed.</p> + +<p>It was said with shame and contempt at +first that the Foreign Legion was composed +of the riff-raff, scalawags and murderous upstarts +of the nether world. So it was, but +events proved that “there is a spirit in man” +that can throw off degraded conditions and +rise to the performance of nobly heroic deeds +and sacrifices. This Legion, made up of +renegades and social outcasts from all quarters +of the globe, men beyond the pale of +the law speaking a various language, tendered +its services to France in 1915, was recognized +by the President of the Republic, accepted +by the Commander-in-Chief and admitted to +the army on an equal footing with the regular +regiments of the line. The pariahs became +soldiers of France.</p> + +<p>It was an extraordinarily nondescript assembly—all +nationalities, all colors, from the +black of the negro to the blonde of the Saxon, +having but two things in common, their former +outlawry and the “spirit that quickeneth,” and +through the quality of that spirit they squared +their debt to life,—for the Legion dissolved +in the fire that met the “drive” in September, +1915, so soon after it entered the service. +As one of the few survivors wrote: “War did +its worst thoroughly with the Legion. We +had the place of honor in the attack, and we +paid for it.” Right good words.</p> + +<p>There is all the material for an epic in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span> +glory of the Foreign Legion. A great deal +has been written about it, but the best is yet +to be written—some time when the war is +further away, and out of its horror the things +that glow will rise into clearer view. Really, +it is a great thing when the reject of the +social order spring from their fugitive haunts +and rush to death in defense of the higher +civilization. In the meantime there is the +moving story, graphically yet simply told, +by Legionary Morlae, a survivor, published +in the <cite>Atlantic Monthly</cite> for March, 1916.</p> + +<p>The Legion was placed in the van, and +Morlae’s company formed the front line of +the extreme left flank.</p> + +<p>Infinite care had been taken with the preparations, +every detail provided for, even to the +extent of arming twelve men from each company +with long knives and hand grenades +for use in their assigned duty as “trench-cleaners”; +this duty was to enter the German +trenches and caves and bomb-proofs and +“dispose of such of the enemy as were still +hidden therein after we had stormed the trench +and passed on to the other side.”</p> + + +<h3>JUST BEFORE GOING INTO ACTION</h3> + +<p>“One hour before the time set for the advance, +we passed the final inspection and deposited +our last letters with the regimental +postmaster. Those letters meant a good deal +to all of us, and they were in our minds during +the long wait that followed. One man +suddenly began to intone the <em>Marseillaise</em>. +Soon every man joined in singing. It was a +very Anthem of Victory. We were ready, +eager, and confident: for us to-morrow held +but one chance—Victory.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_028" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_028.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Courtesy of Scribners.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">A Platoon of the Foreign Legion</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The legion of adventurous spirits who fought for France, made up of renegades and social outcasts from all quarters of the globe. It +had the right of honor in an attack and went through the bitterest fighting on the Western front.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“I had written to my friends at home. I +had named the man in my company to whom +I wished to leave my personal belongings. +Sergeant Velte was to have my Parabellum +pistol; Casey my prismatics; Birchler my +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span>money-belt and contents; while Sergeant Jovert +was booked for my watch and compass. +Yet, in the back of my mind, I smiled at my +own forethought. I knew that I should come +out alive.</p> + +<p>“I recalled to myself the numerous times +that I had been in imminent peril: in the +Philippines, in Mexico, and during the thirteen +months of this war: I could remember +time and again when men were killed on +each side of me and when I escaped unscratched. +Take the affair of Papoin, Joly, +and Bob Scanlon. We were standing together +so near that we could have clasped hands. +Papoin was killed, Joly was severely wounded, +and Scanlon was hit in the ankle—all by the +same shell. The fragments which killed and +wounded the first two passed on one side of +me, while the piece of iron that hit Bob went +close by my other side. Yet I was untouched! +Again, take the last patrol. When I was +out of cover, the Germans shot at me from +a range of 10 meters—and missed! I felt +certain that my day was not to-morrow.</p> + +<p>“Just the same, I was glad that my affairs +were arranged, and it gave me a sense of conscious +satisfaction to think that my comrades +would have something to remember me by. +There is always the chance of something unforeseen +happening.</p> + +<p>“The strain was beginning to wear off. +From right and left there came a steady murmur +of low talk. In our own column men +were beginning to chaff each other. I could +distinctly hear Subiron describing in picturesque +detail to Capdevielle how he, Capdevielle, +would look, gracefully draped over the +German barbed wire; and I could hear Capdevielle’s +heated response that he would live long +enough to spit upon Subiron’s grave; and I +smiled to myself. The moment of depression +and self-communication had passed. The men +had found themselves and were beginning +their usual chaffing. And yet, in all their +chatter there seemed to be an unusually sharp +note. The jokes all had an edge to them. +References to one another’s death were common, +and good wishes for one another’s partial +dismemberment excited only laughter. +Just behind me I heard King express the hope +that if he lost an arm or a leg he would at +least get the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">médaille militaire</i> in exchange. +By way of comfort, his chum, Dowd, remarked<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> +that, whether he got the medal or not, +he was very sure of getting a permit to beg +on the street-corners.”</p> + +<p>Here is a significant touch to be remembered. +An hour before midnight as they +passed down to the front trenches the men +in the supporting trenches regarded them enviously +in the darkness, demanding to know +why these men should be going into battle +ahead of themselves. And the answer came, +“Nous sommes la Légion.” “A-a-a-a-h la +Légion!” That was the satisfactory explanation. +“Our right to the front rank seemed +to be acknowledged. It did every man of +us good.”</p> + +<p>It was the recognition of the right to redemption!</p> + + +<h3>OVER THE TOP AT DOUBLE-QUICK</h3> + +<p>There had been heavy artillery fire through +the night, increasing in intensity as the hour +of the morning appointed for the attack approached. +The Germans, informed by their +airmen of an unusual commotion in the enemy +first line, began shelling that point, and the +uproar was terrific when the signal was given +for the Legion to go over the top. Says +Morlae:</p> + +<p>“I felt my jaws clenching, and the man +next to me looked white. It was only for a +second. Then every one of us rushed at the +trench-wall, each and every man struggling to +be the first out of the trench. In a moment +we had clambered up and out. We slid over +the parapet, wormed our way through gaps +in the wire, formed in line, and, at the command, +moved forward at march-step straight +toward the German wire.”</p> + +<p>As they moved forward at double-quick, +men fell right and left under bursting shell, +and the rain of bullets from the machine guns; +but through all the appalling uproar Morlae +could hear the clear, high voice of his captain +shouting “<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">En avant! Vive la France!</i>”</p> + + +<h3>STEADILY ON ACROSS A WALL OF FIRE</h3> + +<p>They went steadily on, supported by the +fire of the rows of “75’s,” the fire-curtain in +front outlining the whole length of the enemy’s +line clearly, accurately. But above +them was blackness, the low-flying clouds +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span>mingling with the smoke curtain; and out of +that blackness “fell a trickling rain of pieces +of metal, lumps of earth, knapsacks, rifles, +cartridges and fragments of human flesh. The +scene was horrible and terrifying. Across +the wall of our own fire, poured shell after +shell from the enemy, tearing through our +ranks. From overhead the shrapnel seemed +to come down in sheets, and from behind the +stinking, blinding curtain came volleys of +steel-jacketed bullets, their whine unheard and +their effect almost unnoticed.... With me +it was like a dream as we went on, ever on. +Of a sudden our fire curtain lifted. In a moment +it had ceased to bar our way and +jumped like a living thing to the next line +of the enemy. We could see the trenches +in front of us now, quite clear of fire, but +flattened almost beyond recognition. The +defenders were either killed or demoralized. +Calmly, almost stupidly, we parried or thrust +with the bayonet at those who barred our way. +Without a backward glance we leaped the +ditch and went on straight forward toward the +next trench, marked in glowing outline by our +fire. I remember now how the men looked. +Their eyes had a wild, unseeing look in them. +Everybody was gazing ahead, trying to pierce +the awful curtain which cut us off from all +sight of the enemy. Always the black pall +smoking and burning appeared ahead—just +ahead of us—hiding everything we wanted to +see.” And so on to the next trench ahead, +what was left of it, where bayonet and gun-butt +did their work speedily and then on, leaving +the finishing touches to the “trench cleaners.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_030" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_030.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">Placing the Stars and Stripes in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The American Legion—men who were serving in the Canadian Army—presented to the Cathedral +the flag of the United States and the flag of Canada. They were first placed on the altar +and after a short service were carried to the north transept.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Later of a sudden the German artillery in +front ceased fire, and from the trench ahead +the German troops “were pouring out in +black masses and advancing toward us at a +trot.” They thought it was a counter-attack +and set themselves to meet it. But then the +French artillery suddenly stopped firing and +the supposed counter-attack was seen to be a +surrender, the enemy coming forward in columns +of four, officer leading, with hands up. +As the prisoners were being escorted to the +rear, the German artillery, aware of its mistake, +resumed fire, viciously throwing shells +among the masses of prisoners.</p> + +<p>At last they gained the communication +trench that led to their objective, the Navarin +Farm. The trench was filled with dead or +wounded Germans; and when they got to the +final trench, it was wholly unoccupied. The +French gunmen had done their work thoroughly. +The men advanced into open position +and dug in separately, smoked, chaffed each +other, now and then made a dash to a neighbor’s +hole, taking cheer in the fact that the +charge was over and the object won.</p> + +<p>But of the Legion such a pitiful few were +left that it passed as a fact, surviving only as a +memory; its war-sealed flag with the cross of +the Legion of Honor, hanging in the Hôtel +des Invalides, being the testimony of its service +well done.</p> + + +<h3>DARE-DEVIL FIGHTERS FROM THE PARIS SLUMS</h3> + +<p>As an addendum to this account of the final +action of the Foreign Legion, brief reference +to the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Bataillon d’Afrique</i> is quite appropriate. +This battalion was organized by the French +government in 1832 for the purpose of bringing +under indefinite military discipline the city +roughs, Apaches, sneak-thieves, pickpockets, +swindlers, forgers and other offenders of the +lower world. All the social refuse whom the +authorities despaired of making useful to civil +life were sent to join this battalion, which +differed from the ordinary battalion consisting +of 1,000 men, in having no numerical limit. +It was maintained in Africa. These soldiers +were young daredevils, keen, brave, daring, +and veritable terrors in a fight. This was so +characteristic of them that the best French +officers were eager to have command of them, +especially as they were devotedly obedient to +their officers.</p> + +<p>When France was forced to defend herself +against Germany at the outbreak of the Great +War, there were 5,000 of the Bataillon +d’Afrique, 3,000 garrisoned in Tunis and +2,000 in Morocco. They were summoned to +France, and the first detachment of several +thousand landed at Marseilles early in August +and were at once hurried north and into +Belgium. One battalion was surrounded at +Charleroi by a detachment of the Prussian +Guards, and the situation looked very black +and desperate. But that did not affect the +fighting spirit of the battalion (the Joyeux) +except to give it intensity. The Joyeux buried +their flag that it might be in no danger of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> +falling into the hands of the enemy and, with +fixed bayonets, by sheer force and will-power +cut their way through the encircling guardsmen. +This battalion was part of the heroic +rearguard in the retreat from Belgium. At +the battle of the Marne it took terrible revenge +for its discomfiture by the Guards +at Charleroi, when the Joyeux in their +turn surrounded a regiment of the Prussian +Guards, which did not cut a way +out.</p> + +<p>They gave a fine account of themselves, that +is, those who had survived the earlier campaigns +in the final grand offensive of the +Allies.</p> + +<p>Captain Cecaldi, who led the Joyeux in +many campaigns, said of them:</p> + +<p>“The place of the Joyeux is where the powder +talks, face to danger. They ever give +proof of a calm energy, devilish courage, attentive +obedience. They fight always with a +good humor. In the midst of shells and bullets, +in the hardest part of the struggle, they +make droll and witty remarks. And when +the end comes the Joyeux know how to die +nobly.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="DOC_OF_THE_FIFTH">“DOC OF THE FIFTH”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Conversion of the Rev. J. H. Clifford, “Y” Worker, into A Hero +Among Marines</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Not</span> every one understands that a soldier +of the Lord has in him the material out +of which to make a very effective soldier where +shot and shell play havoc. The young men +of the Army, Navy and Marines who went +over to France to offer their lives in defense of +their country’s ideals, discovered, in the experiences +of the trenches, a something that rather +cheapened in their estimation the forms and +didactic solemnity of conventional religion. +They had learned a more intimate thing, and +it is the testimony of many clergymen that +the “boys” found words only too cheap where +works were in order. They had no hankering +for sermons. They had caught an intimate +understanding from the Unknown. They +did not want to be preached to.</p> + +<p>Therein lies the secret of the affectionate +familiar devotion of the men of the regiment +to “Doc of the Fifth.” It is a story that has +been told widely in the press, and has been +requoted in numerous periodicals, but it is a +delightful instance of what may be called the +quiet heroisms of life.</p> + +<p>The Rev. John H. Clifford, minister of +the Baptist Church in Tucson, Arizona, felt +the urge to service on the other side when +the United States began sending its boys to +the fighting front. He promptly tendered +himself as a “Y” worker, was accepted and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span> +sent abroad. His assignment carried him to +the 5th Regiment of Illinois in the Vosges. +He went prepared to do his duties as a minister +of the Gospel and a servant of man.</p> + +<p>He wore the blouse and tunic of the chaplain, +insignia that indicated to some of the +“Boys” that superior altitude of moral pretension +and holier-than-thouness they were unwilling +to acknowledge too cordially. So +when he tried to begin his work with the men +of the 5th, he was greeted by the declaration, +“We don’t want any damned parsons around +here,” and for two weeks they held aloof, +ignoring the efforts to establish religious services.</p> + +<p>But the Rev. John H. Clifford wasn’t a +clergyman merely, he was a man—and he +understood men. And this valuable asset incited +a course of action destined to win the +confidence and affection of those under his +care. Instead, therefore, of standing on dignity +and attempting to command the respect +supposedly “due to the cloth,” he went to the +men. He joined them in their hikes. He +entered into their interests. He was ever +ready to do his share and bear the equal hardships +with them. They began to warm toward +him, and finally, as one of the Marines put it, +he was “adopted as a Leatherneck,” and he became +to them “Doc”—“Doc of the Fifth.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_033" style="max-width: 46.375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_033.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">Rev. J. H. Clifford of the Fifth Marines</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Entering the service as a “Y” worker, Rev. Clifford later became attached to the Fifth Marines +and remained with that organization throughout its fighting. The men became so fond of him +that they named him “Doc of the Fifth” and attached the Globe, Anchor and Eagle to his collar.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span></p> + + +<h3>SO THEY MADE HIM A MARINE</h3> + +<p>Then one night the boys of the 45th Company +sat reasoning together and came to the +flattering conclusion that “Doc” was still a +trifling distance from them in the matter of +regimental distinction, and needs must be +brought into more intimate harmony with +them. <cite>The Marine’s Magazine</cite> tells us that +they secretly removed his blouse and tunic +and had the company tailor sew on Marine +buttons and attach the Globe, Anchor and +Eagle to his collar. When “Doc” appeared +at chow with his new decorations the officers +were aghast, but later General (then Colonel) +Doyen authorized him to wear them and there +they have remained.</p> + +<p>“I am prouder to wear the Globe, Anchor +and Eagle than I am to wear the Croix de +Guerre which was given me after I had the +opportunity of helping General Catlin when +he was wounded,” said Dr. Clifford. “Any +one of the boys would have done anything +he could for the general in similar circumstances, +but not everyone is awarded an emblem +by the Marines themselves. A token of +affection from such men as those is the greatest +honor.”</p> + + +<h3>IN THE THICK OF IT AT BELLEAU WOOD</h3> + +<p>He was with the 5th Regiment through +that fame-winning Belleau Wood battle, and +has endless stories to tell of experiences in that +terrible fight, some of them amusing as an +afterthought, though they were not so regarded +at the time. For example, the experience +when he and a stretcher bearer were +crawling through the grass toward the trench +where General Catlin lay seriously wounded. +Shells were dropping and machine-gun bullets +were slashing all about.</p> + +<p>“Keep closer down, Doc,” was the constant +admonition of the stretcher bearer, “closer +down.”</p> + +<p>“The lad didn’t realize, I guess,” Doc says, +“that I was perfectly willing to get closer to +the earth but my stomach prevented my doing +so.”</p> + +<p>He says of the awful days in Belleau Wood, +where his life was repeatedly in danger:</p> + +<p>“It was glorious to be with the boys there, as +they saved Paris and made history. Out of +the 1,600 men in the 3rd Battalion, there +were only 200 left after ten days in Belleau +Wood. Many a time the rosary I carried +was covered with blood as one of those brave +boys grasped it for the last time.” (Creed +made no difference at a time like that.)</p> + +<p>“I could relate instances of individual heroism +for hours at a time. I lay by the side of +Top Sergeant Grant of the 20th Company +while he picked off nine Germans consecutively +at 400 yards; that’s Marine Corps +marksmanship for you.</p> + +<p>“‘Anything I can do for you, boy?’ I asked +him.</p> + +<p>“‘No, Doc,’ he said, ‘but you might pray +while I aim.’</p> + +<p>“‘I’ve been doing that,’ I told him, ‘every +time you squeeze the trigger.’ Later I saw +him blown to pieces by a shell.</p> + +<p>“Then there was the chap named Young +who saw Major Berry wounded and threw +himself in front of him as a shield from the +bullets that were flying like hail. Later, +when I spoke to him about his act, he merely +said, ‘I’ve done nothing.’ A few days afterward +when he had volunteered to perform a +dangerous mission in the town of Lucy and +was doing what he would probably have called +‘nothing,’ he, too, was killed by a bit of shell.</p> + +<p>“One of the boys saved me when I was +stunned by shrapnel and in my stupor started +to walk toward the German line. He saw +where I was headed and got Doc out of that +pretty quick. Then I was paralyzed by another +piece of shrapnel and was taken to a +Paris hospital. But I was lucky. I was out +again in five weeks and got back at the front +just in time to be with my boys when the +great drive opened on July 18 at Soissons.”</p> + +<p>During that intense fighting he was again +at the side of the men of the 5th to lend a +hand whenever possible. One wounded Marine +asked him for a smoke, which was forthcoming, +but the lad was unable to take it, +his hands were both shot.</p> + +<p>“Light it for me, will you, Doc?” he said, +and Doc did, although he hadn’t had any +practice for more than thirty years.</p> + +<p>Another story he tells is of a runner who, +before one of the battles, asked him to lead a +prayer meeting. Although somewhat astonished +by the request, Doc complied and the +meeting was duly held in a dugout. Later an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> +officer was questioning the runner concerning +his whereabouts.</p> + +<p>“I was in the dugout at a prayer meeting,” +said the boy.</p> + +<p>“A prayer meeting?” demanded the officer.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” persisted the lad, “and it was +a damned good prayer meeting.”</p> + +<p>Besides the Croix de Guerre, Dr. Clifford +proudly wears the blue Cross of Lorraine, +given him by an officer in that province.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="COULDNT_STOP_THEM">COULDN’T STOP THEM</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Thro’ Turkish Shells and Barbed-Wired Sea They Landed at Gallipoli</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Twenty</span> transports of Australians under +General Birdwood, arriving at Gallipoli. +In any circumstances, landing through +rough seas and narrow beaches, under defiant +cliffs and then climbing those cliffs is not +nerve soothing for either impatient commanders +or restless soldiers. But in war time +with cannon belching at you—well, it costs.</p> + +<p>It was planned to surprise the Turks—those +surprisingly straight-shooting Turks, +with their infernal German guns and German +officers. The men tried to hope, but it was +really absurd to think the enemy would be +surprised. In January the Allied troops had +tried to force the Dardanelles. That had been +sufficient warning. The enemy would not be +caught napping only a few months later. Even +the most hopeful of the men set about writing +the letters which might contain their very last +wishes, fears, bequests, expressions of love. +Then the gloom passed and jokes and laughter +came.</p> + +<p>At about two o’clock in the morning they +dropped anchor. Each man stood at parade +on the decks, and each was ordered to look to +his supplies—a rifle, a bayonet, 150 rounds of +ammunition, three days’ rations, a first-aid +kit. It was weird contemplating this stretch +of the Ægean and that bit of coast so soon +to be washed by blood.</p> + +<p>Captain David Fanlon in his story of <cite>The +Big Fight</cite> says: “The long procession of +transports and their grim battleship escorts had +stolen up in the night, a widely spread yet organized, +concrete group of slowly-moving, +black, gloomy monsters. Every light aboard +each ship had been ordered out. Not even the +pin-head flame of a cigarette might show on +any deck.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span></p> + +<p>“The only light we had was the faint green +gleam that filtered over the smooth waters +from a moon that had begun to wane and had, +indeed, at this hour of three in the morning, +nearly fallen behind the ragged jaw of the +black cliffs.”</p> + +<p>That moon may have been very picturesque, +but the men on those boats hated it, feared it, +wished it in—any place but in the heaven +above them. Its beam might act as a spotlight +on the surprise attack. It looked like the evil +<em>eye</em> of the <em>enemy</em>.</p> + +<p>“I wonder,” said some one, “what that old +green eye of a moon is looking at back of +those dark, old cliffs? I wonder if he sees +the big guns drowsing and the garrisons asleep +or——”</p> + +<p>“What he’s seeing,” came a grumbling answer, +“is the heathen blighters getting ready +to bang hell out of us!”</p> + + +<h3>THE GREAT ADVENTURE BEGINS</h3> + +<p>“And now the men had assembled on the +decks as soft-footedly as they might. They +had gathered in the darkness into orderly rows +like big companies of phantoms. The ship’s +crews worked as spectrally and nearly as silently +as the lowering of ladders and the +launching of the boats would permit. Small +steamboats, each with a swerving tail made +up of barges and small boats, panted alongside +the transports and battleships. With wonderful +precision and swiftness the great ships +spawned hundreds on hundreds of smaller +craft, thousands on thousands of men, crowding +the waters with them for as far as you +could make out whichever way you looked in +the faint moonlight.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_036" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_036.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>© New York Herald.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">A Night Attack on the Dardanelles</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">British warships bombarding Turkish forts to protect the Allied landing parties. +The fire that was returned was both accurate and deadly.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span></p> + +<p>Of a sudden, the moon dipped and blinked +out behind the cliffs. There was a sigh of +relief. “God bless that damned old moon.” +A moment before there had been just enough +light to see the battleships coming on slowly +in the rear with the obvious purpose of covering +the attack. “Then you couldn’t see a +blessed thing. The green waters had turned +to ink. You only knew your comrades were +with you in the same boat by the press of +their swaying bodies against your shoulders +and your ribs.”</p> + +<p>They were within two hundred yards of the +shore.</p> + +<p>“Shouldn’t wonder,” whispered some one, +“if we’re to surprise them after all.”</p> + +<p>“Then suddenly out of that weird darkness, +that curious silence that had been disturbed +only by the rapid, half-choked panting of the +steam tugs, the surge of the water against the +sides of the barges, the whispers, the occasional +smothered laughs—all soft sounds—there +came hell—veritable hell if ever hell +comes to men on earth! And it came with +a tremendous roar!”</p> + +<p>Captain Dave Fanlon was not an observer +at the time. He was a participant. He gives +a most thrilling account of the ghastly landing:</p> + +<p>“There was a swift, sharp lightening of the +sky back of the gaunt, black cliffs, and our +boats seemed thrown out of the water, thrown +up into the air by the rocking thunder of the +heavy guns of the Turkish batteries behind +those cliffs. The water that had been so +smooth an instant before, that was, in fact, +so treacherously smooth, as had been the silence, +was stabbed and chopped and sent into +wild spume by a great rain of shells. Blinding +blasts flared as suddenly, as here and there +a boat with its living load was struck and shattered. +Screams and hoarse, impulsive cries +began to mingle with the explosions.”</p> + +<p>The Turks had the range as surely as if +they were only ten feet away from the Australians. +The English battleships began an +angry, heavy retort. Whether they found +their mark among the Turks or not, it seemed +to make no difference. The enemy fire became +more and more intense. Boat after boat was +being smashed. Scores and scores of men, unable +to swim, or weak swimmers, died right +there.</p> + + +<h3>CAUGHT IN BARBED-WIRE NETS</h3> + +<p>Most of the men struggled. They tried to +throw off their encumbrances. They helped +one another to get rid of their knapsacks. +They let go their ammunition belts—everything +but their bayonets. They knew that even if +they could make the shore there would be +small hope for them without the bayonets. +All the time came that devilish fire from the +cliffs. The shore was not far off now. They +swam. They were within fifty feet of it. +Then they hit against a terrible snare.</p> + +<p>“The enemy had constructed on stakes in +eight feet of water a barbed-wire entanglement +along more than two miles of the beach.” +Men ran their faces full tilt against the +barbed wire’s fangs. They cursed and +moaned. They hung on to the wire, but +ducked every instant, for a scream of bullets +was all around. Hundreds drowned. Hundreds +were held like netted fish in the entangling +wires. Many were lost in trying to +get through that wire. But the attack went +on. There was some space between the wire +and the sea bottom. They crawled through! +The enemy’s own shells smashed some of the +wire. Bombing parties in battleship launches +tore more sections open.</p> + +<p>Men did get through. They lay gasping on +the beach. But bullets came thicker. They +rose. Officers tried to organize the torn +forces. The bombardment from the forts +was ceaseless. The English ships roared back +with thundering fire. Machine gun fire and +rifle fire from Turks, concealed in mounds of +sand and the clefts of the cliffs, were tearing +down the brave Australians—ever dauntless.</p> + +<p>“The landing party was grotesque and +wavering under the frightful storm. Shouts, +yells, screams of pain, cries of alarm merged +into a great clamor. The most heartening +thing, somehow, in the darkness had become +the Australian cry of ‘Coo-ee!’—sharp and +musical, in which men had called themselves +together into groups.</p> + +<p>“There was no living on the beach. The +only way out of that immediate hell was to +charge across the sands and get into the shelter +of the dunes, to fight our way to the base +of the cliffs and get away from the shells of +the cliffs, and to fight a way into the enemy +trenches in the table-lands.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span></p> + +<p>Amidst the horror and confusion that +reigned impossible deeds were performed. +How it was ever done no one can tell. +It was terrible. But it had to be done. Many +of the English hadn’t a thing to fight with but +the cold steel of their bayonets. The warships, +of course, helped tremendously. The +hills of sand and the stony cliffs were rent by +merciless fire. You could see “the bodies of +the enemies, clusters of them, spouting from +the places of their concealment. Legs, arms, +heads were flying wildly in the air.”</p> + + +<h3>GOT THERE ANY OLD WAY</h3> + +<p>Captain Fanlon says:</p> + +<p>“We got up those sand ridges any old +way—by digging in our bayonets like Alpine +staffs, clawing with our free hands, scrambling +with toe-holds and fighting up on all fours.</p> + +<p>“We had just gained a knoll of sand and +bush and taken protection behind it for a +minute’s breathing when one of my men, one +of those sturdy cattlemen who had made their +way out of the wilderness to get into the war +for civilization, went down with a bullet in +his leg.</p> + +<p>“‘Nothing much,’ he said, as I bent over +him to examine the wound, ‘and don’t stop +for me. Go on and come back for me later or +maybe the Red Cross lads will find me. +A little thing like this isn’t going to—’</p> + +<p>“He was smiling as he talked, but suddenly +his head fell back, his smile widening into a +horrible grin. A bullet had taken him in the +neck. He was done for.</p> + +<p>“Of course, and luckily, there were only a +few of our thousands that had been blown +out of their boats and most of the lusty fighters +of the landing force had their ammunition +in hand. They were going after the Turks +with the rifle volleys of deadly accuracy.</p> + +<p>“Having come alive through the terrible +ordeal of that shell and bullet strand of open +beach, the Australians and New Zealanders +were fired to the highest fighting pitch. Companies +of them sang as they climbed and +pushed and struggled along—sang or rather +yelled snatches of all manner of songs though +they didn’t sound much like songs. More like +strange, sustained savage war cries.</p> + +<p>“There was no staying the impetuosity of +some of them.”</p> + + +<h3>SOME WOULDN’T “DIG IN”</h3> + +<p>At last the Turks began to give way. +They were on the run. But their forts two +and three miles away were still pouring their +fire. The men were ordered to dig in. Despite +orders, however, “hundreds of our warriors +refused to stop. They charged right on +through the pathways and tunnels in the cliffs. +We never saw them again. Those that were +not killed were captured by the Turks. We +used to say in speaking of them afterward that +they had ‘gone on to Constantinople.’”</p> + +<p>The Australians had proved their mettle in +this terrible adventure. Everlasting glory +was theirs—soldiers so recently recruited. The +soldiers, though, were not the only ones to +be elevated to higher sacrifice in these soul-straining +demands. “There was the work +done by the Australian Army Service Corps—landing +a steady procession of boats with +medical and food supplies as well as ammunition, +fleets on fleets of these boats from the +transports and battleships moving to shore +with the coolest regularity, with the waters +around every one of them constantly thrashed +by tons of falling shells. Scores of the boats +were blown up. But the others never +stopped.”</p> + +<p>“The stretcher-bearers and the doctors we +could also see working calmly among the sand +dunes, ignoring snipers’ bullets as though they +had been harmless flakes of snow. Slow and +painful files of the wounded—those who could +walk or stagger along were being guided to +protected places until the coming of night +might enable their removal to the hospital +ships.</p> + +<p>“As for the dead whose countless prone +bodies were strewn upon the beach with curious +pitiful inertness, so different from that of +sleep that you know instinctively it means +death—there was no use then risking live men +to give the dead the attention, to award them +such decencies of care and burial as were their +due. This also would be the work of the +night. Yes, and many a man as he worked +over the graves of his fallen comrades pitched +into that grave, himself become a dead man—betrayed +to a sniper by the moonlight’s gleam.</p> + +<p>“Twilight veiled the sun and then very +suddenly black night came.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_039" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_039.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>New York Herald.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">British Troops Meeting a Charge by the Turks</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Their fighting equipment reduced to machine guns and rifles, a small British unit at Gallipoli met the onrushing Turks in the open and drove them +back.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>The Australians had done the thing men in +authority had thought it impossible to do. +Lord Kitchener later declared this one of the +most brilliant feats of bravery and soldiering +of the war.</p> + +<p>There were 20,000 men who landed at Gallipoli. +Perhaps 1,000 of them are alive to-day.</p> + + +<h3>THE KIND OF MEN THEY WERE</h3> + +<p>And here is a tribute to the men who +stormed the heights that may be found in the +London <cite>Times’</cite> account of the campaign:</p> + +<p>“The most moving part in the Gallipoli +story will ever be the splendid feelings it +called forth in the breasts of young Australians. +To them it was no ordinary adventure +in warfare. These single-minded, loyal youths +had different conceptions of God. But every +conception fitted into the sublime conception +that this work for their race and country was +God’s work. Upon the tissue of their natures, +the warm affections, the cleanliness and the +liberty among which they had been brought +up, this fighting call in Gallipoli precipitated +something that seemed to them the highest +thing possible. What they knew was that +they wished to go to Anzac, that they +were prepared to die there, that the Australian +army had become for them a sacred institution. +Their hearts were touched by the +death of comrades, their eyes took fire at the +sight of the distinctive Australian uniform. +Gallipoli proved, if it did not in itself go far +to produce, a warmth and generosity in the +Australian character. The difficulty experienced +by the commanders was not to get men +to this shell-torn place of hardship, but to +keep them from it. Half the members of the +Light Horse Brigades and all the drivers of +artillery and ambulances had been left behind +in Cairo or Alexandria, to attend to the horses. +But it was impossible to keep them there. +They decided amongst themselves who could +be spared. Everyone wished to go, those +chosen were thought lucky. They boarded +transports at Alexandria, stowed away until +the ships were at sea, and then reported themselves +to the officers commanding. One artillery +brigade lost 39 of its men in this manner. +General Hamilton could never find it in his +heart to send back men who came with tears +in their eyes and asked for nothing better than +to be given privates’ work in Anzac. There<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> +were cases in which sergeants gladly forfeited +stripes and pay for the chance. Men could +not bear to go back to their homes and say +they had not done their share at Anzac.”</p> + + +<h3>UNORTHODOX BUT STANCH</h3> + +<p>“And of their discipline, which was attacked +because it was sometimes unorthodox, +what better can be said than what was told +in the undying story of the <em>Southland</em>? The +<em>Southland</em> was torpedoed by a German submarine +in the Ægean Sea, when conveying the +21st Australian Infantry Battalion and part +of the 23rd, 1,500 strong, from Alexandria +to Mudros. They were Victorian country +boys, recruited for the most part from the +farms and stations of the Wimmera and the +Goulburn Valley. Panic ensued among the +ill-assorted crew of this converted German +liner. Three of the four holds filled with +water, the hatches of the hold first damaged +were blown out and in the water there the +Australians could see the dead bodies floating +of their comrades killed by the explosion. No +one thought that the ship could keep for long +above water. But the soldiers stood at their +stations. They waited for their turn. One +went to the piano, and played favorite airs. +Others, when volunteers were asked for, +jumped into the water to right overturned +boats. When at last all the men were off the +stricken vessel, standing on half-submerged +rafts, clinging to the edges of boats, swimming +alongside improvised supports, volunteers were +called for to stoke the ship into port, all the +men within hearing offered for the hazardous +task. Six officers and seventeen men climbed +the rope ladders again, and with her bows +under water and her stern low down, the ship +was brought into Mudros and beached. It +was a triumphant vindication of the discipline +of Dominion troops. ‘The discipline was perfect,’ +wrote Captain C. E. W. Bean, official +reporter at Anzac. ‘The men turned out immediately. +There had been boat drill on the +voyage and the men ran straight to their +proper places and lined up.’”</p> + +<p>This praise of discipline which, though “unorthodox,” +meets and never fails to meet the +required end, reads quite as if it had been +written of the boys of the United States’ expeditionary +force.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="ONE_OF_OUR_BOYS">ONE OF OUR BOYS</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A California Youth of Heroic Soul Who Gave His Life to England</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">We</span> are constantly hearing of the hundreds +of Americans who laid down +their lives under the French colors. It was +part of the debt we owed France. England, +too, when she joined in the war for liberty, +found many Americans hastening to her aid, +and among the lives that were taken under her +flag in the “great venture” was that of Harry +Butters, a young Californian whose death in +France called forth nation-wide eulogies in +Great Britain.</p> + +<p>Young Butters, after a preliminary education +at San Francisco, went to England and +entered Beaumont College at Windsor. There +amid England’s rural charms and the spell +of England’s old traditions, he learned to love +the country which sheltered him.</p> + +<p>At the outbreak of the war, Butters went +back to America. He could not stay, however. +There was a call to rise and to go. +He went back to England and enlisted. It +was as an officer of the British Army that he +died.</p> + +<p>The London <cite>Observer</cite> voices England’s +praise and love of the American:</p> + +<p>“This American boy—and what a straight, +upstanding pattern of youth and strength he +was—owed us no duty and he gave us all. +He gave it not impulsively nor in adventurous +recklessness, but with a settled enthusiasm +belonging to the ‘depth and not the tumult +of the soul.’ How much he gave is worth +considering. His personal endowments and +opportunities were such that when he made up +his mind to quit everything in his bright California +and to come into the war, his choice +was heroic in the fullest sense of that word.</p> + +<p>“When he went back to America after leaving +college, he was a young man of mark, +framed to excel both in sport and affairs. +He was very tall, supple, active, frank, and +comely of face, as gay as he was good-looking. +You saw by a glance at his hands that he had +a born instinct for management and technique. +He had been a good deal at sea. He knew +all about horses and motor-cars. He was a +crack shot and a fine polo-player. His business +ability was shown as soon as he took over +the management of his father’s estates. With +this practical talent that could turn itself to +anything he had other qualities. One remembers +what a delightful, level, measuring glance +he used to give suddenly from under his +brows when he had finished rolling a cigarette +and went on with his keen questioning about +men and things. To talk with him was to receive +a new and promising revelation of the +mind of young America. Like so many of +our own young soldiers in their attitude +toward politics, he was not content with either +of the old parties in the United States. He +thought that his own generation, if it was +earnest enough, might make a better hand both +of social problems and world-relations. He +hoped to play his part. Although he always +thought of himself in a fine spirit as “an +American citizen,” he wanted the United +States to take a full share in the wider life +of the world, and especially to work as far +as possible for common ideals with the whole +English-speaking race.</p> + + +<h3>WARM HEARTED AND FEARLESS</h3> + +<p>“So when the news of the war came to San +Francisco, he put aside as fair a prospect of +wealth, success, happiness, and long life as +could well open before a young man, and determined +to throw in his lot with the old +country and the Allies in the fight for civilization +against all the armed might of lawless +iniquity which had flung itself on Belgium.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_042" style="max-width: 46.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_042.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant Harry J. Adams</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>89th Division, 353rd Infantry, Company “K”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Following a retreating German into a house in the town of Boullonville on September 12, 1918, +he fired the remaining two shots in his pistol through the door and ordered the surrender of the occupants. +By his bravery, coolness and confidence he captured, single-handed, 375 prisoners.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“He was then twenty-two. He arrived in +England in the early part of 1915 to join +the British Army, and no military eye could +doubt that the British Army had got a rare +recruit. Harry Butters got his first commission +in the 11th Royal Warwickshire Regiment. +Afterward his technical faculty found +more congenial scope when he transferred to +the Royal Field Artillery. While training, +he stayed a good deal at the rectory, Stow-on-the-Wold, +Glos. The rector writes: ‘He was +a warm-hearted, fearless young officer, as +fine an American gentleman as ever crossed +the Atlantic.’ It is much to say, but it +is true.”</p> + +<p>“His captain writes that, ‘He was with his +guns, and no one could have died in a nobler +way. He was one of the brightest, cheeriest +boys I have ever known, and always the life +and soul of the mess.... We all realized +his nobility in coming to the help of another +country entirely of his own free will, and +understood what a big heart he had. He +was loved by all.’</p> + +<p>“He is in it to the finish, indeed, with comrades +of his adoption, who have passed with +him. He takes his last sleep out there with +so many of the brave and true where none +was braver and truer than he, and among the +recollections of the great war, his name will +not be forgotten. Beaumont will take care of +that. In his old college we doubt not he will +have his permanent memorial. In our thoughts +the flags of Britain and America cover his +heart with double honor. We shall never see +them entwined again without thinking of +him. No American can read these lines without +being proud of him. No Briton can read +them without feelings deeper, more moved +than can be said in any words. We are grateful, +as he would have liked, to his America +that bred him.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Denis O’Sullivan, the widow of the +famous Irish singer who was so eulogized by +Mark Twain in his “Memoirs,” wrote to +friends about the boy she affectionately called +“stepson,” though there was no such tie between +them:</p> + +<p>“Do you remember in poor Synge’s ‘Riders +to the Sea’—the old mother says that now her +last son is drowned, she will be able to sleep +o’ nights?</p> + +<p>“The harrowing anxiety of every day in +this time of war is over for me, too. On +July 22, as you know, Gerard, my first stepson, +was killed. And on August 31, at night, +too, my last—Harry Butters—they were both +as dear to me as my own—but Gerard had +his own people here—he was not dependent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span> +on me, while in a way, Harry had only me—his +sister was six thousand miles away. I +haven’t been able to say much of him these +last months as he had been getting the carbon +copies of my letters to you. Yet it was so +often on the tip of my fingers to enlarge upon +the boy—his charm, his capabilities.</p> + +<p>“More still upon the drama of his last +experiences—from the moment when he burst +into Aldwych his first day in uniform, so +big, so startlingly handsome—above all, so +gay—a shout of ‘stepmother!’ that raised the +dust in that crowded, smoky refuge where the +hundreds of tired Belgians looked around in +astonishment that anyone left in the world +could be so fresh, so dazzling—through those +months of his watch beside his guns or directing +fire from his exposed shell-swept hillside—that +awful moment when the enemy found +the range and poured death down upon the +shelter that was no shelter—when all the other +officers within call took refuge there, fourteen +in all, Harry, the youngest, but the one who +dashed out under fire to carry what was left +of one of his telephonists to the first-aid station—a +poor mangled mass of humanity, still +breathing and crying out, a deed that in a +smaller war would have meant the Victoria +Cross, but in this, only one of a thousand such +daily—after it his sudden collapse from the +shock—(‘No one knew it, stepmother! I +managed to bluff it through!’) But his colonel +had been through the same experience +and backed the doctor up in sending him to +the base for a few days.</p> + +<p>“Then his June leave, luckily due anyway, +brought him over to No. 7 where he could +be petted and taken care of—but it was a +quiet Harry—no less clear-eyed and vigorous, +but so, <em>so</em> tired.</p> + +<p>“Then Winston Churchill and Garvin trying +to make him take three weeks’ extra leave, +the boy’s refusal, his return to France, some +weeks in the ammunition column, where, +knowing him to be comparatively safe, I could +carry an easier heart, then a hasty line: ‘Just +going up to one of the batteries to replace a +casualty. It’s too bad it comes while I’m in +bad shape, but it can’t be helped, and it surely +is what I’m here for, after all. Don’t worry +any more than you can help.’</p> + +<p>“That was August 22, only short notes +after that, though he could find time to write,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> +‘I’m going to try to get over to Gerard’s +grave. If I can find some flowers I’ll decorate +it for you.’</p> + +<p>“His friend, Captain Zamora, to whom he’d +given my address, could not have been with +him at the last, for he had also had shell-shock +and was with the ammunition column, +but he wrote on the 1st of September that +Harry had been with his guns the night before, +when the call came, had gone in apparently +the best of spirits—and the same +shell killed him and his battery commander.</p> + +<p>“It has been so beautiful this week. I’ve +never seen a harvest-moon more wonderful. +One can only think what a world it is—and +Harry and Gerard both out of it.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="GUTHRIE_OF_THE_KILTIES">GUTHRIE OF THE “KILTIES”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The First Canadian to Enlist Came Back with Scars of Twenty-two Wounds</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Colonel Guthrie</span> must have been +born a fighter. Certainly ever since he +was seventeen he showed the disposition of +the warrior. His military career began with +the outbreak of the South African War, when +he proceeded to enlist in the Transvaal as a +member of the famous Fourth Canadian +Mounted Rifles. Guthrie made just one +complaint about the campaign: “It ended too +soon.” His adventurous spirit was not satisfied. +He enlisted in the naval police. +That, however, was not exactly what he +wanted.</p> + +<p>He returned to Canada in 1903. If civil +pursuits were in order he would take them +in the same spirit as an army campaign in +the Transvaal. He studied law. When only +twenty-seven he was elected a member of the +legislature of New Brunswick. He was a +success.</p> + +<p>Perhaps he would have lived his life without +further intensive physical experiences. The +war saved him.</p> + +<p>“It was August 4, 1914,” says the London +<cite>Telegraph</cite>, “that fateful day upon which England +declared war against Germany, closely +following on the invasion of neutral Belgium. +In a little theater up in the city of Fredericton, +capital of the Province of New Brunswick, +a large audience sat enjoying an interesting +program. The second act had just +ended. From the left wing of the stage +walked the house-manager. A raised hand +cut short the orchestra’s selection. Almost +everybody knew what was coming. They +had been expecting it for the last thirty hours. +A silence fell over the entire house while nine +words were pronounced by the house-manager:</p> + +<p>“‘Our mother country has to-day declared +war against Germany.’</p> + +<p>“For a second—only a second—a lull fell +over the audience. Then, as if prearranged, +the orchestra struck up the strain of ‘God +Save the King.’ From top to bottom the +house was in uproar. Cheer after cheer rent +the air. The audience as one stood singing +the national anthem.</p> + +<p>“Seated well up in front in the orchestra +as the manager’s announcement was made was +a man about forty-four years old. The +audience, with the exception of this particular +man, began to settle back in their chairs as +the singing of ‘God Save the King’ was concluded. +With a stride which was noticeably +military he walked toward the rear of the +theater and left the building. Less than two +blocks away was a telegraph-office. The lone +night operator, half dosing, jumped to his +feet as the door opened, and the man who a +few seconds ago had left the theater entered. +He addressed a telegraph-blank to ‘Sir Sam +Hughes, Canadian Minister of Militia,’ and +then followed an offer to raise a company +of soldiers for an overseas expedition.</p> + + +<h3>HE RAISES A COMPANY</h3> + +<p>“‘Captain Percy Guthrie, Seventy-first +York Infantry,’ the message which he handed +the operator was signed. The first Canadian +had volunteered his services to the King.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_045" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_045.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>New York Herald.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The Charge of the London Scottish</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Subjected to a withering fire, the Scots were driven back from Messines three times. They finally rallied and took the position with the bayonet.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Captain Guthrie returned at once to the +theater, joined his wife, and witnessed the +rest of the performance. The curtain came +down, and with his wife, Captain Guthrie +again headed to the telegraph-office. This +time the operator was not thinking about +sleep. He had just received a reply to Captain +Guthrie’s telegram and was anxiously +awaiting his return. The answer read: ‘Offer +accepted. Proceed to recruit volunteers forthwith.’”</p> + +<p>Guthrie raised his company and went to the +front. He soon rose in rank, and at last was +given command of a regiment of Scots.</p> + +<p>Guthrie is said to possess almost a boyish +exuberance of spirit, but of some things he +will not jest. He will not even talk about +them. Evidently the horror he has met with +at the front has left a permanent impression. +The following incident is told by a close +friend of the Colonel’s, Charles K. Howard, +representative of the Canadian Government +Railway:</p> + +<p>“On a night in the battle of Festubert the +Tenth Canadians went over the trenches. The +flares from the machine guns made the line +as light as day. A piece of the German +trenches was taken. The only injury that +the Colonel at this portion of the scrap received +were some tears in the legs from barbed +wire entanglements, although he lost in three-quarters +of an hour two-thirds of his battalion. +The piece that was taken must be +held until reinforcements came. These were +a little slow in arriving. A captain held one +end of the line while the Colonel, leading his +men down the trenches, with his bombers +cleared out another section. The German +line began to give slowly. Step by step, they +slid back around the traverses toward Givenchy. +The Canadians gathered their strength +and started to press forward. A brave Westphalian +officer tried to hold his men and stem +the tide. He stood up to his knees in mud, +fighting until his last bomb was gone. The +Colonel, at the head of his men, rushed upon +the officer, who, weighing perhaps forty +pounds less than the Colonel, was not daunted. +He grasped the Colonel by both arms, holding +him for a moment, and then, with the +strength borne of despair, lifted him bodily +into the air, holding him rigid so that he +could not move.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span></p> + +<h3>TAKES A MUD BATH</h3> + +<p>“The Canadians, dashing on behind, overbalanced +the struggling pair, so that the Westphalian +officer fell backward into the mud, +with the Colonel on top. In the dark the +Canadian soldiers did not know whether their +leader had been killed or not. They did not +take time to investigate. They rushed over +the two struggling men, trampling them deeper +and deeper into the mire of the trench. The +Colonel found the throat of the German officer. +The struggle was soon over, so that he +could catch up to his men.”</p> + +<p>During the attack on Ypres Guthrie resigned +his position and asked to be sent to the +Tenth. Of that engagement, Mr. Howard +says:</p> + +<p>“The Tenth had been badly battered in +taking back from the woods four British +guns that had been captured. The gallant +Colonel Boyle, with seven machine-gun bullets +in his body, had for two hours in the +darkness of the night lain in a shell-hole surrounded +by his men and in true Western +style, with a revolver in each hand, had repelled +repeated attacks. Then he was carried +away to die, and Major MacLarinthe, +second in command, leading the charge, was +shot through the knee. After crawling forward +with his men to a little clump of woods +which he helped to capture he was shot +through the head and killed. Major Ormand, +too, fell wounded. Four officers of the thirty-one +were left when it fell to the lot of Junior +Lieutenant Guthrie, as he had become in +order to go to the Tenth, to lead the battalion.</p> + +<p>“During the succeeding days the fighting +surged back and forth over Ypres’s hillsides, +during which time the battalion suffered +greatly from the gas-clouds that were let loose +now and then.</p> + +<p>“One time, when leading his men, the Colonel +fell with a bayonet wound in the chin. +On another occasion his nose was broken, +but this did not put him out of action. He +suffered from the concussion of a shell on +another occasion and was knocked out for five +hours. On another day he was put out of +business by a gas-shell which exploded near +him and he was dragged out of a ditch full +of water by a British general, who forced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span> +him to emit the gas by thrusting his fingers +down his throat. A scar on the knee shows +where the Colonel was punctured with a bayonet-point. +His hand has been ripped open +by a bayonet which he held while grappling +with an assailant. The outcome of it was +that the Canadians held the line at Ypres +until reinforcements came.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="NOT_SO_UNSPEAKABLE">NOT SO UNSPEAKABLE</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Turk Whose Sense of Humor Made the Tommies His Friends at Gallipoli</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">War</span> has its humor. Even though it appear +arms locked with death, there is +a laugh on the side. It is probably true, as +an old soldier once said, that if there were +not a funny side to war an army could never +get through its hell. The British troops on +the Gallipoli Peninsula did not find the situation +teeming with the hilarious, but there +were moments of relief from the grim monster +of trench fighting. Oddly enough one of +the provoking causes of much mirth, seasoned +with a due amount of vexation, was a +rotund Turk in whom a sense of humor and +an impudent daring mingled in a way to win +the regard of the Tommies fighting in the +trench opposite him. He alternated between +tossing a bunch of dates and hurling a bomb +into the trench of the Tommies with whom +he exchanged laughter daily. Some of the +Australians detected in him reminders of an +eccentric “publican” who dispensed beer at +home. So the Turk was dubbed “Fatty” +Burns, the sobriquet of the keeper of the +“pub.”</p> + +<p>A correspondent of the New York <cite>Globe</cite> +tells the story as he got it from Trooper +Clancy, one of the men in the trench opposite +the merry Turk, at Russell’s Top, on Gallipoli, +the two trenches being separated by +less than twenty-five yards.</p> + +<p>“One old topper in the trench opposite me +was a fair treat,” said Clancy. “He was so. +My word! Used to pop up his head above +the trenches and laugh at us. Then he’d pop +down again. All along our side the boys +would be taking shots at him, and they never +hit. Then we could hear him laugh. We +got so we liked him.</p> + +<p>“‘Don’t shoot at the old orphan,’ the boys +would say. ‘He looks like “Fatty” Burns.’”</p> + +<p>One morning the Light Horse had made +a demonstration in order to keep the Turks +from thinking of what was going on somewhere +else. They were chased back to the +trenches when they had done their part, but +they left two men behind them. The sun +was cruel hot, Clancy says. His rifle-barrel +fair blistered his fingers. These poor chaps +were lying there with their faces in the grizzling +sand. The Australians could not reach +them. It would have been suicide to try.</p> + +<p>“Here comes ‘Fatty’ Burns,” said some +one.</p> + +<p>The Australians in stupefaction watched +the old Turk. He had thrown aside his rifle +and stood up at full length on the parapet +of the trench. Anyone could have potted him +at that range. Clancy doesn’t understand yet +why no one did, except that they were all +fond of the old blighter. “Fatty” Burns +crawled into the open in a lazy sort of +way and walked over to the two wounded +men.</p> + +<p>“Gave them a drink of water, he did,” said +Clancy, “and wiped their lips and then lugged +them over to a bit of cover so we could go out +and get them after night came. We gave a +cheer for old ‘Fatty’ and he laughed at us +before he went back into his hole. My word! +How his white teeth did shine.”</p> + +<p>The Australians had more bully-beef than +they needed. The cans got to be a nuisance. +They were not permitted to refuse the stated +allowance of bull each day. Until lately a +British ration has been a fixed and immutable +thing. One day it occurred to some one that +“Fatty” Burns might like some meat. So +they tossed three cans into his trench.</p> + +<p>“There was a terrible hullaballo, when they +landed,” said Clancy. “I suppose they thought<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> +it was some new-fangled kind of bomb. But +an hour or so later some Turk threw us a lot +of fine, fresh dates. We always reckoned it +was ‘Fatty’ Burns.”</p> + +<p>Three or four days afterward “Fatty” +Burns thrust head and shoulders above the +trench-top again and laughed like sin. Then +he threw something into Clancy’s trench.</p> + +<p>“I just had time to get my overcoat down +on it before it went off,” said he. “‘Fatty’ +had scooped out the meat from one of our tins +and filled it up with melinite and pieces of +scrap-iron. It fair murdered my coat. I held +it up above the parapet and shook it at ‘Fatty.’ +He laughed until he choked.”</p> + +<p>“A bully old sport was ‘Fatty’ Burns.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_MEDICAL_CORPS">THE MEDICAL CORPS</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Though the Reports Are all Too Few Every Doctor Was a Hero</h3> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_048" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_048.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Courtesy of Telephone Review.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Decorating American Soldiers with the Legion of Honor</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Colonel Carty of the U. S. Signal Corp receiving the insignia from General Berdoullat.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">“If</span> there be degrees of chivalry the highest +award should be accorded to the +medical profession,” was said in the London +<cite>Times</cite> in 1916. People didn’t know whether +that was meant quite seriously. Soon they +found out. Medical men were figuring heavily +in the casualty lists, and more and more +stories were coming over of exceptional courage +and devotion to duty among the doctors, +nurses, and ambulance drivers. Usually, also, +no one but the wounded on the fields of battle +knew how to appreciate the deeds of the non-combatants. +There was in general +no thrill attached to the +records. They were simply records +of steady self-sacrifice in +the face of the greatest danger.</p> + +<p>The Times instanced a number +of heroic doctors. Captain +Chavasse was one of them. +Utterly regardless of heavy firing +he would time and again +rush across the open to dress +the wounded. He kept this up +all through the engagement and +then he himself was wounded +in the side by a shell splinter. +This injury he sustained while +carrying an urgent case into +safety, the journey being over +500 yards of shell-swept ground. +Afterwards at night he took +up a party of twenty volunteers, +rescued three wounded men +from a shell hole only twenty-five +yards from the enemy +trench, buried the bodies of two +officers, and collected many identity +discs—and these things he +did although he was fired on by +machine guns and bombs.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_048fp" style="max-width: 45.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_048fp.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +By J. F. Bouchor<br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The Sister of Mercy</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>The Captain finally met his death while at +such work. The official record gives only +brief details: “Though severely wounded +early in action, while carrying a wounded +soldier to the dressing station, Chavasse refused +to leave his post, and for two days he +not only continued to perform his duties but +also went out repeatedly under heavy fire to +search for and attend the wounded who were +lying out. During these searches Chavasse +was practically without food, he was worn +with fatigue and faint with his wound, yet +he helped to carry in a number of badly +wounded men, over heavy and difficult +ground. It was due to his extraordinary energy +and inspiring example that many wounded +were rescued who would otherwise undoubtedly +have succumbed to the bad weather +conditions.”</p> + +<p>“There had been many displays,” adds the +London <cite>Times</cite>, “of almost superhuman courage +and endurance in the war, displays which +had been recognized by the bestowal of the +greatest of all naval and military distinctions; +but standing out prominently even amongst +these proofs of highest bravery and duty was +the heroism of Chavasse.”</p> + +<p>It seemed almost as if such action became +a tradition with the profession, for another +hero was soon announced—Lieutenant George +Allan Maling. During the heavy fighting +near Fauquissart, Maling worked hard and +incessantly under the unceasing shell fire. “He +began his task at 6:15 in the morning, collecting +and treating more than 300 men in the +open and exposed to merciless fire. Throughout +the whole of that day, during the evening, +all through the night, without a break till +eight o’clock next morning—twenty-six unbroken +hours—he worked, reckless of shell +and bullet. It seemed impossible that human +strength could endure more. Eleven o’clock +came, then a large high explosive shell burst +and did dreadful havoc. It killed several of +his patients, it wounded his only assistant, and +it flung Maling down and temporarily +stunned him. Yet no sooner did he regain +consciousness than he pulled himself together +and resumed his work. A second shell exploded, +covering both Maling and his instruments +with débris; yet even so, he had not +finished—he extricated himself and continued +his work single-handed.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="SOME_RED_CROSS_WEAKLINGS">SOME RED CROSS WEAKLINGS</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Captain Bobo and His Buddies Weren’t Good Enough for the Doctors</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">There</span> is a reminder of the stone which +the builders rejected in the story breezily +told by Frank Ward O’Malley in the <cite>Red +Cross Magazine</cite> for July, 1919. It records +the heroism of Bobo—Captain Stephen N. Bobo, +whose ancestors long ago undoubtedly +spelled their name Beaubeaux. Steve was born +in Memphis, Tennessee, and began early to +react against southern ease. Anyway, as soon as +he was graduated from college he made +straight for Honduras. “Thence,” says +O’Malley, “Steve went to Chile, where he +started for Sidney on a trading schooner, but +liked the little ship so well that he bought a +controlling interest in her en route. At the +Christmas Islands, Skipper Steve Bobo converted +his schooner into a trader instanter—and +made a little money on her. He was +wrecked off Easter Island and, with five companions, +had to swim seven miles to land. +Skipper Bobo and four of his friends were +compelled during that swim to help keep +afloat betimes a sixth, whose swimming technique +was poor.</p> + +<p>“He returned to Chile aboard a passing convict +ship. He made a short visit home, then +was off to the interior of China, where he +made a little money. In turn he went to India; +to the Philippines; to Hawaii, where he +bought swamp lands, parceled the property +and sold it to the Chinese tara farmers, and +made a little money on that; to the State of +Washington on a hydro-electric venture and +made a little money on that; to the San Joaquín +Valley of California, and made a little +money at ranching.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_050" style="max-width: 47.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_050.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Private Carl W. Dasch</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>42nd, Division, 167th Infantry, Headquarters Company</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">On July 26th-August 1, 1918, near Croix Rouge Farm, he carried messages between the firing +lines and battalion headquarters, at the same time picking up wounded men and carrying them +out of the barrage to the first-aid station. During the whole series of engagements he did not +sleep and his physical energy was taxed to the utmost.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Captain Bobo was resting up in April, 1917, +and contemplating his next venture when +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span>Uncle Sam decided that this world had not +been made for Germany and advised the +Kaiser of our intention to prove it. Bobo +hurried to the first recruiting station. And +then the San Francisco army doctors played +their trick.</p> + +<p>They turned him down.</p> + + +<h3>“THE JOLLY OLD RED CROSS”</h3> + +<p>“The way the army doctors talked to him +made the young man wish ardently that instead +of being a poor little anemic lad, who +could do nothing but swim seven miles and +sail schooners through typhoons and knock +over tigers, he were one of those brawny athletes +who had trained indoors on stenography, +dress-goods salesmanship, and cigarettes and +therefore were being uproariously welcomed +into a selective service army by local draft +boards.</p> + +<p>“‘But,’ cried young Mr. Bobo in effect, +‘I’m telling the world fair that I want to go +to France. And I want what I want when +I want it. Now what other speedy way is +there of getting to France besides the—Holy +mackerel! I’ve got it! The jolly old Red +Cross.’”</p> + +<p>Bobo wondered, when he was going across, +if the Red Cross would ever allow him to +sneak close enough to the front “to get gassed +or shot or something.”</p> + +<p>When Bobo landed in France with the First +Division he was assigned to the very humble +task of serving soldiers with cocoa and sandwiches. +He took up the task seriously, and +did his work well, but then he got tired. +Finally he got enough courage to suggest a +plan to General O’Ryan.</p> + +<p>The army doctors were constantly sending +men back from the front line because of some +physical defects. Steve Bobo wanted the +General to give him permission to establish +a “Divisional Rest Camp” and fill it with +those “darn fine fellows” whom the surgeons +were throwing out. “Most of those men,” he +said, “are volunteers, and all of them are the +best sort of fighters. Instead, then, of sending +them back to the rear for reclassification, +turn them over to me, sir, we’ll show you +something.”</p> + +<p>“That was done. Day by day into the Bobo +‘Divisional Rest Camp’ came the men, sad +beyond measure because the surgeons had +found something in their anatomical architecture +which was slightly out of kilter. Daily +Captain Bobo put his unpromising material +through a series of setting-up exercises. Thus +it was that in next to no time he had surrounded +himself with a Red Cross unit of +husky youngsters who, as Lieut. Colonel J. +Leslie Kincaid, Judge-Advocate of the Division, +since has phrased it, ‘preferred to live +in that part of hell which has no fire escapes.’ +By the time Captain Bobo had completed his +organization he had forty-seven men in his +Red Cross unit, with every man-jack in the +outfit carrying papers to prove that the only +reason he was not carrying a rifle was that an +army surgeon had got the fool notion the man +was not physically able to stand the gaff.</p> + +<p>“Cried Captain Bobo, when all had been +made ship-shape, ‘We’re set, men: Let’s up +and at ’em.’ And forward went the fightingest +band of Red Cross ‘invalids’ that ever +slapped a German dead and then piled him +into an ambulance to try to save his life. Up +with the front line fighting men, the little +Red Cross band found themselves in no time, +and, on occasions, hundreds of yards in advance +of the front line trenches, out in a sunlit +No Man’s Land.”</p> + + +<h3>KNEW HOW TO GET ’EM</h3> + +<p>Lieutenant-Colonel Kincaid remembers a +little something about Bobo and “his Rough-necks” +on a particular occasion.</p> + +<p>“I merely want to say,” he remarked, “that +in the middle of the Hindenburg show Captain +Bobo said ‘Presto!’ and ten ambulances +appeared from nowhere at a moment when, +believe me, ambulances were needed.</p> + +<p>“Colonel Montgomery, weeping for ambulances, +thought of Captain Bobo. He gave +the Red Cross man the high sign, and Captain +Bobo just brushed aside a lot of flying +metal and stepped close enough to Colonel +Montgomery to ask the Colonel what was on +his system. ‘Ambulances,’ shouted the Colonel, +‘but I don’t know where to get ’em.’ +‘I do,’ answered Captain Bobo. ‘If you’ll give +me a fast car I’ll flush a whole covey of ambulances, +sir.’</p> + +<p>“Colonel Montgomery commandeered General +O’Ryan’s racing car and Captain Bobo<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> +climbed in. The Captain stepped on the accelerator +and exploded toward Paris, a trip +of 158 miles. And toward the middle of the +next afternoon back came Bobo hellbent with +ten ambulances in his wake. We were too +busy then to ask him where he had got them, +but when things had quieted down for a +moment some days later we made inquiries. +And we got this Bobo person’s number. Let +me tell you in confidence—don’t repeat this +to a soul, remember—this Bobo is an ambulance +stealer. He and his gang were out and +out Red Cross crooks. He had crashed into +Paris, grabbed up every ambulance standing +along a curb, bamboozled the drivers into believing +that they were to take his orders, and +had crashed out of Paris again at the head of +his string of sputtering booty; and made +straight for the front again at a time when +I don’t know what we would have done if it +hadn’t been for Captain Bobo and his ambulances.”</p> + +<p>O’Malley takes up the story again: “Bobo +and his associates had had no sleep for almost +thirty-six hours.</p> + +<p>“They were dirty, unshaven, haggard; nevertheless, +they spent that night and all the next +day picking up the white-faced, shattered boys +who lay among the shell holes groaning with +the thirst horrors which only those who have +lost pints of blood know. Back to the ‘battalion +aid post’ the lads were brought by Captain +Bobo and his buddies, or variously to ‘first +stations,’ which sometimes were within 200 +yards of the front line trenches—to dressing +stations, or to the main dressing station back +at ‘railhead.’ And there the sufferers received +attentions, which sometimes meant a +merciful anesthetic and sometimes the grimy +but gentle fingers of Captain Bobo on cold, +white eyelids as he closed the staring eyes forever.”</p> + +<p>Bobo and his daredevils became an institution +with their division. Where danger lay, +so long as there were wounded there, Bobo’s +squad gloried.</p> + +<p>“One day, the Captain and his Red Cross +crew learned that if they wanted to get their +ambulances out to where the wounded lay +they would have to circle the toe of a wooded +knoll over an open road on which rained +machine gun bullets every time anything alive +showed itself to the Huns concealed in the +woods on the hill. But they wanted to get +to the wounded.</p> + +<p>“They started their engines and ‘stepped on +’em’ so hard that the little ambulances would +bang out into the open and whiz around the +marked turn joyously, while the phut-phut-phut-phut +of the Hun machine guns whipped +the atmosphere into ribbons and the splinters +from the racing ambulances flew high in air. +Then they had to come back around that open +turn again, and they went out again and back, +and out and back, their ambulances looking a +bit worm-eaten when the day was over but the +Captain and each of the other Red Cross drivers +still ‘all in one piece.’”</p> + + +<h3>PRETTY GOOD MEN TOO</h3> + +<p>O’Malley tells the story of two of the Captain’s +drivers—Privates Freddy Schroeder and +Leo Smith, both from New York City—who +were engaged in their customary hilarious +sport when word came to the little Red Cross +band that a medical detachment was out beyond +the hindside of No Man’s Land and +that it had been marooned there for thirty +hours without food or water. “Zipp went +Red Cross rowdies Freddy and Leo in their +tawney ambulances decorated with the big +Red Cross—fairest of targets for a German +gentleman. And this time when the drivers, +their ambulances loaded with grub and water, +came to an open stretch of road they got not +only machine gun bullet storms but Hunnish +high explosives. And as they were sailing +along through the metal storm on a straight +stretch of open highway, a German shell exploded +just ahead of them, so close that they +barely had time to come to a stop on the edge +of the crater. They were about to reverse and +back off to where they had come from when +another shell bit the road just behind them +and made another crater.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_053" style="max-width: 46.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_053.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Private Fred Carney</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>1st Division, 26th Infantry, Company “G”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He was cited for extraordinary heroism in action between the Argonne and the Meuse. With +great coolness and bravery under machine-gun and shell fire, he maintained liaison between his +battalion and company and assisted in reorganizing his platoon after the platoon commander was +wounded.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“There were Freddy Schroeder and Leo +Smith on an ‘island platform’ of the road, +with seemingly nothing left to do but to abandon +their ambulances and crawl to safety the +best they could. They didn’t do anything of +the kind. Right out in the open they tugged +at every sizable chunk of débris in sight and +built a sort of bridge across the forward shell +hole and went onward and brought welcome +food and water to the marooned detachment. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span>And in their own good time they came back +over their ‘bridge’ again, jumped out and built +another ‘bridge’ of the same kind over the +second shell hole, and about dusk, sailed victoriously +to their Red Cross quarters unharmed.</p> + +<p>“Finally there was another day that must +be told of. It was the day at St. Souplet +when two of the stricken residents of the little +town crawled back to our lines and told the +Mayor of Busigny (which had just been captured +from the Huns) that many civilians, +dozens of whom were wounded, were hiding in +the cellars of St. Souplet. None of them +dared show himself. The German patrols +were still poking about the town and their +machine guns were sweeping the village +streets. Shells were dropping and death +threatened the hidden ones in the cellars in +other ways, especially in the form of gassing, +the poisonous gas naturally tending to work +downward to the cellars and other subterranean +passages where the men, women, and +children of St. Souplet lay hidden.</p> + + +<h3>RESCUES A VILLAGE</h3> + +<p>“Somebody would have to do something +about it. Who was always doing something +or other about something? Battling Bobo +and his Red Cross band!</p> + +<p>“To dash into the streets of St. Souplet +would not help much because the dash would +end in a patter of lead and a bouquet of whiz-bangs +that would leave nothing but a shell +hole where ambulances an instant before had +been. Nevertheless young Captain Bobo and +his men ‘had’ to get there. The Captain called +together his Red Cross band, which that day +numbered only thirty-five huskies, the others +being absent on other work or ill. Captain +Bobo explained the situation and asked the +thirty-five how many of them would care to +volunteer to go into St. Souplet with him—to +go up to our front line trenches in the broad +light of day and beyond, on into the buildings +of a town still thoroughly held by the Germans. +Pause a moment, reader, and guess +how many of the thirty-five Red Crossers volunteered.... +Reader, you’re a wonder: +you guessed the exact number the very first +time!</p> + +<p>“And so the thirty-five started forward with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> +Captain Bobo, scooting along in their ambulances +parallel to the fighting lines for a little +distance and then making a dash across lots +to a grove which stood at an advanced spot +where, up to that time, no American soldier +had set his foot. And while an amazed +American Army looked on, the little band +made the woods and disappeared among the +trees while hell cracked all around them.</p> + +<p>“Providence and Steve Bobo were with +them. In the heart of the little clump of trees +they found an old road which ran through a +ravine to the nearest back alleys of St. Souplet. +When they had come to a place where the +old road climbed out of the ravine preparatory +to entering the town, Captain Bobo +jumped off the leading ambulance, gave his +followers the high sign, and again gathered +them about him for final directions. And +Bobo and his band left their ambulances in +the protecting ravine and began to crawl on +their bellies across the last of the fields and +into the town.</p> + +<p>“They followed by preference the backdoor +route when they had wormed across the last +field and straightened up to find themselves in +St. Souplet. Even so it was necessary at times +to make a dash for it across open streets, a +dash that must be completed before the astonished +German gentry at far ends of the streets +could begin to pepper the thoroughfare with +the machine gun bullets. Always, however, +Battling Bobo and his band beat the bullets +to it.</p> + +<p>“In the black cellars of the village they +rooted around. Old women lay huddled in +the underground gloom; one of them, a very +old lady, had been shot through both thighs +three days before and, quite unattended, lay +cowering in her cellar until Captain Bobo +dragged her forth and carried her back to +where his ambulances lay hidden. There were +old men, little children, young girls for whom +the horror of their nights of hiding in the +Boche infested village had a terror greater +even than gas and the shriek of shells. One +by one Bobo and his men carried the sufferers +into back yards, through the winding alleys, +back of protecting buildings, and so to the +wooded ravine, where the ambulances were +filled with the stricken villagers of St. Souplet +and the bundles of scant belongings which they +hugged to their trembling bosoms. Then the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> +dash back through the grove and across the +sunlit No Man’s Land to final safety—not +final for the Red Cross band, for as soon as +they had carried their first load of refugees +behind the American lines they turned around +and did it all over again, and again, and again. +For four hours at one stretch they worked like +beavers to save the villagers of St. Souplet, +then organized a second series of trips and +put in eight hours more darting to and from +the town or squirming into its alleys and cellars. +And Battling Bobo and his band got +the villagers finally to safety without the loss +of a Red Cross man, despite the fact that the +‘Jerries’ were systematically shelling the village +from the first moment the Red Cross +rescuers entered it until the last villager had +been saved.”</p> + +<p>There were forty-seven Red Cross men in +Bobo’s band. To this day the Captain is +trying to find out why only twenty of them +were cited for exceptional heroism.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="EH_MON_TWAS_GRAND">“EH! MON, ’TWAS GRAND!”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Braw Hieland Laddie’s Impressions of What Happened When “We +Were Over the Top Like a Lot of Dogs Let Loose”</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> powerful British thrust along the +Somme will take its place in history as +one of the striking instances of sheer courage +fighting against frightful odds and winning +out. In that “push” there were hundreds of +thrilling individual adventures, but it is impossible +to give each man his due, so splendid +was the concerted action. But a representative +of the London <cite>Telegraph</cite> talked in a +hospital with a Scotsman wounded at +Pozieres, and this excerpt from the published +article throws an illuminating gleam over the +whole battle front, and one feels that Scotty +was but the mouthpiece burring out the spirit +of his fellows as they plunged forward:</p> + +<p>“Eh, mon, it was hell, but it was grand. +We’ve got a move on at last, and are paying +the Huns out. For over a week our guns +have been letting rip at them. Talk about +the German guns in the early days of the war, +they are not in it now. I was in the retreat +from Mons, so I reckon I’ve seen some of +the fighting.</p> + +<p>“I got my packet Friday night,” he added, +referring to his wounds. “We were pushed +up to our front line trenches early Friday +morning. Long before daybreak the guns +were at it worse than ever. The noise fair +drove some fellows daft, but the worst of all +was waiting in the trenches for the order to +charge. When that came we were over the +top like a lot of dogs let loose. The ground +was churned up for miles, and the front of +the German trenches simply smashed to bits. +We got there under cover of smoke, and +fairly rolled in. I shall never forget the +sight. The Germans were lying heaped up +in all directions, and those who were alive +showed no fight, but appeared to have gone +‘clean potty.’</p> + +<p>“Further on we got into the supports, +which had received a terrific smashing about, +and it was there we had the scrap. At the +last moment it seemed the Germans had +rushed a crowd of chaps in, and they had +hidden themselves in shell holes and were taking +pot-shots at us. We rushed them with the +bayonet and bombs, and some of them put up +a good fight. I had one fellow in front of +me, and felt myself a ‘goner,’ for I tumbled +over some wire, when one of our chaps got +his bayonet into him. The next second a +German ‘outed’ my chum. ‘Never fear, +Jock,’ he said, ‘you did the same trick for +me once.’ That chap’s left a wife and six +bairns away up north,” added the Scot.</p> + +<p>Asked how he received his wounds, the +Scot became somewhat bashful. “Oh, one of +the Huns got in at me,” he replied. Another +wounded hero, however, took up the narrative. +“He fair tumbled into a hole where +there was half a dozen of ’em hiding,” said the +second man. “Jock comes of a fighting race, +and he gave the Huns a bit for hiding.”</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_056" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_056.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Western Newspaper Union.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The Black Watch on the Flanders Front</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The Black Watch of the British Army is the most famous of perpetuated regiments. Few of +its original members survived the fierce fighting of the early days.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="ONE_SURVIVED">ONE SURVIVED</h2> +</div> + +<h3>An Episode of the Gallipoli Campaign Typical of the Fighting</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">This</span> account of a desperate engagement +is brief, but it tells a wondrous story. +It appeared in the London <cite>Times</cite>:</p> + +<p>The first capture of a Turkish trench and +its retention deserve special notice because this +brilliant exploit fired the whole of Anzac, +after fifteen weeks of monotonous trench fighting, +for the great aggressive operations of +August and September. The work was known +as Northern Turkish Despair Trench, or +Tasman Post, and it was stormed under severe +fire on July 31, by a composite company +of the 11th Battalion (West Australia) of +General E. G. Sinclair-MacLagan’s Third +Brigade, under Captain R. L. Leane. After +two days a heavy counter-attack was launched +by a battalion of Turks, who regained a section +of the work, but were again driven out. +The episode cost Anzac 300 casualties, but +showed what could be done. Near the close +of the series of attacks which this success began +was another charge, the simple truth of +which was worth accomplishing, even at the +cost. It was the charge of the First and +Third Light Horse Brigades, differing from +the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava +only in that it was made by horsemen who had +volunteered to fight on foot, and that it succeeded +in one object—that of holding large +bodies of Turks who would otherwise have +been used against the new British landing at +Suvla Bay.</p> + +<p>The Eighth and Tenth Regiments of the +Third Brigade went out from Walker’s +Ridge. It was a charge into death from the +first moment, and before the men of the second +line leaped from their trenches they shook +hands, knowing that they could not survive. +They were met by a fusillade that became a +continuous roaring tempest of machine gun +and rifle fire, and out of the 300 men in the +first line only one returned. The Second +Regiment of the First Brigade was sent out +from Quinn’s Post, charging into so impossible +a fire that the first line had to be left to its +fate, and the second, third, and fourth lines +held in the trenches. The First Regiment of +the First Brigade charged up the slopes of +Dead Man’s Ridge and found a similar fate. +It was all over within ten minutes—in the +case of the charge from Quinn’s Post within +a few seconds. “The Turkish machine guns +drew a line across that place which none could +pass,” wrote Captain C. E. W. Bean, official +observer with the Australian Division, “and +the one man who went out and returned unwounded +put his escape down to the fact that +he noticed the point on our sandbags on which +the machine gun bullets were hitting, and +jumped clear over the stream of lead. The +guns were sweeping low, and a man who was +hit once by them was often hit again half +a dozen times as he fell through the stream +which caught him. The whole of the first +line was either killed or wounded within a few +seconds of their leap from our trenches.” But +though the charges shattered four regiments +of as good fighting men as the Empire possessed, +they created an imperishable impression.</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>Approximately 23,709,000 males in the United States, between the ages of 18 and 45, +inclusive, registered under the terms of the Selective Draft Law.</p> + +<p>Returns on casualties in the American Expeditionary Force up to November 18, 1917, +include deaths from disease as well as battle casualties, slightly as well as severely +wounded. Deaths from battle alone would be about 36,000. Compared with the reported +British battle deaths of 659,000 for the period of the war, our losses were astonishingly +light.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="TANK-MAN_TALKS">TANK-MAN TALKS</h2> +</div> + +<h3>He Found the Little Fellows to His Taste But Didn’t Care for Heavies</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> general impression of the war tank +is that of a huge juggernaut going, solemn +and irresistible, over any sort of obstacle; +but there seem to have been tank crews who +did not regard the lumbering monsters worshipfully. +They pinned their faith and devotion +to the lighter and nimbler type of machine +that could jaunt along at eight miles an hour +and revolve on its own axis. The <cite>Scientific +American</cite> had a special correspondent in +France who reports somewhat jerkily the talk +of an American tank-man who had a working +acquaintance with the small, and to him decidedly +preferable, type of fighter. The tank-man +is quoted:</p> + +<p>“Yes, you read a lot in newspapers about +tanks. But no American tanks saw any action +in France. There were three battalions of +American tank troops that saw action; one +with heavy tanks, with the British, and two, +with light tanks, operating in the Argonne +and the St. Mihiel actions. Some troops, too, +if I do say it who shouldn’t! No, you’ll have +to get some one else to talk about the heavy +tanks; don’t know anything about them and +don’t want to. Light tanks for me, every +time. Yes, I’ll tell you about them if you are +interested.</p> + +<p>“We used Renault tanks—light ones. +Whiffet tanks some people call them. Weigh +about seven tons and have two men for a +crew. Fast? Too fast; faster than there’s +any use of them to be, really. That was one +of our troubles, running away from our infantry. +No sense in having tanks that can +get out of touch with the men they are supposed +to precede and blaze a trail for! Those +little Renaults can go eight miles an hour +over good ground, and infantry is lucky if it +goes two!</p> + +<p>“Two men, one of them is the engineer and +the other the pilot. Some of the tanks have +machine guns and some one-pounders; only +one gun to a tank you know—those little fellows +aren’t battleships. We started in with +216 tanks. They cost about $10,000 each. +Motor not unlike a good automobile motor; +four-cylinder, about 40 horsepower. Indeed +the tank has a lot of automobile mechanism +about it. Those Renaults have four speeds +forward and reverse.</p> + + +<h3>GRENADES JUST EGGS</h3> + +<p>“You spin around in your own length. It’s +astonishing how fast those little tanks can +turn when they have to. Fast enough to cut a +man in two if he’s in the way. Yes, it happened +more than once. Some Boches had an +idea they could do something to a Renault +with a hand grenade and tried it at close +quarters. Might just as well have thrown +eggs at us, unless some splinters got in the +slits. And if they were close enough and we +whirled her round they were out of luck +sure—broken legs, you know, or mashed ribs.</p> + +<p>“No, the Boche anti-tank gun never hurt us +to amount to anything. Ever see one? It +weighs about 50 pounds and shoots a whale of +a bullet, but unless it strikes sharp at right +angles it doesn’t go through. Pretty hard +steel, you know, that tank armor. What did +stop us, when we were stopped, was the 77. +Even that took a direct hit. A 77 could go +off right beside us and we’d hardly know it. +But if it made a direct hit—well, you don’t +expect to run a war without any casualties, +of course. I recall one case where a 77 made +a hit and set off all the ammunition in the +tank. The tank was scrap steel and the men—well, +we found a hand, and a shoe. Just +literally blown to nothing.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_059" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_059.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right"> +<cite>Courtesy of Leslie’s Weekly.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The British Juggernaut of the Battlefield</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The Americans started in with 216 light tanks, a year after +the British had used them in smashing the German defenses.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Of course there are places a tank can’t +go. You read a lot about how a tank loves +mud. Don’t you believe it. A tank can +slither around in mud just like an automobile. +Of course it can go, but it can’t climb at the +same angle on mud as on dry ground and +somehow we always did fight in the mud. +Mud didn’t stop us of course, but it made it +more difficult. On dry ground we can climb +45 degrees, and 51 degrees in reverse.</p> + +<p>“You hear a lot about the way a tank can +crawl over trenches. But that’s the big heavy +tank. The little fellow can’t run over a +trench the way it can down and up a shell +crater. The Renault is tail heavy, you see. It +gets its nose across a trench all right, but if +the trench is a little too wide the heavy tail +drops back into it. Then you have to get out +and dig or get another tank to come and pull +you out. That’s why two tanks together are +worth four separately. They can jam themselves +up and still get along by doing the +brother act with chains. Once that I know +of a tank got stuck and the second tank +couldn’t pull it out. So the officer outside signals +another tank and it comes up—all this under +fire, mind—and he hooks that on, too, and +the two of them pull the helpless one up and +over. He got the D. S. C. for it, that officer.</p> + +<p>“It’s not nice when you’re stalled, you know. +As long as you can move around, the 77 has a +hard time getting you. But if you get stuck +somewhere it doesn’t take a Boche gunner so +very long to get your range. That’s why we +were so anxious to have self-starters put on the +American tanks, when we thought we were +going to have American tanks. If there had +been any self-starters on our Renaults we’d +probably be shy about twenty casualties. Engine +stalls, Boche gets busy, chap inside struggles +with a crank, takes time, 77 lands, signal +back for a reserve tank to come on into action. +No, they didn’t put the self-starters on. Don’t +ask me why; I don’t know.</p> + + +<h3>TOO MUCH INGENUITY</h3> + +<p>“Sure, the American tanks were good tanks. +We never used them in action that I know of. +Those I saw got to France, or got where they +might have been used, after the Armistice. +But they were sure American all over—too +much American, if you know what I mean. +It’s a national failing, I guess, this business +of being ingenious. There was so much ingenuity +about those tanks there wasn’t always +room for the crew. For instance, machine gun +belts. When you use them, they are rolled up +and in a carrier. Some wise tank builder<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span> +decided all the ammunition in a machine gun +tank ought to be in carriers, rolled up ready +for use. When he got through, there wasn’t +any room inside for the crew! No sense to +it, of course; the same amount of ammunition +stores flat, and leaves plenty of room, and it +only takes a few seconds to roll up a belt and +put it in a carrier.</p> + +<p>“Then there was the compass. Some one +must have read that British tanks carried +compasses. So they did, until the tank crew +could throw it away. So our American tanks +came over with the handsomest compasses inside +you ever saw; regular ship affairs, gimbals +and all! Now, of course, that’s all foolishness. +In the first place there wasn’t room +for the compass and the crew. In the second +place, when you start the engine, the compass +does a fox trot, and keeps on whirling; +it’s no good as a compass. And if it was, there +wouldn’t be any sense in it; there’s a map +stuck up right under your nose and that’s all +you need, not to mention a few officers with +flags telling you where to go, if they are not +sitting on top going with you.</p> + +<p>“Then there was the speedometer. Why +any one should imagine a tank crew needed a +speedometer I don’t know. But there it was, +ready to tell us just how fast we were going. +Maybe they thought, down in Washington, +we were going to establish a tank speed record +or something.</p> + +<p>“And the hook—I mustn’t forget the hook. +It’s so typically American—a device born of +our national tendency to economise time. +To put a hook in at the top of the tank +meant at least two hours’ work. In 100 +tanks that was 200 hours or 24 working +days, slowing up production. The +idea of the hook was that it would be so +convenient when a crane had to lift the tank. +Now the average tank gets lifted by a crane +just four or six times; on a car at the factory, +off the car, on the ship, off the ship, and maybe +on and off a car again. So to save the +six or twelve minutes it would take a crew to +slip a chain around the tanks, they put a hook +at the top, because it was efficient!</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_061" style="max-width: 45.0625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_061.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant Ralph M. Atkinson</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>42nd Division, 167th Infantry, Headquarters Company</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">While in command of a Stokes mortar platoon October 16, 1918, near Landres-et-St. Georges, +Argonne, Sergeant Atkinson with three soldiers was advancing with the first wave of the assault, +when on nearing the objective, he discovered about 250 of the enemy forming for a counter-attack. +He advanced with the Stokes mortar under fire, and opened a murderous fire on the approaching +enemy, dispersing them.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Oh, well, I oughtn’t to grouch. We never +used the tanks. And no one that I know +minds much. Those Renault tanks were little +dandies. You have no idea how easily they +run. You can crawl over a telegraph pole +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span>and hardly feel it, so well worked out has +been the spring suspension, the relation of +rollers, chariots and treads. And they didn’t +go in for any fancy touches, the Renaults. +No armor for the guns nor fancy locks on the +door to keep some one from crawling up and +throwing a grenade inside, nor deflection armor +at odd angles which never did anything but +stop bullets and make splinters that otherwise +would never have endangered any one’s eyes.</p> + + +<h3>SNIFFS AT HUN TANKS</h3> + +<p>“German tanks? Punk. Too slow, mechanism +too exposed, too many slits. Oh, very +well made, but poor design. Nor do I think +very much of German tank men.</p> + +<p>“We had about 44 per cent. casualties, and +that covers 22 actions. Ten per cent. of the +casualties were deaths. But I don’t recall +many men dying without doing something +first.</p> + +<p>“I recall that there was one tank got stuck +in a trench and nothing handy to rescue it. +Captured, of course. Well, we captured it +back two days later. Every round of ammunition +was fired. Every pistol cartridge had +been fired. And both men had been wounded +long before they were killed; there was plain +evidence of it in blood where no blood would +be if they had just been snuffed out right at +first. They must have put up a beautiful +scrap. Americans don’t like to surrender, +somehow.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_GARIBALDI_CODE">THE GARIBALDI CODE</h2> +</div> + +<h3>“To Be Ready Ever to Fight for the Cause They Think is Right”</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Italy</span> at war without a Garibaldi somewhere +in the fighting columns is unthinkable. +Even before the days of the famous +Liberator, Giuseppe himself, there were Garibaldi +who had arms and hearts ready to +strike for freedom; but since the days when +the great patriot and lover of liberty made +romance as well as history out of his revolutionary +spirit, arms and the defense of freedom +are tenets of religion with the Garibaldi. +With the exception of the Russian-Japanese +War, it is said there has been no conflict of +powers or revolutionary struggle without its +Garibaldi bearing gun or sword. It goes +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">sans dire</i>, then, that the outbreak of war which +arrayed western democracy against the encroachments +of German autocracy was like a +clarion call to the blood of the Garibaldi. +They did not wait for Italy to speak—France +was calling and that sufficed.</p> + +<p>The son of the Great Garibaldi wrote letters +to five of his seven sons scattered about +the world. Two of them were in New York +(Giuseppe, named for his grandfather, and +Ricciotti, on his way to South America), one +(Merotti) was in China, and one (Bruno) +was in Cuba, and one (Sante) was in Upper +Egypt. The two youngest, Costante and +Ezio, were pursuing their studies in Italy. +There was a sister, Italia, in Rio de Janeiro, +who devoted herself to Red Cross organization. +In the letters the sons were told to hold +themselves in readiness for the receipt of a +telegram appointing a rendezvous for which +they were to start at once.</p> + +<p>The cablegram came; the rendezvous was +Paris. Giuseppe and Ricciotti sailed from +New York by the next available steamer. +They found Costante and Ezio awaiting them. +Bruno and Sante arrived a few days later. +But Merotti could not come from China +until several months later, when Italy had +entered the war. Other Italians were there +also to tender their services to France and +they organized an Italian Legion that was incorporated +with that famous multiple battalion, +the Foreign Legion. The Italians were +soldiers of fortune all, and the brothers had +hoped to be sent to the Balkans, Giuseppe +frankly confessing that guerrilla warfare was +his preference. But Ezio, who was sent to +drive a camion at Salonika, was the only Garibaldi +who got to the Balkans.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_063" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_063.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>New York Herald.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sticking to Their Guns</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">A drawing by F. Matania picturing a valiant group of Italians who, although overwhelmed by the enemy, remained with their battery until the +last man was killed.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>The Foreign Legion, as everyone knows, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span>was made up of all sorts of adventurers, +many of whom knew the meaning of grated +windows and ankle chains, but “it isn’t where +you come from in the battle-line but what +you do that counts.” The world pretty well +understands what the Foreign Legion did and +how it was honored by grateful France. Elsewhere +is told how they were given the place +of honor in the attack on the Prussian Guard +which they drove back, but with a loss that +wrecked them as a legion.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_064" style="max-width: 51.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_064.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">General and Captain Garibaldi</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>In a talk with Lewis R. Freeman, published +in <cite>The World’s Work</cite>, Giuseppe Garibaldi is +quoted as saying:</p> + +<p>“I don’t recall anything that was actually +said between us on the subject, but it seemed +to be generally understood among us brothers +that the shedding of some Garibaldi blood—or, +better still, the sacrificing of a Garibaldi +life—would be calculated to throw a great, +perhaps a decisive, weight into the wavering +balance in Italy, where a growing sympathy for +the cause of the Allies only needed a touch +to quicken it to action. Indeed, I am under +the impression that my father said something +to that effect to the two younger boys before +he sent them on to France. At any rate, all +three of the youngsters behaved exactly as +though their only object in life was to get in +the way of German bullets. Well—Bruno +got his in the last week in December, ten or +twelve days ahead of Costante, who fell on +the 5th of January. Ezio—the youngest +of the three fire-eaters—though through no +fault of his own, had to wait and take his +bullet from the Austrians on our own +front.</p> + +<p>“The attack in which Bruno fell was one +of the finest things I have ever seen. General +Gouraud sent for me in person to explain why +a certain system of trenches, which we were +ordered to attack, must be taken and held, no +matter what the price. We mustered for +mass at midnight—it was Christmas, or the +day after, I believe—and the memory of that +icicle-framed altar in the ruined, roofless +church, with the flickering candles throwing +just light enough to silhouette the tall form of +Gouraud, who stood in front of me, will never +fade from my mind.</p> + +<p>“We went over the parapet before daybreak, +and it was in the first light of the cold +winter dawn that I saw Bruno—plainly hit—straighten +up from his running crouch and +topple into the first of the German trenches, +across which the leading wave of our attack +was sweeping. He was up before I could +reach him, however (I don’t think he ever +looked to see where he was hit), and I saw +him clamber up the other side, and, running +without a hitch or stagger, lead his men in +pursuit of the fleeing enemy. I never saw him +alive again.</p> + +<p>“They found his body, with six bullet +wounds upon it, lying where the gust from a +machine gun had caught him as he tried to +climb out and lead his men on beyond the last +of the trenches we had been ordered to take +and hold. He had charged into the trench, +thrown out the enemy, and made—for whatever +it was worth—the first sacrifice of his +own generation of Garibaldi. We sent his +body to my father and mother in Rome, where, +as you will remember, his funeral was made +the occasion of the most remarkable patriotic +demonstration Italy has known in recent years. +From that moment the participation of our +country in the war became only a matter of +time. Costante’s death a few days later only +gave added impulse to the wave of popular +feeling which was soon to align Italy where<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span> +she belonged in the forefront of the fight for +the freedom of Europe.”</p> + +<p>After Italy came into the war, Giuseppe +Garibaldi fought with his own countrymen, +having the name of Colonel with those soldiers +whose Herculean feats in the Alps made one +of the most striking chapters in the war’s history +of unprecedented achievements.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_BALD_FACTS">THE BALD FACTS</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Story of the Trenches by One Who Knew Them at Their Worst</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">He</span> has a very illusory view of life who +knows only its sunny phases; and his is +worse than a deceptive impression of war—especially +the monstrous war of 1914-18—who +has vision only of its valorous deeds and heroisms, +its thrilling tales of daring and achievement, +of splendid adventure and fearless sacrifices.</p> + +<p>Here is a revelation of the side of war seldom +more than glanced at by those who tell +of the moving exploits. It wears none of the +trappings of romance; it is without allure; but +it is terribly true. <cite>The New York Times +History of the War</cite> made certain of that before +publishing what it rightly described as +one of the most thrilling human documents +produced during that awful four years. The +grim record of the young soldier’s experience +is necessarily curtailed here, enough being +given, however, to picture the grisly reality of +war as millions of youths encountered it. It +is not the stirring tale of a hero.</p> + +<p>Roméo Houle, French parentage, was born +in New Bedford, Mass., in 1893. He was the +son of a local barber, Zacharie Houle. In +1912 he removed to Montreal, where he was +employed as a barber, having followed his +father’s calling. He had a grammar school +education. He enlisted in the Sixty-first Regiment, +First Canadian Division, Aug. 1, 1914, +eager to serve in the war. He went with the +Division to France, and was soon in the front +trenches. During his service he made notes of +his experiences. With the assistance of the +editor of a French paper in New Haven, +these notes were put into narrative form after +young Houle, through the efforts of his father, +was discharged from the army in 1916.</p> + +<p>The narrative begins: “The true story of +the trenches has never been told. I know, +because for many months I lived in trenches. +I have slept daily in dread of bullet, shrapnel, +mine and deadly gas; and nightly in fear of +mine and gas—and the man-eating rats. I +am one of the few soldiers living who entered +the front trenches at the opening of the war +and lived to fight the Germans in the front +trenches in February, 1916. Of my original +company (the Fourth of the Fourteenth Battalion, +Third Brigade, First Canadian Division) +which so gayly marched away to that +hell at Laventie and Ypres—500 brave boys—I +am one of the sixteen who survived. And +returning unexpectedly, snatched by the American +Government (as an American citizen who +had enlisted under age) out of the very jaws +of death, with the mud of the trenches still +upon my clothing, I discovered how much +American people have been talking of the +trenches and how little, after all, they know +about them.”</p> + + +<h3>AGONIES OF BODY AND MIND</h3> + +<p>And during that trench existence, there was, +he thinks, no conceivable agony of body or +mind which he did not see and experience. +There was the gas—“a crawling yellow cloud +that pours in upon you, that gets you by the +throat, and shakes you as a huge mastiff +might shake a kitten, and leaves you burning +in every nerve and vein of your body with +pain unthinkable, your eyes starting from their +sockets, your face turned yellow green.” +There were the rats—“I see them still, slinking +from new meals on corpses, from Belgium +to the Swiss Alps. Rats, rats, rats, tens of +thousands of them, crunching between battle +lines while the rapid fire guns mow the trench +edge, crunching their hellish feasts. Full fed, +slipping and sliding down into the wet trenches +they swarm at night—and more than one poor +wretch has had his face eaten off by them +attacking him in his sleep.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_066" style="max-width: 46.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_066.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Corporal Whitney D. Sherman</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>2nd Division, 5th Regiment, 18th Company, U. S. M. C.</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">This soldier is a fine type of Marine and showed himself to be a brave and valiant soldier at +the Battle of Belleau Woods, now known as the Bois de la Brigade de Marine. He was wounded +in action June 10, 1918, in this engagement.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>There was the stink from decaying bodies, +the filth of days and weeks of unmarked accumulation. +“Ah! you would say ‘Roméo, +Houle, you are lying’ were I to tell you some +unbelievable things that I have really lived +through. We go mad over there. My God! +I am sick of adventure, for the adventures I +have had will plague my sleep until I die.”</p> + +<p>His first acquaintance with the trench under +fire was at Richebourg. “There Charles Lapointe, +the first of our company to die, looked +over the edge of the trench. That is death. +Machine guns all the day sweep the trench +edges. If you raise your hand your fingers +will be cut off as by a knife. Well, Lapointe +looked over the trench; and nobody knows +what he saw. His brother was there to lay +him down. He buried him (as we ever must +the dead) in a hollow pit in our trench. And +the brother had for a time the agony of having +to fight and feel the earth over Charley’s +breast give under his feet.”</p> + +<p>He fought in the first line again at Laventie, +and there got his first taste of gas. It +came while he was trying for a little rest after +a turn at guard duty. Some one having +stolen the two empty sandbags he had been +using for bedding, he spread his overcoat on +the ground and pulled a blanket over him. +“The sun meantime was shining hotly on the +heaps of dead bodies which lay not far outside +the trench, and I was glad to cover my +head with the blanket to shut out some of the +awful stink. And that is how the smell of +decaying bodies saved my life. Arthur Robillard, +a car conductor back in Montreal, was +on guard duty. I was roused by his falling +over me. As I sat up something got me by +the throat and I began to strangle for my life. +The air was rent with awful cries. Many of +my comrades lay dying and dead about me. +I hurled myself in semi-madness into a huge +crater near by in which there was a little +water, and I fell in it face down.</p> + + +<h3>BLOWN FROM THE TRENCH</h3> + +<p>“The water relieved me a little and I wet +my handkerchief in it and covered my face.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> +I crawled out and half blindly sought my +chum, who was unconscious, and dragged him +to the crater where the water was. I laid +him there face downward, and he, too, revived +a little, and then we lay waiting for death.”</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later there was a shouting that +announced the approach of the Germans on a +charge. Houle, followed by Robillard, ran +back into the trench, got his gun and began +firing. When the rifle became so hot that +it burned his hands he threw it down and +began hurling bombs. They were ordered to +retreat to the next trench and the Germans +began pouring into the vacated one. Houle +and his fellows got hold of two machine guns, +good for from 560 to 700 shots a minute.</p> + +<p>“I shall never forget those Germans. When +our guns suddenly spoke their front line melted; +their second crumpled before this destruction; +but on, on, on they came, unflinching, +marching with even steps into certain death. +We were like lions at bay. It was our lives +or the Germans’. Then, as fourteen of us +fought together, a bomb dropped amid us, and +killed eleven. I came to consciousness, lying +in the bottom of a trench, with Roy leaning +over me.</p> + +<p>“‘Are you living yet, Roméo!’ he exclaimed +in amazement. I rose dizzily. He and I and +one other stood alone among our eleven dead +friends.</p> + +<p>“Then Roy told me that I had been blown +clear of the trench, twenty feet from where +I stood, and that he had braved death to secure, +as he supposed, my dead body. A careful +examination showed that my only injury +was a terrible bruise on the calf of my leg, +where the round surface of a flying shard had +struck me, but without breaking the skin. +Miracles are but small matters when you fight +in the presence of death.</p> + +<p>“‘I’m not afraid now,’ I told Roy. And +from then on I and all my soldier friends believed +my life was charmed and that the Germans +could not kill me.”</p> + +<p>The defenders were driven back to the +fourth trench which they were almost immediately +ordered to leave, which they did with +all speed as it had been mined by the engineers +and was ready to give the Germans a warm +reception as they came surging in. Houle +describes the explosion. “The whole earth +seemed to leap skyward, and through and +through the black mountain of earth and +stones shot heads and arms and legs, torn fragments +of what were once heroic men. Next +to the gas which they gave us, I think our +blowing them up was surely the worst thing +men could do to men.”</p> + +<p>He describes mining operations, which are +a big part of trench warfare, as one of the +most dismaying features of trench life. Apparently +the mines were more feared than anything +else. “It was more terrible than gas +poisoning to think that at any moment you +would be thrown a thousand ways at once.... The +soldier in the trench never knows +when he may be blown into small pieces,—and +that is why we are always prepared to risk +uncertain dangers between the lines at night, +instead of lying down in the wet trench +hopelessly waiting for death.</p> + + +<h3>FELT SAFEST WHEN ON GUARD</h3> + +<p>“I never felt so secure, indeed, as when I +was on guard between the trenches. Through +all the night I could hear the bullets go over +me. Men go crazy there. And the insane +are sent to England. Sometimes men go mad +and become a menace to their own comrades +and officers. They sometimes have to be +killed. And there have been times when I +crouched in some first line trench, where no +communication trench joined us to the second +or third line, where no doctor could reach +us. And I have seen men so terribly wounded, +enduring such agonies, and screaming so heart-breakingly +for somebody to kill them, that our +boys have done what they asked, to save them +the unnecessary horror of living dismembered. +And I have seen men of good health grow so +weary of the trenches that they have simply +stood up at noonday. Some machine guns +swiftly ended them. And others, as I have +written, simply stick their hands above the +trench top and bullets trim off their fingers.”</p> + +<p>Fingerless hands are unprofitable in the +trenches, and not very useful elsewhere in the +activities of war. Getting rid of one’s fingers +is a comparatively cheap exchange for release +from the dangers and maddening anguish +of long periods in the trenches. Houle did +not think these men were cowards. “But only +men who have lived in the trenches can understand.” +Though he makes no claim to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> +heroism for himself, Houle’s record shows that +he was a resolute soldier doing valiant things +that he sets down in his story quite as matters +of routine experience—such as going out under +fire to bring in the wounded.</p> + +<p>He names Ypres the “graveyard of the old +Sixty-first.” They were carried to within six +miles of the place in London buses, twenty-five +men to a bus. The remaining distance +they tramped. At Ypres they first met “the +gallant French troops,” and his company of +French-Canadians being at the left of the +English line acted as interpreters. Here the +trenches were but forty yards from the Germans +and in bad condition; they were raked +terribly by German machine guns on a height. +There were dead bodies of Germans and +French lying between that had been there three +months, neither side having the chance to bury +its dead. These were to be seen through the +periscopes—but one did not need to see to +know they were there. The Battle of Ypres +was one of the greatest of the war, one of the +most desperate, one of the most deadly in human +toll, but out of it all comes the memory +of the gas attacks to which the men were then +so helplessly exposed.</p> + +<p>“There comes a sudden stinging in your +nose. Your eyes water. You breathe fire. +You suffocate. You burn alive. There are +razors and needles in your throat. It is as +if you drank boiling hot tea. Your lungs +flame. You want to tear your body. You become +half wild. Your head aches beyond description. +You vomit, you drop exhausted, +you die. It is a frightful thing to see your +friends like that. Every other man seemed +to fall. As I fought I marveled that I was +spared. Again and again came to me the +belief that my life was charmed. An ecstatic +confidence bore me up. I was brave because +I was so sure of life, while all my companions +seemed groveling in death.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_069" style="max-width: 45.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_069.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Captain Richard T. Smith</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>42nd Division, 117th Field Battalion, Signal Corps</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Before daylight on the morning of March 17, 1918, while constructing communication lines in +the vicinity of Fort de Manonviller, France, Captain Smith conducted his men to a place of safety, +and while the fire was still intense returned and carried a wounded soldier to the dugout, where he +fell exhausted.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>They left the trench for a charge, under a +withering fire, but they pressed forward, and +came to the enemy’s trench and leaped in. +He saw four Germans trying to escape on +the further side. “I did not fire, intending +to make them prisoners. But the only thing +I took was a great blow on the side of my +head, and away went my prisoners.” That +night he was one of twenty of his comrades +who volunteered to attempt the recovery of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span>four field guns the English had lost. They +joined men from the Tenth and Sixteenth +Battalions. They were to storm the wood +where the guns were. There were forty yards +of open ground to traverse. The Germans +worked havoc among them, but the remnant +made the wood. In the darkness it was almost +impossible to distinguish foe from friend.</p> + +<p>“I ran in and out among the trees and +asked every one I met who he was. I came +upon one big fellow. My mouth opened to +ask him who he was, when his fist shot out +and took me between the eyes. I went down +for the count, but I knew who he was—he was +a German. I got up as quickly as I could, +you may be sure, and swung my rifle to hit +him in the head, but the stock struck a tree +and splintered. I thought I had broken all +my fingers.</p> + +<p>“I found three wounded men, French, I +thought they were, in that gloom. So I carried +them into our trench. As I brought in +the last one, the officer said, ‘You are doing +good work, Houle.’ I asked him why he +thought so, and he answered: ‘You have +brought in three wounded men and when we +put the light on them we found they were +Germans.’ Well, I am glad I saved them. +I would have done so anyhow, had I known +their nationality. For we were all trained +to give a wounded man help, whether he were +friend or foe.</p> + + +<h3>NOT SAFE TO HELP THE HUN</h3> + +<p>“Yet it is dangerous work, helping a +wounded German. I never helped another, +after the experience I had. It was one of the +two occasions when I knew with certainty +that I killed a man. He was a wounded German +soldier. We found him suffering and +weak. But we knew we could save his life +and were dressing his wound. My back was +turned. He took a revolver out of his tunic +pocket and fired pointblank at me.</p> + +<p>“I do not know how I escaped death. Perhaps +it was because his hand shook from weakness; +perhaps my guardian saint turned aside +that death bullet. Anyhow, he had his revolver +in his hand. We had to act quickly. +My officer spoke a quick word, and I made +sure that he would never fire another shot.</p> + +<p>“Well, we got our machine guns. But the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> +Germans had blown them up, and all our +sacrifice of men was in vain.”</p> + +<p>The Battle of Ypres was a twenty-one day +affair, and the toll exacted was appalling. Of +the 500 boys of Houle’s company who left +Canada only 20 survived. Then came other +engagements until in May, 1915, he was again +in Richebourg, and the next day an assault +was made on the German first line trenches. +The first two lines of trenches were taken +without difficulty, but there was a counter attack +at the third and out of Houle’s company +(now reinforced to 365 men) 75 were killed, +100 wounded and 20 taken prisoners.</p> + +<p>“We were obliged to leave our wounded +in the trench with the dead. I lay until night +in the German second line trench among the +dead and wounded,” for of course there were +no communications and no means of getting +medical help for the men “writhing in agony +all around us.” At night Highlanders from +the 13th and 14th Battalions came to the relief. +Three days later there was an attack +at a point near Lacouture, where the Germans +were entrenched in a hilly vantage. The +French Canadians had been reinforced again, +this time to 420. The Scots Grays and the +Cold Stream Guards engaged in the assault. +The artillery cleared the way for the charge. +“On the third tussle we got into the German +trenches. It was a close fight. We used even +our fists. My bayonet was broken, and I +used my gun as a club. There we remained +until we got reinforcements. Out of 420 men +my company was reduced to eighty. No, I +could not be killed.”</p> + +<p>Then the French Canadians fought at +Cuinchy and at La Basse—repetitions of the +same story. He had fought in the front lines +from almost the very opening of the war, +“until all the bed I knew was wet earth, and +all the rest I knew was snatches of sleep obtained +during lulls in the roaring tumult. +And long since I had had my fill of the fighting.”</p> + +<p>Then Jan. 10, 1916, he was summoned to +headquarters to receive his discharge. He +frankly rejoiced in the fact that he was free, +free from the trenches, their fevers, their +wounded and dead, their noxious odors, their +deadly gases, their man-eating rats; free to +go home to relatives and friends neither +maimed nor wounded. Not that he had gone<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span> +unscathed. There was a dent in his skull +made by a spent bullet, and a very bad bruise +on the leg made by a piece of shell, but these +were trifles.</p> + + +<h3>NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE IT</h3> + +<p>“I take no credit for any special courage in +the field. If I was brave it was because I had +to be so. We were all brave who kept our +senses. We became accustomed to a large +degree to the incessant intimacy with dangers +and death. We could look at frightful things +without wincing.”</p> + +<p>He knows no word with which to describe +war as he saw it. Hell is far too weak a +word. “It is more horrible than the slaughter +house, because the forms of death planned +are more cruel, more mad, more devilish. We +fight underground and under sea. We fight +with fire, with steel, with lead, with poison, +with burning oil, with gases. We are lower +than the brutes, lower than the most degraded +forms of life.... I am only Roméo Houle, +a barber. But I have lived—God! I have +lived. All the slaughter of heroes by the +Meuse and on the Belgian border and in +Northern France has passed before my eyes. +And I, Roméo Houle, am forced to write this: +‘We cannot make ourselves better nor the +world more worth while by killing each other +like beasts gone mad.... I hope never to +fight again.’”</p> + +<p>And here is a final reflection of the soldier +who confesses “I do not know why we fought.”</p> + +<p>“No Archduke’s little life was worth the +titanic butchery of the world war. The beginning +was petty and small. And I, looking +back at horror, horror, horror, cannot forget +the extraordinary friendships we made with +the men in the enemy’s trenches. We were +both only human beings, after all, Fritz and +I. We had no wish to kill each other. We +had much rather sit at the same table, with +our wives and children around us, and talk +of gardens, of fair pictures, and of great books. +But for our officers and the nations which +they represented peace would have been declared +right there in the trenches—and that +by the soldiers themselves.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="OLEARY_STEPPED_IN">O’LEARY STEPPED IN</h2> +</div> + +<h3>And Faith, Never a Dumas Hero was a Marker to This Sergeant of the +Irish Guards</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">He</span> got the habit and trick of it early they +say. He played outside the home cottage +in Macroom, about forty miles from the +city of Cork, charging imaginary foes, stick +in hand, with so much vigor that the plump +hens scuttled to cover. His mother at the +door of the cottage demanded,</p> + +<p>“An’ what is it ye are doin’ now, Mike?”</p> + +<p>And the curly-haired youngster replied:</p> + +<p>“I’m a sodger.”</p> + +<p>Twenty years later the same mother stood +outside the same cottage door in Macroom +listening to the almost unbelievable story of +a messenger who had dashed from Cork city +by motor-car. Her son—her Mike—had won +the great war medal. She heard how the +world was ringing with the immortal exploit +of Sergeant Michael O’Leary, V.C. Poems +were being written about him. He had received +an ovation in London such as kings +might envy. And all this was no more than +the brave Irish Guardsman deserved, for with +his unaided strong right arm he captured an +enemy position, and of ten Germans who stood +in his path he killed eight and took the remaining +two prisoners....</p> + +<p>O’Leary was sent to the front in November, +1914. Mr. Leask has told the story.</p> + +<p>All around the La Bassée district fierce +fighting had raged since October. The 1st +Battalion of the Irish Guards, in common +with other regiments, now experienced the +severities of trench warfare. At the end of +January they were stationed near the La Bassée +brickfield, and the Germans were subjecting +them to a withering fire.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_072" style="max-width: 46.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_072.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Copyrighted in U. S. A. by New York Herald.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">How Sergeant O’Leary of the Irish Guards Won the Victoria Cross</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">“He rushed on like one possessed, never looking behind to see if his comrades were following. +A railway bank rose in front of him. He cleared it, and went on, heedless of risks....”</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span></p> + +<p>The last night of January the enemy’s fire +was particularly hot. It was decided that the +trenches were too expensive to hold. But +before evacuating them the men were ordered +to storm the enemy’s position.</p> + +<p>In order to prepare the way for the assault, +the artillery commenced one of the +fiercest bombardments of the war up till then. +The boom of the big pieces and the detonation +of their shells were audible twenty miles +away. The guns fired with such intensity in +order to demolish what had become a regular +bastion in the German lines, also to break +down the barbed wire entanglements in front +of the German trenches, and thoroughly to demoralize +the enemy before the men stormed +the positions.</p> + +<p>No. 2 Company of the Irish Guards was +ordered to keep up a hot rifle fire. This was +to make the Germans keep under cover, no +matter how much they wished to escape from +the artillery. The diversion also caused the +enemy to expect an attack from this direction, +with the result that he concentrated his fire +on the trench occupied by No. 2 Company.</p> + +<p>Then No. 1, O’Leary’s Company, which +was on the left of No. 2 Company’s trench, +was ordered to charge. The Irish dashed +over the parapet with a yell, their bayonets +fixed, and rushed at the enemy in fine style. +The distance they had to cover to reach the +German positions was from 100 to 150 yards. +The men were very eager to be at the enemy +after their long spell in the trenches, and went +for their foe at racing speed.</p> + +<p>O’Leary soon outstripped his comrades. His +Irish blood was up. “You would laugh if +you saw us chasing the Huns and mowing +them down,” he wrote to his parents.</p> + + +<h3>CHARGE OF THE “MAD IRISHMAN”</h3> + +<p>He rushed on like one possessed, never +looking behind to see if his comrades were following. +A railway bank rose in front of him. +He cleared it, and went on, heedless of risks, +toward a strong barricade held by the Germans.</p> + +<p>O’Leary paused at a little mound and looked +around. In front of him was a deadly machine +gun, trained on the trench occupied by +the second company of Irish Guards. As already +explained, their work was to deceive +the enemy and the maneuver had proved successful. +Their rifle fire had prevented the +Germans from showing their faces, and they +had not seen that the British were racing +toward them.</p> + +<p>When O’Leary reached the mound the Germans +became aware of their danger and immediately +prepared to turn the machine gun +upon the advancing First company. It was a +critical moment. O’Leary did not hesitate; +he took deliberate aim with his rifle at the +gun’s crew, five in number, and one by one +they dropped as his unerring finger pressed +the trigger. His bold move in a supremely +dangerous situation had been successful. The +machine gun was his. The lives of his comrades +were saved. For an ordinary man this +brave deed would have sufficed. But what +O’Leary had just performed whetted his appetite +for more.</p> + +<p>Another barricade farther on had caught +his eye. With daredevil audacity, he bounded +toward it. The Germans then were prepared +for him, but he “got his blows in first,” and +killed three more Germans. The two remaining +had no stomach for the “mad Irishman.” +They promptly raised their hands, and +O’Leary secured them as his prisoners.</p> + +<p>He confessed afterward that his second exploit +was a hazardous one. He had no bayonet +at the time and had to trust solely to his +marksmanship. His rifle was loaded with ten +rounds, and eight of the bullets found a human +billet. When the last two Germans surrendered +he had no ammunition left, and had +they not been demoralized by his sudden and +audacious attack single-handed, the issue would +have been different.</p> + +<p>Sergeant O’Leary had killed eight Germans, +captured a machine gun, taken two Germans +prisoner, and carried two strong positions, +from which the rest of the attacking +party would have been heavily fired upon. +Some one has said that this exploit was thoroughly +Irish in method and execution, and +that O’Leary deserves to rank as one of the +greatest heroes of modern warfare.</p> + +<p>Describing what happened afterward, Company-Quartermaster-Sergeant +J. G. Lowry, +of the Irish Guards, says:</p> + +<p>“O’Leary came back from his killing as cool +as if he had been for a walk in the park, accompanied +by two prisoners he had taken. He<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> +probably saved the lives of the whole company. +Had that machine gun got slewed +round, No. 1 Company might have been nearly +wiped out. We all quickly appreciated the +value of O’Leary’s sprinting and crack shooting, +and when we were relieved that night, +dog-tired as we were, O’Leary had his arm +nearly shaken off by his comrades.”</p> + +<p>When on furlough O’Leary was fêted and +cheered as no V.C. hero has been. He received +a splendid welcome in Cork and in +his native village. The greatest day in his +life, however, was June 26, 1915, when Londoners +turned out in tens of thousands to acclaim +him in the streets. To honor him the +London Irish organized a demonstration in +Hyde Park, at which over 60,000 persons +were present. O’Leary drove from the Strand +to the Park in an open carriage, cheered all +along the route by an admiring throng. +O’Leary was a proud man but, as he afterward +protested, he “didn’t know what all this +fuss was about. Faith, a bit of a shindy is +no great matter at all, at all!”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="WHEN_THE_YANKS_WENT_IN">WHEN THE “YANKS” WENT IN</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Story of the First American Soldiers to Go It Alone in Banging the +Huns</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Because</span> they were recruited in the New +England States, the boys of the 26th +Division were known as “Yankees” or the +“Yankee Division” and they set up pretty +good claim to the distinction by acts of unit +heroism not excelled for dash, daring and +effective service by any troops opposed to the +Huns. The “Yankee Division” was the first +of the A.E.F. to take part in a great offensive +in France. It was organized under the command +of Maj. Gen. C. R. Edwards, Aug. 13, +1917; arrived in France in September, and in +January, 1918, was undergoing special training +on the Chemin des Dames front. It +was assigned to the Toul sector and was +in position by the end of March. Ten days +later the enemy struck its first serious blow at +the line, “a blow which turned out to be far +more serious to the Germans than to the New +Englanders.” It was the beginning of the +five days fight known as the battle of Apremont, +though it really was the battle of Bois +Brulé, the worst of the fight being in the +“burned wood” on the hill top where the +104th Regiment was stationed. In an article +in the Boston <cite>Globe</cite> devoted to the 26th, +Willard F. De Lue says:</p> + +<p>“From the very first day there had been +artillery-action; in fact, the Boche set up a +row while the Yankees were coming into the +line, before they got their packs off. Now, at +five o’clock in the morning of April 10, the +Germans sent over a body of seven hundred +or eight hundred picked shock-troops against +Colonel Shelton’s boys.</p> + +<p>“But the Yankee artillery got the jump on +them, and opened up with a barrage that +couldn’t have been better. It smashed the +Germans’ attack so badly that it broke down, +and for the rest of that day, and for two +more, the Boches were content to throw over +a heavy artillery fire.</p> + +<p>“On the 13th, however, they were at it +again. This time they planned a little better. +The center of the assault was directed against +the French units on the left of the 104th, and +it wasn’t long before they sent over a hurry +call for a counter-attack by the Yanks. The +104th responded handsomely. They swept +through Bois Brulé right on to the German +flank, and relieved the pressure on the French +line. But by that time their own flank was +threatened. So the Yanks suddenly changed +direction, and attacked by their own flank—a +difficult maneuver, but beautifully executed.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_075" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_075.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Courtesy World’s Work.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Cantigny—The First American Offensive</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Here it was that our soldiers confirmed the confidence placed in them and won the admiration of the Allied High Command. Two days later +Americans were ordered to hold the road to Paris and the crossing of the Marne at Château-Thierry.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“The fighting kept up stubbornly. By one +o’clock in the afternoon the Germans had +broken through and grabbed some of the advanced +points held by the 104th, and were +filtering in through communication trenches. +It was apparent this was no mere raid. So +the reserves were ordered up. But before +they arrived the enemy had been hurled back +again, and by six that night the heaviest of +the fighting was over. On the 14th there was +further action; but the Boche had been licked, +and he knew it. His losses were tremendous; +ours comparatively light.</p> + +<p>“Many an act of heroism took place that +day. The flags of the 104th Infantry were +later decorated by the French for the gallantry +displayed by its men. And the individual +awards of American and French decorations +are eloquent.</p> + +<p>“That was the first battle fought by +Americans—any Americans—in France in +which they were not supported by French +infantry.”</p> + + +<h3>IN EVERY AFTER BATTLE</h3> + +<p>Having been inducted into the firing line, +the 26th had no surcease, but took part in every +subsequent battle up to the signing of the +armistice, missing the promised rest, time +after time, owing to the exigencies of the +campaigns. And according to the complaint +of a captured German lieutenant, they did not +always play the game right. On one occasion +the moment an enemy barrage was lifted, +a body of Yankees darted ahead and actually +nabbed some of the advancing Huns, the lieutenant +included. He sputteringly said in reproach +of these tactics, “They should not have +been where they were. They were coming +right through our own barrage, and might +have been wiped out.”</p> + +<p>That the Americans were so apt to be +“where they shouldn’t have been” was greatly +disconcerting to the Huns more than once. +They did things in such an unconventional +way, acting so much on individual initiative +that they frequently spoiled the precise calculations +of the German machine. The +French had greater appreciation of the Yankee +method. The commanding officer of the 32nd +French said this of the 26th:</p> + +<p>“I salute its colors and thank it for the +splendid services it has rendered here to the +common cause. Under the distinguished command +of their chief, General Edwards, the +high-spirited soldiers of the Yankee Division +have taught the enemy some bitter lessons at +Bois Brulé, at Seicheprey, at Xivray Marvoisin; +they have taught him to realize the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span> +staunch vigor of the sons of the great republic +fighting for the world’s freedom.”</p> + +<p>The division was also in the Château-Thierry +battle. Mr. Le Due writes:</p> + +<p>“On the 9th the fighting on this new field +began. The Boche, in the early morning, +swept down into Vaux and established machine-gun +posts.</p> + +<p>“‘You’ve got to drive those (censored) out +of there or we’ll be the laughing-stock of +the division,’ was the word sent out by Colonel +Logan. And so the driving began.</p> + +<p>“That fight for Vaux will be long remembered—a +picturesque fight, with groups of +men rushing here and there, cleaning up +snipers and machine-gunners, rushing hostile +positions; overhead the roar of the American +barrage, below the hum of countless machine +guns. The clean-up was thorough.</p> + +<p>“Three days later Foch’s famous counter-offensive +began—on July 18, at 4:25 in the +morning.</p> + +<p>“The night before, at ten o’clock, a terrific +thunder-storm had broken. Lightning flashed +and rain fell in sheets. But in the morning +there came a clearing, and when the fated +hour approached there was a rosy flush on the +morning sky. Commanders wore an anxious +look. A surprise had been planned, and a +clear day was not to their liking. But just +before the time set a heavy mist began to +descend. All was well.</p> + +<p>“A gun spoke; then the roar from a +hundred, a thousand iron-throated messengers +of death. The creeping barrage had opened. +The infantry was to attack simultaneously.</p> + +<p>“The Yanks moved forward on the left, +pivoting upon their own right, held by the +101st, in front of Vaux. The 102d came +next; but it was the boys of the 103d and +104th, on the left, that did the early fighting.</p> + +<p>“‘We are in Torcy,’ was the first message +sent back. Then came a delay. A hitch had +taken place; but by nine o’clock Bouresches, +Belleau, and Givry were in the hands of the +Yankees.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_077" style="max-width: 46.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_077.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant Dugald E. Ferguson</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>32nd Division, 126th Infantry, Machine-Gun Company</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">When the infantry on his right was held up by fire from an enemy machine gun at Cierges, +northeast of Château-Thierry, August 1, 1918, he seized a rifle, rushed around the flank of the +enemy’s position, bayoneted two of the machine-gun crew and shot three of them, enabling the infantry +to advance.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“The first objectives taken, preparations +were at once made for a further advance. +But the French, to the north, had been held +up. On the 19th there was no forward movement +until three in the afternoon. Hill 193, +above Givry, where the French were held up, +was passed on the flank, causing the Germans +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span>to fall back. Etrepilly and Etrepilly Woods +were reached, taken, and passed. So, too, +Genetrie Farm and the woods close by La +Halmadière.</p> + +<p>“In the night of the 19th there was another +halt. Then forward again at daybreak, with +the 101st and 102d Infantry getting into +action late this day, and sweeping forward, +through Vaux and the woods close to Bouresches, +they crossed the Soissons-Château-Thierry +road, and by the 22d found themselves +in front of Epieds and Trugny.</p> + + +<h3>WINNING MORE FRENCH PRAISE</h3> + +<p>“It was here that the severest fighting +of the drive took place. In Epieds the +Germans planted machine guns every seven +yards. In Trugny and in the woods that lie +on the hillsides to the east of both towns they +had done likewise.</p> + +<p>“The 101st tackled the Trugny proposition. +Colonel Logan’s men were in and out +of the town twice. But the German artillery +had the range just right, and whenever the +Yankees went in flooded the place with mustard-gas. +On July 23 Colonel Logan borrowed +a little ground on his right from the +French, encircled Trugny on the south, and +started up behind it, through Trugny Wood. +It was a terrible fight, but that night the +101st broke through the German defenses +and forced a retreat. Meantime, the three +other infantry regiments were making constant +frontal attacks. The 102d got into +Trugny and captured the gun now on Boston +Common.</p> + +<p>“On the 23d the 103d and 104th Infantry +Regiments were relieved; and on the 25th the +101st and 102d were relieved. But the artillery +brigade kept on, supporting three other +American divisions, until the Vesle River was +reached, August 5. It was in this drive particularly +that Sherburne’s outfit earned the +name of the best field artillery in France. A +regular Army officer, watching the guns in +action, said: ‘I have been in the Army thirty +years and never have seen field artillery until +this day.’</p> + +<p>“By August 7 the whole division, including +the artillery, was back in villages along the +Marne, between Château-Thierry and Paris.</p> + +<p>“The people of the countryside hailed the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span> +men of the 26th as ‘saviors of Paris.’ Those +who went into the French capital were greeted +with enthusiasm. Men and women embraced +them and kissed them.</p> + +<p>“General Degoutte, famed commander of +the French 6th Army, with which the Americans +fought, wrote to General Edwards:</p> + +<p>“‘The operations carried out by the 26th +American Division from July 18 to July 24 +demonstrated the fine soldierly qualities of +this unit, and the worth of its fine leader, +General Edwards. The 26th Division fought +brilliantly ... advancing more than fifteen +kilometers in depth in spite of the desperate +resistance of the enemy.</p> + +<p>“‘I take pleasure in communicating to +General Edwards and his valiant division this +expression of my esteem, together with my +heartiest congratulations for the manner in +which they have served the common cause.’”</p> + + +<h3>THE LAST SHOT</h3> + +<p>And so on until, drawn from temporary +reserve at Verdun, the 26th was ordered into +the Argonne battle. The <cite>Globe</cite> chronicler +continues:</p> + +<p>“On October 15 the 104th was fighting in +conjunction with the French and a squadron +of fifteen French tanks. What the fighting +was like may be judged from the fact that +only one of those fifteen tanks came back.</p> + +<p>“On the 16th other units went in, and by +October 18 command passed to General Edwards. +The new position in line was on the +east side of the Meuse River, facing generally +east. Ahead lay the scrubby woods of Haumont, +Chenes, Ormont, Belleau, and the skirt +of the Bois de Wavrille, and of Samogneux, +the latter to the extreme left, nearer to +Verdun.</p> + +<p>“The attack on these positions began on the +23d and continued until the 27th. The woods, +so far as trees went, consisted of a few dead, +blasted stumps, standing out like skeletons, in +the midst of thick, deadly underbrush. The +whole ground had been fought over recently. +Bodies of dead French and Germans lay +there. And in one place was a valley full of +skeletons of the Crown Prince’s men who +had made the desperate attack on the forts +of Verdun.</p> + +<p>“These woods were taken and lost again,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> +taken and lost, taken and lost. Four times +did the 101st battle through Belleau, only to +be blasted back by artillery. The enemy had +sworn to stick it out, for an attack here threatened +the lines of communication. And stick +they did.</p> + +<p>“Of those last days a volume might well be +written: of the desperate charges, the hell of +shell-fire, the deluges of gas, the hum of millions +of machine-gun death-messengers—death-messengers +that brought their messages home. +And through it all, partly over ground they +had won before, they plunged in the dull desperation +of despair. In the previous days they +had been robbed of the officers they knew and +loved. Edwards had been relieved October +25. Others had preceded him, and others +followed—Cole, Logan, Hume.</p> + +<p>“Desperately these boys fought and paid +the price. On the 9th the line was drawn +back a little, the accompanying units couldn’t +keep pace. And still the battle raged—a +bloody, maddening, disheartening battle—raged +despite reports that an armistice had +been agreed upon. Even at ten in the morning +of November 11, one hour before the +fighting was to stop, the 26th was ordered +forward again ‘to straighten out the line.’ +In that hour hundreds were lost.</p> + +<p>“The Yankee division fought up to the last +shot. That shot fired, the division remained +a wreck. Gen. Frank E. Bamford, the new +commander, reported that the division was in +no condition to go to the Rhine. That day, +the 11th, 1,200 replacements were received, +and more were on their way. When the last +hour’s fight began one regiment, normally +3,000 strong, had only 240 rifles.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="HUMOR_AND_HEROISM">HUMOR AND HEROISM</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Glimpses of the Sunnier Side of the Men Who Played with Death</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">After</span> relating many pitiful, tear-compelling +incidents of wounded and dying +soldiers in trench and in the temporary hospitals +back of the front, an English Chaplain +turned from the saddening episodes to some +of the humorous phases of his experience +among the men—humorous by contrast, that +is, for some of the touches are more than prods +to laughter; this for example:</p> + +<p>“Once, in a hospital train, where a crowd of +helpless men were being loaded in at a siding, +I saw one man, groaning in agony from rheumatism, +carried in. ‘Where are you wounded, +old chap?’ asked the orderly. ‘Hoots!’ he replied, +‘I’m na wounded at a’; fling me onywhere, +an’ luk after the rest.’” The Chaplain +continues:</p> + +<p>“There are countless streaks of humor and +gleams of laughter even amid the sorrow-clouds +of war. The mysterious diseases from +which the soldier thinks he suffers sometimes +puzzle you. He will proudly, and with a +majestic solemnity, tell you that his illness +has developed into ‘gasteria’—perhaps a more +accurately descriptive name than science recognizes. +More than one is sorry for his wife, +who is distracted and harrowed by the ‘insinuendoes’ +of her neighbors, a word almost +worthy of a place in the dictionary. And +many will tell you of chums who have broken +down, and who were not really fit to serve, +having been always of a ‘historical’ tendency. +One almost feels a plea for heredity there.</p> + +<p>“How grateful we were when we found +occasions like these! For, though we were +not downhearted, we were often war-weary. +And frequently the good cheer of those whom +we were there to comfort and strengthen +really strengthened and comforted us.</p> + + +<h3>MICKY FREE REVIVED</h3> + +<p>“I remember an Irishman, quite of the type +of Micky Free in Lever’s novel, a rollicking, +jolly child of the Emerald Isle, pretty badly +battered, but with a sparkle in his eye at +which you could have lit a candle. He was +from Dublin. I thought I should speak cheerfully +to him, so I said, ‘Well, now, aren’t you +lucky to be here, instead of home yonder, getting +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span>your head broken in a riot?’ ‘Troth, I +am, sir,’ said he. ‘Lucky to be here, anyway. +And lucky is anny man if he’ll only get a grave +to lie in, let alone a comfortable bed like this. +Glory be! it’s myself that’s been the lucky one +all the time.’ Near him lay another. ‘Don’t +spake to him, your honor,’ said the first man +with a laugh. ‘Sure, he’s a Sinn Feiner.’ But +both of them were of opinion that the loyalty +of the rebels might be awakened by contact +with German shells. ‘Bring them out here, +sir,’ said they, ‘and they won’t be Irishmen +if they don’t get their dander riz with a whiz-bang +flung at them. That would settle their +German philandering. Sure, isn’t it too bad +what we’ve been enduring to enable the spalpeens +to stay at home, upsetting the State, +flinging Home Rule back maybe a generation, +with their foolishness, and we as good Irishmen +as themselves can be?’</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_080" style="max-width: 45.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_080.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Private Albert Fritz</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>1st Division, 16th Infantry, Company “I”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Cited for extraordinary heroism in action south of Soissons, France, July 18-23, 1918. While +attached to a machine-gun company as an ammunition carrier, he was wounded twice, but continued +to carry ammunition while exposed to heavy shell fire.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“The infinite variety of classes that make +up our present army is astonishing. I told +once of a Gordon Highlander landing in +Havre with a copy of the Hebrew Psalms in +the pocket of his khaki apron to read in the +trenches. I saw, among our own Gordons, +an Aberdeen divinity student, as a private +reading in the mud the Greek Testament and +the Sixth Book of Homer’s <cite>Iliad</cite>. Anything, +from that to the <cite>Daily Mail</cite>, represents the +reading of our men. This variety is also very +noticeable among our officers. We had the +lumberman from the vast forests of the West +beside the accountant from San Francisco; +the tea-planter from Bengal; the lawyer from +the quiet Fife town beside the Forth; the artist; +the architect; and the journalist. And +it was this mixture that made possible episodes +of irresistible comicality.</p> + + +<h3>GLAD TO MEET HAIG</h3> + +<p>“For instance, to prevent waste of petrol +in ‘joy-riding,’ a French barrier at one place +near us had guards set upon it under a British +officer. One day a young northern subaltern, +entirely fresh to military work, was in charge; +and the tale goes that he stopped Sir Douglas +Haig’s car, asking him to show his permit +and declare his business. When the general +did tell who he was, the boy was so taken +aback that he is said to have stammered, ‘So +pleased to meet you!’</p> + +<p>“Again, a young officer told me that he +was leading a well-known general around +some trenches in the dark. They came to a +traverse. ‘We’ll go round here,’ said the general, +and the young fellow led the way. But +a watchful Gordon leaped up suddenly with +fixed bayonet, and, ‘Who goes there?’ The +youth replied, ‘General Blank.’ ‘Ay, lad,’ +whimsically replied the Scot, ‘ye’d better try +again. That cock ’ll no fecht wi’ the Cock o’ +the North.’</p> + +<p>“Another, a verdantly green soldier of the +King, almost freshly off the ploughed haughs +of home, met an officer of high rank. He was +carrying his rifle, but he huddled it under +his arm, and awkwardly saluted with the +open hand as though he had it not. The +officer said, very kindly, ‘Here, my man, is +the way to salute your superior with your +rifle’; and he went through the proper regulation +field-officer’s salute. But Jock, after +coolly watching him, as coolly replied, ‘Ay, +ay; maybe that’s your way o’t; but I hae my +ain way, and I’m no jist sure yet whilk’s the +richt gait o’t.’</p> + +<p>“It would be worth while seeing this man +after a few months’ training has brought him +into the ‘richt gait o’t.’ In fact, the way in +which the men have fallen into the habit of +discipline is as wonderful as the way they +leaped into the line of service for their country’s +sake when they were not forced to go. +I recall one, who was only a type of many. +Up in the mouth of a West Highland glen is +a little cottage on a croft. And the man there +was the last of his race. When others passed +out to the world-wide conflict, his mother, +who was very old, opposed his going. But +she died. And then he drew his door to, +locked it, and went to share the battle for +liberty which to-day is shaking the earth. +There are far more men of peace than men of +quarrel fighting for the soul-compelling things +that are of value beyond this dying world, +and these are made of the true victory stuff.</p> + + +<h3>THEY ARE NOT TALKERS</h3> + +<p>“None are less given to talk of what they +have done than the very men whose deeds +thrill others. They just saw the thing that +was needed; they seized the flying moment, +and did the deed that makes men’s hearts<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span> +stand still. They came out of it with something +akin to the elation of the sportsman +who has scored a goal. They saved their side +in the game. That was what they aimed at, +and they were satisfied.</p> + +<p>“In my last battalion were two men who, +working together, did breathless things without +themselves being breathless. They enjoyed +them. After one ‘stunt’ our people in +the trench observed a man hanging on the +enemy’s wire. His hand was slowly moving +to and fro. They watched carefully, and saw +clearly that he was signaling to them. A +little group of officers gathered and considered +the matter. But it was entirely impossible, +they thought, to dream of attempting a rescue +before darkness. So they resolved to get together +a rescue party in the night and save. +Meanwhile, however, these two worthies +slipped away, crawled over No Man’s Land, +and brought the poor fellow in. Rebuked for +their temerity, their reply was, ‘We couldna +thole the sicht o’ a chum oot yonder like that.’ +Another time, after a bitter struggle in a patch +of woodland between our line and the enemy’s, +they came and reported that a man in khaki +was to be seen moving from tree-stump to +tree-stump, evidently in distress. ‘I think he’s +daft,’ said one. And in the gloaming over +they went, found him, and brought him in to +safety. He had been wounded in the head +and side, and left behind. The first day he +had kept himself alive by drinking from the +water-bottles of the dead; but he had lost +his reason and his bearings, and was in despair +when our brave fellows got him. And these +men were killed later on by a slight accident +down behind the lines.</p> + +<p>“It was difficult to get away from the touch +of one’s environment and to overcome that unwelcome +realization of the grim surroundings. +One morning we had a weird reminder. When +we opened the door of our hut, there, on the +threshold, lay an unexploded ‘dud’ shell which +had fallen in the night. Had it done what had +been intended, we should have been very suddenly +off somewhere among the stars. It made +one think a little of solemn and strange things, +and feel more than a little thankful to behold +again the light of the sun.</p> + +<p>“People speak a good deal about the lust +for blood and the fever-passion of battle. But +our boys are not bloodthirsty.</p> + + +<h3>NOT THE HUN TYPE</h3> + +<p>“A friend of mine, after a ‘scrap,’ saw a +proof of this which almost cost him his life, +as he had to resist the tendency to laugh, for +he had been shot through the lungs. A big +Scotsman, in a muddy kilt, and with fixed +bayonet, had in his charge a German prisoner, +who was very unwilling to get a move on. +And Sandy shouted out to a companion on +ahead, ‘Hey, Jock, he winna steer. What’ll I +dae wi’ him?’ But Jock, busy driving his own +man forward, just answered over his shoulder, +‘Bring him wi’ ye.’ Both of these men had +the sweat of conflict not dry upon them. But +they never for a moment thought of driving +the bayonet into that reluctant foe, as the +German would have done most readily. Of +course, one does occasionally find the old grim +warrior still, quite contented under hard circumstances, +finding indeed the conditions a +kind of real relief after the rust of peaceful +days.</p> + +<p>“This same friend, going one night along +the trenches, almost thigh-deep in mud, came +upon a grizzled Irishman, O’Hara, cowering +in the rain. ‘Isn’t this a damnable war, +O’Hara?’ said he. ‘Thrue for you, sir,’ was +the unexpected reply. ‘But, sure, isn’t it better +than having no war at all?’</p> + +<p>“A campaign like this brings one into touch +with strange bedfellows. A man I know told +me, ‘In one place, during the early terrible +days, we crept into a cellar, and I lay down +to try to sleep. But I soon found this to be +impossible, for I became aware of somebody +that kept running to and fro in the dark, +driving all the rest away. I went out, and +spoke to the doctor, whom I met. “Oh,” he +replied, “that’s only our lunatic.” It was, +indeed, a poor fellow who had gone mad in +the retreat; and they could meanwhile do +nothing but carry him along with them.’ +Perhaps the weirdest of all the strange mixtures +whom I met out at the front was a +young fellow at a mechanical transport camp. +His father was a Russian Jew, his mother was +English, his grandfather Dutch, and he himself +was born in London and brought up in +Glasgow. In a world of such widely international +disturbance you almost expected him +to go off into effervescence, like a seidlitz +powder.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_083" style="max-width: 48.375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_083.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Major Henry E. Bunch</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>42nd, Division, 168th Infantry, M. C.</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">On October 13-16, 1918, he went out in advance of the front line near the Bois de Chatillon, +France, to reconnoiter a site for an aid station and an ambulance route. Seeing a wounded officer +lying about 300 meters from the enemy’s line, he went to his rescue and carried him through terrific +machine-gun and rifle fire to a shell hole, where he administered first-aid.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<h3>DID NOT MERIT MERCY</h3> + +<p>“Amid the sorrows and the weariness of the +times out there it was remarkable how closely +laughter followed at the heels of tears. We +had great fun over a colonel—not in our +division—who was very unpopular. He did +not know the depths of his unpopularity, but, +deeming himself the best-beloved among his +contemporaries, he was perfectly happy. One +day, while he was sitting in front of his dugout +reading an old newspaper, a sniper’s bullet +passed quite close, and went ‘pip’ into +the parados. He paid no attention, of course, +for that was only a bit of the day’s work. +But when another came, he thought it was an +attention which carried civility a little too far. +So he called a Scotsman to him, and said, ‘Go +out, Jock, and nail that beggar.’ Jock crawled +out, glad of the diversion, stalked the enemy, +‘winged’ him, and was running up to ‘feenish’ +him, when the German held up his hands +and cried, ‘Mercy, Englishman!’ But Jock +replied, ‘Mercy? Ye dinna deserve nae mercy. +Ye’ve missed oor colonel twice!’ I often +wonder if Jock told the colonel how he +had put it! Or is he still as happy as +ever?</p> + +<p>“It is told of Jock that, on another occasion, +when a German held up his hands, after +a good deal of dirty work with them, and +said, ‘Mercy, Englishman. I’ll go to England +with you!’ Jock replied, grimly and +coolly, ‘Ay, maybe. But, ye see, that’s no +exactly whaur I was gaun to send ye.’</p> + +<p>“I was always much impressed by the Wesleyans, +whom I often met in painful circumstances. +I had never had anything to do with +them till I came in contact with them +wounded and suffering, but always most brave, +patient, and truly religious. They bore their +distresses without a murmur, and they died +without fear. For they knew what they believed +in. They had the gift of religion and +the secret of a faith stronger than death. They +were true mystics. I remember one day standing +beside one of them who had been very +dangerously stricken. His eyes were closed, +and he was whispering continuously. I +stooped down and listened. He was saying, +over and over again, ‘Oh, God, remember +me, and help me to get well, for the sake +of those I love at home.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span></p> + + +<h3>SPEAKING TO GOD</h3> + +<p>“I was turning to slip away quietly, when +he opened his eyes and said, ‘Whoever you +are, don’t go, sir, I was only speaking to God.’ +His religion was so intimate a possession that +he did not need to apologize for knocking at +the door of love with his prayer.</p> + +<p>“Nothing could be more touching, and often +at the same time funnier, than meeting men +past military age who, sometimes for the sake +of their boys serving, had slipped into the +ranks, mentally folding down a corner of +their birth-certificate over the date, and salving +their consciences, as did one, who said to +me, ‘I told them I was thirty-four—but I did +not say on what birthday!’ I remember one +old Scot, who could scarcely move, telling me, +‘I doot I’ll hae to get oot o’ this, an’ awa’ +hame. Thae rheumatics is no good in the +trenches; and they’re girnin’ at me again.’ Of +course, he had ‘a laddie lyin’ up yonder,’ and +a nephew, and ‘a guid-sister’s brither,’ and so +on, like the rest. And, of course, if it were +not for these pains he would be as good as +ever he was! Some time later I met him in +the rain, and asked how he felt now. ‘Oh,’ +said he, ‘I’m just fine the day. I seen my +youngest laddie gaun up, and I’d a word or +twa wi’ him. I’ll be writin’ his mither the +nicht aboot it. He was lookin’ grand. +It was fine to get a roar frae him in the +by-gaun.’</p> + +<p>“I called on one old woman at home, and +she told me that her husband had only the +previous day, which was his birthday, gone off +to France. ‘Eh,’ said she with unction, ‘he’s +a good man, my man. I often think I was +a lucky woman to have sic a man. D’ye ken—he +never told a lie!’ ‘And yesterday was +his birthday?’ I inquired. ‘And how old was +he?’ ‘He was fifty-eight,’ was her answer. +But when I asked how this modern rival of +George Washington had got into the army +with such an age, she innocently replied, ‘Ye +see, he said he was thirty-twa.’</p> + +<p>“How these elderly men endured for any +length of time all the discomforts at the front +was beyond understanding. They were, of +course, frequently caught, when youth was +more able to skip nimbly out of the way of +death. The little, shell-swept graveyards at +the front got many of them very soon.</p> + + +<h3>RUNNERS AND M.P.’S</h3> + +<p>“I spoke elsewhere, some time ago, of +some of the forgotten and overlooked departments +of our army. There are plenty such, +of course. But one cannot help recalling +amongst them the battalion runners, who +carry messages over No Man’s Land, or anywhere, +from post to post, when air and earth +are filled with hissing death, and who also +act as guides up to the trenches. They are +absolutely fearless. This type varies from the +gaunt, silent figure, that stalks before you +like an Indian through the dark, to the garrulous +youth who talks all the time over his +shoulder as he goes. One of the latter was +leading up our men, and the colonel said to +him, ‘I hear that these dugouts are wretched +water-logged holes.’ ‘Deed, they are that,’ +replied the guide. And then, gently, as if +on a tender afterthought, ‘D’ye ken, sir, I’m +often vexed for you; for I’m perfectly sure +that you’re accustomed to something better +than yon at home!’</p> + +<p>“Another is the military policeman, who +controls and guides the traffic at the cross-roads, +and where there is danger of shells +falling, in such places as the square at Ypres. +There, amongst evidences of steady peril, +stands this quiet man with the red band on +his arm; and he steps forward to warn you +that it is not safe to be there! I cannot +forget one road, when we were moving up +to the front. The stream of life flowing on +towards the fighting area was like the Strand +in London at its busiest. The policeman with +uplifted hand was as powerful there as at +home. In a moment, at the signal, limbers, +guns, motor-lorries, ambulances, mounted +men, and marching infantry stood motionless +till permitted to go on again.</p> + +<p>“The directions we got one day from an +Irish policeman were unforgettable. He said, +‘It’s quite easy, your honor. You see, when +you go into Albert, you don’t go into it at all. +But you turn to the right, keeping well to +the left all the way.’ We thanked him, and +trusted to Providence, as we are apt to do +where there is nothing else that can be done; +and, following our directions in a general way, +we reached our place in safety!</p> + +<p>“Again, you will find, right up behind the +front, the roadman busy, coolly filling up +holes that shells have made, and behaving just +as though he were working on a stretch of +the Trossachs, or patching up the rut-worn +tracks that the rain has damaged along by +Loch Hourn.”</p> + +<p>Of the airmen flying their graceful, birdlike +craft, he says: “There can be no +braver hearts than those. Many a time we +looked up at them, sailing overhead, and wondered; +and the roughest Tommy sends something +like a prayer with them as they go.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="ENGLANDS_INDIAN_WARRIORS">ENGLAND’S INDIAN WARRIORS</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Who Made Up the Indian Army; And Some V. C. Heroes</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">In</span> December of the first year of the war, +a letter came to the Indian post-office in +London with this address, written in the topknotted +Marathi character, and hence perfectly +incomprehensible to every one but the +Jat orderly who read it:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container fs90"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“In the land of the European War</div> + <div class="verse indent2">The country of the King of France</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For my beloved son, the Sepoy Khundadad Khan</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the hand of any who bears this to him shall be that of a gentleman.”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>It was an extraordinary epistle to look at, +very thick, and its envelope was an old official +one that had been carefully ungummed and +refolded wrong side out. And it had come +from a tiny village on the banks of the +Jhelum River, far away in India. But what +was more extraordinary still, its owner received +it that very day. For Khundadad Khan +had become a very great man indeed, and his +name was fully as well known in London +then, as ever it had been in his native village. +Lying in the Kensington hospital, he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span>stroked his long black curly beard, the exact +color of his hair, and murmured, as he fingered +the bulky contents of the letter (a parchment +verse from the <cite>Koran</cite> tied up in silk +with a dried serpent’s fang), “Oh, yes, it is a +very good tawíz—charm—as such things go, +and will no doubt keep off many demons. +But the King-Emperor has given me a better +one, is it not so, my friend?”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_086" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_086.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>American Press Association.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Second-Line Gurkhas Coming Up</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">From whatever tribe they came they proved themselves worthy to fight in any army of Europe, as the “V. C.’s” awarded to the members of the +Indian army show. The photograph shows the second line advancing amid shell fire to the reinforcement of the first line at captured German trench.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Undoubtedly, oh son of a most high excellence,” +replied the little brown orderly +respectfully, in Hindustanie. And it was so. +For the king had given him the highest military +honor of Great Britain, the V. C., the +first ever bestowed upon a member of the Indian +Army. What he had done to win it +sounds like many another brave deed recounted +of the men in the Great War. There is a +similarity even in brave deeds. He had remained +in a trench, firing a Maxim, after his +British captain and all the men with him +were killed or wounded, holding back the +Germans until he, too, fell, severely wounded, +and they passed on over his body. But the +Germans had been held back, and that was +the important point.</p> + + +<h3>THE BROWN MEN</h3> + +<p>It was in August that the brown men first +took ship at Calcutta and Bombay, and, +leaving the sound of temple bell and muezzin, +and commending themselves, no doubt, to Ava +Ardu Sur Jasan, the angel presiding over the +sea and great voyages, sailed away under +the British Jack to fight for the Empire in a +land they had never seen. They reached the +Western front in September, and after a scant +two weeks’ rest, were thrown in beside the +almost exhausted British in the flat mud-country +between Givenchy and Neuve Chapelle. +The force consisted of about 50,000 +British and 65,000 native Indians, led by +white officers, and with native officers to act +as go-betweens. It was the first time, since +the Moors had conquered Spain, long before +Columbus sailed for America, that brown men +and white had engaged in a death-grapple on +European soil. But these brown men were +from a continent, not a single nation.</p> + +<p>There were little Gurkhas from around +Nepal, stout and muscular, with high topknotted +and slant eyes like Chinamen, grinning +like terriers from behind British steel. Their +great friends, the Scotch, say they can see +objects and detect sounds which are imperceptible +to other people. And though they +trot along contentedly enough with their rifles +in trenches that are sometimes too high for +them, their favorite weapon is their own sickle-shaped +knife, the <em>khukri</em>. This they can either +hurl or use at close range, in which latter +case, we are told, it makes a sound like the +cutting of fresh lettuce. Their friendship +with the huge Scotchmen seems to come from +a certain like-mindedness on the battlefield. +It was a regiment of Gurkhas (the 4th) that +on the terrible night of the nineteenth of December +supported the Highland Light Infantry +in gaining the foremost trench along the +Bethune-La Bassée Road. But the little +brown men held the trench, while the gallant +Lieutenant Anderson, not content with this, +rushed on with his Highlanders, shouting, +“We are going to take Chapelle St. Roch!” +He and his men passed on into the darkness—and +were never seen again.</p> + +<p>There were long, athletic Sikhs from the +land of the Five Rivers. The Sikhs’ knives +are straight, for they are tall, brave men who +let their hair grow, and who usually pray before +fighting. Their knives are two-edged, and +they carry on their other side a comb, as is +likewise enjoined by their religion. Under +Ranjut Singh, the Lion of the Punjab, they +once carved for themselves an empire from +the Sutlej to the Kabul River, and their +greatest ambition even now is for one of them +to be known as “Singh” (“Lion”) among his +countrymen. This high honor one of them +attained, together with the Indian Order of +Merit, in the spring drive around Ypres. It +happened that a young English lieutenant, +J. Smyth, was ordered to supply ammunition +to a company farther forward. In the course +of the fighting, he found himself in an unconnected +trench. Therefore, selecting fifteen +Sikhs, he started forward with bombs in boxes, +which they carried among them. Only three +Sikhs were left unwounded, when finally, still +under heavy direct fire, they conceived the +idea of breaking up the boxes and carrying +the bombs the rest of the way in their arms. +One more Sikh fell dead before they reached +their objective and delivered the bombs to +their hard-pressed companions.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_088" style="max-width: 47.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_088.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">First Lieutenant James M. Symington</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>2nd Division, 23d Infantry, 1st Battalion.</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">On June 6, 1918, near Château-Thierry, he voluntarily and outside of his regular duty rushed +in front of the firing line and reorganized his men, leading toward the proper objective in the face +of a barrage, changing a small reverse into a success.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>The great bravery of the English officers +of the Indian Army, and the enormous casualties +among them—Captain Paris, Lieutenant +Hayes-Saddler, Major Graham White, good +English names innumerable—is part of the +story of the Indian Army. It is said that +their white skins among the dark faces of +their men rendered them an easy mark to +the German gunners. And their loss was +graver for their troops than that of most +officers, for each Englishman in command is +obliged to know several of the innumerable +dialects of India, and as there remained +fewer and fewer men in command who could +speak both English and the native tongues, +the Indian troops became at times almost isolated.</p> + +<p>And there were men from tribes less well +known: the Gurhwals, a comparatively new +regiment, who proved their mettle at “the +Indian Neuve Chapelle.” This was an engagement +in November, not to be confused +with the later battle of Neuve Chapelle, where +the Indian troops actually gained the town, +but were obliged to fall back, because of the +lack of adequate support. Then there were +the Pathans, who shoot like the Leatherstockings, +and look, it is said, not unlike him, with +their blue eyes and brown hair and their muscular +frames. They are the fairest of the +native Indians. Then there were the Rajputs, +who have been the great gentlemen of +the hills for many hundreds of years. Some +of them were not subjects of the King of +England at all, but citizens of the Feudatory +States of India, who came down from their +mud huts and mountain fastnesses to make +the grand tour, as it were, and fight with +the cunning implements of the white man.</p> + + +<h3>WINNERS OF V. C.’s</h3> + +<p>From whatever tribe they came, however, +they proved themselves worthy to fight in +any army of Europe, as the V. C.’s awarded +in the course of the war to the members of +the Indian army will show. From G. A. +Leask’s book, <cite>Heroes of the Great War</cite>, we +summarize a few of their exploits, but many +must go unnoticed here:</p> + +<p>The second Indian V. C. hero of the first +year of the war, says Mr. Leask, was also +one of the bravest. Naik Darwan Sing Negi,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span> +1st Battalion 39th Gurhwal Rifles, gained his +reward for great gallantry on the night of +November 23-24, 1914, near Festubert.</p> + +<p>The 1st Battalion 39th Gurhwals are recruited +from that portion of the Himalayas +lying within territory immediately west of +Nepal, known as Gurhwal; and Naik, like +most of the sturdy recruits drawn from this +neighborhood, spent his boyhood herding his +father’s sheep and goats on the bleak uplands +and glacier valleys, often alone for weeks on +end.</p> + +<p>One of the fiercest battles of the war took +place around Festubert in the La Bassée district. +On November 23rd the Germans made +a determined attack upon some trenches near +Festubert, held by the Indian corps. A counter-attack +was organized during the night of +the 23rd-24th, as our men were very hard +pressed. In this great onslaught the 39th +Gurhwal Rifles, all hardy warriors like Darwan +Sing Negi from the northern hills, took +a leading part. They leaped over the parapet +with fixed bayonets, their faces set and grim. +With irresistible dash they advanced to the +captured trenches and drove the enemy off +with terrible loss.</p> + +<p>Darwan Sing Negi received two severe +wounds in the head and in the arm, but refused +to give in. He led the way round each +successive traverse, and we can imagine the +terror he inspired in the hearts of the Germans +when they saw this tall, fierce Indian +hero, with white turban gleaming in the darkness, +his eyes afire, advancing upon them with +the bayonet. Although fired at by bombs and +rifles at the closest range, nothing could daunt +this fearless fighter. By his splendid courage +and powerful arm he practically cleared the +trench himself and so saved a serious situation. +The fighting went on all the next day, but +the heroic deed of Darwan Sing Negi on the +previous night had averted the worst of the +danger. He was decorated by the King just +before his Majesty left France on December +5, 1914.</p> + + +<h3>THE JEMADAR</h3> + +<p>The next month, April, saw the winning +of another V. C. by an Indian officer. He +was Jemadar Mir Dast, of the 55th (Coke’s) +Rifles, though he won his distinction when he +was attached to the 57th (Wilde’s) Rifles, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span>both belonging to Indian Frontier Force.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_090" style="max-width: 47.0625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_090.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant Joseph H. Stowers</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>42nd Division, 167th Infantry, Machine-Gun Company</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He was cited for rushing into the open under fire January 2, 1918, through an area flooded with +poisonous gas, to the assistance of a wounded comrade who was lying in an exposed position. He +brought the wounded man back safely in his arms.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>The jemadar—corresponding to our lieutenant—had +already distinguished himself before +coming to Europe to fight for his King-Emperor. +He possesses the coveted Indian +Order of Merit for gallant services on the +Indian frontier while acting as guardian of +the northern boundary.</p> + +<p>During both battles of Ypres the Indians +fought magnificently. After the enemy’s +poison-gas attack had made a temporary dent +in the British line in the Ypres area, Sir +John French ordered the Lahore Division of +the Indian Corps, to which Mir Dast’s regiment +was attached, to be moved up and placed +at the disposal of the Second Army.</p> + +<p>A few days later, this corps, supported by +the British cavalry, was pushed up into the +front firing-line. The time had come for +the British to assume the offensive. Fighting +with the French on one of their wings, the +Indians were successful in pushing the enemy +back some little distance toward the north. +Again the Germans let loose their poison gas, +and rendered further advance impossible. Such +was the position on April 26th.</p> + +<p>The Indians fought with determination to +carry the German positions. A formidable +series of trenches had to be assaulted in order +to dislodge the enemy and so relieve the pressure +on the rest of the line. Jemadar Mir Dast +got his men ready and was waiting to advance. +When the order was given to dash +from the trenches, Mir Dast found himself +detailed off to remain with his platoon in reserve. +The others, advancing by short rushes, +reached the crest of the first slope without +a check, although a number fell by shell fire. +On reaching the crest, however, the line came +under a terrific machine gun and rifle fire. +Whole swathes of men fell as if a scythe +had been drawn across their legs. In spite +of this, the line pressed on.</p> + +<p>Then came the dramatic sequel. The Germans +suddenly released their gas. Although +the French Colonials were the chief sufferers, +the Indian troops were affected by it. The +poor fellows were totally unprovided with any +form of protection against this devilish device, +and were falling fast, being at the same time +under a hail of machine gun fire. No troops +could have withstood the terrible conditions, +and the line was forced to give way.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span></p> + +<p>Jemadar Mir Dast, from his trench, had +seen the oncoming poison cloud, and noticed +the retirement of a part of the line. He had +one of two alternatives presented to him. +Either he must retire in conformity with the +rest of the troops, or endeavor to get his men +to stand firm and resist the attack. Mir Dast +decided to remain.</p> + + +<h3>STOOD THE BRUNT</h3> + +<p>Behind the dense volumes of gas and with +ceaseless pointblank fire, the Germans approached +nearer and nearer. Undaunted in +the trying ordeal, Mir Dast remained firm, +and collected all the men available, among +whom were many who were recovering from +the effects of gas. So many British officers +had been killed that there was no one left +to lead but himself. He therefore assumed +command of the forces he had collected, and +kept the men together until ordered to retire, +all the while holding up the oncoming Germans +with rifle fire.</p> + +<p>After dusk, Mir Dast left the trench with +his small force. During this retirement, he +picked up many men who were in the successive +lines of trenches by which he passed, +and brought them back to safety.</p> + +<p>Throughout the attack, the resolute conduct +of Mir Dast was beyond praise. As the +little band wended its way to the rear he +encouraged each man individually by his +cheery words and courageous example. He +saw an officer lying wounded, and at great +risk went and brought him to cover. A few +yards farther on he made out the writhing +figure of a gassed Indian officer. In spite of +a hot rifle fire the intrepid jemadar made for +him, and, with assistance, got the suffering +officer out of the zone of fire. Then a second +British officer was observed. The jemadar, +knowing every minute was precious if he +himself was to escape the fire and gas, stopped +once again to perform his heroic work of +rescue.</p> + +<p>In this way during the retirement the gallant +Indian soldier brought in no less than +eight wounded British and Indian officers. +He was exposed in doing so to a very heavy +fire, and was himself slightly wounded. Had +he not shown such conspicuous bravery these +eight men would have died on the field. Mir<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span> +Dast not only received bullet wounds, but +was rendered very weak through the effects +of the German poison gas.</p> + +<p>The gallantry of Mir Dast, as well as the +behavior of the whole division at the second +battle of Ypres, added yet another proud page +to the record of the Indian army.</p> + +<p>The jemadar, when well enough to be +moved, was sent to England, and there received +from the hands of the King-Emperor +the V. C. he had so deservedly won.</p> + +<p>He was much affected by the King’s praise +and said afterwards, “What did I do?—nothing, +only my duty; and to think that the +great King-Emperor should shake me by the +hand and praise me. I am his child.”</p> + +<p>It must be remembered that India’s service +in the war was entirely voluntary.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_LIVELY_INTRODUCTION">A LIVELY INTRODUCTION</h2> +</div> + +<h3>An Ambulance Man’s First Twenty-four Hours at the Front Well +Diversified</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">In</span> a letter to his father, Dr. John B. Sullivan +of Brooklyn, N. Y., an aid with the +American Ambulance Field Service in France, +Eugene Sullivan, who got quickly into the +thick of things, tells the incidents of his first +day where the Germans were busy. The letter +appeared in the Brooklyn <cite>Eagle</cite> as follows:</p> + +<p>“Well, after being assigned to section ... +we went immediately to the front by going to +..., base of sector, and arriving there were +picked up by section chief and then brought +to section headquarters. Next morning, at +eight, was sent out as aid to learn roads, stations, +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">postes de secours</i>, etc. First station at.... +Arriving there I expressed my disappointment, +because everything looked so quiet, +except for the village, which, by the way, at +one time must have been lovely, but Germans +had destroyed everything—every single house +and building—only a few houses had walls +standing. At the improvised relay station, or +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">poste de secours</i>, I left the ambulance and +strolled to the top of a hill.</p> + +<p>“Here I could see and was in plain sight +of a German observation balloon, and the German +must have taken a dislike to my position, +physique or otherwise, because before long +some nice big high explosive shells started to +come my way—so much so I had to postpone +my sight-seeing tour and retire to the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">poste de +secours</i> and join the others who were in an +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">abri</i>, which is an enlarged rat-hole in the +ground. While there an ambulance from a +station nearer the first line of trenches came +in with some <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">blessés</i> (wounded) and left word +that he was going to ... to the first hospital. +It was then up to us to go forward to +Pont ... to take the place of this ambulance, +who on his return would take our place +at ... Well, all went well and we hid the +ambulance at Pont ... in some bushes to +wait for some poor fellow to get his ‘ticket’ +for the hospital. Very little happened that +day, except for the shells flying over our heads +and a few airplane scraps, but no wounded. +Toward evening an extra ambulance arrived, +and we in the first ambulance got word to go +still further to the front, to where they have +never had an ambulance before, but on account +of shell-fire had to wait until darkness.</p> + +<p>“This was like preparing me for the inevitable, +but finally we got a French soldier to +guide us, and the driver, Harry Dunn, the +soldier, and yours truly, aid, started. All went +well until about half over the rocky and +muddy road to Dublin I noticed the soldiers +running like mad for the trenches. For a +few seconds I didn’t realize what it meant, +until a shell burst right near us and pieces +went hissing right over the top of the ambulance. +Right then yours truly grabbed his +steel helmet from the guide, who was holding +it, and just planted it on his head, and, believe +me, thought of home, mother, etc., said a few +prayers, and finally landed under the cover of +the French dressing station.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_093" style="max-width: 39.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_093.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant August Steidl</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>1st Division, 26th Infantry, Company “A”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He showed exceptional bravery and control over his platoon while advancing through enemy +machine-gun and artillery fire before he reached his final objective, which he took with great +daring.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Got well located and fixed a stretcher in +lieu of a bed, and just about settled down +to rest and sleep while waiting for candidates +for ride in ambulance when the French batteries +started up. They were a couple of +hundred yards in rear of us and were firing +over our heads, and I got up and stood at the +door to see the fire of belching batteries, etc. +Joe, each time one of those blame things went +off my steel (crown) helmet just naturally +rose off my head, but in a few minutes I got +used to it and got well used to my surroundings +and looked over everything. It seems +all the fire of a couple of hours was just a +small preliminary to an attack by a small company +to jump into the German trenches, grab +about a dozen prisoners and then back again—all +so they could give the poor Boches the +third degree for general information, etc.</p> + + +<h3>WITNESSES AN AIR DUEL</h3> + +<p>“Finally, after all the firing, got a French +soldier who had the good portion of his head +left to take to the hospital, and as it was getting +near daybreak we were ordered to ‘beat +it’ under cover of darkness, or the little that +was left of it. Got out all right, except that +we darn near rode on top of a French battery, +just as it was firing, only 100 feet in +front of us, and, believe me, we hit only the +high spots for about five miles. Got to hospital +at ... O. K. and returned to ..., +taking up our order of relief and settled down +to enjoy some rest. Nothing doing for a couple +of hours until just about 8 a.m., when our +tour of duty (twenty-four hours) was finished, +when a lot of machine-gun fire attracted +our attention to the sky.</p> + +<p>“There we saw—in my opinion—the most +wonderful and yet most horrible duel between +two airplanes, French and German. Saw +every move they made, until finally the German—or +Boche, we call them—machine broke +into flames and immediately the observer of +the German machine jumped 7,000 feet to +his death, leaving his pilot to finish the struggle;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span> +but although the poor wretch made a +grand effort to right his plane after a fall +like a rocket for 1,000 feet, the tail of his +machine and one wing broke off and just +dropped.</p> + +<p>“While dropping, the flames must have +got to him, for he finally jumped, too, +and his machine fell one way and he, all in +flames, a little farther away. All the while +the Frenchman in his victorious machine was +flying—really dropping—and followed him +down, making a spiral dive, and landed almost +as quick. We jumped into our ambulance +and hurried to the spot, and the sight which +greeted us was horrible. I had my camera +with me, but just couldn’t snap the picture. +The victorious aviator then reached the spot +and stood smilingly over the body while various +ones took the picture.</p> + +<p>“The German balloon observers took it all +in and when the crowd of us gathered they +had their artillery just drop some shells among +us, so we ‘beat it,’ and that was the end of +my first twenty-four hours on the front. Some +baptism.</p> + +<p>“A chap who came over with me—Osborn, +of Dartmouth College—was only four days +in active service with Section 28, and in going +to the aid of one of his section ambulances +got stalled himself and while repairing his car +the Germans located him by a star shell which +illuminates everything, and in this way they +got a line on him and his ambulance. They +paid no heed to red cross on ambulance, but +let him have a shell, with the result that one +leg was shattered and a piece of a shell went +through his body and lung. The poor chap +didn’t realize how seriously he was hurt or +that he lost his leg later by amputation, but +was apparently O. K., for on the morning of +the day he died he was chatting merrily +with every one, shaved himself and had a +smoke. He even wrote a most wonderful and +pathetic letter to his parents, and yet that +night he died. Some say, or try to say, we +don’t get under fire. I at least know what +shell-fire is.”</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>At the date of the signing of the Armistice over 25 per cent. of the entire male population +of the United States, between the ages of 18 and 31, were in military service. This +represents a growth in the size of the American Army in 19 months of nearly twenty-fold, +namely, from 189,674 in March, 1917, to 3,664,000 in November, 1918.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_VALIANT_GENTLEMAN">“A VALIANT GENTLEMAN”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>So Comrades Named Dick Hall, One of the First of Ours to Die</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Speaking</span> at the Lafayette Day banquet +given in New York the evening of Sept. +6, 1916, M. Jusserand, the French Ambassador, +referring to the service of Americans in +France before the United States entered the +war, said:</p> + +<p>“Serving in the ambulances, serving in the +Legion, serving in the air, serving Liberty, +obeying the same impulse as that which +brought Lafayette to these shores, many young +Americans leaving home and family have offered +to France their lives. Those lives many +have lost, and never, even in antique times, +was there shown such abnegation and generosity, +such firmness of character: men like +that Victor Chapman, who died to rescue +American and French co-aviators nearly overcome +by a more numerous enemy, and whose +father, so justly admired for his gifts of mind +and heart, decided that his son’s remains +should be buried where he had fallen: ‘Let +him rest with his comrades’; or that Richard +Hall, killed by a shell while on the search for +our wounded and whose mother hesitated to +accept a permit to visit his flower-wreathed +tomb at the front, because French mothers are +not allowed to do so; or that Harvard graduate, +the poet of the Legion, Alan Seeger, who +felt that his hour could not be far remote and +in expectation of it had written from the +blood-soaked battlefield where he had fought +for Liberty. The Frenchman who goes up is +possessed with a passion beside which any of +the other forms of experience that are reckoned +to make life worth while seem pale in comparison. +It is a privilege to march at his side—so +much so that nothing the world could +give could make me wish myself anywhere +else than where I am.”</p> + +<p>And Emory Pottle, in telling for the +<cite>Century</cite> the story of a “Christmas at Pont-à-Mousson” +(1915) when he and his fellows +of the American Ambulance Service in that +sector had a “bonne fête,” superintended by +Mme. Marion and pretty little thirteen-year-old +Jeanne, says:</p> + +<p>“It was a gay meal, recklessly, happily so. +No one in the sector to which we were attached +was wounded that day. That, maybe, +was the real holiday note. Though it may +seem incredible, the meal ended with a huge +plum pudding.</p> + +<p>“It ended, too, with something very grave +and as I now think of it, very beautiful. The +festival meal and the gifts were forgotten in +the face of it. For it was, oh! not strangely, +one of those events which lift men, if ever so +briefly, out of their daily selves into unseen +things. Our chief of Section was called to +the telephone. He came back—we all saw it—with +saddened face. ‘Fellows,’ he said +slowly, ‘Richard Hall of Section III has +been killed, blown off his car by a stray shell +in the Vosges. He is the first of us all to go.’</p> + +<p>“We stood very silently and soberly about +the table. Such news drove home abruptly, +cruelly by reason of our Christmas gaieties—just +what being there involved to us, to those +who loved us. Very often we had jested and +joked about death. None of us was a coward, +I think; but—Hall dead—the first of the lot +of us—dead—so far from home—Christmas!</p> + +<p>“‘Boys, let’s drink to him, the first of us +to lay down his life for France. Here’s to +Dick Hall, good old scout!’</p> + +<p>“So we drank, and I think no man there +that night, where danger and death were always +brooding darkly, failed to feel the dignity +and honor of his calling.</p> + + +<h3>A MOTHER’S GIFT TO THE CAUSE</h3> + +<p>“A long time after, the mother of Richard +Hall said to a friend of mine—said with clear, +sad, gentle eyes—‘I am glad to give my boy +to so great a cause!’ And we on the edge of +the sinister Bois le Pretre, when the news +of the boy’s death came to us that Christmas<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span> +day, felt, too, somehow, somewhere within us, +that the cause was great, was ours.</p> + +<p>“Late that night I stood alone for a time +under the starry sky of that strange hell we +inhabited. Oddly enough, I felt, so I recall, +a calmness and a courage, even a sort of happiness, +new and strange. Though its approaches +might be loud and frightening, I +knew again that ‘the ways of death are silent +and serene;’ an honorable death, a death of +one’s own choosing for an ideal, for a cause.”</p> + +<p>An extract from a letter written to his +parents on Decoration Day, 1916, by Louis P. +Hall, Jr., next older brother of Richard—he, +too, valiant in the Ambulance Service—gives +an intimate glimpse of the qualities of heart +and mind that endeared Richard Hall to his +fellows and to all who knew him:</p> + +<p>“To-day at two I attended a beautiful +memorial exercise. It was held at the monument +to Washington and Lafayette in the +Place des États-Unis, here in Paris. And +during these exercises I took a little part when +my officers and myself placed a great floral +tribute at the base of the monument among +the many others. On the tri-color ribbons of +this tribute from the American Ambulance +were these words: ‘To Richard Hall and the +other Americans who gave their lives for +France.’</p> + +<p>“And so it is, as you well know, that I have +thought a great deal of Dick to-day. I believe +I can recall almost every time I saw him +during our last three months together in +Alsace with the circumstances of each meeting. +I can even remember many of the times +and places we passed each other on the road. +He invariably smiled as we waved to each +other in passing, just as if he were as pleased +to see me as I was to see him. And I wonder +if that really could be true! How I did +admire and love him as I knew him there in +a life which brought forth all the best from +a boy who had no worst. And coupled with +his splendid character, indeed a part of it, was +that fine reserve which never courted an open +show of devotion from me. But he was my +own brother and always must be my brother, +what more could I have asked?... Though +we were often miles apart for days at a time, +each was doing his little share in alleviating +that endless physical pain and bitter human +suffering which made our own hardships seem +as nothing. And there was always our next +meeting, sometimes down in the valley, sometimes +at a post in the mountains, when we +would talk things over; but even then neither +told the other all his inmost thoughts, for in +such work our very depths were touched and +stirred as they never had been touched and +stirred before.”</p> + + +<h3>FROM DARTMOUTH TO FRANCE</h3> + +<p>Richard Nelville Hall, less than 21 years +old when killed, was the youngest son of +Dr. and Mrs. Louis P. Hall, of Ann Arbor, +Michigan. In June, 1915, he was a senior +at Dartmouth College and with other members +of that class he enlisted with the American +Ambulance Corps for a period of three +months, and was assigned to Section Three. +When his term was up there was such urgent +need of men and the new enlistments were so +few that Dick volunteered to remain in service +until he could be spared more easily. About +that time Louis P. Hall, Jr., his next older +brother, enlisted and surprised Dick by appearing +in the yard of the American Ambulance +Corps in Paris. Dick had just driven +in from the firing line. The meeting can be +appreciated only by those who know what a +bond of affectionate devotion united the +brothers, and which is expressed in the foregoing +quotation from Louis’ letter to his parents +dated Decoration Day, 1916.</p> + +<p>But even when recruits came the work of +the Ambulance Corps was such that the need +of men was increased, and Dick continued to +drive his ambulance, postponing a little further +his expected return home. There was +terribly fierce fighting in the Vosges in that +period, it will be remembered, and the demands +upon the ambulance driver were almost +incessant, the peril of it constant, gathering up +the wounded from the battle front and hurrying +them to a place of safety. For five months +he had made those hazardous trips from battle +front to safety station, unhesitatingly, devoted, +inspired by the consciousness that he +was engaged in saving, not in destroying life, +his work not for France alone but for +humanity.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_097" style="max-width: 48em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_097.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant David U. Binkley</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>42nd Division, 168th Infantry, Company “I”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">While a private, Sergeant Binkley, on July 28, 1918, sought and obtained permission to rescue his +corporal who was lying severely wounded in the open near Sergy, northeast of Château-Thierry, +France. He crossed an open area that was swept for more than 50 yards by enemy machine guns, +reached the corporal and carried him safely back into the lines.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Lovering Hill, the chief of the section, says +of him: “I have never known any one who +always showed so much <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">dévouement</i> in his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span>work. He was the steadiest of all, and the +most reliable. He never slacked up in times +when work was dull, when day in and day +out was the same grinding monotony; and in +times of activity after many hours without +rest or sleep, he was always cheerful and +stuck to the work with a tenacity which was +astounding. His frankness and straightforwardness, +his cheerfulness and good nature, +his kindness—for he was always the first to +help his comrades—made him beloved by all +of us, and by most of the French with whom +he came in touch, who admired the wholehearted +way in which he worked. In the +technical matter of the upkeep of his car he +was my special delight, for both his car and +his equipment were always in perfect order.”</p> + +<p>The incidents of the days preceding the +death of Hall have been indicated briefly in +a tribute written soon after the fatality. There +had been something of a respite from fighting, +but on December 21 “the mountains spoke” +and all the cars rolled upwards toward the post +of Hartmanns-Weilerkopf—taken and retaken +a score of times, a bare, brown, blunt shell-ploughed +top where before the forest stood—up, +elbowing and tacking their way through +battalions of men and beasts. From one +mountain slope to another roared all the lungs +of war. For five days and five nights, scraps +of days—the shortest of the year—nights interminable—the +air was shredded with shrieking +shells—intermittent lulls for slaughtering +after the bombardment—then again the roar +of the counter-attack.</p> + + +<h3>THE TRAVELED ROAD</h3> + +<p>“All this time, as in all the past months, +Richard Nelville Hall calmly drove his car +up the winding shell-swept artery of the +mountain of war—past crazed mules, broken-down +artillery carts, swearing drivers, stricken +horses, wounded stragglers still able to +hobble; past long convoys of Boche prisoners, +silently descending in twos guarded by a handful +of men; past all the personnel of war, +great and small (for there is but one road +on which to travel, one road for the enemy’s +shell); past abris, bomb-proof, to arrive at +the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Poste de Secours</i>; where silent men moved +mysteriously under the great trees, where the +cars were loaded with an ever ready supply +of still more quiet figures (though some made +sounds), mere bundles in blankets. Hall saw +to it that these quiet bundles were carefully +and rapidly installed, then rolled down into +the valley where little towns bear stolidly +their daily burden of shells thrown wantonly +from somewhere in Bocheland over the mountain +to somewhere in France—the bleeding +bodies in the car, a mere corpuscle in the full +crimson stream, the ever-rolling tide from the +trenches to the hospital, of the blood of life +and the blood of death. Once there, his +wounded unloaded, Dick Hall filled his gasoline +tank and calmly rolled again on his way. +Two of his comrades had been wounded the +day before, but Dick Hall never faltered. He +slept when and where he could, in his car, at +the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">poste</i>, on the floor of our temporary +kitchen at Moosch—dry blankets or wet +blankets of mud, blankets of blood—contagion +was pedantry, microbes a myth.”</p> + +<p>It was over this shell-swept, torturous road +that Dick Hall was driving his car on its final +errand of mercy when, in the first hours of the +Christmas morning, death made friends with +him. Some three hours later he was found by +Matter, one of his comrades, the first to pass +along the mountain road. It was between 3 +and 4 o’clock of the morning. Matter and Jennings, +who came a little later, bore the body +back in Matter’s car to Moosch, where his +brother, Louis Hall, learned what had happened. +Death had been instantaneous. A +fragment of shell had penetrated his brain. +Though he had other injuries (the car was +utterly demolished), we have the testimony of +Abbé Klein, the chaplain, that “even in death +his face preserved the expression of smiling +radiance, that frank and kindly nature that +his comrades had learned to love in the +months he had been with them.”</p> + +<p>“There in the small hours of Christmas +morning where mountain fought mountain—on +that hard bitter pass under the pines of +the Vosgian sweep, there fell a very modest +and valiant gentleman,” says the memorial +from his comrades of Section Three, adding:</p> + +<p>“Dick Hall, we knew you, worked with +you, played with you, ate with you, slept +with you, we took pleasure in your company, +in your modesty, in your gentle manner, in +your devotion and in your youth—we still +pass that spot, and we salute. Our breath +comes quicker, and our eyes grow dimmer, we +grip the wheel a little tighter—we pass better +and stronger.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_099" style="max-width: 47.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_099.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Private George W. Langham</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>32nd Division, 128th Infantry, Company “H”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Though he was severely gassed near Juvigny, north of Soissons, France, August 20-September +2, 1918, he remained on duty with his company while it was in the front line. Later he aided in +the work of carrying wounded men across the area covered by artillery and machine-gun fire.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<h3>THE LIVING DEAD</h3> + +<p>The funeral services were held in the little +Protestant Chapel five miles down the valley +while the guns roared in a fierce battle raging +for the possession of Hartmanns-Weilerkopf. +At the conclusion of the ceremony Hall’s +citation was read and the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Croix de Guerre</i> +was pinned to a fold of the tri-color that +wrapped his coffin. At the head of the grave +was placed a wooden cross with the simple +but all sufficient inscription, “Richard Hall, +an American who died for France, December +25, 1915.” The Alsatian women heaped +flowers on the grave, and after kept it decorated +and cared for. When the United +States formally entered the war there was a +further ceremony, when a French General +laid a palm on the grave in the presence of +Louis Hall and the American Corps.</p> + +<p>But Richard Hall was one of those fortunate +servants whose service and humanity did +not end with death. Very soon after he was +killed, as a tribute to his memory a new +ambulance car was sent to France to be driven +by Louis Hall. It was the gift of a lady. +Another followed, the gift of a New York +gentleman, and a third ambulance was sent by +Dr. and Mrs. Louis P. Hall, who also kept<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> +a memorial bed in the American Ambulance +Hospital at Neuilly until the end of the war. +In addition to that they established a Loan +Fund of $2,000 in the University of Michigan +(Ann Arbor was Dick’s birthplace, his +father a professor in the University) and $500 +was given to Dartmouth. In the same spirit +of carrying on Dick’s work his parents’ efforts +resulted in the sending of $18,000 to the +“Fatherless Children of France” and ten +thousand garments to the children of the +Frontier.</p> + +<p>An editorial in the Philadelphia <cite>Press</cite> had +this to say of Richard Hall:</p> + +<p>“Much more glorious is the death of this +man than is that of the fighting soldier. His +was a devotion, not to country and fireside +and altar, but to an abstract conception of +duty. There can be a selfishness, of a refined +kind, to be sure, in even the greatest bravery +shown by the soldier who is fighting for the +preservation of his native land. Thoughts of +his near and dear ones in that land inspire +his actions and nerve his body and will for +them. To the alien nurse, physician, hospital +attendant there is no such inspiration. For +them the inspiration must come from the +depth of their humanity, and cannot be tinged +with the slightest touch of self. German or +Hun, Briton or Serb or Frenchman are all +the same in their eyes if they are suffering +from wounds or disease. Americans have a +right to be proud of a fellow countryman like +Richard Hall.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="WHERE_DENOMINATIONS_END">WHERE DENOMINATIONS END</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Christian Priest Who Was a Hero too Found They Vanished at the Front</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Though</span> we did not see much about +them in the dispatches, those soldiers +of the Most High, the army chaplains who +went to the front, were often as heroic +and self-sacrificing in attending to their +duties as were the doughboys themselves. +Among the many was Father John J. Brady +of New York, the young Catholic chaplain +of the 5th Regiment, U. S. Marines, who +was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross +for things he did in the Château-Thierry +region in the deadly period of June, 1918. +Some of the zealous folk who wish to put +a ban on tobacco in all of its forms will hardly +understand the quality of heroism that +prompted Father Brady to risk his life on +several occasions to carry cigarettes to men of +the fighting line who could not otherwise +have had the “soldier’s solace” after the perils +and fatigues of long hours of trench service. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span>Nevertheless, that generous and courageous +act was among the valiant things for which +his country officially honored him. In the +big fight that turned back the Germans, this +free-souled chaplain made two complete tours +of the front line under severe fire, ministering +in unusually trying circumstances to the +wounded and dying men of his regiment. +Right well the men of that regiment loved +him—not because he was their chaplain but +because he was the chaplain who understood. +A wonderful thing is understanding. We recall +that the wise Solomon rated it above all +things else.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_101" style="max-width: 51.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_101.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant Patrick Walsh</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>1st Division, 18th Infantry</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He captured a nest of enemy machine gunners who were doing particular damage to his +unit and as a result he was decorated with the Croix de Guerre and the Distinguished Service +Cross. He is said to be the first American soldier to receive the former decoration.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>The <cite>Stars and Stripes</cite> in an article about +Chaplain Brady has the key to the man in +the opening paragraph, which quotes him as +saying:</p> + +<p>“’Tis all one great church, the front line +is. In all Christendom, in all the rest of the +world you will not find so much unselfishness, +so much Christian charity, so much loving +kindness, as you find at the front. There, if +anywhere, the men are brothers. We feel it. +Denominations or sects are pretty much forgotten. +Faith, war makes strange bunkies, +and ’tis me and my pal, the Presbyterian +minister, have been shelled out of the same +quarters together.”</p> + +<p>The article continues:</p> + +<p>“Father Brady ought to know, for he penetrated +the farthermost American position and +has crawled beyond the front lines to hear +confessions of Marines in the outpost. He +was decorated for extraordinary heroism at +the battle of Château-Thierry where his unfailing +ministrations were a big factor in conserving +the morale of the men.</p> + +<p>“The true spirit of the Marines is Father +Brady’s. He laughs at obstacles and perils, +and his indomitable will carries him through +the most difficult tasks. Often he has accomplished +the seemingly impossible and he is +honored by Protestant and Jew as he is by +those of his own faith. Regardless of creed, +the Devil Dogs of the 5th Regiment are +proud of their chaplain.”</p> + + +<h3>HIS LEATHERNECKS</h3> + +<p>“There was to be an attack the next morning +in the gray hours before the sun was up, +when Father Brady reached the wooded country +between Soissons and Château-Thierry +where his Leathernecks crouched under the +Hun bombardments. He crawled and stumbled +along the lines to hear confessions from his +warriors. Hard-bitten old-timers who had +not seen the interior of a church in years +bared their souls and went light-hearted into +the hell that followed the opening barrage.</p> + +<p>“Reaching the final outpost, the young +priest spied a shallow trench from which a +sentry peeped. In spite of warnings he slipped +out among the shadows and wormed his way +forward and rolled into the ditch. He heard +the confession as he and the outpost lay side +by side looking up at the stars, and as he crept +back to cover he knew that he had never +granted absolution in stranger places. He +has said mass for the faithful with his altar +cloth on the shattered stump of a tree during +the last lull before the attack.</p> + +<p>“Friend and foe alike received the sacrament +from the young Catholic priest. His +enmity for the Germans ceased when he went +among the young wounded Bavarians left on +the field and gave them the last consolation +of the church. Often he bent over young +Germans, scarcely able to speak as they groped +for their rosaries, and left them facing death +more bravely.</p> + +<p>“One of his most dangerous tasks was the +burial of the dead, which must be done at +night, and frequently under shell fire. It is +work that must be done in the open, for digging +is almost impossible where the woods +fill the soil with interlacing roots. It was on +such a mission that personal tragedy touched +him. Making his way to the crest of a hill, +where he had been told a man lay dead, he +found the face of one of his closest friends +turned up to the moonlight.</p> + +<p>“In spite of the horrors he has witnessed +and the sorrows he has shared, those who have +met Father Brady recently say he is unchanged. +Many men would have shrunk +from his work, much of which was done alone +with no comrade to speak a steadying word. +Yet his spirit is still buoyant and his mind is +unoppressed.”</p> + + +<h3>A BIT OF A MISTAKE</h3> + +<p>“Many of his stories deal with the changes +in spirit and practice that have followed the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span>sharing of hardships. All the Marines were +‘his boys.’</p> + +<p>“‘What a pother they’d have made in the +old days of peace back home if they had +caught me at a mistake I made the other +night,’ he said. ‘In the confusion just before +the attack I heard the confession of one old +sinner of a sergeant. He got half-way through +before I discovered that he was not a Catholic.’</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_102fp" style="max-width: 47.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_102fp.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">First-Class Sergeant George Burr</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>32nd Division, 107th Field Signal Battalion, Company C</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Sergeant Burr, in charge of a detachment near Cierges, France, August 2, 1918, strung wire +far in advance of the front lines, working through heavy artillery fire to the point where the +regimental post of command was to be situated. When ordered to leave one man at the +instrument, he himself remained.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“‘Why, you’re no Catholic!’ I told him.</p> + +<p>“‘No, Padre, I’m a Presbyterian,’ said he, +‘but they say confession is good for the soul. +Believe me, mine feels none the worse now.’</p> + +<p>“Once Father Brady received $2,000 from +America to buy himself an automobile. He +spent it on a club for the boys in his regiment. +Later they found that the young priest +could box and wrestle, and that he was the +best referee that could be got for their fights. +He built up trust and affection for himself +during the weary months at the front.</p> + +<p>“He has been day and night with his regiment +during the long period when they were +in the midst of things. For a month at a +time he has snatched what sleep he could +wherever he might throw himself down, under +hedges, in roadside barns and even in shell +holes. But he has always had a word of +cheer for the men, and in the most terrible +days he has made both living and dying more +bearable for the 5th Marines.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="BUCKEYES_OR_SPEARHEADS">“BUCKEYES” OR “SPEARHEADS”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>How the Ohio Doughboys Managed to Pick Up a New Nickname in France</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> “Buckeye Division,” the 37th Ohio, +got a new nickname for itself at Montfaucon +in September, 1917. It was called +“Spearheads” because of its ability to start a +drive and carry on until its objectives were +reached and captured. In a history of the +Division Jack Koons (of the Cincinnati <cite>Inquirer</cite>), +who was one of the Spearheads, tells +in a breezily entertaining manner of the first +experience of the boys going “over the top.”</p> + +<p>Montfaucon had been held for over three +years by the Germans, and was one of the so-called +“invulnerables.”</p> + +<p>The division historian says:</p> + +<p>“Just before dusk on the night of September +25 the men began to enter the trenches. +Blankets, overcoats, packs, and all unnecessary +equipment were piled in large salvage heaps. +Behind the lines, crouched beneath leafy +screens of camouflage, was the artillery. At +10.25 o’clock the first gun spoke and all along +the line great splotches of red seared the sky +and the boom, screech, and crack of the gigantic +pieces echoed and reëchoed through the +hills. Far across the landscape, rising from the +plain and standing out upon the horizon, was +Montfaucon. The white walls of the city +could be seen distinctly in the daytime. A +church steeple, long ago deserted by worshipers, +stood, a vacant monument to the ravages +of the foe. In the advance against Montfaucon +it was necessary to advance approximately +twelve kilometers, through two dense woods, a +marshy land, up a sharp slope, another plain, +and then a sharp ascent into the town. It was +later learned that a German Division Headquarters +was located in the town.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_103" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_103.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Committee Public Information.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Machine Gun in Action</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<h3>AT THE ZERO HOUR</h3> + +<p>“Patrols advanced into No Man’s Land as +the artillery cut away barbed-wire entanglements. +The great guns rose into a rumble and +death rode through the night on shells—bound +toward Germany. At 2.25 o’clock in the +morning of September 26 the barrage rose and +thundered in volume. Like the roll of a +mighty drum the sound could be heard for +more than a hundred miles. At 5.05 o’clock +the barrage rested on the German front lines—rested +there for twenty-five minutes, cutting +forests to the ground and demoralizing +the enemy who fled into the deepest dugouts. +At 5.30 o’clock, the zero hour, the boys from +Ohio went over the top. Every county and +village in the State was represented in that +attack.</p> + +<p>“On and on they went. Machine-gun nests, +carefully camouflaged with the hellishness +shown only by the German, were discovered +and destroyed. Here and there in the woodland +Hun snipers were busy—but not for +long. Men fell by the wayside in agony, refused +assistance from comrades, and urged the +men to go forward. That was the true Ohio +spirit. The spirit that drove the Germans +back mile after mile, that resulted in the capture +of not only Montfaucon, twenty-four +hours later, but Cierges and Ivoiry. These +towns had been held by the Germans for four +long years and were wrested away and liberated +by Ohioans in forty-eight hours. +In the prisoner cage were huddled approximately +1,100 prisoners, many officers among +them.</p> + +<p>“Relief came to the tired, fighting crew on +September 30. Back they came a laughing, +joking, dirty, sleepy division of fighting men—no +longer boys. Behind them, buried in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span> +fields of eastern France, slept those sons of +Ohio who had given their lives, their all.”</p> + + +<h3>NOW THE FINAL EPISODES</h3> + +<p>“At 5.25 o’clock on the morning of October +31 ‘Fritzie’ on watch along the Lys River +was rudely awakened from his dreams of German +beer and sauerkraut to face a typical go-get-’em +barrage. It was a typical American +barrage. Five minutes of drumfire. Five +minutes of hell, fire, and damnation. Five +minutes of terror. Across the Lys River +scurried the Ohioans. Paddling in the icy +water on logs and planks, the ‘doughboys’ went +over, carrying rifles and machine guns. Engineers +began to build bridges. For a few minutes +the Germans hesitated, but it didn’t take +them long to decide. Back they went to previously +arranged positions. Here they planned +to stop the infantry, but they were mistaken. +In twenty minutes the Ohioans had reached +their first objective. Three hours later they +passed their second objective and dug in for +the night. As they dug in the Germans dug +out and started for the Escaut River. On +the second day members of the 37th Division +drove on through Cruyshautem and Huysse +to the banks of the Scheldt (Escaut) River. +Here, under a veritable rain of shrapnel and +machine-gun fire, they established and held +the only bridgeheads to be erected over this +river during the war.”</p> + + +<h3>THEIR LAST OVER</h3> + +<p>“In this drive through the fertile fields and +populated country which had grown dormant +under the four years of iron-hand rule of the +Hohenzollern, more than twenty towns were +liberated. Hundreds of men, women, and +children, laughing, crying, cheering, greeted +the men as they advanced and entered towns. +The yellow, red, and black flags of Belgium +appeared mysteriously from hiding places and +swayed in the breeze. Apples and bottles of +wine were resurrected and slipped down the +throats of the boys in olive drab. Up ahead at +Heurne, near Audenarde, the Americans were +raising Cain with the Germans, who were +falling back along the river.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_105" style="max-width: 41.0625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_105.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeants Eggers and Latham</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>27th Division, 107th Infantry, Machine-Gun Company</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">In action against the enemy near La Catelet, France, on September 29, 1918, Eggers and Latham +separated from their platoon in a smoke barrage, and took shelter in a shell-hole within the enemy’s +line where an American tank was disabled with three men inside; it was in a heavy fire from +enemy guns; but the two sergeants rescued the men in the tank, one, an officer, was wounded, and +conveyed them all to a nearby trench—returned to the abandoned tank which was in a violent rain +of artillery fire—dismounted the Hotchkiss gun and returned with it to the trench, where the +wounded men were and there effectively protected themselves from the enemy until night time, +when they were able to take the wounded officer and tank crew to their own trenches.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“On November 4, 1918, the Division was +relieved by a French division and hiked thirty +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span>kilometers to Thielt, the largest town they +had been in since leaving Montgomery, Ala. +Here they brushed away the dirt and dust, +waxed and grew fat until November 9. On +that date the Division advanced again past +Deynze to Synghem. With peace rumors +flashing through the air, on the morning of +November 10, the 37th Division went over +the top again, crossing the Escaut River +north of their first sector, and drove the Prussian +Guards before them. It was here that +news of the armistice arrived on the morning +of November 11. Orders had been received +to suspend hostilities at eleven o’clock. At +ten o’clock the men were prepared to follow +another barrage.</p> + +<p>“Squatting in ‘funk’ holes, the men carelessly +rolled cigarettes and waited for the hour +to tick around. The announcement was made. +‘Hostilities had ceased.’ Calmly, confidently +they clambered to the ground. Across the +fields the Germans were moving away. There +was no exchange of shots. Another cigarette. +The war was over.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CORPORAL_HOLMESS_WAY">CORPORAL HOLMES’S WAY</h2> +</div> + +<h3>And a Right Good Way to Win the V.C. and the Hearts of Men</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Fred Holmes</span>, corporal in the Yorkshire +Light Infantry, was awarded +France’s chief military decoration, the +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Médaille Militaire</i>, for gallantry during the +fight on the Aisne. The official account of +the exploit is quite brief: Holmes saw a +platoon of French struggling against heavy +odds, whereupon he dashed over the river for +a machine gun, carried it to the platoon, and +turned it on the enemy, with such effect that +the German pressure was immediately relieved. +However, when Corporal Holmes’ +name is mentioned men usually think of +the thrilling record at Le Cateau which +brought him the V.C.</p> + +<p>The Yorkshire Light Infantry were in the +very thickest of the fighting at Mons. At +the little colliery town at Warmb they received +a severe shaking from the enemy, but +gave as good as they got. It was after the +engagement at this place that the brave fellows, +footsore and tired, but still cheerful, +tramped many weary miles to the famous +battlefield of Le Cateau.</p> + +<p>It is not necessary to describe the stand +made there, but only to mention a few facts, +as recorded by G. A. Leask in his <cite>Heroes of +the Great War</cite>, without knowledge of which +Holmes’s feat would be unintelligible.</p> + +<p>Orders were given to entrench, and the +men set to work with zest, glad of the change +from the continuous retreating. The task +accomplished, the regiment lay down in the +trenches, while the booming of the German +guns grew ever louder.</p> + +<p>At dawn of August 26 there was suddenly +a fierce bombardment from the enemy’s artillery. +According to Holmes, “We could +feel the breath from their guns. It was awful.” +The Yorks stuck to their trenches, +firing incessantly. They had been told that +French troops would reinforce them, but as +the day dragged on no French appeared. The +British artillery kept up a hot fire from behind +Holmes’s trench, which suffered the +proverbial discomfort of the unlucky victim +between two fires.</p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon the Yorks received +orders to retire; to have remained longer +would have meant annihilation. The troops +retired in small sections, Holmes remaining +with five men to the last to cover the retreat +of the others.</p> + +<p>Holmes was actually the last man to leave +the trench. No sooner had he climbed over +the parapet than he met the full brunt of the +enemy’s fire, which by this time had become +fiercer than ever. He had seen many of his +comrades drop to earth, but his heart was +undaunted. Suddenly, when he had proceeded +a few yards from the trench, he felt his boot +clutched and heard his name called.</p> + +<p>“For God’s sake, save me, Fred!” said a +feeble voice.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_107" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_107.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>New York Herald.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Firing at Close Range</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">A British fieldpiece, in an exposed position and without cover of camouflage, firing point blank at the enemy.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span></p> + + +<h3>TAKES UP HIS FRIEND</h3> + +<p>Holmes paused. There at his feet, unable +to move, was one of his chums, his knees shattered +by shrapnel. Holmes had only a brief +moment for reflection. To delay meant certain +death. The problem was how best to +help the poor fellow. To take him back into +the trench was the quickest way out of the +difficulty, and the easiest. Had he done this, +the Germans would soon have discovered the +wounded man, and in all probability would +have put an end to him. Holmes quickly dismissed +this plan and decided upon the nobler +and more dangerous course. He determined +to make a dash with the wounded man, trusting +to Providence to reach his lines in safety.</p> + +<p>He took the poor fellow in his stalwart +arms, no light task, as his chum weighed +twelve stone. Exerting his full strength, +Holmes slung the man across his back. His +only thought now was how to escape the bullets. +All around him were the British dead +and dying, heroes who had done their bit in +the great battle.</p> + +<p>A slight drizzling rain was falling; it made +the ground slippery, so that when Holmes +resumed his dangerous journey he had the +utmost difficulty in avoiding treading on the +men who were at his feet. With infinite care +he succeeded in reaching more open ground.</p> + +<p>After proceeding about one hundred yards +he paused to take breath, for the burden on +his back was a heavy load. At this stage his +companion began to complain that Holmes’s +equipment hurt him. Holmes laid the man +down and removed the equipment. Knowing +that he might have to make a long journey +before he could reach assistance, he decided +at the same time to drop his pack and rifle.</p> + +<p>The next few hundred yards were the most +difficult, for a hailstorm of bullets and shells +raged around. Holmes could hear them +whistling as he staggered painfully along. +Had he not been possessed of a splendid constitution +he must have given in, but he was +determined at all costs not to give in. So he +continued on and went doggedly forward, +with clenched teeth and grim countenance.</p> + +<p>On the way he came upon a wounded officer +seated on the ground, his head between +his hands. The officer looked up as he heard +Holmes approach, and when he saw what the +hero was doing suggested to him to leave +the man with him and look after himself. +This Holmes could not bring himself to do. +Yard by yard he plodded steadily along. The +poor fellow he was carrying began to lose +heart. Holmes, although in terrible mental +anguish himself, had to cheer him all the +weary and dangerous way.</p> + +<p>Slowly but surely he made progress. Half +a mile, then a mile was passed. Holmes took +another rest. Then on again, until he came +to a church flying the Red Cross. The Germans +were shelling this, so he picked up his +chum once more and proceeded to another +village, where at length he was able to deposit +his charge in the careful keeping of the +British Red Cross.</p> + +<p>In all, Holmes carried his chum three miles, +and every inch of the way was attended by +danger from the enemy’s fire. It was certainly +one of the most unselfish of the many +courageous deeds which it is the purpose of +this book to record.</p> + +<p>In order to rejoin his battalion Holmes had +now to make another dangerous journey +across a fire-swept zone. His road lay past +a hill, at the bottom of which was a British +18-pounder quick-firing gun. The horses +were quietly grazing; the gunners and drivers +lay around dead. Nearby was a trumpeter, a +lad of seventeen, who was wounded. This +lad shouted that the Germans were coming. +Holmes looked round and saw that the enemy +were surrounding the gun. Now, the +true soldier has ever had a fondness for guns, +and will die rather than let one fall into the +enemy’s hands. It was in this spirit that +Holmes now performed his second act of +heroism.</p> + +<p>Placing the trumpeter on one of the horses, +he hitched the team to the gun, then thwacked +them with a bayonet he had picked up, and +swung into the saddle. The Germans were +all around; some actually grasped at the reins. +Holmes shouted to the horses, and they rushed +madly forward. One after another he bayoneted +the nearest Germans, while bullets +whistled by his ears. The horse Holmes rode +had its right ear shot off. For eight miles the +ride went on until the rear of a British column +was reached and all danger passed. The +poor trumpeter had fallen off in the furious +rush.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="NOT_DEAD_BUT_FIGHTING">NOT DEAD BUT FIGHTING</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Jim Gardener Quit the Trolley to Do His Bit and Did It Thoroughly</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">“When</span> we went to war,” said James C. +Gardener, “I figured it out this way: +‘I’m single and healthy and lots of other fellows +are going over, and doggone me if I don’t +go along and do my bit.’”</p> + +<p>So he went down to the Marines’ recruiting +office, in Baltimore, and enlisted. He was +sent to Philadelphia and on June 6, 1917, +he was one of 250 men put aboard the <em>Hancock</em> +which went to New York for orders and +on June 13 sailed for France.</p> + +<p>Gardener had been a motorman on the +Baltimore trolley, and when some months +after he went to France the War Department, +which did not then publish addresses, +reported “J. C. Gardener killed in action” the +<cite>Trolley Topics</cite> wrote an obituary of the motorman +esteemed of his fellows; but as there +was some uncertainty whether the J. C. Gardener +killed was really the Baltimore boy, the +obituary was withheld for more definite information. +“Jimmie,” however, was mourned +by his pals until there began to trickle through +from one source and another rumors and reports +that confirmed the doubt that the J. C. +Gardener killed was really their “Jimmie.”</p> + +<p>Then one day, the war over, there walked +into a group of trolley-men at the Baltimore +car barns a strapping fellow, six feet three, +weighing 195, wearing a khaki uniform with +three gold service chevrons and three gold +wound stripes, a division citation cord for +bravery on his left shoulder and the Croix de +Guerre with palm on his breast, and the boys +were doggone certain that Jimmie Gardener, +motorman, was very much alive and able to +give an account of himself. The <cite>Trolley +Topics</cite> lost no time in possessing itself of that +account, and to that semi-monthly organ of +the United Railways and Electric Company +we are indebted for some of the details of the +fighting experience of this trolley hero whom +the great Foch kissed on either cheek.</p> + +<p>The <cite>Hancock</cite>, says Gardener was his twice +by torpedoes on the way over, which “messed +up both ends without crippling her very +much.” He first saw action in a position +“down below” St. Mihiel. He is quoted:</p> + +<p>“It was about 4 a.m. of March 31st that +they opened up with artillery. Right ahead +of us was a graveyard. The shells first fell +on the far side of the graveyard. Then they +fell in the graveyard and tore up graves and +generally ruined it. Then the shells began +to crawl closer to us.</p> + +<p>“There were four of us on guard and we +reported the coming of the Germans to the +officers, and the men were routed out of the +dugouts. One little fellow named Roach—we +called him the boy scout—was so excited that +he put his trousers on backward and got his +shoes on the wrong feet.</p> + +<p>“He started with a box of ammunition for +a gun and ran into another fellow with another +box. The collision knocked him down +and he rolled clear down a hill to the very +place the gun crew was waiting for the ammunition.</p> + +<p>“Some of us had been joking and I remember +a fellow named Clark who said he wondered +which of us would live to take the story +back home. A buddy of mine named Hanky +said, ‘You fellows write your notes to your +mothers and sweethearts and I’ll take ’em back +to them.’ Poor Hanky was killed in that fight.</p> + +<p>“The fight lasted two hours. The point +where I was had thirteen men to defend it. +We had two Stokes guns.</p> + +<p>“There were five hundred men in the party +that attacked this point, or, to be exact, 498, +according to the officers. We cleaned up the +whole business. Seven of our thirteen men +were killed.”</p> + + +<h3>THAT LITTLE FELLOW ROACH</h3> + +<p>Gardener’s next serious engagement was in +the Belleau Wood battle.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_110" style="max-width: 45.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_110.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Color Sergeant Hardy C. Dougherty</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>1st Division, 18th Infantry, Headquarters Company</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He was cited July 18-23, 1918, as a non-commissioned officer of splendid courage, energy and ability. +When in command of reinforcements for the first line, he carried out his mission with complete +success. Upon being relieved he returned to bring to safety on his back one of the seriously +wounded of his detachment.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span></p> + +<p>“We moved up to the woods gradually. +We met Algerian troops belonging to the +French Army. These Algerians claimed that +they had been kept at the front too long. They +were never taken to rest-camps or had any +relief. Many of them committed suicide. +They said they were tired of fighting. We +met some that were running wild, shooting +in all directions, and had to take shelter to +keep from being hit by stray shots.</p> + +<p>“We met many French moving back, too. +They said that the Germans were very numerous +in the woods.</p> + +<p>“That little fellow, Roach, crawled out +in a field, dug into a haystack and climbed to +the top. From there he could see that Germans +were hiding behind bushes farther on.</p> + +<p>“He came back and said he was going to +raid ’em. The officers said he didn’t have +any right to do this without orders. ‘Well,’ +said Roach, ‘this ain’t a regular battle, you +know. This is just a little private party of +my own.’ He said he wanted a dozen men +to volunteer to go with him, and the dozen +volunteered at once. I never saw a time when +volunteers were called for among the marines +that any one wanted to stay back. Everybody +wanted to go.</p> + +<p>“Well, Roach got his men as quick as he +could count ’em. ‘Come on, fellows,’ he said: +‘I’m going to have them Germans for supper.’</p> + +<p>“We cleaned up fifty of ’em.</p> + +<p>“‘Did Roach or any of his dozen men get +the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Croix de Guerre</i> for that?’ we asked.</p> + +<p>“‘Oh, no,’ answered ‘Jimmie,’ ‘as I said, +that wasn’t a regular affair. It was only +Roach’s own party and there wasn’t nothing +official about it.’ It was funny to see our +bunch. Roach was a little fellow about five +feet seven, and he chose as the second in command +of his party a lanky artilleryman who +was six feet eleven. The rest of us were just +ordinary size, like me.’ (‘Jimmie’ Gardener +is six feet three in his stocking feet and weighs +195 pounds!)</p> + +<p>“That artilleryman had just drifted into +our bunch somehow. They had put him out +of the artillery because he had flat feet, and +told him to go home. He said he didn’t want +to go home. He wanted to fight, and he was +going to stay with us whether he belonged +with us or not, and he did.</p> + +<p>“In a day or two we were put in trucks +and hurried forward. We knew now that +the Germans were pressing hard in their attempt +to reach Paris. The French were falling +back. We were run in those trucks directly +between the retreating Frenchmen and +the advancing Germans, and we got mixed up +with the enemy so quickly that we simply +tumbled out of the trucks oftentimes to engage +in hand-to-hand fighting with the Huns.</p> + +<p>“We went right at ’em, and this thing kept +up for four days. We had nothing to eat, +nothing to drink, nothing to smoke—and +everybody longed for a smoke, even fellows +who never smoked before they entered the +service—and we had no sleep in all those four +days and nights.</p> + +<p>“A great deal of the time we were in close +fighting. There was where the Germans +failed. They were all right when they were +twenty-five or thirty yards away and could +use their rifles, but when it came to the bayonet +they turned and fled.</p> + +<p>“Sometimes we fought so close that it was +impossible to use the bayonet. We had to +knock ’em down with our fists first.</p> + +<p>“Everybody said the odds were against us in +this fighting. While we had some reserves +there were only two regiments of us fighting +and we were against three German divisions, +including the Prussian Guards. But in four +days we advanced one and a half miles.</p> + +<p>“We suffered terrible losses. When we +reached the town of Lucy, where we halted +to be reorganized, there were only 150 men +left in my company of 335 men.”</p> + + +<h3>THE MAJOR SAID IT</h3> + +<p>“There was another company whose commander +was killed and a major took charge. +In the middle of the fighting he had lost +so many men that a French officer advised +him to retreat. ‘Retreat hell!’ he cried: ‘I’m +going on as long as I and one man are left.’ +It came near coming true, for when he +reached Lucy he had just three men left with +him out of an entire company.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_112" style="max-width: 49.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_112.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Brave to the Very End</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Though physically wounded—often mortally—the spirit of the French soldiers never perished, but +immortalized their efforts in conflict.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“We saw some horrible things in Lucy, +At one house we found an old French woman, +She said she was with her three daughters—16, +18, and 20 years old—when the Germans +came, and they had remained there without +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span>any protection from the Huns who took charge +of the house. We asked where her daughters +were and she said they were upstairs and she +guessed they were asleep.</p> + +<p>“Several of us went to learn the fate of +the girls and we found all three stretched out +with their throats cut from ear to ear, and +their bodies horribly slashed. The Germans +had deliberately butchered them when they +were forced out of the town.</p> + +<p>“When we told the old lady of the fate +of her daughters she was stricken with heart +trouble and died in a few minutes, but before +she died she asked that we bury her with the +three girls in the little grove near her home. +We did it although we were under fire the +whole time, and eight of our men were killed +while burying those French women.</p> + +<p>“The next day we pushed on and got +through the woods. That was the hottest +fighting of all. The Germans used more +artillery, and when the day was over the +number of men in my company had again +been reduced to about 150. Some companies +had only a dozen or fifteen men left.</p> + +<p>“One of the fellows killed that day was +a fellow from South Baltimore who used to +be a chum of mine before we went to war. +His name was Halle. He said to me that +morning: ‘Jim, I feel I’m going to get +knocked off to-day. Never tell my people +that I was killed. Just tell them that I am +somewhere in France.’ He was killed and +I haven’t told his people and never will, but +they found it out through the War Department.</p> + +<p>“We next went to the Marne. There we +fought in the river. It was tough luck for a +fellow to be wounded there, for as he sank +down he was drowned. It was often close +fighting, bayonet to bayonet in midstream, and +must have been a pretty sight for people to +look at if there’d been any spectators there, +but it wasn’t very pretty for those in the fight.</p> + +<p>“After the Marne battle our company’s +ranks had to be filled again. Once more we +had been reduced to about 150.</p> + +<p>“Next we went to Château-Thierry and +fought there for nine days, which was followed +by a three-day hike to Soissons, which we +reached on July 18, 1918. The next day we +went over the top at 3 a.m.</p> + +<p>“Ten minutes later I went down with a +wound that crippled my ankle. I was gassed, +too, and suffered shock. When I came to my +senses in a hospital I had two other wounds +that I didn’t know anything about. They told +me that as the ambulance was carrying me to +the rear it was struck by a shell which killed +some of the other wounded men and presented +me with a couple more wounds for good +measure.</p> + +<p>“Outside of having been in a bunch of hospitals +in France and America that’s about all +I know about the war,” concluded “Jimmie” +Gardener.</p> + +<p>“You haven’t told why you got the Croix +de Guerre and the palm branch,” we suggested.</p> + +<p>“Oh,” said “Jimmie.” “I was awarded +the Croix with the six other fellows for cleaning +up that bunch of 498 Germans in the +quiet sector I told you about. The affair +they gave me the palm for was rescuing a +lieutenant who was wounded in the Belleau +Wood fighting.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know who the lieutenant was, but +he was a newspaper man who had entered the +fighting forces and he was out in advance of +the line when he was wounded. Several of +us volunteered to go out and bring him in, +but we did not know exactly where he was. +It was during the night and very dark. Along +about four o’clock, as I was crawling along, +I fell plumb into a shell-hole, and there he +was with his leg shot off.”</p> + + +<h3>“SORT OF SWIMMING-LIKE”</h3> + +<p>“I put my coat around him and bandaged +his leg up as well as I could. Then he got +his arms around my neck and I held on to +him with one hand and dragged myself, sort +of swimming-like, along the ground with the +other.</p> + +<p>“I had only an hour and a half before +daybreak when the Germans would be able to +see us, and in that time I managed to make +about twenty yards to another shell-hole. We +lay in that all day. The lieutenant suffered +a great deal. I gave him what water I had +in my canteen.</p> + +<p>“When night came on we started again and +before morning had made the rest of the distance—about +sixty yards—to our trenches. +The lieutenant got well. They say he is a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> +great writer of books and things. He belongs +in New York State somewhere.”</p> + +<p>“Were you kissed when the Croix was presented +to you?” we asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes, General Foch pinned the badge on +our coats and then kissed us on both cheeks. +We were all smiling when the kissing was +going on.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="WHEN_THE_LIGHT_FAILED">WHEN THE LIGHT FAILED</h2> +</div> + +<h3>One Soldier Tells What It Is Like to Have Eyes Shot Out</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">You</span> may not think this a story of heroism; +but if it does not fall into that class we +do not know where to place it. There is +no attacking a plane in mid-air and sending +it crashing to earth; no leaping into trench +and gathering a score or so of prisoners with +the tilt of a bayonet; no running to stand +on a parapet and hurl hand grenades against +a rain of bullets; nothing to set your blood +into a gallop to grip you and make you take +off your hat to the man about whom Private +Jesse A. Whaley, Co. K, 310th Inf., A. E. F., +is writing. And this is what Whaley wrote +as it appeared in the New York <cite>Sunday +Times</cite>:</p> + +<p>“It is dark, the ground is damp and cold. +There are men stirring about cleaning their +rifles and there is a queer look on their faces. +One private is sitting huddled in the trench; +he is cold, he is hungry with that gnawing +feeling in his stomach which comes from lack +of food for many hours. He moves restlessly, +thousands of things pass through his mind; +home, loved ones. Suddenly a whistle sounds +at our right and there is a rushing of men. +There is but a second’s wait; it is the signal +for the fight. It is now midnight, the men +move to and fro, they disappear. When we +come upon them again they are all lined up +waiting for the barrage to start just outside of +the wood. Does it seem possible that these +men are the same who just a few minutes ago +were sitting in the trench back in the wood? +The barrage starts and the scene is lit with +the strangest light our eyes ever saw. There +is a roar in our cars, and suddenly all is dark +with a blackness the eye cannot pierce. A +flare breaks in the sky, lighting the strange +scene which lies before us. To our right lies +a valley in which are many more men. We +see flashes of rifles, and now and again a flare +shoots up, disclosing a clump of bushes which +means almost certain death to those who approach +it.”</p> + + +<h3>A DASH STRAIGHT AHEAD</h3> + +<p>“The line moves steadily forward and a man +from the back of the line rushes forward and +breaks through with his rifle at the charge. It +is the private who sat huddled in the trench. +He makes a dash for the bushes, followed +by other men. Men drop all along the line, +but the clump of bushes is reached, and the +men who made it are hidden from our view. +Between us and the bushes men are lying +where they fell, never to be walking mortals +again.</p> + +<p>“Suddenly the roar grows louder, and we +can hardly hear each other shout, although +we are standing side by side. The ground +trembles and great holes are dug up by the +flying shells. We hear the whine of the +deadly fragments and the whiz of machine-gun +bullets as they pass us on all sides. It seems +death to move, but we go forward so we +can see what is happening on the other side +of the bushes. As we go we stumble over +the bodies of men lying where they fell, some +partly blown to pieces. At last we come upon +the men again, and the lines are very thin. +The private we have been following is still +untouched, but something has happened to his +rifle and he is down on one knee working +fast and furiously until he has fixed it and +loaded it. Just as he fixes it we notice another +man less than a hundred feet away, and +by the light of a flare we see that his uniform +is not like that of our private. He is a German, +and holds in his hands something that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span>looks strangely like a small soup can with a +stick attached to it. It is a deadly hand grenade. +Before the American can dodge he +throws it, the American starts forward to +make another dash, and then the grenade explodes +with a roar which shakes the earth, +and the American falls, hit in the head. Slowly +he rises to his feet in a dazed way and reaches +for his rifle. He gropes for it without seeming +to realize that it has been blown far out of +his reach. He stands up straight and wipes +his face, which is running with blood; he +pushes his hair back, then takes a step to the +left and falls over the body of a dead comrade, +killed perhaps by the same grenade and +at the same instant.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_115" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_115.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>National Service Magazine.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Remembering Their Fallen Comrades</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Members of the United States Marine Corps carving stones with which to mark the graves of their former brothers in arms.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“But that soldier was not killed—he was +blinded for life. He is myself.”</p> + +<p>That is the story of Jesse A. Whaley, told +by himself while an inmate of the Red Cross +Institute for the Blind, where the blinded +soldiers are aught trades and occupations in +which the sense of touch serves for the lost +eyes. To grip gun in a charge against the +foe is possibly no more heroic than to grip +life, resolutely to serve though blind.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_CLOUD_OF_BLACKS">THE “CLOUD OF BLACKS”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Terrible Effect of a Charge of Senegals Upon German Officer’s Sensibilities</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Perhaps</span> the most vivid and ecstatic description +of a fight for trenches that was +written in the course of the war or has been +written since was from the pen of Rheinhold +Eichacker, a German officer on the Western +front. It was published in one of the German +papers from which it was translated for +the benefit of the New York <cite>Times</cite>. It deserves +a permanent place in the historic record +of desperate deeds of courage as an example +of thoroughly adequate treatment, in literary +form, of what may be styled “compound heroism.” +The passionate frenzy of a personal +experience could not be made more graphic +with mere words as tools.</p> + +<p>The occasion was less feelingly covered by +the German Army report, which said:</p> + +<p>“After a lengthy artillery preparation, white +and colored Frenchmen attacked our positions +in heavy force. They succeeded in getting a +foothold in some of our most advanced +trenches. A furious counter-attack drove +them back again in a hand-to-hand encounter. +Nothing else of importance.”</p> + +<p>But let us have Rheinhold Eichacker:</p> + +<p>“At 7.15 in the morning the French attacked. +The black Senegal negroes, France’s +cattle for the shambles. After a seven-hour +suffocating drumfire that, according to all human +reckoning, should not have left a mortal +man alive. But we still lived—and waited. +Six meters under the sod lay our ‘waiting +rooms.’ Burrowed into the ground on a slant. +‘Courage bracers,’ they call them out there.</p> + +<p>“At 7.15 the enemy shifted his fire backward +upon our reserves. Our pickets sounded +the alarm. We sprang to arms, with our gas +masks in place. For a few seconds the trenches +resembled an antheap. There was feverish +hurrying, running, shouting, and shoving. Just +for seconds. Then everybody was at his post. +Everybody who was alive. Every one a rock +in the seething waves. Every one determined +to hold his position against hell itself.”</p> + + +<h3>“LET THEM COME”</h3> + +<p>“A gas attack! Several hundred pairs of +wide-open warriors’ eyes fixed their glances +upon the ugly, smoking cloud that, lazy and +impenetrable, rolled toward us. Hundreds of +fighting eyes, fixed, threatening, deadly. Let +them come, the blacks! And they came. First +singly, at wide intervals. Feeling their way, +like the arms of a horrible cuttlefish. Eager, +grasping, like the claws of a mighty monster. +Thus they rushed closer, flickering and +sometimes disappearing in their cloud. Entire +bodies and single limbs, now showing in +the harsh glare, now sinking in the shadows, +came nearer and nearer. Strong, wild fellows, +their log-like, fat, black skulls wrapped in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span> +pieces of dirty rags. Showing their grinning +teeth like panthers, with their bellies drawn +in and their necks stretched forward. Some +with bayonets on their rifles. Many only +armed with knives. Monsters all, in their +confused hatred. Frightful their distorted, +dark grimaces. Horrible their unnaturally +wide-opened, burning, bloodshot eyes. Eyes +that seem like terrible beings themselves. Like +unearthly, hell-born beings. Eyes that seemed +to run ahead of their owners, lashed, unchained, +no longer to be restrained. On they +came like dogs gone mad and cats spitting and +yowling, with a burning lust for human blood, +with a cruel dissemblance of their beastly +malice. Behind them came the first wave of +the attackers, in close order, a solid, rolling +black wall, rising and falling, swaying and +heaving, impenetrable, endless.</p> + +<p>“‘Close range! Individual firing! Take +careful aim!’ My orders rang out sharp and +clear and were correctly understood by all +the men. They stood as if carved out of stone, +their lips tightly pressed, the muscles of their +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span>cheeks swollen, and took aim. Just like rifle +range work. The first blacks fell headlong in +full course in our wire entanglements, turning +somersaults like the clowns in a circus. Some +of them half rose, remained hanging, jerked +themselves further, crawling, gliding, like +snakes—cut wires—sprang over—tumbled—fell.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_117" style="max-width: 52em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_117.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Spahis Winding Their War Bonnets</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Famed for their fierce charges, these French colonial troops were helpless in the face of +prolonged shelling.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Nearer and nearer rolled the wall. Gaps +opened and closed again. Lines halted and rolled +on again. Whrr rratt—tenggg—ssstt—crack! +Our artillery sent them its greeting! +Whole groups melted away. Dismembered +bodies, sticky earth, shattered rocks, were +mixed in wild disorder. The black cloud +halted, wavered, closed its ranks—and rolled +nearer and nearer, irresistible, crushing, devastating! +And the rifles were flashing all +the time. A dissonant, voiceless rattle. The +men still stood there and took aim. Calmly, +surely, not wasting a single shot. The stamping +and snorting of thousands of panting +beasts ate up the ground between us.”</p> + + +<h3>“HELL SEEMED LET LOOSE”</h3> + +<p>“Now the wave was only 300 paces from +our defenses—from their remnants—now only +200—100—irresistible, seething and roaring—50 +paces!—‘Rapid fire!’ I roared, I +shrieked, through the swelling cracking of the +rifles. A hurricane swallowed my voice! +Hell seemed let loose at a single blow, raging, +storming, obliterating all understanding! +Shoving and stamping, shrieking and shouting, +cracking and rattling, hissing and screeching. +A heavy veil hung over the wall. In this cloud +pieces of earth, smoke spirals, black, red, white, +yellow flashes, quivered and flared. Rattling, +rapping, pounding, hammering, crackling. And +the shots fell unceasingly. Clear and shrill the +rifles, heavy and roaring the shells.</p> + +<p>“And now came the gruesome, inconceivable +horror! A wall of lead and iron suddenly +hurled itself upon the attackers and +the entanglements just in front of our +trenches. A deafening hammering and clattering, +cracking and pounding, rattling and +crackling, beat everything to earth in ear-splitting, +nerve-racking clamor. Our machine +guns had flanked the blacks!</p> + +<p>“Like an invisible hand they swept over the +men and hurled them to earth, mangling and +tearing them to pieces! As an autumn storm +roars over the fields they swept in full flood +over the ranks and snuffed out life! Like hail +among the ears of grain, their missiles flew and +rattled and broke down the enemy’s will! +Singly, in files, in rows and heaps, the blacks +fell. Next to each other, behind each other, +on top of each other. Hurled in heaps, in +mounds, in hillocks. Fresh masses charged +and fell back, charged and stumbled, charged +and fell. And there were always fresh forces! +They seemed to spring from the very earth!</p> + +<p>“We had losses; heavy losses. Here a +man suddenly put his hand to his forehead +and swayed. There another sprang gurgling +to one side and fell, as flat and heavy as a +block of stone. S-s-s-t—it went above our +heads. The French were throwing shrapnel +against our trenches, hissing, cracking, and +in volleys.</p> + +<p>“Hell still rages. The blacks get reinforcements. +Finally the whites themselves charge, +a jerky, rolling, bluish-green mass! In a powerful +drive they get over the first rise in the +ground. Now they have disappeared. Now +they bob up, as out of a trap door. Here and +there the ranks shoot forward in great leaps, +the officers ahead of all, with their swords +swinging high in the air, just as in the pictures! +A splendid sight. Now they reach +the bodies of the blacks. They halt for a few +seconds, as if in horror, then on they roll +over the dead, jumping, wallowing, dozens +falling.”</p> + + +<h3>“WE STILL STAND FIRMLY”</h3> + +<p>“Our nerves are strained to the snapping +point, gasping, bleeding, feverish! We dare +not waver. ‘Steady, men! Steady!’ We +must calmly let them come as far as the wire +entanglements, as the blacks did. The blacks? +Where are they? Disappeared! Only they +left their dead behind. The same thing will +happen to the whites. We are waiting for +them. The death-spewing machine guns are +lying over there. They lie there and wait +until their time comes. Steady, steady! They +lie there and wait impatiently—but yet they +are silent— Now!—No—I am raving! +‘Rapid fire!’—I hiss—My neighbor staggers—I +only listen and wait, wait and listen, for +only one thing. Something that has to come, +must finally come, has to come! Great God, +otherwise we are lost! Be calm, be calm! +Now they will begin reaping! Now they +must begin to rattle, our machine guns, our +faithful rescuers—now—at once! What can +they be waiting for? Why, they are there +in the wires already. Hell and Satan! No +man can endure that! They are hesitating too +long—the enemy is almost in the trenches! +Ah! At last! A rattling—a hoarse crackling—Heaven +help us, what is that?</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_119" style="max-width: 48.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_119.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Private M. B. Ellis</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>1st Division, 28th Infantry, Company “C”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Cited for extraordinary heroism in action. When south of Soissons, July 18-22, 1918, as a member +of the 1st Division he showed unusual courage in carrying supplies and in attacking strong +points at Breuil, Plaisy, and Berzy-le-Sec.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“A devilish howling rises hoarsely from +over there, lacerating, bestial, shrieking! The +blacks, the devils! How did they reach our +flank over there? That’s where our machine +guns are. It cannot be. There! Hell! They +are carrying hand grenades, are in their rear! +Heaven help us! And the whites! They +are at our breastworks. Already they are in +the trenches, fighting like wild beasts. Horror +makes them crazy. Help is coming to us +from the left. The second company has fallen +upon their flank. The French run like hunted +animals. A shell bursts in their midst, catches +twenty or thirty of them and throws them in +the air like toys. They run still further, +through the air, bowling along on their heads, +gruesomely—and fall in heaps to the ground. +Heads, legs, twitching bodies! The French +run until back of the bodies. The rest of +them are cut to pieces, or made prisoners. +But now our men must come back.</p> + +<p>“We struggle for breath. Wounded men +writhe around and moan and groan heavily. +The trench is bathed in blood. Far more than +half of the company has been slain. We are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span> +only a handful. I assemble the valiant men +and distribute them among the trenches. They +stand resolutely, breathing hard and gasping.</p> + +<p>“A furious rattling and buzzing and hissing +calls us again to our posts. They are charging +anew. Now the whites again, in front, +on the side. They are on our flank! Back of +them the blacks in frightful clusters. ‘Bring +the sandbags!’ The sandbags fly from hand +to hand. A wall rises in the midst of the +trench. The other half was overrun long +ago and is a knot of struggling men. A piece +of wood hits me on the shoulder—crack—I +cry out! A shot lands in the midst of our +ammunition—it was our last. This way with +the hand grenades! We have got to smoke +them out!</p> + +<p>“A roaring hurrah! Heaven help us, aid +is at hand! The Fourth, and the Fifth—I +know the men—and some of the First, too—all +mixed up—dispersed troops rallied again. +Now, up and at them! The French defend +themselves furiously. They hold the trench. +The dead are heaped up before their ramparts—but +keep it up! A wild passion takes possession +of me. My revolver and my dagger +have been lost in the fighting. I seize a bottle. +Hell sends it to me at the right moment. +Like an animal mad with hate I rush forward. +My bottle lands, crashing and splintering, on +a wooly skull, with a distorted grimace. A +hot shock rushes through my shoulder—a +shock—a wrench—I grasp at the air—grasp +something convulsively—throw myself in the +air—and fall in a heap. A confused mist +dances before my eyes.”</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>On November 11, 1918. the American Army had 80 fully equipped hospitals in the +United States with a capacity of 120,000 patients.</p> + +<p>There were 104 base hospitals and 31 evacuation hospitals in the American Expeditionary +Force, and one evacuation hospital in Siberia.</p> + +<p>Army hospitals in the United States cared for 1,407,191 patients during the war; those +with the American Expeditionary Force cared for 755,354—a total of 2,162,545.</p> + +<p>Up to the end of July about 15 per cent, of the entire civilian medical profession of the +United States went into active duty as medical officers of the army.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="HUBBELL_BAGGED_EM">HUBBELL BAGGED ’EM</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Lone Corporal Captures 31 of the Enemy in a Morning Frolic</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">One</span> of the most spectacular of the valorous +deeds in the Champagne engagement +was the single-handed performance of Corporal +Fred D. Hubbell, a Marine, from +Toledo, Ohio. He captured and brought in +for delivery nine German officers and twenty-two +privates as the result of a morning’s +pastime. It was during the attack on Blanc +Mont, and in some way Hubbell got separated +from his company, and in casting about +to recover ground he saw the head of a +German soldier pop from a dugout entrance +and promptly duck down again. Hubbell felt +a keen interest and determined to explore. +But let him tell his own story, as he did in an +interview reproduced by the <cite>Marine’s Magazine</cite>.</p> + +<p>“It was in the morning that the —th +Company went forward and had almost obtained +their objective when they ran into a +series of dugouts occupied by German artillery +officers. A few prisoners were taken from one +of the dugouts and one of them said that +there were no more there. About half an +hour later, the company having been under +machine-gun fire from our left, I happened +to be crouching alone behind the entrance to +a dugout waiting for a counter-attack that +was reported to be coming, when I saw a +Heinie stick his head out of a dugout.</p> + +<p>“I immediately told him to put up his +hands, but he jumped back down the doorway +and I heard him speak a few words of English +and so called to him to come out, which he +did. He said that there were at least thirty +men in the dugout beside himself, whom he +thought would surrender also, and a couple +of officers. I told him that there were plenty +of Americans around and that they might as +well surrender because there was no chance +for them to get away, and for them to leave +their firearms all in the dugout and come out +at once and they would not be harmed. He +returned to the dugout and said he would go +down and get them to come out. He went +down but did not return.</p> + +<p>“After a considerable length of time I +yelled down and threatened to throw a hand +grenade and waited for them to come up but +none came. As there were several entrances +to the series of dugouts I was afraid that they +would catch me from behind, so I moved off +to the left under some shelter where I could +get a different view of the entrance and I had +only been there a short time when another +Heinie stuck his head up and I yelled at him, +thinking they were all coming out. After +waiting several minutes I became leary that +I would be caught from behind and started +for help.</p> + +<p>“While on the way I passed another entrance +to the series of dugouts and came upon +one of the officers with his pistol in his hand +evidently coming out looking for me. I yelled +at him to throw up his hands, but he did +not, instead, fell backward down the stairs +in his haste to get away. Then I ran to the +dugout entrance with a grenade in my hand +and ordered them to come out or I would +throw it down, and they came up at once. +The German private who spoke English, +whom I first caught showing his head out of +the doorway, came up and stood by and passed +on the orders to the officers and men to leave +their firearms below and hold up their hands. +Then they all filed out and gave themselves +up. There was one major, one captain and +seven lieutenants and twenty-two men in the +party.</p> + +<p>“The private told me on the way to the +rear that when he told the officers there was +only one American outside they were furious +and refused to surrender, and therefore would +not come up, and ordered the private to sneak +out of one of the dugouts and shoot me, but +the private refused. All the privates were +willing to give up, but the officers were not +so anxious. They evidently had been caught +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span>in their dugout by the barrage and could not +get away without a great deal of risk.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_122" style="max-width: 45.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_122.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Corporal Sidney E. Manning</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>42nd Division, 167th Infantry, Company “G”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">While in charge of an automatic rifle squad near Croix Rouge Farm, northeast of Château-Thierry, +July 27, 1918, he was wounded nine times before he rejoined his platoon. He prevented +the enemy from closing in and continued to advance in the face of the most terrific fire by enemy +machine guns.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<h3>OTHER DOUGHTY CHAPS</h3> + +<p>But there were numerous single-handed exploits +in that thrilling Champagne campaign, +and among them are the following instances +of the courage and initiative that characterized +the American boys on the front.</p> + +<p>Private John J. Kelley, of Chicago, Illinois, +during the same attack as that in which Hubbell +took part, crossed through the barrage of +his own artillery, killed the operator of a +machine gun which was firing into his line, +wounded another with his pistol and took +eight prisoners. Private Samuel S. Simmons, +of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with Private +Lambert Bos, of Granite, Idaho, and Private +Joe N. Viera, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, +volunteered and attacked a machine-gun +nest in advance of their front line. They +killed the crew, then descended into an enemy +dugout and captured forty prisoners.</p> + +<p>Another instance is that of Corporal Horace +P. Frye, of San Francisco, California. The +position of his company on the hill east of +St. Etienne was being continually swept by +enemy machine-gun fire at apparently close +range. Acting entirely upon his own initiative +he determined to locate the source of the +enemy fire and accordingly crawled forward +unnoticed through 150 yards of open field, +located the enemy guns and after throwing +several hand grenades into their position he +charged them and captured two machine guns +and eleven men, with which he returned to +his own lines through machine-gun fire.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="WAS_HE_A_COWARD">WAS HE A COWARD?</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Singular Confessions of a Hollander Who Gave His Life for France</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">What</span> is a coward? Is there any such +thing as absolute bravery or absolute +cowardice? When we characterize a particular +person as a coward for failing to do, or +refraining from doing, some specific thing are +we quite sure that in the circumstances we +would have acted differently? These are questions +that suggest themselves when one reads +what purport to be excerpts from the diary and +letters of a confessed—or rather self-stigmatized +coward, one Jan R——, a Hollander. +He had lived in France some years, and soon +after the outbreak of war became a naturalized +citizen in order that he might join the +French Army as a volunteer—not because he +wanted to, but because he was ashamed to stay +out.</p> + +<p>The <cite>Atlantic Monthly</cite> published all that +was suitable of the available material in a +long and intensely interesting article which is +a curious record of psychological study and +introspection. It is highly probable that the +experience was by no means unique. A candid +statement by the most daring of our heroes +possibly would contain the admission that there +were moments when the reflections of the Hollander +were similar to his own.</p> + +<p>Jan R—— tells of morning awakenings +from troubled sleep with “the oppression that +something horrible was about to enter into his +existence.” He felt a pang in his breast that +he “should have to take part in the fighting. +There was no escape.” He suffered a fear, a +shifting fear that he “could sometimes suppress +but never drive out.” The life in the training +camp somewhat eased his emotions as he +mingled with so many others, and at times +he even got “flickerings of a desire to fight,” +but it was not the real thing, he assumed; it +was “more in the nature of artistic imagination.” +In the distance was the rumbling and +thudding of heavy gun fire, and as he heard +it he felt “a strange respect and admiration, +mingled with fear for the men in the first line +of trenches.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_124" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_124.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Kadel & Herbert.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">American and French Aviation Officers at an American Hangar</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">American aviators were among the first from the United States to do their part in the great war. There were a great many things that the French +could tell our boys, and the men of the two countries coöperated in this as well as many other branches of the service.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Before long our turn for the trenches will +come. Most of the fellows are wishing for +the time to come. At least that is what they +say. I am dreading it. I am in earnest when +I say that my life is of little value, even to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span>myself. Yet I fear the trenches. Yesterday +evening transports of wounded soldiers came +past us repeatedly. Hearing the wailing and +the groaning, seeing all the bloodiness made +me sick.... The fear of the front suddenly +overtook me. I violently reproached myself +for having been so stupid as to enlist. There +I was in the midst of this insane murder! +And by my own free will!”</p> + + +<h3>HE GOES TO THE FRONT</h3> + +<p>Finally his turn came for the front. One +of his comrades was a youth named Gaston.</p> + +<p>“The dear boy has become very much attached +to me. He believes that I am a strong +support for him! Must I weep at this, or +laugh? Gaston has told me in great confidence +that he gets occasional attacks of cowardice. +And he asked me whether I did not +despise him. He is terribly afraid that the +fellows will notice it, but he did not mind confiding +in me. Why in me? He says it is +because he admires my imperturbable calmness +so much. What could I reply? It +seemed best not to tell him how things stood +with me. Apart from the difficulties such a +confession would cause me, I concluded that +it would also be better for him to believe in +my courage.”</p> + + +<h3>THE BOY REGARDED HIM AS A HERO</h3> + +<p>“A hero! But there are real heroes and +make-believe heroes; and they are not always +easily distinguishable. I do not hide from myself +that I belong to the make-believes. And +yet, it is remarkable that I did not find the +second week at the front as terrible as the +first. It is not as bad there as it seems. When +once you get accustomed to the idea that you +may be dead in a day, or in an hour, or in a +minute, and when you are clear as to your +future, your mood is relieved from constant +depression. Involuntarily you become kind +and helpful to those about you, you do not +get vexed over trifles, you are ready to make +all sorts of sacrifices. Of course, if, in the +midst of such a condition, a grenade suddenly +drops into your trench, if you see three or +four of your comrades getting killed, your +misery returns, no matter how good an outward +appearance you may keep up. At least, +for a while. But then again the thought +comes that getting wounded means rest and +safety, and good care. And death? that is +still less terrible. One boasts of reaching one’s +destination along the shortest road! Is not +death every one’s final destination?...</p> + +<p>“It is peculiar that one can get so accustomed +to danger.</p> + +<p>“I have tried to account for it, and it appears +to be like this: at first our thoughts are +almost incessantly occupied with the frightful +things that are about to happen. Then moments +come—only a single one at first—in +which our thoughts wander away, involuntarily, +and dwell on something else. Suddenly +fear returns. But the periods of repose become +more frequent and of longer duration. +And when they are disturbed by fear the painful +shock becomes gradually less violent. +Neither does fear itself ache so hard. And +then the time approaches when one is conscious +of fear only on occasions when there +is a violent fire, or when men fall. That is +my present condition. There seems to be a +further stage in which one is rid of fear for +good. So far I shall not get.”</p> + +<p>One day he got a wound in the hip and +was sent to the hospital. The nurses have +gotten the idea that he is a hero. He accounts +for it thus:</p> + +<p>“A friend of Gaston’s is a distant cousin +of one of the nurses. Gaston inquired after +me, and apparently used that occasion to do +a good deal of boasting. At any rate, some +greatly embellished stories of my <em>sangfroid</em> +have been going the rounds here. Without +having to lie, I could say that all this was invented, +or at least highly exaggerated. The +consequence was that I was looked upon, not +only as a hero, but as a giant of modesty as +well. It is very annoying. However, to be +honest, I must confess that now and then this +undeserved praise gives me a feeling of satisfaction; +I have always known that I was +weak-minded.”</p> + + +<h3>HE IS PROMOTED</h3> + +<p>“Back to the trenches and made a Corporal. +A small thing, eh? Just the same, it made +me happy. I was touched by the friendly +spirit of the fellows. Gaston shook my hand +at least six times, muttering, ‘Ah, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mon vieux</i>, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span><i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mon vieux</i>, how I have missed you!’ This +does one good. And I had better not get +lost in the question as to how much of all this +attachment I deserve.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_126" style="max-width: 49.375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_126.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant Charles S. Hoover</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>32nd Division, 158th Field Artillery Brigade</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">During the offensive action near Brabant-sur-Meuse, Sergeant Hoover was in charge of two +trench mortars. Wounded by shrapnel and knocked down by the explosion of bombs, he fired the +one mortar that was undamaged until it was destroyed.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Finally comes the touchstone of character. +Jan R—— wrote:</p> + +<p>“In the early morning of the 13th the cannonading +was resumed, and again we had +hours of exhausting expectation. Toward +noon we noticed that an unusual event was +coming. The captain shouted something. I +could not understand a word. Gaston understood: +the wire entanglements in front of the +first line of trenches had been shot to pieces. +We had to hold ourselves ready. There was +incessant telephoning.</p> + +<p>“‘They are coming!’ some one yelled.</p> + +<p>“I could not restrain myself any longer +and looked over the edge of the trench.</p> + +<p>“They were coming indeed; I saw them. +In broad, irregular rows they were running +toward us. Straight toward me, it seemed. +And behind them, there came others, and +still others, evermore. The German guns +were silent now. And then suddenly ours +began to roar with redoubled vigor.</p> + +<p>“Holes, narrow clefts, and fissures were torn +in the massive gray billows that came rolling +toward us.</p> + +<p>“‘Not a single one will get through!’ I +heard some one shout.</p> + +<p>“But behind the first wave came a second +one, and a third one behind that. I saw +them approach, losing in vigor, yet remaining +strong.</p> + +<p>“We were ready. In that moment I felt +no fear! Like the others, I was burning to +fly out of the trenches. Suddenly a strange +silence came, and then the call: ‘<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Attaquez! +Attaquez!</i>’</p> + +<p>“We clambered up, jumped over the edge +of the trench, and ran forward. In front, +to the left, to the right, everywhere there +were French soldiers, storming forward.</p> + +<p>“I saw the Germans coming nearer, in their +dirty gray uniforms, in rows, in heaps, and in +smaller groups, some even singly. I saw the +glistening and flickering of their bayonets. I +heard them yell and shout. My heart +thumped so hard that I had difficulty in +breathing. Around me our men were shouting +loudly. I was shouting too, and felt relieved +when I heard my own voice, however +indistinctly. Now and then a rifle-shot could +be heard. We were running fast. ‘<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">En avant! +En avant!</i>’</p> + +<p>“Suddenly I became aware of a desire to +hold back a little, and thereby to postpone, if +only for a single second, the terrible moment +of the clash. I happened to be pushed by a +comrade behind me and I flew forward again.</p> + +<p>“At last we had reached the Germans. Six +steps in front of me I saw Gaston bayoneting +an officer. Not a second later the poor chap +fell himself—hit by a rifle shot, as I learned +later.”</p> + + +<h3>“BRAVO, CAPORAL”</h3> + +<p>“Suddenly a big German stood before me, a +deathly pallor on his face, his mouth drawn, +his eyes crazed with fear. His terror gave +me courage and a feeling of superiority. I +jumped on him. He tried to defend himself, +but, with all my strength, I plunged my bayonet +into his body. ‘<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Bravo, caporal!</i>’ I heard +some one call. Scores of my comrades ran +past. I tried to catch up with them, stumbled +over a body, and fell, with my head to the +ground. But immediately I got up again and +ran forward, more slowly however; my legs +felt weak and powerless. Forward again! +The attack had been repulsed. The German +guns began thundering again; we had to return +to our trenches.</p> + +<p>“I took the death of Gaston (and of many +others) more calmly than I had feared. This +is not so surprising after all. Death may +strike any one of us at any moment. We have +accepted that chance. But if that is our attitude +toward ourselves, why should we not +have it toward our friends?</p> + +<p>“But it still seems strange to me that I +can not reach a definite judgment on my action +in this last fight. Certain it is that the circumstances +absolutely required my doing what +I did, even leaving entirely out of consideration +the fact that to every one his own life is +dearer than that of a stranger. I can not hesitate +in the choice between a French soldier +and a German soldier. But it is equally certain +that killing men runs counter to my nature +and is absolutely irreconcilable with ideas +which I had always accepted without question. +Efforts to remove the contradiction between +these thoughts must inevitably fail. It +is in this way that I seek to explain the fact<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> +that at one moment I am cheerful, and sing +with the rest—that I am invariably rejoicing +over my good luck in the last fight, not merely +having escaped without even the slightest +scratch, but having had besides the good fortune +of killing two Germans; while the next +moment I sit worrying silently, asking myself, +‘How did it come to be possible that you +are taking part in this frightful war—as a +volunteer?’”</p> + +<p>He was to receive an answer on another +plane. The story of Jan R—— seems to have +concluded with the three words, “Fell at +Souchez.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="TWO_HEROES_OF_HILL_60">TWO HEROES OF HILL 60</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Oxford Graduate and Green-Grocer’s Assistant Win Their Spurs in the +Same Crisis</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Sir John French</span> has described the +fight for Hill 60 as “the fiercest fight +in which British troops have ever been engaged.” +The hill is southeast of Ypres. Its +possession was essential to the British, for it +dominated the surrounding country. The +Germans held it, commanding excellent artillery +observation toward the west and northwest. +For months the British had been working +to mine it. After much hard work the +sapping was complete and one hundred tons of +explosives placed in position.</p> + +<p>Saturday, April 17, 1915, was the appointed +day for the great event. The explosion was +timed for seven o’clock in the evening, and, +according to program, up went the hill—Germans +and all. It was like an earthquake. +Simultaneously the artillery opened on the spot +and poured in shells at the rate of five a +minute. At a quarter past seven the infantry +attack was launched, and the British were in +possession of the ruins.</p> + +<p>Then came the second phase—the holding +of Hill 60, which was the hardest task of all, +for the German reinforcements came to the +assault by the thousands; but as fast as they +came rifle and gun fire mowed them down.</p> + +<p>During the next few days the Germans +continued to attack ferociously, so much +importance did they attach to the position.</p> + +<p>A private in the East Surreys, writing in +the London <cite>Evening News</cite>, gave the following +vivid word-picture of the battle:</p> + +<p>“The fight on Hill 60 was awful. The +Germans used every kind of explosive, from +small bombs to shells that shook the ground +like an earthquake.</p> + +<p>“This went on from four o’clock in the +afternoon to about four the next morning. +Every German gun for miles around was +trained on that hill.</p> + +<p>“Some of the German shells were filled +with a stinking acid, which blinded one. I +would rather take my chance in half-a-dozen +bayonet charges than face such an awful +bombardment again. The enemy charged +four times, but we beat them back each time, +and kept the hill until we were relieved next +morning.”</p> + +<p>It was in these nerve-racking engagements +that Second Lieutenant Geoffrey Harold +Woolley and Corporal Edward Dwyer were +awarded their honors for distinguished service.</p> + + +<h3>FROM CURATE TO SOLDIER</h3> + +<p>Lieutenant Woolley is the youngest son of +Rev. G. H. Woolley, Danbury, Essex. He +was educated at St. John’s School and Queen’s +College, Oxford. While at the University +he joined the Officers’ Training Corps. He +studied for Holy Orders, and is all but a +curate, inasmuch as he was on the eve of +being ordained when, at the age of twenty-three, +he decided to give his first service to +his country.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant Woolley has been described as a +typical specimen of muscular Christianity. He +excels at cricket, tennis, and football, and +played the greater game of war with all his +heart and soul.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_129" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_129.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>New York Herald.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Directing the Fire of a British Battery</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">In the foreground the officer in charge of the battery is receiving information from observers who are able to trace the course of each shot.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span></p> + +<p>He received his commission in the 9th Battalion +London Regiment, popularly known as +the Queen Victoria Rifles. With the experience +of the Officers’ Training Corps to help +him, the young lieutenant soon made himself +very efficient, and when, in November, 1914, +the Queen Victoria Rifles embarked at Southampton +for the front, he had already become +very popular with his men, and shown high +promise as a leader. Soon after landing in +France the regiment was at the front, near +Ypres, where it was usefully employed, chiefly +in trench work.</p> + +<p>G. A. Leask in <cite>Heroes of the Great War</cite> +says:</p> + +<p>“On the very first day that he went into +the trenches, Lieutenant Woolley showed his +mettle. A hand grenade was flung into his +trench; without a moment’s hesitation the +young officer picked it up, and before the fuse +had burned to the charge, flung it out. His +prompt and plucky act saved not only his own +life, but the lives of at least six or seven of +his men.</p> + +<p>“On the night of April 20-21 the Germans +made a desperate attack on the trench held by +Lieutenant Woolley’s regiment. The Queen +Victoria Rifles fought with dogged determination +not to be excelled by the most seasoned +Regulars. Every German gun for miles +around was trained on the hill. Again and +again the Germans charged with the ferocity +of despair.</p> + +<p>“One by one Lieutenant Woolley’s superior +officers—a major, captain, and a lieutenant—had +been killed.</p> + +<p>“The force under Lieutenant Woolley +numbered at the start 150, including some +Regulars. As the German attack grew fiercer, +he noted how his little company was being +thinned. The young officer did not despair. +He was in sole command of Hill 60, and he +realized that a hard and terrible time awaited +them before relief came, but he summoned up +all his courage and made up his mind to hold +on at all costs. He went up and down the +line calling to his brave men to ‘stick it’ and +he infused all with his dauntless spirit.</p> + +<p>“A particularly fierce onslaught by the Germans +commenced. Guns raked the trench +with shells, enemy troops swarmed up, throwing +bombs. Lieutenant Woolley moved among +his men, giving orders as coolly as if on parade. +The already diminished band of heroes +dwindled more and more. Lieutenant Woolley +knew that the situation was perilous, but +he had no thought of giving in. The knowledge +that so much depended upon him stirred +his blood, and called forth every ounce of +his fighting spirit and powers of leadership.”</p> + + +<h3>A DETERMINED BOMBER</h3> + +<p>“He organized counter-attacks and led his +men in throwing bombs at the vastly superior +force of the enemy. Standing on the parapet +of the trench, fully exposed to the enemy, +Woolley hurled bomb after bomb. His men +urged him to seek shelter, but he refused. +For some time this amazing contest continued, +a handful of British against thousands of Germans. +But this little band of heroes by their +superb bravery, led by a hero, kept the enemy +at bay. When welcome relief eventually came, +the company of 150 men had been thinned +to 20-14 Territorials and 6 Regulars, a +pathetic proof of the dauntless fight put up +by those men.”</p> + +<p>The second hero of Hill 60 is one of the +most popular medal winners of the war. +Lance-Corporal Edward Dwyer at the time +he obtained the coveted decoration was only +eighteen years old, and had been a green-grocer’s +assistant before the war.</p> + +<p>“This boy hero took the public imagination +by storm, and with the possible exception +of Sergeant O’Leary, no V.C. was more +noticed on his return to England. He received +enough hero-worship to last a lifetime. +When home on leave Dwyer was bombarded +by the attentions of admirers, kissed by women +in the streets, and, as he confessed, subjected +to greater trials than on the bomb-swept slopes +of Hill 60.”</p> + + +<h3>TOO MUCH FUSS FOR HIM</h3> + +<p>“There was something romantic about the +slim boy of eighteen who proved himself so +heroic in the field, and his handsome appearance +and jolly ways captivated every one. +As his father confessed, with no little humor, +‘They’re making such a fuss that Ted wants +to get back to the battlefield for a rest.’”</p> + +<p>Dwyer had been fighting in France for nine +months when the struggle at Hill 60 provided +his great opportunity.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span></p> + +<p>“During a particularly fierce attack on the +morning of the 20th, Lance-Corporal Dwyer +was in a trench on the side of Hill 60, about +fifteen yards distant from where the Germans +had entrenched themselves. So close were +they, in fact, that Dwyer says he could actually +hear them ‘talking their lingo.’ His section +had suffered severely, and Dwyer risked +his life by tending many of them as best he +could. Some he brought from the open to +the side of the trench, leaving the comparative +safety of his position in order to save their +lives.</p> + +<p>“Then, later on, he heard some one call +out: ‘The Germans are coming!’</p> + +<p>“He looked through a spy-hole in the parapet +and saw a number of the enemy creeping +silently and stealthily across the intervening +space between the trenches.</p> + +<p>“Like the methodical soldier he is, Dwyer +had kept a number of hand grenades, some +fifty, all ready to fire.</p> + +<p>“Thus provided, he gallantly sprang on to +the parapet of the trench. The Germans were +creeping forward, thinking to surprise the +British, but they had reckoned without Lance-Corporal +Dwyer. He stood fully exposed +to their fire, and threw his deadly missiles +steadily and with excellent effect. For five +minutes this eighteen-year-old hero stood all +alone hurling grenade after grenade at the oncoming +foe.</p> + +<p>“The Germans, led by an officer, showed +great stubbornness. Had they known that a +lad of eighteen alone was guarding the trench, +they would have doubtless redoubled their efforts +to capture it. Young Dwyer kept throwing +his grenades. He had now sent twenty +into the ranks of the enemy; now he had used +up thirty. At this juncture the officer who +was leading the Germans was hit, and this +loss seemed to damp the ardor of the attackers.</p> + +<p>“Dwyer, however, began to show the first +signs of uneasiness. His stock of grenades +was fast running out. He had only half a +dozen left, soon these had each found a target. +Then in the nick of time reinforcements arrived, +and the trench was saved. Dwyer +alone had saved the situation.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="COLONEL_FREYBERG_VC">COLONEL FREYBERG, V.C.</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A New Zealand Soldier with the Qualities of a Fenimore Cooper Hero</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Colonel Freyberg</span> is another winner +of England’s highest military honor—the +Victoria Cross. “For enduring courage +and brilliant leadership his achievement,” +writes the London <cite>Times</cite>, “was unsurpassed +by any act for which the Cross was conferred.”</p> + +<p>To begin with he carried an initial attack +straight through the enemy’s front system of +trenches, but after the capture of the first +objective his command was much disorganized +owing to mist and a heavy fire of all descriptions. +The Colonel himself rallied and reformed +his own men, as well as men from +other units who had become intermixed. His +own contempt of danger inspired the troops. +He was finally able to lead them to the successful +attack of the second objective. Colonel +Freyberg had by this time been wounded +twice, but he again rallied his men and reformed +them, and, although under heavy artillery +and machine-gun fire in a very advanced +position and unsupported, still he held his +ground for the rest of the day and throughout +the night. On the following morning, +having been reinforced, he organized an attack +on a strongly fortified village, and such +was his dash and enterprise that the village +was captured and 500 prisoners were taken. +For the third time the officer was wounded, +and later in the afternoon he was again +wounded, this time seriously, but he refused +to leave the line until he had issued final +instructions.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_132" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_132.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Brown & Dawson.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Getting the Range</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">A range-finding station at a coast fortification. To the layman it is a combination of engineer’s office, telephone exchange, and telegraph office where +soldiers work out the distance from the muzzle of their cannon to the enemy. In coast-defense work three range-finding stations usually coöperate in +working out the distance.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“The personality, valor, and utter contempt +of danger on the part of this single officer enabled +the lodgment in the most advanced objective +of the Corps to be permanently held, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span>and on this <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">point d’appui</i> the line was eventually +formed.” So closed the official version +of the gallant colonel’s performance.</p> + +<p>Colonel Freyberg was by birth a New Zealander. +He was not yet twenty-eight years of +age. Born in Wellington, he developed both +the physique and resourcefulness that were essential +for the success of some of the enterprises +which he undertook in the war. He +won fame throughout Australasia as an exceptionally +fine swimmer; he grew to be six +feet in height, and broad and powerful in proportion; +he achieved renown as an oarsman, +a footballer and a boxer, and his physique won +for him the affectionate nickname of “Tiny.” +Leaving New Zealand he went to America, +and drifting to Mexico found full scope for +his adventurous aspirations; he fought in +Mexico’s Civil War.</p> + +<p>In 1914, the London <cite>Times</cite> says, Freyberg +came home, joined the Royal Naval Division, +and was wounded in the hand at Antwerp. +With good service to his record he went to +Gallipoli with his battalion, being already a +lieutenant-commander. In Gallipoli he again +distinguished himself. General Paris was in +charge of a force which was to make a feint +landing at Bulair, the narrow neck of the +Peninsula. Freyberg was given charge of the +party, but, while prizing the honor, he proposed +an alternative scheme which, he believed, +would protect the lives of the men. This idea +was that he should take colored flares and +swim ashore, that he should then light the +flares, as if a landing was anticipated, and then +swim out again to a waiting destroyer. This +he did, stripping, and painting his face and +shoulders a dark color, so that he should not +be seen swimming. Freyberg landed on the +beach, lit the flares, made a reconnaissance, +and swam off again, but owing to the darkness +and the current he missed the boat which was +to pick him up, and it was almost two hours +before he was hauled on to the deck of the +destroyer, more dead than alive. This remarkable +feat of endurance and resourcefulness, +more suggestive of an adventure from +Mayne Reid or Fenimore Cooper than a sober +act of modern war, won for the young officer +the D. S. O.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="ONE_OF_THE_D_S_C_MEN">ONE OF THE D. S. C. MEN</h2> +</div> + +<h3>An Act of Heroism and Martyrdom that Hardly May be Matched</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">A Distinguished</span> Service Cross is a +proud possession. It is at once a token +of bravery and an evidence that bravery has +been displayed in valiant service for the good +or the saving of others. It implies a great +risk taken, a danger faced, a sacrifice made—a +something done that, however creditable to the +man, is of special value because of its benefit +or advantage to many besides the man. For +that reason one Distinguished Service Cross +differs from another in proud significance to +the winner or to the relative to whom the +cross comes as an after death testimony to the +winner’s worth. The formal official paragraph +that announces the award of the cross +to this one or that one tells nothing or little +of the service that gained the distinction, because +the official estimate makes no discrimination +between the sentimental values of the +respective services, distinguished service being +distinguished service.</p> + +<p>But there are varying qualities of bravery, +different kinds of incitement to heroism, different +elements in the acts of sacrifice; and +one might like to know the varying values of +the instant motives behind the acts—say, of +a man who, in the heat and excitement of an +engagement, rushes through a withering fire +of shell and bullet to perform a serviceable +act of desperate valor, with one chance in a +thousand of coming safely off; or, of a man, +without the stimulus of brain aflame and with +the absolute certainty of death, who unhesitatingly, +immediately lays down his life for +his friends. Which is the higher courage?</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_134" style="max-width: 47.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_134.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Private Harold J. Devereaux</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>32nd Division, 125th Infantry, Company “M”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">While crossing the River Ourcq near Sergy, July 31, 1918, the corporal of his squad was wounded +by machine-gun fire. The enemy continued to fire on the wounded man and Private Devereaux, +alone, with the fire of his rifle, attacked the machine-gun and put it out of action.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>In the great list, the never fully-to-be-completed +list of heroic deeds in the four years’ +war, is there any deed more sublime in essential +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span>quality than that of Sergt. Willard D. +Purdy, Company A, 127th Infantry, A. E. F.? +You never heard of it? That’s the amazing +thing—that this splendid exhibition of the +highest character of devoted courage is hardly +known at all! Really, it was so great a heroism +that it seemed a commonplace in the telling. +Here is the story. It reads very simply +in the bald despatch of a newspaper man reporting +the facts from Washington.</p> + + +<h3>THE MARTYR HERO</h3> + +<p>“Washington, D. C., May 30.—[Special.]—The +heroism of a Wisconsin sergeant, who +deliberately sacrificed his own life to save +those of his men in the fight at Hegenbach, +Alsace, July 4, 1917, is told with official brevity +and skeletonized simplicity in to-day’s war +department report announcing the award of +distinguished service crosses for bravery in +action.</p> + +<p>“The martyr hero was Sergt. Willard D. +Purdy, a member of Company A, 127th Infantry. +During the engagement at Hegenbach, +Sergt. Purdy, after returning with his +patrol from a reconnaissance of the enemy’s +line, was engaged in calling the roll of his men +and collecting their hand grenades when the +pin of one of the grenades became disengaged.</p> + +<p>“Seeing the grenade could not be thrown +away without making certain the wounding +of American troops—most probably some of +his own men—Sergt. Purdy instantly commanded +his men to run. Then he himself +seized three of the grenades and, bending over, +held them against his stomach. The grenades +exploded, killing Sergt. Purdy instantly, but +his presence of mind and self-sacrificing action +had saved the lives of his companions.</p> + +<p>“When the pin of a grenade becomes disengaged +nothing can be done to prevent the +bomb from exploding within six or eight seconds.</p> + +<p>“Sergt. Purdy’s home address was Box 632, +Marshfield, Wis., and his next of kin was +given as Mrs. Esther Purdy, his mother.”</p> + +<p>No grand adventure; no risk with cheering +comrades in a mad assault; no thrill with the +consciousness of perils to be met and with +luck avoided; no taking of hazards with the +hope of an achieved success. Not like a flight +into the air to shoot down, after vivid combat, +an enemy plane. Not much of a story for +the press. But think about it. Match it.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="COLORED_TROOPS_REACH_THE_RHINE">COLORED TROOPS REACH THE RHINE</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Though They Had More Than Their Share of Trouble to Get to France</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Everybody</span> knows what a record the +15th New York Colored Regiment made +in the war, how splendidly it fought, the heroism +it displayed and the honors it received, +but not everyone knows what adversities it had +to contend with before it could get to France. +The Colonel of that remarkable regiment +(which revived the memory of the Civil War +military reports that “the colored troops +fought nobly”), Col. William D. Hayward, +has given a humorous account of those difficulties. +This was in one of the many talks +Hayward—who has put off the title of Colonel +and returned to the civilian simplicity of “Mister”—has +been compelled to make in response +to public requests. He said, broadly smiling:</p> + +<p>“The first thing I ever did in my life that +anybody approved of was getting up that regiment. +After I gathered my crowd of Harlem +waiters, bellhops, indoor chauffeurs, and elevator +boys I thought I’d never get them across. +When the minute finally came for sailing I +think every elevator on Riverside Drive +stopped automatically.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_136" style="max-width: 46.9375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_136.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Second Lieutenant Carl C. Mayhew</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>26th Division, 101st Infantry.</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Cited for skill and courage displayed May 8, 1918, while making a daring patrol in the enemy’s +front line trenches resulting in the death of 2 German officers and the gathering of valuable information. +He participated in 44 raids, receiving 3 citations.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“When our ship left in 1917 we sailed a +little way, then broke down, came back, and +tied up at Hoboken with our cargo of Thanksgiving +turkeys and black troops. We got fixed +up and started again. We didn’t get quite as +far as before when the ship caught fire. I +sneaked back and reported the mishap to General +Shanks at the port of embarkation. Our +ship was overhauled and a third time we set +out full of hope, but the machinery broke +down again. When I reported to General +Shanks this time, he said: ‘Goodness gracious, +Colonel, are you ever going to get those coons +and turkeys to France?’</p> + +<p>“When at last we reached the French front +in the Argonne Forest I reported to the French +officer in command that I had arrived with the +15th New York Infantry and would place myself +and men at his disposal. ‘It is impossible!’ +exclaimed the officer. ‘There’s no such American +unit due here.’ Finally he said in surprise, +‘Are you the 369th Infantry Regiment +of the United States?’ and I replied, ‘I are.’</p> + + +<h3>GAVE THEM BOLOS</h3> + +<p>“Then they took all our American ordnance +away and gave us bolos, which are knives +modeled after those used by the Cubans. I +was glad afterward, although I think my boys +would have done better with razors. When +we were leaving France I was told that the +regiment would be presented with three thousand +razors by the French. When we received +the gift we found they were safety-razors. +The regiment was insulted.</p> + +<p>“From March, 1918, until the following +January we were with the Fourth French +Army, under General Gouraud. On July +15 I wrote Governor Whitman that the German +Army was licked. They were at maximum +strength and we at minimum, but ten +American divisions were arriving monthly.</p> + +<p>“My boys had a sublime faith that they +would win. The idea of defeat never entered +their heads. No private or officer had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span> +any doubt about our ability to break through. +One day I found a number of the men buying +German money that had been taken from +the dead. I asked why they wanted it, and +they answered, ‘We’ll be needin’ this here +money soon.’ In five months they were spending +it in the Rhine towns and talking Harlem +German with a Yiddish accent. They were +the advance guard of the Allied armies. The +French gave them the honor of carrying +the Stars and Stripes to the Rhine. And I +was the first man to scoop water from the +river. Can you beat that for Allied generosity?</p> + +<p>“The boys all had a keen sense of humor. +When we docked at Hoboken they were eager +to get ashore. One of them said to me: +‘Colonel, the Generals is goin’ over the gangplank +and the rats is goin’ over the hawsers. +We hope you’ll tell us when it’s time for +the regiment to go ashore!’</p> + +<p>“I remember one little negro on the other +side who was carrying shells from an ammunition-dump +to a train. He was so loaded +down with 3-inch shells that he was sunk +ankle-deep in the mud. He said to his officer, +‘How you got my name on dat sheet?’</p> + +<p>“‘Your name is Simpson,’ replied the officer.</p> + +<p>“‘Yas, sir, dass right; only I thought maybe +you had “Sampson” by mistake.’”</p> + +<p>He jested about them freely, did Colonel +Hayward, but the jests were of a kind to betray +the intense pride he felt in the soldierly +character and spirited daring of the men under +him. The Hun learned to regard with +wholesome fear a charge of Hayward’s “bellhops +and waiters,” as he styled them.</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>At the beginning of the war there were only 750 officers, 393 nurses, and 3,619 enlisted +men belonging to the Medical Department of the American Army. In November, 1918, +the corresponding figures were 39,363 officers, 21,344 nurses, and 245,652 enlisted men.</p> + +<p>In the 19 months elapsing from the declaration of the war to the signing of the armistice +the American Army created an embarkation service which succeeded in shipping overseas +2,075,834 men, and 5,153,000 tons of cargo.</p> + +<p>During the whole period of active hostilities the American Army lost at sea only 200,000 +deadweight tons of transports. Of this total, 142,000 tons were sunk by torpedoes. No +American transport was lost on its eastward voyage.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="GOOD_OLD_POTTS">GOOD OLD POTTS</h2> +</div> + +<h3>One of the Men the British Took to Gallipoli to Show Their Grit</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Private Frederick Potts</span> did a +V. C. bit at Gallipoli. An attack was +being made on a very strongly fortified Turkish +position, a sector stretching from Hill 70 +to Hill 112. Potts was in the advance on +Hill 70. It was a terrible day. The heat +was intense. The country was uncommonly +difficult, largely sand and scrub, the scrub +being so parched that it took fire in many +places from the shell fire, and in crossing these +patches some of the men who fell wounded +were burned to death. Potts’ section was +ascending Hill 70 in short spurts, making +occasional halts. After taking shelter in a +little gulley, it was ordered to charge. Potts +rushed forward with his comrades; but he +had not gone more than twenty yards when +he was shot down, a bullet having entered +the left thigh. Potts was then about a quarter +of a mile from the top of the hill. He +was lucky enough to be lying in a little thicket +formed of the scrub, and this gave him some +sort of shelter and hid him from view. Not +long after he fell there crawled towards him +a fellow-townsman, who was badly wounded. +Potts recognized him.</p> + +<p>“Is that you, Andrews?” he said.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” came the feeble answer.</p> + +<p>“I’m jolly pleased you’ve come,” said Potts.</p> + +<p>Then Andrews dragged himself as close as +he could get—he had been shot through the +groin—and the two lay perfectly still for +some minutes fully expecting that the Turks +would find and kill them.</p> + +<p>Very soon a third trooper who had been +wounded made his way to the thicket. With +great difficulty, room was found for him. +Andrews had hardly moved his position so +that the newcomer could be accommodated +when a bullet mortally wounded the stranger. +He cried piteously for water, but there was +not a drop to be had, and the three wounded +soldiers endured the agonies of thirst that +whole afternoon of intense heat. The night +came bitterly cold, increasing the suffering of +the three. Moreover, a full moon made the +night as clear as day, and every movement in +the thicket was followed by a bullet from +the Turks. A bullet grazed Potts’ left ear +as he lay flat on the ground, face down. The +morning brought death to the stranger. He +had kept on murmuring wearily, “Water! +Water!”</p> + +<p>The whole of the next day the two survivors +lay hidden in the hot scrub, not daring +to move, tortured by thirst, suffering from +their wounds, and trying to get relief by +sucking bits of stalks which they managed to +pick from the shrubs. That night, as the only +hope of salvation was to get away, they began +to crawl off, Potts leading and Andrews following. +They lay perfectly flat, and literally +wriggled. From six at night—when darkness +fell—till three in the morning they dragged +themselves, dust-choked, a distance of about +three hundred yards—as Potts calculated +afterwards, thirty-three yards an hour. A bit +of burnt scrub near at hand afforded slight +protection; this was taken, and the troopers +tried to sleep, but the extreme cold made rest +impossible. When daylight came, some water +was obtainable, but only by crawling to men +who had been killed and whose bottles could +be reached. This dreadful day passed, Potts +doing his best to stanch his comrade’s bleeding +wounds. The third night on the hill +came.</p> + + +<h3>A SHOVEL TO THE RESCUE</h3> + +<p>The two men tried once more to get away +and reach the British lines. Potts attempted +to carry Andrews, but he was too weak and +the effort failed. Then, says the London +<cite>Times</cite>, when hope itself seemed to be abandoned, +an inspiration came, suggested by an +ordinary entrenching shovel, one of many +which were lying on the hill. Potts wriggled +to the shovel, managed to support Andrews<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span> +on it, stood up, and dragged desperately—all +the more so because as soon as he rose the +Turks opened fire. Famished and exhausted, +he could not do more than pull his burden +over the rough ground for about six yards; +then he collapsed. Andrews, too, had suffered +severely under the strain. But the next +night Potts resumed his forlorn hope. He +had his comrade on the shovel, lying flat; he +supported him as best he could, and Andrews +held grimly on to his rescuer’s wrists. For +more than three hours, in the bright moonlight, +down the scrub-infested, stony, dusty +hillside, Private Potts dragged his helpless +burden on the shovel; then came a sentry’s +challenge, “Halt!” Inexpressibly joyful was +the sound of the British voice to the two +worn-out troopers; grimly humorous was the +sentry’s question:</p> + +<p>“What are you doing? Are you burying +the dead?”</p> + +<p>Potts explained: “I have a chap here +wounded, and I’ve dragged him down the +hill on a shovel. Could you not give me a +hand?”</p> + +<p>Give a hand! Many a willing hand was +given that night at the foot of that fatal hill, +the scene of much tragedy, yet relieved by the +bravery and resource of the twenty-two year +old trooper, who might easily have saved himself +by abandoning his wounded fellow; but +he was not of that breed.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="IT_WAS_UP_TO_BILL">IT WAS UP TO BILL</h2> +</div> + +<h3>And in Spite of Regulations and Red Tape the Old Sergeant Got to France +and Into the Front Lines</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Let</span> no one dare deny the heroism of Bill +Davidson. His name may not be found +among those cited for distinguished service, +but that is because distinguished services are +not enumerated in the military code. If there +is an instance of more determined valor or of +more successful triumph over the impossible +it does not appear in the chronicles. Nevertheless +it is necessary to introduce Bill Davidson, +and the greatest distinction that can be +conferred upon him in the estimation of Bill +Davidson himself is to say he was orderly to +Lieutenant Colonel John C. Greenway, First +Division, A. E. F. He hailed from out Arizona +way. In the days when the United +States was engaged with Spain in the discussion +of matters more or less serious, Jack +Greenway was a Captain of Rough Riders, +and Bill was his Sergeant, and by the testimony +of that Captain, now Lieutenant-Colonel, +Bill was the best first Sergeant in Cuba. +There Bill took into his spiritual system an +affection of devotion to Greenway that time +and circumstances can never diminish.</p> + +<p>Therefore, when the United States declared +war against Germany, Bill, who was in the +employ of the New Cornelia at Ajo, straightway +thought of Jack Greenway. He said to +himself, “All hell can’t keep Jack Greenway +from going to the front, and it’s me for Jack +Greenway.” He foresaw a great experience +“over there,” the doing of extraordinary +things, and he wanted to be with Greenway +in the performance.</p> + +<p>Greenway, of course, tendered his services +to the Government at once and was given a +commission as Major of Engineers. Now let +the Bisbee <cite>Review</cite> continue the story as it got +it direct from Colonel Greenway in Bisbee +town.</p> + +<p>One day Bill walked into the Captain’s office +in Warren just as he was preparing to +close his desk and quit the office.</p> + +<p>“Well, Captain, I’ve quit over yonder,” +Bill remarked, after the salutations.</p> + +<p>“What did you quit for, Bill?”</p> + +<p>“I’m going into the army with you.”</p> + +<p>“Have you enlisted?”</p> + +<p>“Hell, no. I’m no fool. If I enlisted over +here I might not go to France for months, +perhaps not at all. I’m going with you, and +shall enlist in your regiment after I get to +France,” was the way Bill figured it out.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_140" style="max-width: 25.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_140.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Courtesy of Munseys.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Lieutenant Arthur McKeogh</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He brought relief to a battalion by making a +daring journey through the German lines with +two other men. On the way to the American +lines he killed one German officer, fell into a +trench with two others and killed them, and +was under fire all the time.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Greenway couldn’t make Bill see the futility<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span> +of the idea of getting over to France without +enlisting in the service, so there was nothing +to do but let Bill come along. They took the +train together at Osborn, Bill carrying his +bed rolled up in a slicker, and together they +made the trip to New York.</p> + +<p>Bill met some of his old comrades of the +Cuban campaign and confided to them his +plans. They told him how impossible it was, +and that he could not even get on the dock at +Hoboken without a pass. Bill’s urbane confidence +may have been a little shaken but not +his determination. He went to Washington +to see Senator Ashurst, and the Senator tried +to get Bill a passport but without success, as +there was no way for the War Department to +act in the circumstances. Bill came back to +New York with more determination than +ever.</p> + +<p>“I got my sailing orders,” said Greenway, +“and with my sister, sister-in-law and Bill +went to the Hoboken pier and found that I +was to sail on the <em>Agamemnon</em>, which was +formerly the German steamship <em>Kaiser Wilhelm +II</em>. I went aboard and found that I had +a large and comfortable stateroom and came +ashore and told Bill.</p> + +<p>“Bill declared that he was going to get +aboard of that boat, although I pointed out +the guards to him and told him how impossible +it was. Bill was not disconcerted in the +least. After sizing up the situation to his +own satisfaction he said:</p> + +<p>“‘Just you get somebody to talk to that +guard over there to distract his attention +while you are going through the gate.’</p> + +<p>“I got an officer friend of mine to talk to +the guard, and Bill picked up my bags and +followed me. To my surprise he got through +the gate without being seen by the guard, +and we proceeded to the gangplank. There +we ran into a snag. The captain called out +to stop that civilian, and Bill was held up. +It was only momentarily, however. I stepped +up and told the captain that he was a friend +of mine, carrying my bags aboard for me, and +the captain permitted him to pass.</p> + +<p>“When Bill got into that stateroom of +mine he was the happiest man I ever saw. ‘If +you get me off this boat they will have to +throw me and hog-tie me and carry me off,’ +was the way Bill put it as he sank into a chair +and wiped his forehead.</p> + +<p>“We sailed that night at high tide, and Bill +stayed secreted in my room. I would smuggle +food from the dining-room to him, but after +two days of this Bill rebelled at having to live +on cold food and declared that he intended +having regular meals like the others on board. +I told him that if he were discovered the +chances were that he would find himself in +the brig, but he said he would risk it, and out +of my stateroom he went.</p> + + +<h3>ON THE WAY TO FRANCE</h3> + +<p>“Bill had just one chance. There were +150 civilians on board, going over for employment +on government work in France. It +was possible, but not at all probable, for Bill +to mingle with them and get by. I went on +to dinner in the first cabin, and after dinner +concluded that I would look about for Bill. +I expected to find him in the brig, but he was +not there. I made my way to the dining-saloon +where the civilian passengers had their +meals and looked in.</p> + +<p>“At the extreme end of a very long table +I saw Bill. He was engrossed in a menu and +was ordering the most delectable things to be +found on it. Everybody on the vessel got to +know Bill and he was in his element. He +needed no further guidance by me while on +board. Arguments were referred to Bill for +settlement and he was looked to among the +civilian passengers as a general source of information, +being consulted as to when we +would arrive in the submarine zone, when +we would land, and about everything else +that came up.</p> + +<p>“How to get Bill ashore at Brest was a +problem that loomed large before me, but it +did not worry Bill to any great extent. Power +Conway was on board and I enlisted his services, +and between us we managed to smuggle +Bill aboard the tug and get him ashore. Now +the question was to get Bill to Paris, and in +this I was assisted by General Harbord, U. S. +M. C.</p> + + +<h3>BILL ACCEPTED FOR SERVICE</h3> + +<p>“We arrived in Paris, where I was kept +for several weeks at headquarters. One night<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> +I returned home in Paris and informed Bill +that I had been assigned to the First Division +and ordered up to the front. Bill was delighted +and ready to put off at once, and, +although it seemed impossible to me, it never +feazed him.</p> + +<p>“It never occurred to Bill that he was a +civilian in France, with no military connection +whatever, and that it would be impossible for +a civilian to accompany me to the front. In +this dilemma I placed the situation before +Colonel Malin Craig. He is a general now, +and it made a strong appeal to him. He +wanted to make Bill a captain of military +police, but Bill would have none of that. He +wanted to get to the front, and to the front +we started.</p> + +<p>“Together we arrived within seven miles of +the front line before Bill was finally held up. +He had come 7,000 miles on his own responsibility, +without one line of authority from any +one, and was now actually at the front and in +the face of the enemy, and was still a civilian. +And it was there in the Toul sector that Bill +enlisted and became officially what he had +been at heart and in fact for many weeks—one +of the American Expeditionary Force.</p> + +<p>“From then on Bill and I were together +without danger of being separated by army +regulations. He became my orderly and remained +so throughout. The only time we +were separated was when Bill was in the hospital +recovering from shell-wounds. We came +back together and Bill went with me to Hot +Springs, Ark., where we both took baths. +We separated at Fort Worth, Bill going on +to Ajo by another route, while I came on to +Bisbee.”</p> + +<p>And that is the story of Bill Davidson, +whose devotion to his chief is unlimited. It +causes him to “do the impossible” and to override +all of the regulations of the War Department. +It is a story in the telling of which +Colonel Greenway takes the greatest pride +and in which a spirit of affection is dominant.</p> + +<p>Bill quit his job to go to war with Jack +Greenway, and he did.</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>The original Selective Service Law of May 18, 1917, with its subsequent amendments, +mobilized the man-power of the United States, between the ages of 18 and 45 inclusive. +Under the original and later acts, approximately 23,709,000 men were registered and +slightly over 2,800,000 were inducted into the military service.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_RENDEZVOUS">THE RENDEZVOUS</h2> +</div> + +<h3>One of America’s Young Poets Keeps a Tryst While Fighting for France</h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I have a rendezvous with Death</div> + <div class="verse indent0">At some disputed barricade,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When Spring comes back with rustling shade</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And apple-blossoms fill the air—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have a rendezvous with Death</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When Spring brings back blue days and fair.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0"> + +<hr class="tb"></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And I to my pledged word am true—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I shall not fail that rendezvous.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent30">—<cite>Alan Seeger.</cite></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> poem from which the above opening +and closing lines are taken was read for +the first time by the majority of those who +knew it after the poet had kept the rendezvous—only +a little late of the appointed time, +like a traveler who has missed a train.</p> + +<p>Alan Seeger loved France, and when he +saw her in peril and his own America not +likely to be brought into the conflict he went +to France as a volunteer. Being an alien he +was not eligible to the regular army, but the +Foreign Legion welcomed him to fight for +France under its flag. Among the men of +the Legion was Rif Bear, a brilliant and +traveled young Egyptian, and he became the +close, the intimate friend of the poet with +whom he found himself entirely in sympathy.</p> + +<p>Seeger was under fire in a series of engagements +without suffering hurt, but he seems to +have foreboded the end that came in the +Champagne campaign. He was a fatalist as +well as a dreamer—and there are those who +believe that we bring to ourselves the fruit +of our thoughts.</p> + +<p>After Seeger’s death Rif Bear wrote the +facts and an appreciation in a personal letter +to a lady in Boston. The letter was in +French, but a translation of it has been published. +There is a melancholy interest in the +circumstances that a clerical error in the date +of a temporary leave of absence cheated Seeger +of one of the chief joys that could have come +to him as a poet. The letter tells us that +he ran one day to his friend in the triumph +of happiness to show him a telegram which +asked him to compose a poem to be read in +public at a French-American demonstration—the +memorial day ceremony. He was to have +48 hours leave in which to write the poem +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span>and attend the ceremony. But the promised +leave did not come.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_142" style="max-width: 31.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_142.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Courtesy of Century Company.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Alan Seeger</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The young and gifted American poet who +fought in the Foreign Legion. He was killed in +action in the Champagne campaign.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“The eve of the ceremony arrived—I can +not recall the date—but no leave came. We +were in the trenches and chance had placed +me near Seeger in <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">petit poste</i> (the small +outlook-post, some yards in advance of the +first line trench). He confessed that he had +lost all hope of going, and I tried to find all +sorts of arguments to encourage him, that his +leave might come at dawn, and that by taking +the train at Ressons at 7 a. m. he could +still reach Paris by noon and would have +plenty of time, as the ceremony was at two.</p> + +<p>“The morning came, and instead of bringing +the much-desired permission to leave, it +brought a terrible downpour of rain, and the +day passed sadly. He found consolation in +the thought that it was only a postponement +and that July 4 would soon arrive, when the +Americans with the Foreign Legion might +hope for forty-eight hours’ leave, as last year.”</p> + +<p>The explanation came later. It was a +clerical error that cheated him; the forty-eight +hours’ leave granted for the event was +made out for June 30, instead of for May 30. +Continuing the letter:</p> + + +<h3>A MARCHING ORDEAL</h3> + +<p>“On June 21, we left the sector of the +Thiescourt Woods for an unknown destination, +which proved to be the Somme. We took +the train at Estrées St. Denis, and on June 22 +about 10 a. m. reached Boves. Under a +blazing sun, in heat that seemed to have escaped +from the furnace of hell, we started +for Bayonviller. We had undergone no such +march since the war began.</p> + +<p>“Weighed down by their sacks, prostrated +by the heat, men fell by hundreds along the +road. Hardly twenty of the two hundred +forming the company arrived without having +left the column. Seeger was one of these few. +He told me afterward of the terrible effort +that he had to make not to give up. At every +halt he drank a drop of <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tafia</i> (rum and coffee) +to ‘give himself heart,’ and when he reached +the end of the march he was worn out, but +proud—he had not left the ranks.</p> + +<p>“We passed the eight days of repose at +Bayonviller, almost always together, seeking +the greatest possible enjoyment in our life at +the moment and making dreams for the future +after the war. Alan confided to me that +‘after the war’ caused him fear—that he +could not tell what destiny reserved for him, +but that if the fates smiled on him it was +toward the Orient that he would make. He +loved the Orient—Constantinople, Cairo, Damascus, +Beirut had a powerful fascination for +him; their names would plunge him into profound +reverie.</p> + +<p>“‘It is in the mysterious frame of the +Orient,’ he used to say, ‘in its dazzling light, +in its blue, blue nights, among the perfumes +of incense and hashish, that I would live, love, +and die.’</p> + +<p>“And then the talk would turn again on the +war and he would say: ‘My only wish now +is to make a bayonet charge. After that I +shall see. Death may surprise me, but it +shall not frighten me. It is my destiny. +“<em>Mektoub</em>”’ (it is written). He was a +real fatalist and drew courage and resignation +from his fatalism.</p> + +<p>“During the night of June 30-July 1 we +left Bayonviller to move nearer the firing-line. +We went to Proyart as reserves.</p> + +<p>“At 8 o’clock on the morning of July 1 +there was roll-call for the day’s orders and +we were told that the general offensive would +begin at nine without us, as we were in +reserve, and that we would be notified of the +day and hour that we were to go into action.</p> + +<p>“When this report was finished we were +ordered to shell fatigue, unloading 8-inch +shells from automobile-trucks which brought +them up to our position.</p> + +<p>“All was hustle and bustle. The Colonial +regiments had carried the first German lines +and thousands and thousands of prisoners kept +arriving and leaving. Ambulances filed along +the roads continuously. As news began to arrive +we left our work to seek more details, +everything we could learn seemed to augur +well.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_144" style="max-width: 46.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_144.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Private Charles Cameron</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>1st Division, 3rd Machine Gun Battalion, Company “B”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Decorated for extraordinary heroism in action near Soissons, France, July 19, 1918. When the +infantry was held up by a trench occupied by Germans he voluntarily circled the trench and from +the rear shot and killed one of the enemy and captured the others.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“About 4 p.m. we left Proyart for Fontaine-les-Capy +and in the first line. Alan was +beaming with joy and full of impatience for +the order to join in the action. Everywhere +delirious joy reigned at having driven the +enemy back without loss for us. We believed +that no further resistance would be met and +that our shock attack would finish the Germans. +After passing the night at Fontaine-les-Capy +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span>we moved in the morning toward +what had been the German first lines. I +passed almost all the day with Alan. He was +perfectly happy.</p> + +<p>“‘My dream is coming true,’ he said to me, +‘and perhaps this evening or to-morrow we +shall attack. I am more than satisfied, but +it’s too bad about our July 4 leave. I can +not hope to see Paris again now before the 6th +or 7th, but if this leave is not granted me +<em>“Mektoub! Mektoub”!’</em> he finished with a +smile.</p> + +<p>“The field of battle was relatively calm, a +few shells fell, fired by the enemy in retreat, +and our troops were advancing on all sides. +The Colonials had taken Assevillers and the +next day we were to take their place in first +line.”</p> + + +<h3>WHEN THE HOUR CAME</h3> + +<p>“On July 3, about noon, we moved toward +Assevillers to relieve the Colonials at nightfall. +Alan and I visited Assevillers, picking +up souvenirs, post-cards, letters, soldiers’ notebooks, +and chattering all the time, when suddenly +a voice called out, ‘The company will +fall in to go to the first line.’</p> + +<p>“Before leaving one another we made each +other the same promise as we had made before +the Champagne battle (September 25, +1915), that if one of us fell so severely +wounded that there was no hope of escape +the other would finish him off with a bullet +in the heart, rather than let him await death +in lingering torture. He showed me his revolver, +saying, ‘I have more luck than you. +If I can still use one arm I shall have no +need of any one,’ and then we rejoined our +different sections.”</p> + +<p>The order for attack came at 4 o’clock +and the troops went forward, the flash and +glitter of bayonets above the tall corn through +which the men pressed making a curious spectacle +against the going down of wave after +wave of men under the terrific gun fire.</p> + +<p>“The losses were heavy and the enemy +made a desperate resistance. The company +of reserves was ordered to advance with the +second wave of assault. ‘Forward!’ cried +the captain, and the company deployed ‘in +files of squadron,’ advancing slowly but surely +under the enemy’s intense and murderous +fire.</p> + +<p>“The first section (Alan’s section) formed +the right and vanguard of the company, and +mine formed the left wing. After the first +bound forward, we lay flat on the ground, and +I saw the first section advancing beyond us +and making toward the extreme right of the +village of Belloy-en-Santerre. I caught sight +of Seeger and called to him, making a sign +with my hand.</p> + +<p>“He answered with a smile. How pale he +was! His tall silhouette stood out on the +green of the corn-field. He was the tallest +man in his section. His head erect and pride +in his eye, I saw him running forward, with +bayonet fixed. Soon he disappeared and that +was the last time I saw my friend.</p> + +<p>“‘Forward!’ And we made a second +bound, right to the wave of assault, which +we left behind a little, and down we threw +ourselves again. The fusillade became more +and more intense, reaching a paroxysm. The +mitrailleuses mow men down and the cannons +thunder in desperation. Bodies are crushed +and torn to fragments by the shells, and the +wounded groan as they await death, for all +hope of escaping alive from such a hell has +fled.</p> + +<p>“The air is saturated with the smell of +powder and blood, everywhere the din is +deafening; men are torn with impatience at +having to remain without moving under such +a fire. We struggle even for breath and cries +resound from every side. Suddenly a word +of command, an order of deliverance, passes +from mouth to mouth. ‘Forward! With +bayonets!’—the command that Seeger had +awaited so long.</p> + +<p>“In an irresistible sublime dash we hurl +ourselves to the assault, offering our bodies +as a target. It was at this moment that Alan +Seeger fell heavily wounded in the stomach. +His comrades saw him fall and crawl into +the shelter of a shell-hole. Since that minute +nobody saw him alive.</p> + +<p>“I will spare you an account of the rest +of the battle. As soon as the enemy was +driven back and Belloy-en-Santerre won I +searched for news of Seeger. I was told of +his wound and was glad of it, for I thought +he had been carried away and henceforth +would be far from the dangers of bullets +and shells.</p> + +<p>“Thus ended this Fourth of July that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span> +Seeger had hoped to celebrate in Paris. On +the next day we were relieved from the first +lines and went into reserve lines. A fatigue +party was left to identify the dead.</p> + +<p>“Seeger was found dead. His body was +naked, his shirt and tunic being beside him +and his rifle planted in the ground with the +butt in the air. He had tied a handkerchief +to the butt to attract the attention of the +stretcher-bearers. He was lying on his side +with his legs bent.</p> + +<p>“It was at night by the light of a pocket +electric lamp that he was hastily recognized. +Stretcher-bearers took the body and buried it +next day in the one big grave made for the +regiment, where lie 3 hundred bodies. This +tomb is situated at the Hill 76 to the south of +Belloy-en-Santerre.</p> + +<p>“As I think of the circumstances of his +death I am convinced that after undressing to +bandage himself he must have risen and been +struck by a second bullet.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="STAYING_TO_THE_END">STAYING TO THE END</h2> +</div> + +<h3>How a Handful of Russian “Madmen” Held the Fort Until They Were +Wiped Out</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Here</span> is a weird story of unavailing heroism +on the part of a Russian officer and +the remaining few of his company who held +one of the forts in the siege of the Novogeorgievsk +fortress. It is laconically told by +the reporter but it needs no flourish:</p> + +<p>Several forts pass through the last hours +of their life. All the fortifications are +swept away; most of the guns are silent; the +men are nowhere in sight. German infantry +floods the plain. Columns of soldiers advance +from the right and from the left. Their front +seems impenetrable.</p> + +<p>In one of the forts, however, are still a few +men. It is one limb of the stricken animal, +with claws unsheathed, still throbbing with +life. For these men there is a road of escape +behind the fort, making their return to the +fortress possible, but the “brave ones’ madness” +asserts itself. The commanding officer +gathers his men together and says:</p> + +<p>“Boys, it’s for you to say. If you speak +the word, we’ll all go back, though I’m for +staying here.... Remember if we stay, the +chances are that not one of us will escape. +Which shall it be?”</p> + +<p>“Of course, we’ll stay. What difference +does it make? It’s just the same in the +fortress.... We’ll stay and have our fun +here.”</p> + +<p>They bared their heads, made the sign of +the cross, and kissed each other like brothers. +The officer informed the fortress, through +underground telephone, of the decision of his +men.</p> + +<p>“We stay here to the end. And maybe +you’ll come and get us out.”</p> + +<p>A few moments later, the struggle between +this handful of men and several German columns +began. The Germans, encircling the +silent fort, never expected to find amid its +ruins a handful of “madmen.” The advancing +columns were rolling on. Suddenly the +ruins burst into life. Machine guns splashed +their hail of lead, and a shell or two fell into +the midst of the German columns.</p> + +<p>The Germans became furious. They rushed +to the remains of the fort, and turned back, +met by a living wall of lead and fire. The +heavy German guns began their booming.... +Clouds of dust and broken stone surround +the fort, which still speaks its language +of fire. The officer reports the operations to +the fortress through the telephone:</p> + +<p>“We are surrounded. Firing incessantly. +They’re falling fast. They’ve turned back. +They are hammering our covers with heavy +guns. The Germans are beginning their attack. +Firing, firing, firing. We’re mowing +them down. How are things with you? We +are waiting for you....”</p> + +<p>A half-hour later, the officer reports again: +“They’re hammering hard. The arches seem +to hold out. Attacking us again. We’ve<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span> +lots of ammunition. We are waiting for +you....”</p> + +<p>Another hour goes by. “Everything around +is strewn with bodies of Germans. They are +all mad. Throw themselves on us like starved +rats, and we shoot. Every shot tells.”</p> + +<p>A little later, the voice speaks excitedly: +“The Germans are flooding everything. +We’ve no time to fire.... We cut down +ten, and twenty take their places.... We +mow down the twenty, and forty others +are there already.... The Germans are in +the fort. We are still firing at those in the +field.... They’re trying to break through +the roof.... Can’t hear anything.... The +Germans are piling rocks against our gun-openings.... +We are still firing.... Fire....”</p> + +<p>The voice stopped short. The Germans were +in full possession of the fort.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="WITHOUT_THE_GLAMOUR">WITHOUT THE GLAMOUR</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Lieutenant of the Royal Irish Fusiliers That Stormed Ginchy Paints +War’s Horrors in Vivid Language</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">It</span> is well, once in a while, to take a square +look at the grim, the ghastly, the repellent +aspects of war, the reality stripped of +the glamour, and realize that heroism is not +always manifest in valiant deeds, but is often +expressed in endurance, in patient suffering, +in the play or poise of the inner forces in terrible +circumstances.</p> + +<p>The experiences at the storming of Ginchy +through which Lieut. Arthur C. Young of +the Seventh Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers, +passed and which he embodied in a letter to +a relative some days afterward, were not perhaps +exceptional,—but his description of them +is. It is very doubtful if a more literal, faithful +yet graphically vivid picture of war in its +actuality has come from the battle front. In +simple direct language we get the horror, the +awfulness of it—but we also get reflectively +the quality of manhood that produces heroes.</p> + +<p>Lieut. Young was, at the outbreak of the +war, a resident of Kobe, Japan, and he +promptly volunteered, returned to England +and joined the Fusiliers. He had had his +share of fighting, knew right well what it +meant to go over the top, before the day at +Ginchy which was the subject of his letter.</p> + +<p>The storming of Ginchy described by Lieut. +Young occurred Sept. 9, 1916. He says:</p> + +<p>“It had been taken once or twice before, I +believe (some say four times), but even out +here it is so difficult to get authentic news +about things which are happening quite close +to us that you will have to make allowances +for my possible inaccuracies. Each time, +however, it was recaptured by the Germans, +for to them it was a most important stronghold, +particularly from their artillery’s point +of view. A gunner officer told me why this +was. You must remember that artillery fire +is not very effective unless there is good observation, +for atmospheric conditions affect +shooting considerably. Now, the best sort +of observation is that obtained from high +ground in a forward position—it is better +even than airplane or balloon observation, so +I am told. Well, Ginchy was the last bit +of high ground which the Germans held, and +now that they have lost it, they are dependent +on their less certain aerial observations, or, +failing that, they must shoot by the map, +which is no better than guesswork. Hence the +vital importance to the Germans of Ginchy.</p> + +<p>“On the night previous to the taking of +Ginchy, my battalion had to take up a position +on the further slope of the valley. We were +some distance in rear at the time where the +shells did not fall so plentifully. We had +had nearly a week of it already, and a more +horrible five days I have never passed in my +life. We had been over the top from Falfemont +Farm on the Tuesday, and had been +thanked for our services in a special divisional +order, but the price we had to pay for that feat +was a big one, as the casualty list printed by +this time only too well shows.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_148" style="max-width: 46.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_148.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>New York Herald.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Treeing a Linesman Behind the Western Front</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span></p> + +<p>“I was sent out to find a habitable trench +for my company. We moved in there at dusk. +We faced half-right, as it were, looking up +the slope toward Ginchy. It was like being +near the foot of Parliament Hill, with the +village on top. Our right flank was down +near the bottom of the valley; our left extended +up to the higher ground toward the +ruins of Waterlot Farm. The trench was +very shallow in places, where it had been +knocked in by shell-fire. I had chosen it as +the only one suitable in the neighborhood, but +it was a horrible place. British dead were lying +about everywhere. Our men had to give +up digging in some places, because they came +down to bodies which were buried there when +the parapet blew in. The smell turned us +sick. At last in desperation I went out to +look for another trench, for I felt sure the +Germans must have the range of the trench +we were in, and that they would give us hell +when dawn broke. To my joy I found that +a very deep trench some distance back had +just been vacated by another regiment, so we +went in there.</p> + +<p>“The night was bitterly cold. I have felt +hunger and thirst and fatigue out here to a +degree I have never experienced them before, +but those torments I can endure far better +than I thought I could. But the cold—my +word! It is dreadful. I suppose life in the +Far East does not harden one’s constitution +against that torture. Many a night have I +slept out in the open, in narrow, wet trenches, +with the rain pouring down, and almost +groaned with the agony of cold. If two can +huddle together, you can get some warmth, +but the trenches are frequently too narrow for +that. I think I feel the cold more than any +one.</p> + +<p>“However, dawn broke at last. It was +very misty. All night we had been trying to +get into touch with the unit on our left, but +without success. So the Captain sent me out +with an orderly to see whether I could manage +it. We two stumbled along, but the mist +was so dense we could see nothing. We came +to one trench after another, but not a living +thing could we see—nothing but dead, British +and German, some of them mangled beyond +recognition. Bombs and rifles and equipment +were lying all over the place, with here and +there a great-coat, khaki or gray according to +the nationality of their one-time owners, but +of living beings we could see no sign whatsoever. +There was a horrible stench in places +which nearly turned our stomachs.</p> + + +<h3>A DANGEROUS RECONNAISSANCE</h3> + +<p>“To make matters more wretched, we could +not make sure of our direction, and were +afraid of running into a German patrol, or +even a German trench, for such accidents are +by no means uncommon in this region. However, +we managed to find our way back and +report that up to such and such a point on +the map (approximately) there was no one on +our left. The Captain was not content with +this, so I went out again, this time with another +officer. Having a compass on this second +occasion, I felt far more self-confidence, and +to our mutual satisfaction we discovered that +the unit on our left was the right flank of an +English division. Captain —— was very +bucked when we brought back this information. +As the mist continued for some time +afterward, we were able to light fires and +make breakfast.</p> + +<p>“Now, I have forgotten to tell you that +we were in reserve. The front line was some +five or six hundred yards higher up the slope +nearer Ginchy. We knew that a big attack +was coming off that day, but did not think +we should be called upon to take part. Accordingly, +we settled down for the day, and +most of the men slept. I felt quite at home, +as I sat in the bottom of the deep trench, +reading the papers I had received the previous +day from England.</p> + + +<h3>“OVER THE TOP”</h3> + +<p>“It was about 4 o’clock in the afternoon +when we first learned that we should have to +take part in the attack on Ginchy. Now, +you probably expect me to say at this point +in my narrative that my heart leaped with joy +at the news and that the men gave three rousing +cheers, for that’s the sort of thing you +read in the papers. Well, I had been over the +top once already that week, and knew what +it was to see men dropping dead all around +me, to see men blown to bits, to see men +writhing in pain, to see men running round<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span> +and round, gibbering, raving mad. Can you +wonder, therefore, that I felt a sort of sickening +dread of the horrors which I knew we +should all have to go through? How the +others felt I don’t exactly know, but I don’t +think I am far wrong when I say that their +emotions were not far different from mine.</p> + +<p>“You read no end of twaddle in the papers +at home about the spirit in which men go into +action. You might almost think they reveled +in the horror and the agony of it all. I saw +one account of the battle of Ginchy in which +the correspondent spoke of the men of a certain +regiment in reserve as ‘almost crying +with rage’ because they couldn’t take part in +the show. All I can say is that I should like +to see such superhuman beings. It is rubbish +like this which makes thousands of people in +England think that war is great sport. As a +famous Yankee General said, ‘War is hell,’ +and you have only got to be in the Somme +one single day to know it. The man who +says he loves being in a charge is a liar, and an +adjective liar at that.</p> + +<p>“But to get on with the story. We were +ordered to move up into the front line to reinforce +the Royal Irish Rifles. None of us +knew for a certainty whether we were going +over the top or not, but everything seemed to +point that way. Guides were sent down by +the Rifles to lead us up. We wended our way +up slowly, keeping as much as possible to the +trenches, which were so shallow that the deepest +part of them did not conceal more than +our waists, but they were something to duck +into if we heard a shell coming. The bombardment +was now intense. Our shells bursting +in the village of Ginchy made it belch +forth smoke like a volcano. The German +shells were bursting on the slope in front of +us. The noise was deafening. I turned to +my servant O’Brien, who has always been +a cheery, optimistic soul, and said, ‘Well, +O’Brien, how do you think we’ll fare?’ and +his answer was for once not encouraging. +‘We’ll never come out alive, Sir!’ was his +reply. Happily, we both came out alive, but +I never thought we should at the time.</p> + + +<h3>A CHARGE BY THE IRISH</h3> + +<p>“It was at this moment, just as we were +debouching on to the scragged front line of +trench, that we beheld a scene which stirred +and thrilled us to the bottommost depths of +our souls. The great charge of the Irish division +had begun, and we had come up in the +nick of time. Mere words must fail to convey +anything like a true picture of the scene, but +it is burned into the memory of all those who +were there and saw it. Let me employ the +simile of Parliament Hill. You are more than +half way up it now. The flat top, where the +village lies a heap of ruins, surrounded by a +fence of shattered trees, is about 400 yards +away. Between the outer fringe of Ginchy +and the front line of our own trenches is No +Man’s Land—a wilderness of pits, so close together +that you could ride astraddle the partitions +between any two of them. As you +look half-right, obliquely along No Man’s +Land, you behold a great host of yellow-coated +men rise out of the earth and surge forward +and upward in a torrent—not in extended +order, as you might expect, but in one mass—I +almost said a compact mass. The only +way I can describe the scene is to ask you +to picture five or six columns of men marching +up hill in fours, with about a hundred yards +between each column. Now, conceive those +columns being gradually disorganized, some +men going off to the right and others to the +left to avoid shell holes. There seems to be +no end to them. Just when you think the +flood is subsiding, another wave comes surging +up the beach toward Ginchy.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_151" style="max-width: 46.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_151.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Lieutenant-Colonel George L. Watson</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Wounded three times and mentioned in orders five times, he was awarded many decorations, +French, English, Belgium, Portuguese and American. He carried out the first American gas-projector +attack.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“We joined in on the left. There was no +time for us any more than the others to get +into extended order. We formed another +stream converging on the others at the summit. +By this time we were all wildly excited. +Our shouts and yells alone must have struck +terror into the Germans, who were firing +their machine guns down the slope. But there +was no wavering in the Irish host. We +couldn’t run. We advanced at a steady walking +pace, stumbling here and there, but going +ever onward and upward. That numbing +dread had now left me completely. Like the +others, I was intoxicated with the glory of +it all. I can remember shouting and bawling +to the men of my platoon, who were only too +eager to go on. The German barrage had +now been opened in earnest, and shells were +falling here, there, and everywhere in No +Man’s Land. They were mostly dropping on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span>our right, but they were coming nearer and +nearer, as if a screen were being drawn across +our front. I knew that it was a case of ‘now +or never’ and stumbled on feverishly. We +managed to get through the barrage in the +nick of time, for it closed behind us, and after +that we had no shells to fear in front of us.</p> + + +<h3>THE MENTAL SIDE OF FIGHTING</h3> + +<p>“I mention, merely as an interesting fact +in psychology, how in a crisis of this sort one’s +mental faculties are sharpened. Instinct told +us when the shells were coming gradually +closer to crouch down in the holes until they +had passed. Acquired knowledge, on the other +hand—the knowledge instilled into one by lectures +and books (of which I have only read +one, namely, Haking’s ‘Company Training’)—told +us that it was safer in the long run +to push ahead before the enemy got the range, +and it was acquired knowledge that won. +And here’s another observation I should like +to make by the way: I remember reading +somewhere, I think it was in a book by Winston +Churchill, that of the battle of Omdurman +the writer could recollect nothing in the +way of noise; he had an acute visual recollection +of all that went on about him, but his +aural recollection was nil; he could only recall +the scene as if it were a cinematograph +picture. Curiously, this was my own experience +at Ginchy. The din must have been +deafening (I learned afterward that it could +be heard miles away), yet I have only a confused +remembrance of it. Shells, which at +any other time would have scared me out of +my wits, I never so much as heard—not even +when they were bursting quite close to me. +One landed in the midst of a bunch of men +about seventy yards away on my right; I +have a most vivid recollection of seeing a tremendous +burst of clay and earth go shooting +up into the air—yes, and even parts of human +bodies—and that when the smoke cleared +away there was nothing left. I shall never +forget that horrifying spectacle as long as I +live, but I shall remember it as a sight only, +for I can associate no sound with it.</p> + + +<h3>“IT WAS HELL LET LOOSE”</h3> + +<p>“How long we were in crossing No Man’s +Land I don’t know. It could not have been +more than five minutes, yet it seemed much +longer. We were now well up to the Boche. +We had to clamber over all manner of obstacles—fallen +trees, beams, great mounds of +brick and rubble—in fact, over the ruins of +Ginchy. It seems like a nightmare to me now. +I remember seeing comrades falling round me. +My sense of hearing returned, for I became +conscious of a new sound, namely, the pop, +pop, pop of machine guns and the continuous +crackling of rifle fire. I remember men lying +in shell holes holding out their arms and beseeching +water. I remember men crawling +about and coughing up blood, as they searched +round for some place in which they could +shelter until help could reach them. By this +time all units were mixed up. But they +were all Irishmen. They were cheering and +cheering and cheering like mad. It was hell +let loose. There was a machine gun playing +on us near by, and we all made for it.</p> + +<p>“At this moment we caught our first sight +of the Germans. They were in a trench of +sorts, which ran in and out among the ruins. +Some of them had their hands up. Others +were kneeling and holding their arms out to +us. Still others were running up and down +the trench distractedly as if they didn’t know +which way to go, but as we got close they +went down on their knees, too. To the everlasting +good name of the Irish soldiery, not one +of these Germans, some of whom had been +engaged in slaughtering our men up to the +very last moment, was killed. I did not see a +single instance of a prisoner being shot or bayoneted. +When you remember that our men +were now worked up to a frenzy of excitement, +this crowning act of mercy to their foes +is surely to their eternal credit. They could +feel pity even in their rage.</p> + + +<h3>ONLY TWO OFFICERS LEFT</h3> + +<p>“By this time we had penetrated the German +front line, and were on the flat ground +where the village once stood, surrounded by +a wood of fairly high trees. There was no +holding the men back. They rushed through +Ginchy, driving the Germans before them. +The German dead were lying everywhere, +some of them having been frightfully mangled +by our shell-fire. As I was clambering out of +the front trench, I felt a sudden stab in my +right thigh. I thought I had got a ‘blighty’ +[a wound serious enough to send him back to +Britain], but found it was only a graze from +a bullet, and so went on.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_152fp" style="max-width: 47.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_152fp.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Captain Douglass Campbell</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>Pilot, Air Service</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">On May 19, 1918, Captain Campbell shot down an enemy biplane east of Flirey. On May +27th, at Montsec, he shot down one German machine and drove two others behind their +lines. On May 28th he brought down a German Albatros and drove five others back. On +May 31st, over Lironville, he shot down an enemy plane and routed another. On June 5th, +though shot through the back, he destroyed another German machine over Eply.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“I managed to find my men without difficulty. +They had rushed through the ruins of +the village and were almost a hundred yards +beyond the wood, where the ground dips down +slightly into a shallow valley and mounts up +gradually to a ridge about half a mile away. +We were facing south here, having Delville +Wood away to our left and Leuze Wood on +our right. —— and I were the only two +officers left in the company, so it was up to +us to take charge. There were not more than +half a dozen officers in this part of the line, +and so we had a great deal of work to do. We +could see the Germans hopping over the distant +ridge like rabbits, and we had some difficulty +in preventing our men from chasing +them, for we had orders not to go too far.</p> + +<p>“We got them—Irish Fusiliers, Inniskillings, +and Dublins—to dig in by linking up +the shell craters, and though the men were +tired (some wanted to smoke and others to +make tea), they worked with a will, and before +long we had got a pretty decent trench +outlined.</p> + + +<h3>SCENES AMONG PRISONERS</h3> + +<p>“While we were at work a number of Germans +who had stopped behind, and were hiding +in shell holes, commenced a bombing attack +on our right. But they did not keep it +up long, for they hoisted a white flag (a +handkerchief tied to a rifle), as a sign of surrender. +I should think we must have made +about twenty prisoners. They were very +frightened. Some of them bunked into a +sunken road or cutting which ran straight out +from the wood in a southerly direction, and +huddled together, with hands upraised. They +began to empty their pockets and hand out +souvenirs—watches, compasses, cigars, pen-knives—to +their captors, and even wanted to +shake hands with us! There was no other +officer about at the moment, so I had to find +an escort to take the prisoners down. Among +the prisoners was a tall, distinguished-looking +man, and I asked him in my broken German +whether he was an officer. ‘Ja! mein Herr!’ +was the answer I got. ‘Sprechen sie English?’ +‘Jah!’ ‘Good,’ I said, thankful that I didn’t +have to rack my brains for any more German +words; ‘please tell your men that no harm +will come to them if they follow you quietly.’ +He turned round and addressed his men, who +seemed to be very grateful that we were not +going to kill them! I must say the officer +behaved with real soldierly dignity, and, not +to be outdone in politeness, I treated him with +the same respect that he showed me. I gave +him an escort for himself and told off three or +four men for the remainder. I could not but +rather admire his bearing, for he did not show +anything like the terror that his men did.</p> + +<p>“I heard afterward that when Captain +——’s company rushed a trench more to our +right, round the corner of the wood, a German +officer surrendered in great style. He +stood to attention, gave a clinking salute, and +said in perfect English, ‘Sir, myself, this other +officer and ten men are your prisoners.’ Captain +—— said, ‘Right you are, old chap!’ +and they shook hands, the prisoners being led +away immediately. So you see there are certain +amenities which are observed even on the +bloodiest of battlefields. I believe our prisoners +were all Bavarians, who are better mannered +from all accounts than the Prussians. +They could thank their stars they had Irish +chivalry to deal with.</p> + +<p>“There were a great many German dead +and wounded in the sunken road. One of +them was an officer. He was lying at the +entrance to a dugout. He was waving his +arms about. I went over and spoke to him. +He could talk a little English. All he could +say was, ‘Comrade, I die, I die.’ I asked him +where he was hit and he said in the stomach. +It was impossible to move him, for our stretcher +bearers had not yet come up, so I got my +servant to look for an overcoat to throw over +him, as he was suffering terribly from the cold. +Whether or not he survived the night I do +not know.</p> + +<p>“Our line was now extended across the +sunken road and beyond the corner of the +wood to our right. Darkness was coming on. +Airplanes were hovering overhead, and shortly +afterward our shells began to form a barrage +in front. The Germans had evidently rallied, +for we could see a long line of them coming +up on our right, evidently from the direction +of Leuze Wood. Our machine guns opened +fire. The counter-attack was hung up, but the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span> +Germans must have dug themselves in for the +night, for in the morning they gave us a good +deal of trouble.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_154" style="max-width: 44.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_154.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Photo by Fairchild, New York.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Lieutenant George H. Pendleton</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">With two other officers and twenty men he was sent by the Belgian command to get information +about the enemy. In a fight with a German patrol he was wounded, but returned to +headquarters with the desired information. He is a great-grandson of Francis Scott Key.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>After the counter-attack had subsided, I was +ordered to take my men and join up with the +rest of the battalion on our right. There we +spent the night in a trench. We must have +been facing south. It was a miserable night +we passed, for we were all very cold and +thirsty. We had to keep digging. When +morning broke it was very misty. We expected +to be relieved at two in the morning, +but the relief did not come till noon. Never +shall I forget those hours of suspense. We +were all hungry. The only food we could +get was German black bread, which we picked +up all over the place; also German tinned +sausages and bully-beef. We had to lift up +some of the dead to get at these things. Some +of them had water bottles full of cold coffee, +which we drank.</p> + +<p>“We all craved a smoke. Fortunately, the +German haversacks were pretty well stocked +with cigarettes and cigars. I got a handful +of cigars off a dead German, and smoked +them all morning. Also a tin of cigarettes. +His chocolates also came in handy. Poor +devil, he must have been a cheery soul when +living, for he had a photograph of himself in +his pocket, in a group with his wife and two +children, and the picture made him look a +jolly old sport. And here he was dead, with +both legs missing! The trench (between ours +and the wood) was stacked with dead. It +was full of débris—bombs, shovels, and what +not—and torn books, magazines, and newspapers. +I came across a copy of Schiller’s +‘Wallenstein.’</p> + + +<h3>FORGETTING ENMITY</h3> + +<p>“Hearing moans as I went along the trench, +I looked into a shelter or hole dug in the +side and found a young German. He could +not move, as his legs were broken. He begged +me to get him some water, so I hunted round +and found a flask of cold coffee, which I held +to his lips. He kept saying ‘Danke, Kamerad, +danke, danke.’ However much you may +hate the Germans when you are fighting them, +you can only feel pity for them when you see +them lying helpless and wounded on the +ground. I saw this man afterward on his +way to the dressing station. About ten yards +further on was another German, minus a leg. +He, too, craved water, but I could get him +none, though I looked everywhere. Our men +were very good to the German wounded. In +fact, kindness and compassion for the wounded, +our own and the enemy’s, is about the only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span> +decent thing I have seen in war. It is not at +all uncommon to see a British and German +soldier side by side in the same shell hole +nursing each other as best they can and placidly +smoking cigarettes. A poor wounded German +who hobbled into our trench in the morning, +his face badly mutilated by a bullet—he +whimpered and moaned as piteously as a child—was +bound up by one of our officers, who +took off his coat and set to work in earnest. +Another German, whose legs were hit, was +carried in by our men and put into a shell +hole for safety, where he lay awaiting the +stretcher bearers when we left. It is with a +sense of pride that I can write this of our +soldiers.</p> + +<p>“There was a counter-attack on our left in +the morning, and for a few minutes the machine +guns were very active, but the Germans +were beaten off. At last we were relieved, +and made our way back, behind Guillemont, +to be taken out of the line. We spent one +night in a camp and next day came on here. +I am writing this in a picturesque French village. +You can see green fields and trees and +stacks of corn and cattle when you look +through the window. Here, at all events, +‘grim-visaged war hath smoothed his wrinkled +front’. I am not alone in hoping that +we shall not have to go back to that hellish +place.</p> + +<p>“Well, now, that’s the story of the great +Irish charge at Ginchy, so far as I can tell it. +I suppose by this time the great event has been +forgotten by the English public. But it will +never be forgotten by those who took part +in it, for it is an event we shall remember +with pride to the end of our days.</p> + +<p>“Need I tell you how proud we officers +and men are of the Royal Irish Fusiliers who +played as big a part as any in the storming +of that stronghold, and who went into action +shouting their old battle cry of ‘Faugh-a-Ballagh’—‘Clear +the way!’”</p> +<br> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>The estimated total war bill of the United States is 30 billions, which is equal to +approximately $330 apiece for every man, woman and child in this country. The sum +includes the 10 billions loaned to the Allies, and is estimated on the appropriations made +by the first and second sessions of the 65th Congress, including the appropriations that +were authorized, but were not expected to be expended before the fiscal year 1919.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="BIG_ADAMS_HARE_SOUP">BIG ADAM’S HARE SOUP</h2> +</div> + +<h3>How the Scotch Snipers Fortified Themselves Against a German +Attack at Dawn</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">What</span> may be described as a domestic +scene in a dugout was presented with +a flavor of humor by a correspondent in the +mid-year of 1917. It was at a strategic point +just behind the British first line trench. +Though the men were ignorant of the reasons +for a recent move, the fact was that +officers were preparing to meet a German attack. +The occupants of the dugout were +snipers of Scotch nativity and not over fond +of “blatherin’.” Unlike the usual failings and +infirmities of the dugout, flooded or swampy, +this was dry and comfortable. There were +shelves on which their rifles were stacked, +along with telescope sights and other instruments +important to snipers, who are invariably +the crack shots of the riflemen. There +were pegs—bayonets thrust in between the +sandbags—for the equipment of the men. +Conveniences and advantages not a few; and +room for comfortable grouping.</p> + +<p>We are introduced to the scene as preparations +for a substantial meal are under way. +Though the battalion had been hurried up +from a village behind the lines where it had +enjoyed a month’s rest, the rations had arrived, +and moreover the careful purveyors of +the sniper squad had brought along two plump +hares shot the day before, and these were being +devotionally fitted to the service of the +inner man on the principal brazier. Another +brazier was assigned to the less honorable +office of heating water for tea. A few tallow +dips feebly lighted the place and gave curious, +half-substantial aspects to the men under the +wavering canopy of smoke from pipes and +cigarettes.</p> + +<p>A huge Scot is hanging solicitously over the +cooking hares, wholly absorbed in the delightful +occupation. He gives no heed to the men +surrounding him in critical inspection of his +performance, eagerly expectant of the result. +These critical watchers are exceedingly careful, +however, to make no comment to reflect +upon the culinary skill of the man sedulously +stirring the savory contents of the “dixie” +over the brazier. The group reminded the +correspondent of the gnomes Rip Van Winkle +found in the Catskill mountains; solemn they +were, grave with a sense of their responsibility. +The Scots are not over given to gaiety, however +sensitive to humor of their own conceiving.</p> + +<p>Gravest of all the assembly are those seated +nearest the brazier, where the hare soup is +stewing, and it is not difficult to infer that +they are the veterans, the supersnipers, of the +section. Their age, the manner in which the +younger snipers defer to them and give them +place, the cool confidence of their every look +and movement, all mark them out as leaders +among men.</p> + +<p>A notable group it was. Says the correspondent:</p> + +<p>“Each a man of distinct personality, yet +collectively the deadliest unit on the whole +battle-line; each of a name known outside the +division and of a skill which has brought the +section success in the trenches and credit on +the test rifle-ranges behind the lines. Yet no +trace of arrogance shows itself in their demeanor, +and the careless observer might possibly +have only caught a hint of the great reserve +strength embodied in each of them. And +all sit gravely and watch big Adam, who +wields the spoon, stir the soup.”</p> + +<p>Suddenly there is a diversion from the other +end of the dugout. Here two or three younger +men have been sitting, and their conversation, +gradually rising in key, has been slowly breaking +in as a disturbing factor to the solemnity +of their elders round the brazier. The noise +now reaches a climax and an indignant voice +exclaims:</p> + +<p>“Ye’re just a blether, Jimmy Duffus; just +a big, bletherin’ eediot.”</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_157" style="max-width: 53.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_157.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>New York Herald.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The Scots in the Village of Loos</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">A Highlander Is Rescuing a Little French Girl from a Danger Alley.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“But I tell ye, Wullie, I heard the officer +sayin’ so,” says Jimmy aggrievedly.</p> + +<p>“Well, even tho ye did,” rejoins Willie, +“what richt hae ye to be turnin’ ower what +the officer says in public?”</p> + +<p>“He didna tell me to keep it quate, Wullie +Black.”</p> + +<p>“He didna tell ye onything at a’. It was +jist thae big lugs o’ yours happened by at the +time. And noo, like the big mooth ye are, ye +goun clyping it a’ ower the place.”</p> + +<p>Jimmy rose threateningly, and Willie was +not a whit behind him. Both were prepared +for an immediate settlement. Another second<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> +and they would have come to blows, but the +sergeant intervened.</p> + +<p>“Come ower here, baith o’ ye,” he said +sternly, and the two slunk up to him.</p> + +<p>“It was Duffus here, sairgeant, was sayin’ +that the officer was sayin’ that the Germans +wud attack——”</p> + +<p>“Be quate, Black,” broke in the sergeant. +“Ye’re but a poor, ignorant boy, Wullie,” he +continued, speaking with great deliberation, +“only good to hold the horse by the head. Go +and clean that rifle or I’ll tak it from ye +a’thegither.”</p> + +<p>Completely subdued by so dire a threat, +Willie went off to this task with alacrity. +Not only did he love his rifle, but he feared +his sergeant’s eloquence. “And as for you, +Duffus,” said the latter, turning to the other +culprit, “if you do not keep your mooth shut +aboot what your betters say, ye’ll be oot o’ +the section the morn’s mornin’. Jist mind in +future that onything the officer wants the section +to know, I’ll tell ye.”</p> + +<p>Jimmy subsided discreetly, abashed but not +extinguished, and still bursting to blab. The +sergeant adjusted himself to some bags of +charcoal and dozed off. When the muffled +sounds of impending snores assured Jimmy +that the sergeant was asleep, he leaned eagerly +forward and in a momentous whisper heard +by the others discharged his high-tensioned information:</p> + +<p>“The officer said the Germans will attack at +dawn!”</p> + +<p>Big Adam leaned forward and roused the +sergeant. The younger man looked up inquiringly, +expecting some authoritative statement +on the subject. But as the sergeant +lifted his head attentively, Big Adam, taking +appreciative sips from the spoon, said only:</p> + +<p>“This is grand hare soup! Will ye tak’ a +sup, Andra?”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_BLUE_GRASS_CANADIAN">A “BLUE GRASS” CANADIAN</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Sergeant McClintock Was Brave Enough to Confess War Has Its Scare</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">While</span> the war was at its worst one +of our boys, a Lieutenant, who had +done trench service from “support” to going +“over the top,” was, after serious wounds, +invalided home as a training officer. He wore +a medal on his breast that attested his bravery, +but in a little talk at a club dinner he said, +“If you hear any fellow say he was not +scared when going ‘over the top’ or when +scuttling around under shell and gun fire, you +may safely set him down as a darned liar or +as a mental defective. We do get scared a +plenty—but we keep on fighting. It is true +a man may forget his scare in the excitement +of action, and generally does; but he has +moments when the red goes out of his face.”</p> + +<p>Some of the coolest, bravest men taking +part in desperate engagements have made similar +statements. The thing in war is not a +question of “to be scared or not to be scared,” +but of unfailing obedience to orders in spite +of colorless cheeks and tremblings of the flesh. +That is an impression one gets from such +accounts of war as that of Sergeant Alexander +McClintock, a Kentucky boy, who felt the +lure so keenly that in October, 1915, he hurried +over to Canada and as soon thereafter +as formalities permitted he joined the Canadian +Grenadier Guards. In due course the +Guards were sent across and were dropped +into the front trenches in Belgium. From that +time onward until he was invalided home +wearing a Distinguished Conduct Medal for +conspicuous bravery young McClintock had +adventures not a few, enough and varied to +make fascinating the book he wrote, <cite>Best o’ +Luck</cite>, which the George Doran Company published +early in 1918. The Sergeant tells his +story capitally, whether recounting experiences +with those formidable and ghoulish beasts, the +trench rats, or encounters with the not altogether +admirable trench Hun. For a long +time the life in the trenches was dull monotony, +about the only relief in the way of amusement +being found in shooting rats as they +scurried along the parapet. He says:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span></p> + + +<h3>A COMFORTING STAFF OFFICER</h3> + +<p>“At last came the night when we were to +go ‘over the top,’ across No Man’s Land, +and have a frolic with Fritz in his own bailiwick. +I am endeavoring to be as accurate +and truthful as possible in these stories of my +soldiering, and I am therefore compelled to say +that there wasn’t a man in the sixty who didn’t +show the strain in his pallor and nervousness. +Under orders, we discarded our trench-helmets +and substituted knitted skull-caps or +mess tin covers. Then we blackened our +hands and faces with ashes from a camp-fire. +After this they loaded us into motor-trucks +and took us up to ‘Shrapnel Corner,’ from +which point we went in on foot. Just before +we left, a staff officer came along and gave +us a little talk.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_159" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_159.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Photo, by Western Newspaper Union.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Lieutenant Benjamin E. Turner (Right) and His Brother, +Private Robert I. Turner</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">A man in American uniform appeared among the United States troops in the Vesle sector, +shouted that resistance was useless, and that American officers had advised everybody to surrender; +but Lieut. Turner ordered his men to stand fast. The alarmist was later identified as +a German spy.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“‘This is the first time you men have been +tested,’ he said. ‘You’re Canadians. I needn’t +say anything more to you. They’re going to +be popping them off at a great rate while +you’re on your way across. Remember that +you’d better not stand up straight, because +our shells will be going over just six and a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span>half feet from the ground—where it’s level. +If you stand up straight you’re likely to be +hit in the head, but don’t let that worry you, +because if you do get hit in the head you +won’t know it. So why in hell worry about +it?’ That was his farewell. He jumped on +his horse and rode off.</p> + +<p>“The point we were to attack had been +selected long before by our scouts. It was +not, as you might suppose, the weakest point +in the German line. It was, on the contrary, +the strongest. It was considered that the +moral effect of cleaning up a weak point would +be comparatively small, whereas to break in at +the strongest point would be something really +worth while. And, if we were to take chances, +it really wouldn’t pay to hesitate about degrees. +The section we were to raid had a +frontage of 150 yards and a depth of 200 +yards. It had been explained to us that we +were to be supported by a ‘box barrage,’ or +curtain fire from our artillery, to last exactly +twenty-six minutes. That is, for twenty-six +minutes from the time when we started ‘over +the top,’ our artillery, several miles back, +would drop a ‘curtain’ of shells all around the +edges of that 150-yard by 200-yard section. +We were to have fifteen minutes in which to +do our work. Any man not out at the end +of the fifteen minutes would necessarily be +caught in our own fire, as our artillery would +then change from a ‘box’ to pour a straight +curtain fire, covering all of the spot of our +operations.</p> + + +<h3>THE AGONY OF WAITING</h3> + +<p>“Our officers set their watches very carefully +with those of the artillery officers before +we went forward to the front trenches. We +reached the front at 11 p. m., and not until +our arrival there were we informed of the +‘zero hour’—the time when the attack was +to be made. The hour of 12:10 had been +selected. The waiting from eleven o’clock +until that time was simply an agony. Some +of our men sat stupid and inert. Others +kept talking constantly about the most inconsequential +matters. One man undertook to +tell a funny story. No one listened to it, and +the laugh at the end was emaciated and +ghastly. The inaction was driving us all into +a state of funk. I could actually feel my +nerve oozing out at my fingertips, and if we +had had to wait fifteen minutes longer I +shouldn’t have been able to climb out of the +trench.”</p> + +<p>Finally the moment for the attack arrived.</p> + +<p>“We sneaked out, single file, making our +way from shell-hole to shell-hole, nearly all +the time on all-fours, crawling quickly over +the flat places between the holes. The Germans +had not sighted us, but they were squirting +machine-gun bullets all over the place +like a man watering a lawn with a garden-hose, +and they were bound to get some of us. +Behind me I heard cries of pain and groans, +but this made little impression on my benumbed +intelligence. From the mere fact that +whatever had happened had happened to one +of the other sections of ten and not to my +own, it seemed, some way or other, no affair +to concern me. Then a man in front of me +doubled up suddenly and rolled into a shell-hole. +That simply made me remember very +clearly that I was not to stop on account of +it. It was some one else’s business to pick +that man up. Next, according to the queer +psychology of battle, I began to lose my sensation +of fear and nervousness. After I saw +a second man go down, I gave my attention +principally to a consideration of the irregularities +of the German parapet ahead of us, +picking out the spot where we were to enter +the trench. It seems silly to say it, but I +seemed to get some sort of satisfaction out +of the realization that we had lost the percentage +which we might be expected to lose +going over. Now, it seemed, the rest of us +were safe until we should reach the next phase +of our undertaking.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_161" style="max-width: 45.0625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_161.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Captain Thomas H. Fallow</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">When heavy machine-gun fire held up his advance, Capt. Fallow led his men in an attack on +the woods in which the enemy was situated, captured many prisoners, cleared the woods, and +inflicted severe losses.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<h3>ALMOST CALM</h3> + +<p>“I heard directions given and I gave some +myself. My voice was firm, and I felt almost +calm. Our artillery had so torn up the +German barbed wire that it gave us no trouble +at all. We walked through it with only a few +scratches. When we reached the low, sandbag +parapet of the enemy trench we tossed +in a few bombs and followed them right over +as soon as they had exploded. There wasn’t +a German in sight. They were all in their +dugouts. But we knew pretty well where +every dugout was located, and we rushed for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span>the entrances with our bombs. Everything +seemed to be going just as we had expected +it to go. Two Germans ran plump into me as +I rounded a ditch angle, with a bomb in my +hand. They had their hands up and each of +them yelled:</p> + +<p>“‘Mercy, <em>Kamerad</em>!’</p> + +<p>“I passed them back to be sent to the rear, +and the man who received them from me +chuckled and told them to step lively. The +German trenches were practically just as we +had expected to find them, according to our +sample. They were so nearly similar to the +duplicate section in which we had practiced +that we had no trouble finding our way in +them. I was just thinking that really the +only tough part of the job remaining would +be getting back across No Man’s Land, when +it seemed that the whole earth behind me +rose in the air. For a moment I was stunned +and half blinded by dirt blown into my face. +When I was able to see, I discovered that all +that lay back of me was a mass of upturned +earth and rock, with here and there a man +shaking himself or scrambling out of it, or +lying still.</p> + +<p>“The philosophy of the British Tommies +and the Canadians and the Australians on +the Somme was a remarkable reflection of +their fine courage through all that hell. They +go about their work, paying no attention to +the flying death about them.</p> + +<p>“‘If Fritz has a shell with your name and +number on it,’ said a British Tommy to me +one day, ‘you’re going to get it, whether you’re +in the front line or seven miles back. If he +hasn’t, you’re all right.’</p> + +<p>“Fine fighters, all. And the Scotch kilties, +lovingly called by the Germans ‘the women +from hell,’ have the respect of all armies. We +saw little of the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">poilus</i>, except a few on leave. +All the men were self-sacrificing to one another +in that big melting-pot from which so +few ever emerge whole. The only things it +is legitimate to steal in the code of the trenches +are rum and ‘fags’ (cigarettes). Every other +possession is as safe as if it were under a +Yale lock.”</p> + + +<h3>FIRE CURTAINS</h3> + +<p>The method in which “curtains of fire” are +laid down is very clearly described.</p> + +<p>“While I was at the front I had opportunity +to observe three distinct types of +barrage-fire, the ‘box,’ the ‘jumping,’ and the +‘creeping.’ The ‘box,’ I have already described +to you, as it is used in a raid. The +‘jumping’ plays on a certain line for a certain +interval and then jumps to another line. The +officers in command of the advance know the +intervals of time and space and keep their +lines close up to the barrage, moving with it +on the very second. The ‘creeping’ barrage +opens on a certain line and then creeps ahead +at a certain fixed rate of speed, covering every +inch of the ground to be taken. The men of +the advance simply walk with it, keeping +within about thirty yards of the line on which +the shells were falling. Eight-inch shrapnel +and high-explosive shells were used exclusively +by the British when I was with them in maintaining +barrage-fire. The French used their +‘seventy-fives,’ which are approximately of +three-inch caliber. Of late, I believe, the +British and French have both added gas-shells +for this use when conditions make it possible. +The Germans, in establishing a barrage, used +their ‘whiz-bangs,’ slightly larger shells than +ours, but they never seemed to have quite the +same skill and certitude in barrage bombardment +that our artillerymen had.</p> + +<p>“To attempt to picture the scene of two +barrage-fires, crossing, is quite beyond me. +You see two walls of flame in front of you, +one where your own barrage is playing, and +one where the enemy guns are firing, and you +see two more walls of flame behind you, one +where the enemy barrage is playing, and one +where your own guns are firing. And amid +it all you are deafened by Titanic explosions +which have merged into one roar of thunderous +sound, while acrid fumes choke and blind +you. To use a fitting if not original phrase, +it’s just ‘Hell with the lid off.’”</p> + +<p>The wound that ended McClintock’s career +with the Canadian forces was received at the +battle of the Somme. Major Lewis, in command +of that section, sent for him:</p> + +<p>“‘McClintock,’ said he, ‘I don’t wish to +send you to any special hazard, and so far as +that goes we’re all going to get more or less +of a dusting. But I want to put that machine +gun which has been giving us so much +trouble out of action.’</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_163" style="max-width: 46.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_163.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Lieutenant-Colonel John W. Stewart</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He carried out special operations, for the infantry and heavy artillery. Practically all of his +work was done under fire and he was many times mentioned in orders for his extraordinary +efficiency.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“I knew very well the machine gun he +meant. It was in a concrete emplacement, +walled and roofed, and the devils in charge +of it seemed to be descendants of William +Tell and the prophet Isaiah, They always +knew what was coming and had their guns +accurately trained on it before it came.</p> + +<p>“‘If you are willing,’ said Major Lewis, +‘I wish you to select twenty-five men from the +company and go after that gun the minute +the order comes to advance. Use your own +judgment about the men and the plan for +taking the gun position. Will you go?’</p> + +<p>“‘Yes, sir,’ I answered. ‘I’ll go and pick +out the men right away. I think we can make +those fellows shut up shop over there.’</p> + +<p>“Good boy!’ he said. ‘You’ll try, all +right.’</p> + +<p>“I started away. He called me back.</p> + +<p>“‘This is going to be a bit hot, McClintock,’ +he said, taking my hand. ‘I wish you +the best of luck, old fellow—you and the rest +of them.’ In the trenches they always wish +you the best of luck when they hand you a +particularly tough job.</p> + + +<h3>THE SAME TO YOU</h3> + +<p>“I thanked him and wished him the same. +I never saw him again. He was killed in +action within two hours after our conversation. +Both he and my pal, Macfarlane, were +shot down dead that morning.</p> + +<p>“When they called for volunteers to go +with me in discharge of Major Lewis’s order +the entire company responded. I picked out +twenty-five men, twelve bayonet men and +thirteen bombers. They agreed to my plan, +which was to get within twenty-five yards of +the gun emplacement before attacking, to place +no dependence on rifle fire, but to bomb them +out and take the position with the bayonet. +We followed that plan and took the emplacement +quicker than we had expected to do, +but there were only two of us left when we +got there—Private Godsall, No. 177,063, and +myself. All the rest of the twenty-five were +dead or down. The emplacement had been +held by eleven Germans. Two only were left +standing when we got in.</p> + +<p>“When we saw that the gun had been +silenced and the crew disabled, Godsall and +I worked round to the right about ten yards +from the shell-hole where we had sheltered +ourselves while throwing bombs into the emplacement +and scaled the German parapet. +Then we rushed the gun position. The officer +who had been in charge was standing +with his back to us, firing with his revolver +down the trench at our men who were coming +over at another point. I reached him before +Godsall and bayoneted him. The other German +who had survived our bombing threw up +his hands and mouthed the Teutonic slogan +of surrender, ‘Mercy, <em>Kamerad</em>,’ My bayonet +had broken off in the encounter with the +German officer, and I remembered that I had +been told always to pull the trigger after +making a bayonet thrust, as that would usually +jar the weapon loose. In this case I +had forgotten instructions. I picked up a +German rifle with bayonet fixed, and Godsall +and I worked on down the trench.</p> + +<p>“The German who had surrendered stood +with his hands held high above his head, +waiting for us to tell him what to do. He +never took his eyes off us, even to look at +his officer, lying at his feet. As we moved +down the trench he followed us, still holding +his hands up and repeating, ‘Mercy, <em>Kamerad</em>!’ +At the next trench angle we took five +more prisoners, and as Godsall had been +slightly wounded in the arm, I turned the +captives over to him and ordered him to take +them to the rear. Just then the men of our +second wave came over the parapet like a +lot of hurdlers. In five minutes we had taken +the rest of the Germans in the trench section +prisoners, had reversed the fire steps, and had +turned their own machine guns against those +of their retreating companies that we could +catch sight of.”</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>Badly wounded in the knee a little later, +the sergeant took refuge in a shell-hole. Four +German prisoners on their way to the rear +were requisitioned as stretcher-bearers and +carried him in on an improvised litter.</p> + + +<h3>KNICKERBOCKER WAITER</h3> + +<p>“It was a trip which was not without incident. +Every now and then we would hear +the shriek of an approaching ‘coal-box,’ and +then my prisoner stretcher-bearers and I +would tumble in one indiscriminate heap into +the nearest shell-hole. If we did that once, +we did it a half-dozen times. After each dive,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span> +the four would patiently reorganize and arrange +the improvised stretcher again, and we +would proceed. Following every tumble, +however, I would have to tighten my tourniquets, +and despite all I could do the hemorrhage +from my wound continued so profuse +that I was beginning to feel very dizzy and +weak. On the way in I sighted our regimental +dressing station and signed to my four +bearers to carry me toward it. The station +was in an old German dugout. Major Gilday +was at the door. He laughed when he saw +me with my own special ambulance detail.</p> + +<p>“‘Well, what do you want?’ he asked.</p> + +<p>“‘Most of all,’ I said, ‘I think I want a +drink of rum.’</p> + +<p>“He produced it for me instantly.</p> + +<p>“‘Now,’ said he, ‘my advice to you is to +keep on traveling. You’ve got a fine special +detail there to look after you. Make ’em +carry you to Poizers. It’s only five miles, +and you’ll make it all right. I’ve got this +place loaded up full, no stretcher-bearers, no +assistants, no adequate supply of bandages and +medicines, and a lot of very bad cases. If +you want to get out of here in a week, just +keep right on going now.’</p> + +<p>“As we continued toward the rear we were +the targets for a number of humorous remarks +from men coming up to go into the fight.</p> + +<p>“‘Give my regards to Blighty, you lucky +beggar,’ was the most frequent saying.</p> + +<p>“‘Bli’ me,’ said one cockney Tommy, ‘there +goes one o’ th’ Canadians with an escort from +the Kaiser.’</p> + +<p>“Another man stopped and asked about my +wound.</p> + +<p>“‘Good work,’ he said. ‘I’d like to have +a nice clean one like that myself.’</p> + +<p>“I noticed one of the prisoners grinning at +some remark and asked him if he understood +English. He hadn’t spoken to me, though he +had shown the greatest readiness to help me.</p> + +<p>“‘Certainly I understand English,’ he replied. +‘I used to be a waiter at the Knickerbocker +Hotel in New York.’ That sounded +like a voice from home, and I wanted to hug +him. I didn’t. However, I can say for him +he must have been a good waiter. He gave +me good service.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="MISTRESS_RAZZLE_DAZZLE">MISTRESS “RAZZLE DAZZLE”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Rampageous, Self-Willed Old Thing Fondly Remembered by Her Non-Commander</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Captain David Fallon</span> is a young +Irishman, but an old soldier. Before +1914 he had fought against the hillmen in +India, and had won the Indian Field Medal. +At the opening of the war he was physical +instructor and bayonet drill master at the +Royal Military College. So expert a teacher +was he that the authorities decided to keep +him at his post training new officers. Dave +Fallon couldn’t “see it” that way. He remonstrated +strenuously. There were other +men—older men—professional soldiers, he insisted, +just as capable of training men as he +was. Anyway he couldn’t stay out of the “big +fight.” He pointed to his long service record, +his Frontier Medal. He would be more valuable +at the front. The authorities finally gave +in.</p> + +<p>Fallon had no wild dreams of glory and +distinction. “It is your amateur soldier,” he +says, “who is most filled with such aspirations. +Not that he hasn’t a right to entertain them, +and try to act on them, for they have led +many new-made soldiers into great and brave +accomplishments. I don’t mean that such +dreams are bad for a man. They are distinctly +good. I only mean that with regulars +soldiering is a cold, hard business and one isn’t +given to enhancing it with romantic imaginings.”</p> + +<p>Little did Fallon think when he was urging +himself on the military authorities for active +duty that when the war was over there would +be few soldiers with adventures more thrilling +and perilous than fell to his lot.</p> + +<p>He went through the entire terrible campaign<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span> +at Gallipoli. He was in numerous fierce +trench battles. He served as an aerial observer, +and fought enemy planes. On the +road to Thiepval he had a shoulder smashed +by shrapnel, but he remained in command of +his men behind barricades made of the dead +bodies around them in “No Man’s Land.” +For twenty-two hours they kept the Germans +off. Then reinforcements came. On scout +duty he frequently penetrated German +trenches and gun positions in the night. At +last he was detected in the enemy trenches. +A bomb duel ensued. He was frightfully injured +but managed to escape.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_166" style="max-width: 34.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_166.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Photo, by International Film Service</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant Clyde Graham</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">In company with an American officer he +manned a tank and charged two towns under +heavy German fire. The tank scattered a German +battery and accumulated seventy prisoners. +In peace time he is a college professor.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>These incidents and many others Captain +Fallon relates in his book <cite>The Big Fight</cite> +(W. J. Watt & Company). One of his most +interesting chapters is devoted to his experience +in command of a tank. It was an amazing +adventure.</p> + +<p>The Captain has fond memories of that +good, old tank. “The dear girl was named +‘Razzle Dazzle,’” he says.</p> + +<p>“She was very young, having been in service +only three months, but rather portly. She +weighed something over thirty tons. And in +no way could you call the dear little woman +pretty. She was a pallid gray and mud +splashed when I got her and there was no +grace in the bulging curves of her steel shape; +or of her conical top; or her ponderous wheels.</p> + +<p>“She showed every aspect of being a bad, +scrappy, old dearie. The minute I saw her +in her lovely ugliness I knew she would like +trouble and lots of it. She carried a six hundred +horsepower motor. And out of her +gray steel hoods protruded eight guns.</p> + + +<h3>SHE GOES INTO ACTION</h3> + +<p>“The order had come to me about one in +the morning, and it was nearly three when +we started lumbering out toward the enemy +trenches. We had about six hundred yards to +cover. I knew little or nothing of her motor +power or speed. My concern was with the +efficiency of the guns. She pumped and +swayed across ‘No Man’s Land’ at about +four miles an hour. She groaned and tossed +a great deal. And in fact, made such poor +progress that my regiment, the Oxfords and +Bucks, beat the old dearie to the enemy lines. +Our men were among the barbed wire of the +first line, fighting it, cutting it, knocking it +down before the old ‘Razzle Dazzle’ got into +action.</p> + +<p>“But she ‘carried on’ just the same. And +when she smote the barbed-wire obstacles, she +murdered them. She crushed those barriers +to what looked like messes of steel spaghetti.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_167" style="max-width: 46.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_167.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant William A. Hartman</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>32nd Division, 107th Engineers, Company “F”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He was a member of a patrol sent out from the battalion post of command August 4, 1918, to +reconnoiter the Vesle River front near Fismes for the location of possible sites for pontoon +bridges. The patrol separated, but he continued to work alone, starting the construction of the +bridges without orders.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Instead of sinking into trenches as I feared +she would, she crushed them and continued to +move forward. Of course, we were letting go +everything we had, and from my observation +hole, I could see the Germans didn’t like it. +They had put up something of a stand against +the infantry. But against the tank they were +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span>quick to make their farewells. It was a still +black night, but under the star-shells we +could see them scurrying out of our way.</p> + +<p>“This was very sensible of them because +we were certainly making a clean sweep of +everything in sight and had the earth ahead +throwing up chocolate showers of spray as if +the ground we rode was an angry sea of +mud.</p> + +<p>“Every man in the tank was shouting and +yelling with the excitement of the thing and +we were tossed up against each other like +loosened peas in a pod.</p> + +<p>“Suddenly out of a very clever camouflage +of tree branches and shrubbery a German machine +gun emplacement was revealed. The +bullets stormed and rattled upon the tank. +But they did themselves a bad turn by revealing +their whereabouts, for we made +straight for the camouflage and went over +that battery of machine guns, crunching its +concrete foundation as if it were chalk.</p> + +<p>“Then we turned about and from our new +position put the Germans under an enfilade +fire that we kept up until every evidence was +at hand that the Oxfords and Bucks and supporting +battalions were holding the trenches.</p> + +<p>“But this was only preliminary work cut +out for the tank to do. I had special instructions +and a main objective. This was a sugar +refinery. It was a one-storied building of +brick and wood with a tiled roof. It had +been established as a sugar refinery by the +Germans before the war and when this occasion +arose blossomed as a fortress with a gun +aimed out of every window.</p> + +<p>“To allow it to remain standing in hostile +hands would mean that the trenches we had +won could be constantly battered. Its removal +was most desirable. To send infantry +against it would have involved huge losses +in life. The tank was deemed the right +weapon.</p> + +<p>“It was.</p> + +<p>“And largely because ‘Razzle Dazzle’ took +matters into her own hands. The truth is she +ran away.</p> + +<p>“We rocked and ploughed out of the +trenches and went swaying toward the refinery. +I ordered the round-top sealed. And we +beat the refinery to the attack with our guns. +But they had seen us coming and every window +facing our way developed a working gun. +There were about sixteen such windows. They +all blazed at us.</p> + +<p>“My notion had been to circle the ‘sugar +mill’ with ‘Razzle Dazzle’ and shoot it up +from all sides. We were getting frightfully +rapped by the enemy fire, but there was apparently +nothing heavy enough to split the +skin of the wild, old girl. Our own fire was +effective. We knocked out all the windows +and the red-tiled roof was sagging. As I +say, my notion was to circle the ‘mill’ and I +gave orders accordingly. But the ‘Razzle +Dazzle’s’ chauffeur looked at me in distress.</p> + +<p>“‘The steering gear’s off, sir,’ said he.</p> + +<p>“‘Stop her then and we’ll let them have it +from here,’ I ordered.</p> + +<p>“He made several frantic motions with the +mechanism and said:</p> + +<p>“‘I can’t stop her, either.’</p> + +<p>“And the ‘Razzle Dazzle’ carried out her +own idea of attack. She banged head-on into +the ‘mill.’ She went right through a wide +doorway, making splinters of the door; she +knocked against concrete pillars, supports and +walls, smashing everything in her way and +bowled out of the other side just as the roof +crashed in and apparently crushed and smothered +all the artillery men beneath it.</p> + +<p>“On the way through, the big, powerful +old girl bucked and rocked and reared until +we men and the black cat inside her were +thrown again and again into a jumble, the +cat scratching us like a devil in her frenzy of +fear.</p> + +<p>“Closed up in the tank as we were, we +could hear the roar and crash of the falling +‘mill,’ and from my observation port-hole I +could observe that it was most complete. The +place had been reduced to a mere heap. Not a +shot came out of it at us.</p> + + +<h3>SHE DEFIES CONTROL</h3> + +<p>“But still the ‘Razzle Dazzle’ was having +her own way. Her motorist was signaling +me that he had no control of her. This was +cheerful intelligence because right ahead was +a huge shell crater. She might slide into it +and climb up the other side and out. I +hoped so. But she didn’t. She hit the bottom +of the pit, tried to push her way up and +out, fell back, panted, pushed up again, fell +back and then just stuck at the bottom of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span> +well, throbbing and moaning and maybe penitent +for her recklessness.</p> + +<p>“Penitence wasn’t to do her any good. It +wasn’t five minutes later when the Germans +had the range of her and began smashing us +with big shells. I ordered my men to abandon +her and led them in a rush out of the crater +and into small shell holes until the storm of +fire was past.</p> + +<p>“When it was, ‘Razzle Dazzle’ was a +wreck. She was cracked, distorted and shapeless. +But the runaway engine was still plainly +to be heard throbbing. Finally a last big +shell sailed into the doughty tank and there +was a loud bang and a flare. Her oil reservoir +shot up in an enormous blaze.</p> + +<p>“‘Razzle Dazzle’ was no more. But she +had accounted for the ‘refinery.’ And our +infantry had done the rest. The German +position was ours.</p> + +<p>“I was all enthusiasm for fighting ‘tanks.’ +But my superiors squelched it. For when I +asked for command of a sister of ‘Razzle +Dazzle’ next day, a cold-eyed aide said to me:</p> + +<p>“‘One tank, worth ten thousand pounds, +is as much as any bally young officer may expect +to be given to destroy during his lifetime. +Good afternoon.’”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_PAINTER_SOLDIER">THE PAINTER SOLDIER</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Though Exempt by Age the Love Art Deepened Bade Him Fight for +France</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Elsewhere</span> in this volume is told how +an American poet, Alan Seeger, gave his +life for France. Here is the story of a French +painter who, freely offering his life, gave what +was even more precious to him than life. You +may know the name Lemordant, and you may +know the work signed by that name; if not, +what pleasanter introduction to both than some +words by Mary Fanton Roberts in the <cite>Touchstone</cite>? +She says:</p> + +<p>“Perhaps all unconsciously, this heroic +French artist-soldier has found the truth about +democracy, and he tells it to us with lightning +strokes and splendid color. In all of his pictures +he is a painter of the simple people: of +the workmen, the peasants, the sailors, the fishermen, +and women. And he paints them +working joyously with strength and exhilaration +and interest. He paints them running +in the meadows and dancing on the shore and +laughing into each other’s faces. He paints +them as great workmen, great lovers. They +seem, these men and women, in their bright-colored +clothes and their vivid faces, as much +a part of the essential beauty of life as white +clouds racing over the blue sky on a windy +day, as the amethyst water through which the +women splash bringing in the nets; they are +as genuine as the yellow shore where the brilliant +fishing-boats lie, as the poppies in the +field, and the tulips in the home-gardens.”</p> + + +<h3>WOULD NOT REMAIN BEHIND</h3> + +<p>He was 37 years old when the war began, +an age that entitled him to remain behind in +the Home Defense Corps, but he chose to go +to the front. Mr. Charles LeGoffic relates, +in the <cite>Touchstone</cite>, the war experiences of +painter Lemordant, the experiences of a veritable +hero, hero exceptional. His first engagement +of consequence was at Charleroi, where +he was wounded and where he won a lieutenant’s +commission.</p> + +<p>One night during the battle of the Marne, +on the outskirts of the forest of Guebarre, his +attention was attracted by some suspicious +movements on the right. He crawled out, +revolver in hand, followed by four men of +his section, to investigate.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_170a" style="max-width: 49.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_170a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Brown Bros.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Victor Chapman</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Another American who gave his life as a flyer +in the Lafayette Escadrille.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_170b" style="max-width: 50.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_170b.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Paul Thompson.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Norman Prince</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">One of the organizers of the Lafayette Escadrille, +who was killed in action in France.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“He was not mistaken; at that spot, between +two companies, our line showed a slight opening, +a ‘break’ which the Germans were trying +to enter. Lemordant sent one of his men to +alarm the nearest company, and was making +a half-circle toward his own company when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span> +a huge Boche ruffian appeared in the darkness +and fired at him pointblank. The +bullet shaved his cheek; other bullets whistled +about. The little troop had been winded, and +there was only one way to get out of it, that +was to reply by a general fire that would give +the impression of an attack in force. The +enemy would perhaps be impressed by it, and +in any event this volley would put companies +out on the alert. In fact, on both sides the +firing became general, even the artillery took +part in it; a seventy-seven burst near Lemordant, +wounded him in his right side and +threw him into the air with his full equipment. +The wound was not serious, but Lemordant +fell in such a way as to dislocate his +hip-bones and to tear his muscles. Fainting, +he was carried away to a field-hospital, where +he remained until the ninth. The enemy was +now in full retreat. On the eighth we had +crossed Le Petit Morin, on the ninth we lay +at Montmirail and at Champaubert, on the +battlefields of the Napoleonic epic, and the +birth of victory came to the armies of the +Republic in the same cradle where the Imperial +star had shed its last rays.</p> + +<p>“Lemordant refused to be sent to a base +hospital. He was not yet strong. He could +scarcely walk, the two wooden splints which +they had placed over his pelvis came out of +position at each sudden movement; but the +splendid conscience of a leader of men had +awakened in this idealist, this dreamer who +but yesterday was so highly prejudiced against +the military profession. He knew that in +war-time an officer only holds his men by his +own example and moral authority.”</p> + + +<h3>AN OFFICER’S OBLIGATION</h3> + +<p>“‘An officer,’ he said to me, ‘literally must +give all his existence, all his life-blood to his +country; he must not spare a drop; less than +any other is he allowed to invoke the relief +of the “slightly wounded,” which permits him +to go to some luxurious hospital in the Côte +d’Azur and there appeal to the tender hearts of +the Sisters of Charity. Wounded, sick, limping, +he must be able to say to his soldiers who +are complaining, “But do I not march, too?” +Then they will follow him.’</p> + +<p>“On the morning of October 4, 1914, the +41st attacked near Monchy-le-Preux.... +All went well at first. From time to time, +whenever the ground was uneven, they rushed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span> +forward; a few unlucky ones are dropped out +on the way. With the rest, Lemordant, although +himself wounded in the hand, reached +the enemy trench and carried it.</p> + +<p>“A second bullet at this moment grazes his +right temple; a third, a little while after, +wounds him on the top of his skull. It is now +broad day, but it is northern weather, gray, +cheerless, dark, uncertain. In the four great +stages of his military life this painter soldier +knew different climates; he has run the tone-scale +from the burning blue of Charleroi to +the bottomless night of Craonnelle, with the +clear starlit heaven of the Marne between.</p> + +<p>“Is it of that he thinks, if it be that, in +such a moment, he can think of anything +except the safety of his men?</p> + +<p>“Confused movement on the plain—on his +right frantic silhouettes which stand bolt upright, +whirl about, collapse; another section +of his company engaged on the same side is +caught on the flank by machine guns set up +in a sort of blockhouse behind a mound, in +front of a pile of ruined huts. Without hesitating, +with the firmness of decision which +never abandons him in the most critical circumstances, +Lemordant gets his men together, +rallies the fugitives, and throws himself on +the blockhouse—the battery of machine guns +is put out of action. But Lemordant, climbing +the slope, receives a bullet pointblank +which goes through his right knee.</p> + +<p>“It is his fourth wound of the day, and his +men wish to carry him off; he refuses, feeling +that his presence is more necessary than ever. +In spite of the pain he merely had his leg +set in splints, then, fortifying the positions on +the side toward the enemy, he sends a runner +to Major Bernard to keep him in touch with +his advance and to call for supports. The +man is killed on the way. Another meets the +same fate, and in the interim the German +counter-attack breaks loose.</p> + +<p>“It is launched by a whole company, and it +is terrifying to see this gray wave rolling over +the plain, rising, sinking, rising again, and +growing at each rush which brings it nearer +the mound. Lemordant, by rigid demand, +compels his men not to fire, to control their +nerves. The charge gets within twenty meters +of the mound, where it gathers itself up to +come over in a single mass with the cry +‘<i lang="de" xml:lang="de">Vorwärts!</i>’</p> + +<p>“‘... Rapid fire—fire at will!’ roars Lemordant.</p> + +<p>“The charge vacillates, stops. Our men +leap out of the trench to charge in turn. Lemordant, +though wounded in the hand, in the +forehead, on the head, and in the knee, charges +with them, supported by a young soldier of +his section. Chance brings him face to face +with the <i lang="de" xml:lang="de">Oberst-leutnant</i>, who commands the +counter-attack and whom he seizes by the +throat; just then a fifth bullet strikes him +over the right eye, breaking the frontal bone. +It seems to him that his head has burst and +that his eyes have spurted out into space. +He falls heavily. It is all over!”</p> + + +<h3>WHY THE NIGHT SO LONG</h3> + +<p>“How was he finally saved? He does not +know yet. Wounded within the enemy’s lines, +left for dead, he lay there four full days +without care and for forty-eight hours he was +unconscious. When he came to himself it +was difficult to collect his thoughts. He did +not know where he was. Around him was +total darkness, and it did not pass away. He +heard the groans, the death-rattle of the dying, +the voices of the wounded who called to +him. He dragged himself in their direction +and asked them questions. Why did the night +last so long? They answered that it was broad +daylight—and he understood.</p> + +<p>“‘... I had thought of everything,’ he +said to me. ‘Of death, of the most horrible +wounds, but not of that!</p> + +<p>“‘... But as long as that too was necessary!’</p> + +<p>“Yet his martyrdom was not finished, and +the worst of all perhaps remains. How shall +I tell of that fearful suffering in wretched +lazarettos, in the dung-heaps where the Germans +laid our wounded in the villages behind +the front! Most of them stayed there forever. +He, with greater vitality, was carried +to Cambrai, and from there stage by stage was +transported to a hospital in Bavaria.</p> + +<p>“Melancholy journey! If he saw nothing, +at least in the railway-stations he heard the +yells of the mobs which crowded on the passage +of the French wounded to gloat over their +sufferings. Eventually his condition improved +a little; his eyes, one pushed out of its socket, +the other driven back in his head by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> +breaking of his frontal bone, had been put back +in place; he began to see, he could even draw +a few lines and make out large characters. +But the idea of escape mastered him; two unsuccessful +efforts had sent him to the guardhouse; +on the third he was ordered to a reprisal +camp; his departure was fixed for the +next day. Calm and serene as ever, he wished +before going to finish the series of addresses +on the history of painting which he had undertaken +for his fellow prisoners. In the +course of the conference Lemordant wished to +run over his notes; he could no longer make +them out! A halo danced in front of him, +obscuring everything! He had such a sense +of anguish that he had to stop. But by a +concentration of the will he mastered himself +and improvised the rest of his address in a +voice in which there was only the slightest +trembling. At the end of the address the battalion +chief leaped to the platform and took +Lemordant in his arms.”</p> + + +<h3>FOR THE LAST LOOK</h3> + +<p>“‘... What has happened to you?’ Then +when he learned: ‘Ah, my poor friend, surely +in your condition they can not send you to +a reprisal camp; courage, you shall go to +France!’</p> + +<p>“The commander of the guardhouse himself, +feeling a sense of pity when he learned +what had happened, offered to telephone to +the camp commander and ask for a cancellation +of the order. Lemordant refused; he +wished to owe nothing to the destroyers of +his country. He started for the reprisal camp. +But there his blindness classified him almost +immediately among the severely wounded who +were listed for exchange. Switzerland received +him for a time. At last arrived the +moment when he could cross the French +frontier.</p> + +<p>“He had waited for that moment with a +sort of religious ecstasy. Blind, wounded in +the back and side, with a broken knee, and a +high fever, he hoped for a miracle, but expected +one only from himself, from the power +of his own will. He had asked the Red +Cross nurses who had charge of him to tell +him the moment when the train crossed the +frontier. He would see it—see at least something +belonging to it, no matter what—a +hedge, a length of rail, a pebble, a tuft of +grass. They did what he asked, took him to +the door of the compartment, and there he +exerted all his strength, all his will-power. +It was not to be!</p> + +<p>“The frontier was left behind; he fell back +fainting—totally blind!”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="EDITH_CAVELLMARTYR-HEROINE">EDITH CAVELL—MARTYR-HEROINE</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The English Nurse Whose Tragic Heroism and Secret Execution Made +Germany’s Defeat More Certain</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> penitence of generations cannot suffice +to erase from the world’s judgment +of German character the black stigma of the +infamies perpetrated in Belgium. The implacable, +brutal wantonness with which they +were committed makes those crimes unforgettable. +Ever conspicuous among them will be +the conscienceless execution of Edith Cavell, +the ministering angel, the merciful nurse murdered +by military order,—with the subsequent +deliberate approval of Imperial Germany. A +military technicality was invoked in the attempted +justification of the execution of this +brave and devoted woman, who was secretly +tried, by a German court-martial, on the +charge of having aided English, French and +German soldiers to escape from Belgium, and +hurriedly done to death. The savagery of the +event, which occurred in Brussels, Oct. 12, +1915, sent a wave of horror and resentment +throughout the civilized world equaled only +by the universal indignation aroused by the +sinking of the <em>Lusitania</em>.</p> + +<p>Miss Cavell was the daughter of an English +clergyman, the Rev. Frederick Cavell, for +forty years vicar of Swardeston, Norfolk. In<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span> +1896 she entered the London Hospital to +qualify as a trained nurse and later became +staff nurse. In 1900 she went to Brussels +on the invitation of Dr. Depage, a distinguished +physician who had established in a +suburb of Brussels a training school for Belgian +nurses. Miss Cavell entered into the +work so enthusiastically and furthered the +plans of Dr. Depage with such success that +the institution, whose influence was felt +throughout Belgium, became the center of a +large nursing organization of scientifically +trained nurses. She had won the confidence +of Dr. Depage so entirely that when, on the +outbreak of the war, he was called to military +service, she was left to continue the work +in Brussels. All who came in contact with +her agree that she was a woman of fine character +and a capable leader, worthy of a high +place in the list of great nurses of whom +Florence Nightingale was the first.</p> + +<p>When the Germans occupied Brussels in +1914 Miss Cavell was permitted to remain +in the service to which she was so single-heartedly +devoted, and it is a memorable fact, the +more honorable to her for the ingratitude that +rewarded her benevolent disinterestedness, that +she and her assistants nursed with equal care +and fidelity the wounded German soldiers and +the Belgian victims of war. Her mission +was one of beneficence to the maimed, the +sick and the unfortunate, a humanitarian work +that discriminated against none whose needs +demanded her sympathy and aid.</p> + + +<h3>HER DUTY TO HER COUNTRY</h3> + +<p>In the retreat of the French and British +armies in late summer of 1914 a number of +English and French soldiers cut off from their +companies hid themselves in the woods, in +trenches and in deserted houses, hoping to escape +capture. Many were caught, and some +of them were summarily shot. Others were +sheltered and protected by farmers who provided +them with civilian clothes and gave +them employment until they could find means +of escape into Holland. Similarly Belgian +soldiers were given the chance to evade the +Germans; but those who were captured were, +in many instances if not usually, shot. It +was because of this severity in the treatment +of captured men that Miss Cavell the more +readily yielded to her natural inclinations to +aid the unfortunate who sought her help. +That was her statement to the military court +before which she was arraigned. She was +asked why she had helped English soldiers to +escape; she replied firmly that it was because +she believed that if she had not done so the +Germans would have shot them and that she +thought she only did her duty to her country +in trying to save men’s lives. Her prominence +and her fame as nurse and comforter to the +wounded attracted the soldiers to her as a +sympathetic woman disposed to help, and it is +not denied that she did help many. The Germans +charged that she had assisted one hundred +and thirty to get out of Belgium.</p> + + +<h3>MISS CAVELL A PRISONER</h3> + +<p>Suspicion having been directed against her,—how +is not clearly known—she was subjected +to espionage and in consequence she was +arrested August 15, 1915, and thrown into +prison at St. Giles. This did not cause her +any apprehension as she anticipated no more +than a short imprisonment. She did not imagine, +in fact, no one dreamed that the German +authorities would with premeditation +shoot a woman for pitying and showing mercy +to the helpless.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brand Whitlock, the American Minister +to Belgium, who at that time represented +(and until the United States entered the war +continued to represent) British interests in +Belgium, felt an intense sympathy with Miss +Cavell and at once took up the matter of securing +for her a fair and proper trial. He +wrote a letter to Baron von der Lancken, the +German Civil Governor of Belgium, stating +that he had been urged by telegraph to take +charge of the defense and requested that Mr. +de Leval, councilor for the American Embassy, +be allowed to see and confer with Miss +Cavell. This letter was not answered. Mr. +Whitlock again wrote more urgently. None +too promptly the German Civil Governor +finally made reply, refusing to permit anyone +to see Miss Cavell as the Department of the +Governor General “as a matter of principle +does not allow an accused person to have any +interviews whatever,” stating also that Miss +Cavell had confessed her guilt and that her +defense would be conducted by Mr. Braun.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span></p> + + +<h3>THE GERMAN WAY</h3> + +<p>For some reason not ascertained, Braun +could not undertake the defense, and it was +turned over to Mr. Kirschen, a Rumanian, +practising law in Brussels. Mr. de Leval +thereupon wrote to Mr. Kirschen, as he stated +in his narrative later:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“I put myself in communication with Mr. +Kirschen, who told me that Miss Cavell was +prosecuted for having helped soldiers to cross +the frontier. I asked him whether he had seen +Miss Cavell and whether she had made any +statement to him, and to my surprise found +that the lawyers defending prisoners before the +German Military Court were not allowed to +see their clients before the trial, and were not +shown any document of the prosecution. This, +Mr. Kirschen said, was in accordance with the +German military rules. He added that the +hearing of the trial of such cases was carried +out very carefully, and that in his opinion, although +it was not possible to see the client before +the trial, in fact the trial itself developed +so carefully and so slowly, that it was generally +possible to have a fair knowledge of all the +facts and to present a good defense for the +prisoner. This would especially be the case for +Miss Cavell, because the trial would be rather +long, as she was prosecuted with thirty-four +other prisoners.</p> + +<p>“I informed Mr. Kirschen of my intention +to be present at the trial so as to watch the +case. He immediately dissuaded me from taking +such attitude, which he said would cause a +great prejudice to the prisoner, because the German +judges would resent it and feel it almost as +an affront if I was appearing to exercise a kind +of supervision on the trial. He thought that +if the Germans would admit my presence, which +was very doubtful, it would in any case cause +prejudice to Miss Cavell.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Kirschen assured me over and over +again that the Military Court of Brussels was +always perfectly fair, and that there was not +the slightest danger of any miscarriage of justice. +He promised that he would keep me +posted on all the developments which the case +would take and would report to me the exact +charges that were brought against Miss Cavell +and the facts concerning her that would be disclosed +at the trial, so as to allow me to judge +by myself about the merits of the case. He +insisted that, of course, he would do all that was +humanly possible to defend Miss Cavell to the +best of his ability.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The trial began Thursday, Oct. 7. Some +opinion of the value of Mr. Kirschen’s assurance +made “over and over again that the military +court of Brussels was always perfectly +fair,” etc., may be formed from the facts +that Miss Cavell was not allowed to have a +defender of her friends’ choosing, that she had +no record of the evidence, oral or documentary, +to study in preparation for her defense, that +she was kept in solitary confinement for over +nine weeks without opportunity to consult +even with her legal advisers, during which +time she was subjected to repeated cross examinations, +and statements said to have been +made by her confessing guilt were transmitted +by the German authorities to the lawyer who +subsequently was to defend her.</p> + +<p>The trial was conducted in German, a language +she did not understand and which had +to be interpreted to her. As a commentator +said, “It obviously was impossible to place +any adequate scheme of defense with a lawyer +whom she saw for the first time when the trial +began, a lawyer who had had no opportunity +of studying the documents of the prosecution. +That Mr. Kirschen did the best he could under +the conditions is possible, though his subsequent +conduct did not give assurance of the +devotion and profound interest to be expected +of a conscientious lawyer charged with an obligation +that appealed at once to his humanity +and his chivalry.”</p> + + +<h3>SENTENCED TO DEATH</h3> + +<p>The fullest account of the trial was that +given in M. de Leval’s report to Mr. Whitlock. +It was as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“Miss Cavell was prosecuted for having helped +English and French soldiers, as well as Belgian +young men, to cross the frontier and to go over +to England. She had admitted by signing a +statement before the day of the trial, and by +public acknowledgment in Court, in the presence +of all the other prisoners and the lawyers, +that she was guilty of the charges brought +against her, and she had acknowledged not only +that she had helped these soldiers to cross the +frontier, but also that some of them had thanked +her in writing when arriving in England. This +last admission made her case so much the more +serious, because if it only had been proved +against her that she had helped the soldiers +to traverse the Dutch frontier, and no proof<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span> +was produced that these soldiers had reached +a country at war with Germany, she could only +have been sentenced for an attempt to commit +the ‘crime’ and not for the ‘crime’ being duly +accomplished. As the case stood the sentence +fixed by the German military law was a sentence +of death.</p> + +<p>“Paragraph 58 of the German Military Code +says:</p> + +<p>“‘Will be sentenced to death for treason any +person who, with the intention of helping the +hostile Power, or of causing harm to the German +or allied troops, is guilty of one of the +crimes of paragraph 90 of the German Penal +Code.’</p> + +<p>“The case referred to in above said paragraph +90 consists in—</p> + +<p>“... conducting soldiers to the enemy....’</p> + +<p>“The penalties above set forth apply, according +to paragraph 160 of the German Code, in +case of war, to foreigners as well as to Germans.</p> + +<p>“In her oral statement before the Court Miss +Cavell disclosed almost all the facts of the +whole prosecution. She was questioned in +German, an interpreter translating all the questions +in French, with which language Miss Cavell +was well acquainted. She spoke without +trembling and showed a clear mind. Often she +added some greater precision to her previous +depositions.</p> + +<p>“When she was asked why she helped these +soldiers to go to England, she replied that she +thought that if she had not done so they would +have been shot by the Germans, and that therefore +she thought she only did her duty to her +country in saving their lives.</p> + +<p>“The Military Public Prosecutor said that +argument might be good for English soldiers, +but did not apply to Belgian young men whom +she induced to cross the frontier, and who +would have been perfectly free to remain in +the country without danger to their lives.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Kirschen made a very good plea for +Miss Cavell, using all arguments that could be +brought in her favor before the Court.</p> + +<p>“The Military Public Prosecutor, however, +asked the Court to pass a death sentence on +Miss Cavell and eight other prisoners among +the thirty-five. The Court did not seem to +agree, and the judgment was postponed.”</p> +</div> + + +<h3>WHITLOCK ATTEMPTS TO SAVE HER</h3> + +<p>The duplicity of the German authorities +was later demonstrated. The political departments +of the Governor-General of Belgium +had given the American Legation positive +assurance that it would be fully informed +of developments in the case. As late as 6.30 +o’clock on Monday evening, three days after +the trial, the Legation was positively informed +by Conrad, of the political department, in +answer to direct inquiries, that sentence had +not been pronounced. Conrad renewed his +previous assurances that he would not fail to +inform the American officials as soon as there +was any news. <em>At this time sentence of death +already had been pronounced.</em></p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_175" style="max-width: 44.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_175.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood & Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Mr. Brand Whitlock,</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">American Ambassador to Belgium during +the war.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>At 8 o’clock that evening M. de Leval +learned through private but reliable sources +that Miss Cavell had been sentenced to death +at 5 o’clock that afternoon, and that she would +be shot at 2 o’clock the next morning. Thus +the fact of her sentence was kept as secret as +possible, the officials denying it, and her accusers +were evidently so fearful that even at +the eleventh hour a plea for mercy might prevail +that they had her shot, in the night, within +nine hours of her conviction.</p> + +<p>When, at 8 o’clock, M. de Leval was informed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span> +of the sentence and impending execution, +there remained but six hours in which +to attempt to save Miss Cavell’s life. He +hurried to Mr. Whitlock, who was ill, unable +to leave the house, but who wrote an impassioned +note to Baron von der Lancken, the +Civil Governor:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>My dear Baron:—I am too ill to present my +request to you in person, but I appeal to the +generosity of your heart to support it and save +this unfortunate woman from death. Have +pity on her.</p> + +<p class="right"> +<span style="padding-right: 4em">Yours sincerely,</span><br> +<span class="smcap">Brand Whitlock</span>.<br> +</p> +</div> + + +<h3>THE LAST PLEA FAILS</h3> + +<p>With this letter and a plea for clemency +addressed to the Governor-General, M. de +Leval and Mr. Hugh Gibson, First Secretary +of the Legation, went to the Marquis de Villalobar, +the Spanish Minister, to beg his coöperation. +He most heartily joined them and +the three went to the house of the Civil Governor. +Mr. Gibson reported the interview +and its negative results to the American Minister:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“Baron von der Lancken and all the members +of his staff were absent for the evening. We +sent a messenger to ask that he return at once +to see us in regard to a matter of utmost urgency. +A little after 10 o’clock he arrived, followed +shortly after by Count Harrach and +Herr von Falkenhausen, members of his staff. +The circumstances of the case were explained +to him and your note presented, and he read +it aloud in our presence. He expressed disbelief +in the report that sentence had actually +been passed, and manifested some surprise that +we should give credence to any report not emanating +from official sources. He was quite +insistent on knowing the exact source of our +information, but this I did not feel at liberty +to communicate to him. Baron von der Lancken +stated that it was quite improbable that sentence +had been pronounced, that even if so, it +would not be executed within so short a time, +and that in any event it would be quite impossible +to take any action before morning. It +was, of course, pointed out to him that if the +facts were as we believed them to be, action +would be useless unless taken at once. We +urged him to ascertain the facts immediately, +and this, after some hesitancy, he agreed to do.</p> + +<p>“He telephoned to the presiding judge of the +court-martial and returned in a short time to +say that the facts were as we had represented +them, and that it was intended to carry out the +sentence before morning. We then presented, +as earnestly as possible, your plea for delay. +So far as I am able to judge, we neglected to +present no phase of the matter which might have +had any effect, emphasizing the horror of executing +a woman, no matter what her offense, +pointing out that the death sentence had heretofore +been imposed only for actual cases of espionage +and that Miss Cavell was not even accused +by the German authorities of anything so +serious. I further called attention to the failure +to comply with Mr. Conrad’s promise to inform +the Legation of the sentence. I urged that +inasmuch as the offences charged against Miss +Cavell were long since accomplished, and that +as she had been for some weeks in prison, a delay +in carrying out the sentence could entail no +danger to the German cause. I even went so +far as to point out the fearful effect of a summary +execution of this sort upon public opinion, +both here and abroad, and, although I had no +authority for doing so, called attention to the +possibility that it might bring about reprisals.</p> + + +<h3>THERE COULD BE NO APPEAL</h3> + +<p>“The Spanish Minister forcibly supported all +our representations and made an earnest plea +for clemency.</p> + +<p>“Baron von der Lancken stated that the Military +Governor was the supreme authority +(‘Gerichtsherr’) in matters of this sort; that +appeal from his decision could be carried only +to the Emperor, the Governor-General having +no authority to intervene in such cases. He added +that under the provisions of German martial +law the Military Governor had discretionary +power to accept or to refuse acceptance of an +appeal for clemency. After some discussion he +agreed to call the Military Governor on the +telephone and learn whether he had already +ratified the sentence, and whether there was +any chance for clemency. He returned in about +half an hour, and stated that he had been to +confer personally with the Military Governor, +who said that he had acted in the case of Miss +Cavell only after mature deliberation; that the +circumstances in her case were of such a character +that he considered the infliction of the +death penalty imperative; and that in view of +the circumstances of this case he must decline +to accept your plea for clemency or any representation +in regard to the matter.</p> + +<p>“Even after Baron von der Lancken’s very +positive and definite statement that there was +no hope, and that under the circumstances ‘even +the Emperor himself could not intervene,’ we +continued to appeal to every sentiment to secure +delay, and the Spanish Minister even led Baron +von der Lancken aside in order to say very +forcibly a number of things which he would have +felt hesitancy in saying in the presence of the +younger officers and of M. de Leval, a Belgian +subject.</p> + +<p>“His Excellency talked very earnestly with +Baron von der Lancken for about a quarter of +an hour. During this time M. de Leval and I +presented to the younger officers every argument +we could think of. I reminded them of our +untiring efforts on behalf of German subjects +at the outbreak of war and during the siege +of Antwerp. I pointed out that, while our +services had been rendered gladly and without +any thought of future favors, they should certainly +entitle you to some consideration for +the only request of this sort you had made since +the beginning of the war. Unfortunately, our +efforts were unavailing. We persevered until +it was only too clear that there was no hope +of securing any consideration for the case.”</p> +</div> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_177" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_177.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood & Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The Final Tribute to Edith Cavell</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The funeral procession entering Westminster Abbey before being taken to the Cathedral in Norwich +for interment.</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span></p> + + +<h3>EDITH CAVELL’S LAST HOURS</h3> + +<p>M. de Leval had made application on Sunday +evening that he and the British chaplain, +the Rev. H. Sterling Gahan, might be permitted +to see Miss Cavell in jail. This was +at first refused, but on Monday evening, after +the sentence of death had been passed, Mr. +Gahan was allowed to visit her. Mr. Gahan +subsequently wrote a simple and moving statement +of what took place:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“To my astonishment and relief I found my +friend perfectly calm and resigned. But this +could not lessen the tenderness and intensity of +feeling on either part during that last interview +of almost an hour.</p> + +<p>“Her first words to me were upon a matter +concerning herself personally, but the solemn +asseveration which accompanied them was +made expressly in the light of God and eternity. +She then added that she wished all her +friends to know that she willingly gave her +life for her country, and said: ‘I have no fear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span> +nor shrinking; I have seen death so often that +it is not strange or fearful to me.’ She further +said: ‘I thank God for this ten weeks’ quiet +before the end.’ ‘Life has always been hurried +and full of difficulty.’ ‘This time of rest +has been a great mercy.’ ‘They have all been +very kind to me here. But this I would say, +standing as I do in view of God and eternity, +I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must +have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.’</p> + +<p>“We partook of the Holy Communion together, +and she received the Gospel message +of consolation with all her heart. At the close +of the little service I began to repeat the words +‘Abide with me,’ and she joined softly in the +end.</p> + +<p>“We sat quietly talking until it was time for +me to go. She gave me parting messages for +relations and friends. She spoke of her soul’s +needs at the moment and she received the assurance +of God’s Word as only the Christian +can do.</p> + +<p>“Then I said ‘Good-bye,’ and she smiled and +said, ‘We shall meet again.’</p> + +<p>“The German military chaplain was with +her at the end and afterwards gave her Christian +burial.</p> + +<p>“He told me: ‘She was brave and bright +to the last. She professed her Christian faith +and that she was glad to die for her country.’ +‘She died like a heroine.’”</p> +</div> + + +<h3>VON BISSING’S DEFENSE</h3> + +<p>It is not surprising that the secrecy, the +precipitate haste and the early morning hour +of the execution gave rise to many sensational +reports, among others that Miss Cavell fainted +on the way, and was shot to death by the +commanding officer as she lay unconscious. +But it seems to be certain that the execution +was carried out in the usual military way and +without any aggravating incident. It was, +however, quite in keeping with the brutal and +conscienceless procedure throughout that the +place of burial was kept secret, so that none +of the friends of the martyred nurse could +pay even the tribute of a tear at her grave. +One needs but to look at the photographed +face of von Bissing, the German Governor-General +of Belgium responsible for the vindictive +killing of Miss Cavell, to see the outward +signs of a despicable soul. The only charitable +thought with which one can review his +acts is that his mind was already diseased and +corrupted by the illness that not long after +sent him to the final accounting for his Belgian +infamies which—with the exception of +Germany—roused the whole world to execration.</p> + +<p>It is worthy of note in this connection that +in a talk with Mr. Karl Kitchen, a writer +for the New York <cite>World</cite>, Von Bissing expressed +great astonishment that an American +newspaper man thought it worth while paying +a visit to Brussels over “such an affair.” He +was unable to understand “why the world is +interested in the case. When thousands of +innocent people have died in the war, why +should anyone become hysterical over the death +of one guilty woman?” And he admitted in +the talk that the authorities had hurried on +the execution not because Miss Cavell had +helped fugitives to escape, but because they +wanted to make her an example to awe the +Belgians. He said:</p> + +<p>“A few years in prison is not sufficient punishment +for an offense of this kind. For punishment +in a case of this nature is meted out +to deter others from committing the same offense. +If the Cavell woman had been sent to +prison she would have been released in two or +three years—at the end of the war. Amnesty +is usually granted to all prisoners convicted +of offenses of this nature, espionage, and so +forth, when peace is made.</p> + +<p>“The Cavell woman was not charged with +espionage. The charge of aiding the enemy’s +soldiers to escape which was made against her +was sufficiently serious. Her death was deplorable—but +I do not see why it should occasion +such hysteria in America.”</p> + +<p>That was von Bissing’s self-justification. +Baron von der Lancken’s plea was more +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">naïve</i>. As the execution was purely a military +affair, he, the Civil Governor, did not interfere. +“It would have been a breach of etiquette +if he had done so!” It counted nothing +with these official exponents of Kultur that +Miss Cavell had been the compassionate and +skillful nurse of numbers of wounded German +soldiers in the Brussels hospitals. That offered +them no reason for treating her with leniency.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_179" style="max-width: 47.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_179.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">1st Lieut. George W. Puryear</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The first American officer to escape from a German prison. While making his escape he +was shot at six times, but by running directly at the guard who was shooting at him, and thus +confusing his aim, he avoided being hit. He was captured July 26, 1918, and reached Switzerland, +after swimming the Rhine.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_180a" style="max-width: 36.375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_180a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80">© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Memorial in Norwich, England, Dedicated +to Edith Cavell</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>It was the worse for Germany that etiquette +and native savagery put clemency aside +in this case. As the London <cite>Times</cite> declared, +“The late Miss Cavell’s death came like a +trumpet call to the British nation. It showed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span>once again the real character of the enemy this +country is fighting. To the soldiers in Flanders +it gave a fresh battle-cry and to civilians +at home it served to re-emphasize the need of +greater effort and great sacrifice. Before +leaping for the trenches for a charge the soldiers +shouted: ‘For Miss Cavell.’”</p> + +<p>The King and Queen of England wrote to +the aged mother of Miss Cavell expressing +their sympathy with her and their horror of +the deed that took her daughter from her. +There was a great memorial service in St. +Paul’s, the church itself and the churchyard +around it being crowded by every class. The +nation was thrilled. The French also made +the cause their own. From Allies and neutrals +the world over came messages of sympathy +and indignation. Nowhere, perhaps, +was the emotion deeper than in the United +States. The American people were aroused in +many ways. Their national dignity was offended, +because their representatives had been +slighted when attempting to save the Englishwoman. +But this resentment counted for little +as compared with the genuine wrath at an +act of barbarous inhumanity to a woman.</p> + +<p>Her name has been honored in every possible +way—in sculpture, in painting, in verse, +in prose, in the sermons of the clergy, in the +oratory of statesmen, and after the armistice +England received home her body with such +ceremonies as are reserved for those who have +served the country greatly. An imposing ceremony +in the ancient Westminster Abbey was +attended by royalty and nobility, and the +throng within and without the Abbey represented +every class of English life. The funeral +procession, in which marched hundreds of +nurses, was witnessed by vast throngs along +the route, and was in itself a memorable spectacle. +The body of the martyr-heroine was +taken to her native town for burial, where a +monument portrait of herself, in the town +square, will perpetuate to the eye a memory +that will never perish from the English heart.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_180b" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_180b.jpg" alt="Bombed metal bridge in the river"> +</figure> +<br> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_PICARDY_HEROINE">A PICARDY HEROINE</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Story of Marcelle Semmer, Who Held Up the Advance of a German +Army Corps</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">French</span> heroines were not few; indeed to +be a woman of France was to be a heroine +in those slow grinding years of the war that +tired the soul, as it trampled the life of that +country. But none of them was of greater +courage or of more resolutely self-sacrificing +purpose than a young woman of Picardy, a +mere girl, Marcelle Semmer. She was the +daughter of a phosphate factory owner, an +Alsatian, who had quitted Alsace in 1871 +rather than remain as a subject of Germany.</p> + +<p>The story of her deeds was first given to +the public by a lecturer at the Sorbonne, Paris, +and was repeated by the Paris correspondent +of the <cite>Times</cite>, but her fame had already run +throughout the armies of France, and the +Republic had honored her.</p> + +<p>After the defeat of the Allies at Charleroi, +the French tried to make a stand along the +Somme, but being unable to resist the overwhelming +mass of the invaders, they fell back +across a canal in the vicinity of Marcelle +Semmer’s home. The enemy were in close +pursuit. As the last group of the French +crossed the bridge, Marcelle rushed forward +and raising the drawbridge, threw into the +canal the control key, without which the draw +could not be lowered. This remarkable evidence +of presence of mind and coolness was +hardly to have been expected from a girl in +such terrifying circumstances. The act was +a daring one, as the advancing Germans did +not hesitate to fire at her as well as at the +retreating soldiers; but realizing that it would +hold up the advance of the Germans she unhesitatingly +confronted the danger. It was +the saving grace for the French, for it was +not until the next morning that the Germans +were able to get together boats enough +to form a pontoon across the canal. The +retreat had the advantage of those precious +hours of the hold-up.</p> + +<p>Though the risks were great, Marcelle remained +in the village during the German occupation +in order to be of possible assistance +to the French. And she did render assistance. +There was near the village Eclusier a subterranean +passage used in the working of a +phosphate mine, and in this passage Marcelle +managed to conceal at different times sixteen +French soldiers who had got separated from +their command in the retreat from Charleroi +and Mons. There she fed them, furnished +them with civilian clothes and aided their +escape into the French lines. It was not until +she was helping the seventeenth to escape that +she was caught and dragged, with a French +soldier, before the local commandant. Asked +if she meant deliberately to aid the soldier to +escape, she replied firmly:</p> + +<p>“Yes. He is not the first. I helped sixteen +others to get away. Do what you please with +me. I am not afraid to die.”</p> + +<p>With little ceremony she was ordered to be +shot. She was taken out for the purpose. +The firing squad was drawn up and only +waited the order to fire when suddenly there +was a roar of French artillery bombarding the +town and the position of the Germans around +Eclusier. It was an unexpected French advance, +and without thought of the girl the +firing squad joined the confusion of men hurrying +to the shelter of their defenses. Marcelle +made her escape to the friendly subterranean +passage. The French occupied Eclusier.</p> + + +<h3>TWICE SAVED FROM THE GERMANS</h3> + +<p>The Somme lay between the opposing +armies, and in the vicinity of Eclusier it forms +a marshy lake. At flood the water covered +the lines so that soldiers often lost their way, +and here Marcelle found another means of +serving France.</p> + +<p>The correspondent says:</p> + +<p>“Being thoroughly acquainted with the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span>neighborhood, she used to pilot parties of soldiers. +This brought her again close to death. +While leading a squad of men who wanted to +dig an advanced trench in the village of +Frise she fell into the hands of a party of +Germans.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_182" style="max-width: 49em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_182.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Corporal Fred C. Stein</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>32nd Division, 125th Infantry, Company “F”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Close to Romagnes, on October 9, 1918, Stein captured a strong enemy machine-gun nest. He +received two wounds while endeavoring to operate the machine gun, and then received another +wound which was in the arm and almost disabled him.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“They locked her up in the little village +church of Frise. On the morrow, she felt +sure, they would shoot her.</p> + +<p>“But once more luck and the French artillery +were her salvation. The French across +the Somme began a lively bombardment of +Frise. One shell blew a large hole in the +church wall. Through this hole, unperceived +by her captors, Marcelle crawled. +Creeping past the Germans scattered through +Frise, she soon tumbled, safe and sound, into +the nearest French trench.</p> + +<p>“By this time her fame had spread and rewards +began to shower upon her. She got +the Cross of the Legion of Honor, and some +time later the War-Cross. In spite of all she +had gone through, she persisted in staying in +the Somme country and continued to work +for the cause of France. For fifteen months +she remained, despite shot and shell, in her +little Somme village, taking care of wounded +soldiers. Also among her charges was a +woman of 90, too feeble to travel to a safer +place. Marcelle looked out for her night and +day with unflagging devotion.</p> + +<p>“Everywhere soldiers knew and admired +her. One English General ordered his soldiers +to salute when she passed and refrain +from addressing her unless she spoke first.”</p> + +<p>Under the strain of her volunteer work she +finally came near to a breakdown and was +persuaded to go to Paris. There she entered +a nurses’ school to qualify for the care of the +wounded, work being necessary to her to shut +away her personal sorrows, as everything she +possessed or held dear the war had taken +from her.</p> + +<p>All this and more was told at the Sorbonne +Conference, and then, says the <cite>Times</cite> correspondent, +the narrator made a dramatic gesture +and exclaimed:</p> + +<p>“‘This little heroine of Picardy, this admirable +girl, this incarnation of the qualities +of the woman of France, this girl of simple +origin, flawless dignity, of serious mind, and +gentle ways, this girl of indomitable will-power, +is here, ladies and gentlemen, here +among you, in this room! And I feel that +I am the spokesman for every one of you +when I now extend to her the expression +of our respect, our gratitude, our admiration!’</p> + +<p>“The auditors, every man, woman and child +of them, leaped to their feet, mad with enthusiasm. +They craned their necks to catch a +glimpse of the heroine. Unable to escape +them, the young girl stood up, blushing. +Through the great hall of the Sorbonne, +where the most famous people of the world +had been honored by France, swept a storm +of cheers. A reward more splendid than the +Cross of the Legion of Honor, than the War-Cross, +than the salutes of soldiers at the front, +had come to Marcelle Semmer.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="GIRLS_OF_THE_BATTALION">GIRLS OF THE “BATTALION”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Russian Women Who Gave Splendid Proof That Soldierly Valor Knows +No Sex</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">When</span> first reports of the Battalion of +Death—the regiment of Russian women—were +read in the western world they were +regarded as the fiction of correspondents hard +pressed for material. Fighting Amazons belonged +to the legendary past. But the authentic +confirmations of the story and the official +recognition of the battalion’s services +presently roused a curious interest in these +women doing heroes’ work, and there was demand +for information concerning the redoubtable +“Madam Butchkareff” and the circumstances +leading to the organization of the regiment +of which she was given command.</p> + +<p>The story when told more than gratified the +expectant interest. The London <cite>Daily Telegraph</cite><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span> +was the first to give the particulars as +they are here presented.</p> + +<p>“Vera Butchkareff, or simply Yashka, as +she has been christened by the men of the regiment +to which she belonged, got much of her +war-like spirit from her father, who fought +through the whole of the Turkish war and +was left a cripple for life. Her mother was +a hard-working woman, with five children, of +whom Yashka was the eldest, and she had to +go out washing and cooking to earn enough +to clothe and feed this flock.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_184" style="max-width: 44.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_184.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood & Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Marie Botchkareva,</p> +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Commander of the Battalion of Death</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“At the age of five Yashka was sent out as +nurse to a baby of three. And from that time +she has never stopped working. She looks +none the worse for it. Finely yet strongly +built, with broad shoulders and healthy complexion, +she can lift 200 pounds with the greatest +of ease. She has never known what fear is.</p> + +<p>“Not long ago she remarked that during +the last two years she had lived through so +much that there remained but one danger yet +to experience, that of flying. Just as she was +saying that an aviator came up and offered to +take her for a flight, and before the day was +out she had exhausted her list of perils.</p> + + +<h3>MARRIED AN UNKNOWN</h3> + +<p>“When she was sixteen years old her parents +seized the first opportunity of getting her +married. She never knew the man, but luckily +as time wore on they grew very fond of each +other, and were very happy. At first they +both served in a shop, and thanks to their perseverance +and frugality they were soon able +to open a small shop of their own. But just +as they began to prosper the war broke out, +and he was one of the first to be called up.</p> + +<p>“She was very keen on accompanying him +as a soldier, but he begged her to stay behind +and work for her parents, whom they had +been keeping.</p> + +<p>“She was always ready for any daring venture, +and it was with great reluctance that +she stayed at home in compliance with her +husband’s wish. Time passed, and after long +waiting she got the news that he had been +killed in action in May, 1915. At once +she went to her parents and said: ‘I have +decided to go to the front, and you will either +hear of my death or I shall return to you in +honor and glory. I trust in God.’ And no +persuasions were of any use.</p> + +<p>“For two years she lived in the trenches +and fought like a man. She was wounded +three times—in her arm, leg, and back. In +the Lake Naroch battles there was a time +when all the officers were killed and the men +lost courage and lay down, too frightened to +attack. Then she rose up and dashed forward +calling on them to follow her. Every +one obeyed her command, and the trench was +captured. She has received two St. George’s +medals and two St. George’s crosses for various +feats of bravery. At the end of the two +years she was legally admitted into the 28th +Polozk Regiment.</p> + + +<h3>RAISES HER BATTALION</h3> + +<p>“She was presented to Mr. Kerensky for +her bravery, and after hearing all her experiences, +the Minister of War asked what wish +she would like to have granted. She straightway +said: ‘I want to form a woman’s volunteer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span> +battalion, which is to lead men into battle +if they will not go of themselves.’ The +idea was approved by Kerensky, and, with the +sanction of the commander-in-chief, the battalion +was formed.”</p> + +<p>There were 300 girls, most of them being +recruits from the higher educational academies +and secondary schools, with a few peasants, +factory girls and servants. There were a few +married women, but none with children were +accepted. They ranged from 18 to 28 years +in age and were of good physique, most of +them pretty and of refined appearance. They +wore their hair short, or their heads entirely +shaved. They wore as uniform a soldier’s +khaki blouse, short breeches, stockings, heavy +soled shoes and forage cap. It was a mixed +battalion in the matter of class; with the +peasant and the factory girl marched the +daughters of noble families, society women, +writers, etc., for it was in the universities and +schools that the Russian revolution found its +most earnest advocates.</p> + +<p>These were the women who in action near +Vilna that terrible July day exhibited great +courage and coolness, and did such heroic service +in the midst of a wavering and weakening, +cowardly, panic-stricken body of troops that +they have hardly a parallel in all history. +Marie Golokbyova, a member of the battalion +but eighteen years old, who enlisted from the +high school, has told of the first engagement +of the fighting girls.</p> + + +<h3>THEIR FIRST ENGAGEMENT</h3> + +<p>“We went into action a fortnight after +our arrival at the front under heavy German +cannon fire. Given the order to advance, +we rushed out of our trench. Feeling no +sense of danger, we dashed toward the enemy +in the wood. The machine guns began knocking +over my companions. We were ordered +to lie down. I noticed those at the front with +me were all women. The men were further +back.</p> + +<p>“I began shooting, the gun kicking my +shoulder so hard that it is still blue and stiff. +I was glad when we were ordered to charge +the machine guns in the woods. We paid +dearly, but we held on, and by night our +scouts discovered the machine gunners and we +shelled them out.</p> + +<p>“After the first attack I was attached to +a machine gun, carrying ammunition to an advanced +position under the fire of hidden German +machine guns. We were advancing and +constantly in danger of capture by the Germans. +On one trip over newly captured +ground I saw what I considered a wounded +German officer lying on the ground. I went +to help him with my gun in my right hand +and the machine gun ammunition in my +left.</p> + +<p>“Seeing me, he jumped to his knees and +pulled out his revolver, but before he could +shoot I dropped the ammunition and killed +him.</p> + +<p>“How did I feel on taking a human life? +I had no sensation except to rid my country +of an enemy. There was no sentimentality. +We were trying to kill them and they were +trying to kill us—that is all. Any Russian +girl or any American girl in the same position +would have the same feeling.”</p> + +<p>Mme. Butchkareff—Commander Butchkareff—the +peasant born leader of the heroic +girls, was not only endowed with the highest +quality of courage but she seemed to have an +instinct for military command. She was, as +her soldiers testified, “here, there, everywhere,” +directing the action, adding the fire +of her own spirit to the enthusiasm of the +members of the battalion, urging them to +“fight like real Russian soldiers,” and they met +the demand. Said one of them:</p> + +<p>“None of us was afraid once we got +started. We were in the midst of a great +fusillade of shots. Then terrific big shells +began bursting around us. We were again +frightened a little when we first saw the dead +about, but before very long we were jumping +over the dead and quickly forgot all about +them. We just forgot ourselves entirely. +We were simply Russia fighting for her +life.</p> + +<p>“As we ran forward we suddenly came +upon a bunch of Germans immediately ahead +of us. It was only a second until we were all +around them.</p> + +<p>“They saw they were caught and threw +down their rifles, holding up their hands. +They were terribly frightened.</p> + +<p>“‘Good God! Women!’ they exclaimed.”</p> + +<p>It might have been better for Russia had +all her soldiers been women.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="HER_AMBULANCE_UNIT">HER AMBULANCE UNIT</h2> +</div> + +<h3>An English Woman’s Contribution Was Her Fortune and the Daily Risk +of Her Life</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Among</span> the decorations worn by Mrs. +Hilda Wynne are the French Croix de +Guerre, the Belgian order of Leopold, and +the Russian Order of St. George—certificates +of preëminent service in circumstances of danger +that demand the high courage of utter +self-devotion. Mrs. Wynne is a young English +woman who gave her fortune to organize +an ambulance unit and risked her life driving +an ambulance on the firing line. Her organization +was known as the Bevan-Wynne Unit, +and it cared for some 40,000 wounded soldiers +in the course of the war. Mrs. Wynne +visited this country in the Autumn of 1917 +for the purpose of arousing interest in the +public in the needs of soldiers in France. +Happily her mission was a successful one.</p> + +<p>While she was in Denver the <cite>Post</cite> of that +city induced Mrs. Wynne to tell some of her +experiences, which are here reproduced.</p> + +<p>“Looking upon the human courage I have +witnessed, from this distance and in the little +breathing space I have taken from service I +can recall thousands of heroic acts, but the +bravest happened on the Russian front.</p> + +<p>“I saw two aviators go up to certain death. +They were a Russian and a Frenchman. Both +were little men. They went up to meet +twenty German aeroplanes. It was suicidal. +But they had been ordered to go—and theirs +was the spirit of the gallant six hundred. I +stood near them as they made ready to go. +They said nothing. That is one of the lessons +you learn in war—not to waste time nor +words.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_186" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_186.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Women Ambulance-Drivers Served With All the Allied Armies</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Many of them received decorations for conspicuous bravery while under fire.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“They got their machines ready as a rider +tests his saddle-straps and stirrups before starting +for his morning gallop through the park. +A little pothering and fixing of the machinery +and they had gone. They went straight up +and began blazing away at the German planes. +I watched and the cords of my heart tightened, +for the German planes, looking like great gray +birds with wings widespread, came closer and +closer. They surrounded them. They formed +a solid double circle about them. Then they +began to fire. And I turned and covered my +eyes with my hands. A few seconds later +what had been aeroplanes were splintered +wood and what had been men a broken mass +covered by smoking rags.</p> + +<p>“While this was the bravest act I saw in +two and a half years on the firing line, I +readily recall the most pathetic. It was the +second line of men in the Russian trenches. +They were unarmed soldiers. There were +no guns for them. They took their places +there expecting that the man in front might +drop, and the second-line man could pick up +his gun and take his place.</p> + +<p>“I have seen many of the Allies die. They +all die bravely. At Dixmude when the fusiliers +arrived 8,000 and went out 4,000 there +was magnificent courage in death. The +Frenchman dies calling upon his God. The +Englishman says nothing or feebly jests; just +turns his face to the wall and is still. The +Russian is mystic and secretive. The Russian +lives behind a veil of reserve. You +never fully know him. In the last moments +you know by his rapt look that his soul is in +communion with his God.</p> + + +<h3>AN IMPLACABLE BREED</h3> + +<p>“One of the deepest, unalterable truths of +the war is the German power of hatred. It is +past measuring. An example occurred at Dixmude. +When we had been there three days +we were driven out. I took my car filled +with the wounded across a bridge just in time. +A second after we had crossed there was a +roar, then a crash. A shot had torn the bridge +to pieces. Three weeks later to our hospital +was brought a wounded German.</p> + +<p>“‘I know you,’ he said. ‘We nearly got +you at the bridge at Dixmude.’</p> + +<p>“‘I remember,’ I said.</p> + +<p>“That man’s eyes used to follow me in a +strange way. Build no beautiful theories of +his national animosity disappearing, or being +swallowed up in his gratitude. There was +no such thought in his mind. The eyes said: +‘I wish I had killed you. But since I didn’t +I wish I might have another chance.’</p> + +<p>“This, after I had driven away a group of +zouaves who had taken everything from him, +including his iron cross, and who were debating +whether to toss him into the canal then +or that night.</p> + +<p>“Shells have a disturbing way about them, +more disturbing to your plans than your equanimity. +Shells prevented my having a nice +comfortable illness. In southern Russia one +can get little to eat. Coarse black bread is +the chief food. It causes various disorders. +I, afflicted with one of them, arranged a table +in the corner of my tent, placed remedies on +the table, undressed, and turned in, intending +to have a cozy illness of a few days. But +as I lay came an angry buzzing. A shell +hissed through, carrying away a corner of my +tent. That ended my illness. I had no more +time to think of it.</p> + +<p>“The greatest peril I encountered was not +from shells. One becomes used to them. One +of the greatest dangers I faced was on a dark +night drive along a precipice in the Caucasus. +It was while the plan to bring troops through +Persia to Russia was expected to be successful. +I went ahead with some ambulances. It was +necessary to take two Russian officers across +the mountain. I offered my services. The +road was an oddly twisting one. On one side +was a high wall, on the other a precipice +whose depth no one calculated. But as I +allowed myself to look into it at twilight I +could see no bottom to it. We started on +the all-night drive at dusk. The precipice +remained with us, a foot away, most of the +distance. Had my car skidded twelve inches +the story would have been different.</p> + +<p>“Then, too, I wandered once within the +Turkish lines, mistaking them for our own. +But amid a courteous silence I was allowed +to discover my mistake and escape without +harm.</p> + + +<h3>TOO BUSY TO REFUSE HER</h3> + +<p>“I think I owe my opportunity to do my +bit, in the way I have, to the fact that I arrived +in Flanders a few hours before the fight<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span> +and the officers were too busy to send me +back. I had seven automobiles, and knew how +to use them. I took them to Dixmude and +offered the automobiles and my services to +the cause. I established headquarters at +Furnes, which is seven miles from Nieuport, +eight from Dixmude, and twenty from Ypres. +I drove along the Yser Canal to the parts of +the field that were under the heaviest fire, for +there, I knew, my cars and I would be most +needed. For a year I worked for the relief +of the wounded of the French armies. Then +I went to Russia, where I found the need of +help and the sacrifice of life because of lack +of that help almost inconceivable. The French +armies have 6,000 ambulances. The Germans +have 6,200. Russia, with a firing line +of 6,000 miles, has only 600 motor-ambulances.</p> + +<p>“I established dressing-stations in the mountains. +Some of these were 10,000 feet above +the sea-level. There, on the canvas stretched +between two horses, the wounded were +brought, or so they started. For many +of them died in the long journey, every +step of which was torture to a wounded +man.</p> + +<p>“The most exciting experience I ever had +was on the Galician border. We could approach +the battle-line only along the Tarnopol +road, which ran for fifteen miles directly under +German guns. I was speeding along it +with an ambulance full of wounded soldiers +when a shell struck the roadside and exploded, +tearing a great hole in the earth fifty feet +away. The concussion stopped us. Then we +went on. I travel on my luck. Some time, +I suppose, I shall travel too far.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_TRUE_HEROINE">A TRUE HEROINE</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Type of Woman from Which Fate Fashions Jeannes D’Arc</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Had</span> there been a Myra Ivanovna in every +sector of the Russian front in the wavering +days, it is not extravagant to think the +troops of the Czar might have resisted the +propaganda as well as the guns of the Germans +and pushed on—perhaps to Berlin. +Myra was but twenty years of age, a Russian +Sister of Mercy. She accompanied her +brother, a military doctor, to the front. She +was small, and weak and nervous, but she had +a resolute will, an indomitable soul, and these +gave energy and endurance to her body. She +was one of the most active and tireless in ministering +to the sick and wounded. The soldiers +marveled to see so frail a creature perform +such tasks as mark the duties of an ambulance +nurse. Naturally, she inspired the devotion +of those she served.</p> + +<p>It was in 1915. There had been heavy and +dogged fighting and there were many +wounded. The ambulances and the nurses +were kept busy. Then the Germans succeeded +in outflanking the regiment to which Myra +was attached, and poured a deadly fire into +the trenches. M. Kupchinsky, correspondent +at the front for a Petrograd paper, told her +story. The London <cite>Morning Post</cite> translated +it. Here it is:</p> + +<p>“The ambulance near the 10th Regiment +was not brought to the rear, despite the instructions +of the commander. It was discovered +that Sister Ivanovna was employed there in +bandaging the wounded.</p> + +<p>“‘Let the ambulance station go back,’ she +said; ‘I shall stay here, where my hands are +wanted.’</p> + +<p>“The doctors and the wounded officers appealed +in vain—she would not retreat until +her brother ordered her to do so. No sooner, +however, was the ambulance posted in a new +situation than she moved back to her former +position with a few volunteers. At this time +the enemy’s reinforcements with machine guns +opened a deadly fire from some heights commanding +the position, and Ivanovna was +slightly wounded by a bullet in the left arm. +She bandaged the wound herself, and, without +saying a word, continued her work.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_189" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_189.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Women in the Salvation Army Followed the American Army Wherever It Went and They +Served Doughnuts to Men in the Front Trenches</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“The position of the regiment was a perilous +one. Every moment the strength of the +enemy was increasing, and the Russian ranks +were decimated by their long exposure to +heavy fire. It was necessary to strike a rapid +blow, sharp and decisive; but officer after +officer was brought in wounded, and at last +word came that the commander himself had +been killed. Men began to drop back from +the front trenches. Indecision in the ranks +threatened a panic.</p> + + +<h3>SWORD IN HAND, SHE LED THE ATTACK</h3> + +<p>“Seeing that the men were wavering, and +actuated by indignant horror at the unequal +fight, Sister Myra Ivanovna drew a sword +from the sheath of a dead officer and ran from +the station. She was followed by some of the +wounded soldiers, who, with tears in their +eyes, implored her to return, and even tried +to detain her by holding her arms, but she +freed herself.</p> + +<p>“Then, her eyes burning with excitement, +she went forward. She was not alone, for the +soldiers were anxious to defend this frail +woman who was leading them back to the +trenches, her sword raised in the air.</p> + +<p>“The soldiers of the 10th Regiment were +wavering in the trenches when, at the critical +moment, Sister Myra, surrounded by a group +of wounded soldiers, with uplifted sword, +rushed toward the trench. At once there was +a resounding ‘Hurrah!’ and the rifles of the +exhausted soldiers commenced once more their +deadly clicking.</p> + +<p>“For a moment Sister Myra bent toward +the occupants of the trench, and they heard +the word ‘<em>Golubebiki!</em>’ (Dear ones). Then, +rising to her feet, she ran forward, her sword +flashing in the air. All the men followed +her. But all the time the enemy machine-guns +were steadily spitting forth their leaden +pellets of death, and, though losing men +with every step, the remnants of the company +made a wild dash for the enemy’s trench, +which they occupied after furious work with +the bayonet. The enemy fled precipitately, +but in the recesses of the trench, on the bloody +ground trodden by the feet of the eager combatants, +lay Sister Myra Ivanovna.</p> + +<p>“Rough soldiers bent over her, and now that +the excitement of the fray was over they wept +as they tried vainly to arrest the flow of blood +from a wound in her throat. She was carried +out of the fire, but before she had proceeded +far another bullet struck her, and she fell +dead among the group of soldiers.”</p> + +<p>“A true heroine,” writes Mr. Kupchinsky, +“a type of the Russian woman who is guiding +us to victory.”</p> + +<p>Alas! that was in 1915.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_HEROINE_OF_HUMANITY">A HEROINE OF HUMANITY</h2> +</div> + +<h3>This Young Englishwoman Risked Death in a Hideous Form to Save the +Lives of Others</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> serene courage of self-devotion to +the service of humanity does not have +the acclaim of the world very often. We have +not learned how to measure the values of +quiet heroism—the heroism that works in the +solitude. We thrill to feats of daring, we +are rather complacent to the bravery of scientific +experiment, though the risk of life be +great.</p> + +<p>There is the story of a young Englishwoman, +Miss Mary Davies, who, far behind +the front with its stimulating excitement and +without the inspiration of approving and emulous +comrades, calmly, deliberately challenged +death in one of its most horrible forms. She +had seen the victims of one of the most terrible +of war scourges—gaseous gangrene—suffering +a loathsome death, and knew how hopelessly +the surgeons in the laboratories of the American +Ambulance where she served, worked to +combat the plague. She realized that if inoculation +with the bacilli of the disease could +be successfully employed, thousands of wounded +men would be saved, and she resolved to +make the experiment.</p> + +<p>She had seen many examples of the horrible +results of this infection and had observed +the invariably fatal course of the disease +in animals inoculated with the bacilli. +She watched and assisted in the experiments +in which guinea-pigs were inoculated with +gangrene bacilli. She had become convinced +of the efficacy of injections with quinine hydrochlorid +and had concluded that the experiments +on small animals had given all the results +of which they were capable and that the +time had come for an experiment on a normal +human body, and not one from the battlefield, +fatigued and wounded and possibly infected +by other bacilli.</p> + +<p>Well aware that her plan would be prevented +if it became known, she determined +without a word to any one, to risk her life in +an attempt to demonstrate the efficacy of the +treatment, which she was convinced would +cure the victims of this dread disease.</p> + +<p>Her preparations deliberately and completely +made, she waited until she was about to +leave for a holiday, so that her absence would +not disturb the work in the laboratory. She +chose the deadliest strain of bacilli in the laboratory, +obtained from the latest fatal case, +of which two drops of culture sufficed to kill +a guinea-pig. Then she inoculated herself in +a manner most certain to produce the disease +in animals, injecting fifty times the amount +used to kill a guinea-pig, making one injection +deep into the muscles of her thigh, the other +just beneath the skin. Two hours later she +quietly came to the laboratory and asked to be +treated in the same manner as the animals +under experiment.</p> + +<p>The surgeons and attendants were greatly +alarmed for her. Their experience had taught +them the rapidity and horribleness of the effects +of gangrene, the most dreaded and the +most baffling of the diseases produced by the +war. They began treatment of her at once, +apprehensive and doubtful of results.</p> + +<p>Injections with a quinine solution were +made at the points where she had inoculated +the deadly bacilli. She was sent to the nearest +hospital for observation and further treatment. +Quinine injections were given a second +time. Symptoms of a slight degree of +infection developed within twenty-four hours, +but they subsided without operation becoming +necessary, and it is more than gratifying to +know that recovery was rapid and complete.</p> + +<p>Miss Davies has been named a “heroine of +science” and her brave and self-sacrificial deed +will be properly recognized in medical science; +but surely she has won a place in the world’s +esteem and memory as a heroine of humanity.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="ONE_OF_THE_GREAT_ACES">ONE OF THE GREAT “ACES”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Raoul Lufbery, the Connecticut Boy Who Roamed the World to Die a +Hero in France</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> Great War brought into bold relief +no more romantic figure or daring spirit +than that of Major Raoul Lufbery, from +Wallingford, Conn. The bare facts of his +life have the flavor of incidents taken from +the adventure story of a highly imaginative +fiction writer. There is no need of invention +or added color to make his history a thrilling +tale. No presentation of it, however bald and +commonplace the narrative, can cheat it of +its romance and heroism. That he was one of +the chief of the American “Aces” is in itself +an epitome of adventure that might easily be +elaborated into a volume.</p> + +<p>Lufbery was an adventurer in the dashing +sense of the word. His blood was filled with +the essence of unrest, the energy of motion +that would not let him stay fixed to place. +When he was seventeen years old Wallingford +held him too much cabined and confined. He +ran away from home as an explorer of the +unknown world. Drawn, perhaps, by the +spell of ancestral affinities, he made his way +to France and wandered from place to place in +the land of legend and romance, working at +any job that would provide his keep and supply +him with funds for his next excursion.</p> + +<p>From France he sailed to Algiers, where he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span> +remained till he had satisfied his interest, when +he set off for other scenes—Egypt, the Balkans, +Germany, South America and then back +to Wallingford for a peep at the home folks. +He chuckled appreciatively on learning that +his father was off doing a bit of globe-vagabonding +on his own account.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_192" style="max-width: 27.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_192.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Press Illustrating Service.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Major Raoul Lufbery, an American, Who +Was Loved by Fellow-Flyers</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>He stopped at home for a year, when the +wander-bubbles of his blood got into ferment +again, and trotting down to New Orleans +he was tempted by military possibilities and +enlisted in the Regular Army. He was sent to +the Philippines, where he displayed such proficiency +as rifleman that he won all the regimental +prizes for the best marksmanship. +That skill in getting bullets into the right spot +was one of his great assets when he came to +battling in the air over the fields of France.</p> + +<p>But even the Army waxed tame for Lufbery, +and when his term of enlistment expired +he was ready and eager to nose out what the +still strange parts of the world had to offer +him. He sailed for Japan, sampled the beauties +and novelties of that country and then +dipped into China. From China he went into +India. A characteristic anecdote is told of +him as ticket-seller in one of the railway stations +of India. It has been said that he sustained +himself with any kind of odd job as +he roamed the world, and ticket-selling was +one of the tedious sort of occupations least to +his liking. A pompous type of native one day +stood at the wicket.</p> + +<p>“Want a ticket?” Lufbery asked.</p> + +<p>“Say ‘Sir’ when you speak to me,” said the +native, loftily.</p> + + +<h3>THE PRICE OF A JOB</h3> + +<p>With never a wink, Lufbery left his place, +approached the offended person, took him by +the back of the neck and with neatness and +dispatch ejected him from the station. Under +English civil law one is promptly summoned +for assault, and as the person Lufbery had +treated so summarily in accord with his own +ideas of fitness chanced to be the richest and +most influential merchant of Bombay, the +summons cost the ticket-seller his place. +Cochin-China was his resort, Saigon his haven, +and there, if you please, he viewed with envious +admiration the aerial antics of Marc +Pourpe, the famous trick flyer.</p> + +<p>There came a day when Pourpe lost his mechanic, +and his exhibitions came to a stop +while he made vain quest among the natives +for a substitute. None cared for the office, +preferring infinitely the understood foundation +of Mother Earth to antics in the air. Quite +right—Lufbery applied for the job. Was he +a mechanic? No. Did he know anything +about an aeroplane motor? Not a thing.</p> + +<p>“Why the deuce, then, do you come bothering +me?” demanded the irritated Pourpe.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know the job now,” Lufbery said, +“but I can learn. You only have to show me +once. Take me on. You won’t regret it. +I’m not afraid of work.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span></p> + +<p>Marc Pourpe is quoted as saying to some +friends later in relating the incident:</p> + +<p>“His reasoning was full of logic. His +method was original. I agreed, and I will +say that never have I seen a person more devoted, +more intelligent and more useful. He +is already better informed about a motor than +most of the so-called mechanics of Paris. +Moreover, this boy has hung his hat in every +country in the world. He is not a man, he is +an encyclopedia. He can tell you what the +weather is in a given season in Japan, in +Egypt, in America, or in France. He observes +everything and once he has noticed it, +it is engraved on his memory.</p> + +<p>“He told me that in all his travels he had +never been more than a week without working. +He was hospital interne at Cairo, a stevedore +in Calcutta, station master in India, a +soldier in America. I am glad he is now a +mechanic.</p> + +<p>“If he likes it, I will take him back with +me at the end of my tour and will keep him +with me. It is rare to find a good mechanic. +His name is <em>Raoul Lafberg</em>, and he spent his +childhood in the vicinity of Bourges. If I +return with him, you will see what a sympathetic +character chance has thrown in my way. +So once more in my life everything goes +well.”</p> + +<p>This shift of name on the sudden from Lufbery +to Lafberg was due to a hope that the +Frenchified turn would the more favorably +determine Pourpe to engage his services, especially +as Lufbery spoke French fluently, having +learned it in his three years’ stay in France.</p> + + +<h3>JOINS THE FOREIGN LEGION</h3> + +<p>So it was that Lufbery, as Pourpe’s mechanic, +found himself in France when the war +storm burst. Pourpe, who had a new type of +plane, promptly enlisted as a flyer for his beloved +France. As an American Lufbery could +not be accepted except as a member of the +Foreign Legion, which he hastened to join in +the expectation that he could be transferred +thence to service with his friend, which was +done. But they were not long together at the +front. Pourpe was killed the first or second +of December, 1914.</p> + +<p>Thereupon Lufbery applied for admission +to the regular French air service, which was +granted and in a short time he was on the +front with the Escadrille of bombardment, +V. 102.</p> + +<p>But it was not until he joined the newly +organized Escadrille Lafayette that his career +of distinction began. His first victim was +brought down, over Etain, July 30, 1916, the +second five days later. He was cited by the +French Government thus:</p> + +<p>“A model of address, of coolness, of courage. +He has distinguished himself by numerous +long distance bombardments and by the +daily combats he has had with enemy aeroplanes. +On July 30 he unhesitatingly attacked +at close range four enemy machines. +He shot one of them down near our own +lines. He successfully brought down a second +on the 4th of August, 1916.”</p> + +<p>His record grew apace. He got his third +August 8, his fourth August 12, his fifth October +12, and became an “Ace.” In December +he brought down two in one day after a +fight that nearly cost him his life as his jacket +was torn with bullets. That victory gained +him the award of the Legion of Honor. Incidentally, +he was the first American to receive +from England the British Military +Cross which was conferred on him June 12, +1917, when his record had mounted to ten +enemy planes.</p> + +<p>That tenth plane exploit, by the way, was +memorable. Lufbery was alone at an altitude +of 18,000 feet when, at a distance, he +saw a formation of seven Boche machines. +Two of them were two-seater observation machines, +the others were the protective escort. +He flew into the sun to wait for a chance to +attack. Soon one of the seven cut loose from +the others, and immediately Lufbery dived +for it and began firing, taking the enemy by +surprise. After thirty shots or so his gun +jammed, but no more shots were necessary. +The enemy machine wobbled, shifted and began +its downward plunge, and as Lufbery +volplaned away he saw the wrecked machine +crash into the German trenches.</p> + +<p>In an article written for the French publication +<cite>La Guerre Aérienne</cite>, Lufbery describes +an encounter he had one day when he +was sent scouting over the Vosges, the panoramic +beauty of which had so enthralled him +he flew in sheer delight of the vision, nevertheless +“all the time on guard.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span></p> + +<p>Suddenly an enemy appeared a little below +and behind him. He wrote:</p> + +<p>“It is a little one-seater biplane of the Fokker +or Halberstadt type. A glance around +assures me that he is alone. I am surprised +at this, for it is certainly the first time that +a machine of this sort has deliberately placed +itself in a position so disadvantageous for +fighting. Perhaps it is a trap. One never +knows! If it only may prove to be a beginner, +lacking experience, who listens to nothing +but his courage in his purpose to become one +of the great Aces of his country.”</p> + + +<h3>ATTACKS A MASTER OF HIS ART</h3> + +<p>“However that may be, the wind keeps +blowing from the west and carries me farther +and farther into the lines. It will not do to +allow the Boche to have this advantage too +long: I decide to begin the attack without losing +another second.</p> + +<p>“An about face, followed by a sudden double +spin, carries me a little behind my adversary. +Profiting by this advantage I dive upon him, +but with a remarkable skill he gets out of +range of my machine gun. He has anticipated +my maneuver and parried the blow before it +was struck. I am now aware that I have +to do with a master of his art. This first encounter +has proved it to me.</p> + +<p>“Making my machine tango from right to +left, I saw him again below me but much +nearer than before by at least forty yards.</p> + +<p>“Suddenly he noses up as if to begin a +looping, and in this awkward position fires a +volley at me which I dodge by a half turn to +the right. A second time I attack but with +no more success. The wind carries us to the +north of Mulhouse, and I begin to ask myself +if I am not playing my adversary’s game +for him in delaying longer.</p> + +<p>“At this moment I chanced to glance in the +direction of Belfort, which was about twelve +miles within our lines. I perceived in the air +little white flakes. Evidence of the presence +of a Boche.</p> + +<p>“A lucky chance! I had now an excuse for +abandoning without loss of honor the match, +which I confess I am not at all sorry to leave. +Only before leaving my adversary I feel that I +must show him that I appreciate that he is +a valiant foe and respect him as such. Drawing +my left arm out of the fuselage I wave +him a sign of adieu. He understands and desires +to show courtesy on his part, for he returns +my farewell.</p> + +<p>“All my attention is turned toward him +whom I already consider as my new prey, a +big white two-seater of very substantial appearance.</p> + +<p>“I draw nearer and nearer to him. Good +luck! For the first time since I have been a +chaser I am going to have the good fortune to +battle within our lines. Also this increases my +confidence until it makes me disregard measures +of caution, even the science of tactics.</p> + +<p>“Another motive impels me to take more +than ordinary risks. I am determined that he +shall not escape me, and I make up my mind +to shoot at him until I have won the victory.</p> + +<p>“What joy if I can only lodge a ball in his +motor, or in his gasoline tank, which would +oblige him to make a landing on French soil! +Then I should be able to speak with the conquered +and ask them their impressions of the +aerial duel in which they had just taken part. +But there is an old French proverb which says +‘You must not sell the skin of the bear before +you have killed him.’ I had occasion that +day to prove the wisdom of this as you shall +soon see.”</p> + + +<h3>“POOR COUCOU”</h3> + +<p>“Enough of dreaming! The moment for +action has arrived. Quickly I place myself in +the rear and on the tail of my enemy from +whom I am separated by a distance of about +fifty yards. Then I open fire with my machine +gun, and continue firing up to the moment +when my plane, his superior in speed, +arrives so near the big two-seater that a collision +seems inevitable.</p> + +<p>“Quickly I pull up, leap over the obstacle, +and fall in a glide on the right wing. Increasing +my speed I re-establish my equilibrium +and prepare to tempt fortune a second time.</p> + +<p>“Curse the luck! It is of no use. The +motor, the soul of my aeroplane, has received +a mortal wound and is about to draw its last +breath.</p> + +<p>“Turning my head I discover that the ailerons +are also seriously injured. My enemy +fortunately does not seem to wish to profit +by the situation. He continues his flight in +the direction of his own lines. Perhaps I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span> +have wounded him very seriously. I hope so. +Anyway, his flight leaves me master of the +field. But that is a very small consolation. +And also of short duration; for I am coming +down faster and faster. At last I safely take +the ground on the nearest flying field within +gliding distance.</p> + +<p>“Pilots, observers, mechanics surround me +and besiege me with questions. They have +seen the fight and want the details. For the +moment I do not explain much but that I +have encountered a Boche who does not understand +joking! Besides, I was in a hurry +to examine the wounds of my little aeroplane. +It is very ill, poor thing! Three bullets in +the motor, the gasoline tank ruined, a strut +out of commission, many holes in the hood, +finally the left aileron was cut and broken +off by the bullets. It had made its last flight! +Poor Coucou!”</p> + +<p>An admirable story of Lufbery in <cite>Heroes +of Aviation</cite> says in conclusion:</p> + +<p>“To recount all the aerial successes of this +American champion is but to repeat the usual +details of his sober inspection of his aeroplane +and his arms before dawn; his calm scrutiny of +the skies for the black crosses of the enemy +planes; his adroit maneuvering for the best +position from which to surprise the foe; his +determined and patient attack; his exactness +in machine gun marksmanship; his jubilant +return to his comrades with another certain +victory on his score.</p> + +<p>“During months of his service in France +Lufbery suffered from acute seizures of rheumatism +which frequently necessitated his return +to the hospital. Quiet and unassuming +in his conversation, Lufbery won universal +respect from the mechanics and affectionate +loyalty from his comrades. Every one who +met him felt as Marc Pourpe wrote, ‘He +is not a man, he is an encyclopedia.’</p> + +<p>“When America entered the war and began +her preparations for her own Air Service in +France, certain of the experienced fighting +pilots who had been fighting for France were +given charge of the new American escadrilles. +Lufbery and William Thaw, both original +members of N. 124, the Escadrille Lafayette, +were commissioned Majors. To them fell +the task of organizing the eager youths who +were to assist in clearing from the skies of +France the invading Huns.</p> + +<p>“Possessed of all the honors that his army +could bestow upon a noble Soldier, and wracked +with physical pains that were daily increased +by inclement weather, an ordinary man would +have been satisfied to seek his ease and fill his +required duties with the instructions to his +pilots. But Major Lufbery instructed by example, +not by speech. Not unmindful of his +value to his comrades as their mentor and +commander and impelled by an ardor that +knew no rest, Lufbery continued his active +patrolling, exposed himself to every risk.”</p> + + +<h3>THE LAST FLIGHT</h3> + +<p>“On Sunday, May 19th, the American Ace +went aloft over Toul with his fighting +squadron. Enemy fighting machines were +flying over the American line. The latest +designed Fokker aeroplane, a single-seater triplane, +appeared deep enough within our territory +to be cut off before he could escape. +Lufbery darted swiftly to the attack.</p> + +<p>“Exact details of any air combat are known +only to the combatants. Fighting machines +of to-day move with a speed of 140 miles per +hour. Approaching each other they lessen the +distance between them at the rate of over 400 +feet each second. Let some one calculate the +fraction of an instant given to the pilot +in which he plans his maneuver, alters his +position, takes his aim, and presses the trigger!</p> + +<p>“Lufbery’s machine fell in flames. He was +seen to jump from the blazing mass when +2,000 feet from the ground. A parachute attachment +might have saved his life as his +body was found to be uninjured from the +enemy’s fire. A non-inflammable fuel tank +might have permitted him to continue his attack +until the Fokker triplane dropped as his +nineteenth victory.</p> + +<p>“Deprived of these improvements, Lufbery +died. With his lamented loss the title of the +American Ace of Aces passed to Sergeant +Frank L. Baylies, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, +who after eight months at the front, +had amassed a total of twelve enemy machines. +Upon the gallant death of Baylies, Lieutenant +Putnam of Brookline, Massachusetts, with ten +official victories, headed the American list of +Aces.”</p> + +<p>Though officially credited with only eighteen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span> +planes brought down in single combat, +Lufbery was, in fact, the victor over twice +that number of enemy planes. The rule for +official recognition requires that a fall must +be attested by eye-witnesses in addition to the +flyer. Many of Lufbery’s “downs” were inside +the enemy lines beyond the observation of +any of his comrades, and others fell in such +a way that it could not be said positively that +they were destroyed.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_LAFAYETTE_ESCADRILLE">THE LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE</h2> +</div> + +<h3>An Air Squadron Made Famous by American Youth Before America +Entered the War</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">In</span> the first years of the war, when the war +was yet a European War, when America +as a nation was not ready to act, a group of +American boys—roused by the righteousness of +the war against Germany, and longing to help +France—finally enlisted in the French aviation +service. They had come to repay the debt +America owed to the people who had sent +Lafayette in her time of need. Therefore +their section was given the name of Lafayette +Escadrille. Americans glory in the homage +paid to the daring deeds of Kiffin Rockwell, +Victor Chapman, Norman Prince and Jim +McConnell, of Thaw, Lufbery, Hall, Masson +and Cowdin. Jim McConnell wrote a little +book called <cite>Flying for France</cite> (Doubleday, +Page & Company), in which he describes with +a vividness born of the gallant affection he +felt for his friends and comrades the deeds of +that glorious group, and the deaths of three +of them. Then he too fell.</p> + +<p>McConnell first joined the American ambulance +service in the Vosges, and was mentioned +several times for conspicuous bravery +in saving wounded under fire. It was in the +ambulance service that he won the Croix de +Guerre.</p> + +<p>Gradually, however, this heroism drew on a +deeper feeling. The spirit of adventure gave +way to the spirit of liberty. France’s struggle +took on a new aspect. McConnell gave up +the ambulance service and enlisted in the +French flying corps.</p> + +<p>Immediately he began to feel something +more than the mere bond of common danger +drawing him to the members of the Escadrille. +They were like brothers who had managed to +grow up friends as well as kinsmen. They +were a picked lot. There was William Thaw, +of Pittsburgh, the pioneer of them all; Norman +Prince, of Boston; Elliot Cowdin, of +New York; Bert Hall, of Texas, and his +chum James Bach—the first to fall into German +hands. Bach had smashed into a tree +in going to the assistance of a companion who +had broken down in landing a spy in the German +lines. Both he and his French companion +had been captured. The last of the +original six was Didier Masson. Soon Lufbery +came, and Kiffin Rockwell of Asheville, +N. C., and Victor Chapman of New York. +Rockwell and Chapman had both been +wounded in other branches of the service.</p> + +<p>It was Rockwell who brought down the Escadrille’s +first plane in his initial aerial combat. +“He was flying alone, when, over Thann, +he came upon a German on reconnaissance. +He dived and the German turned toward his +own lines, opening fire from a long distance. +Rockwell kept straight after him. Then, closing +to within thirty yards, he pressed on the +release of his machine gun, and saw the enemy +gunner fall backward and the pilot crumple +up sideways in his seat. The plane flopped +downward and crashed to earth just behind +the German trenches. Swooping close to the +ground Rockwell saw its débris burning away +brightly. He had turned the trick with but +four shots and only one German bullet had +struck his Nieuport.”</p> + +<p>The section was soon transferred to more +dangerous territory. They were needed at +Verdun. Fighting there came thick and fast. +McConnell describes the activity of almost +every one there. And every one was active.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span> +“Hall brought down a German observation +craft. Thaw dropped a Fokker in the morning, +and on the afternoon of the same day +there was a big combat far behind the German +trenches. Thaw was wounded in the arm, +and an explosive bullet detonating on Rockwell’s +wind-shield tore several gashes in his +face. Despite the blood which was blinding +him Rockwell managed to reach an aviation +field and land. Thaw, whose wound bled profusely, +landed in a dazed condition just within +our lines. He was too weak to walk, and +French soldiers carried him to a field dressing station, +whence he was sent to Paris for further +treatment. Rockwell’s wounds were less +serious and he insisted on flying again almost +immediately.”</p> + + +<h3>HOW CHAPMAN FOUGHT</h3> + +<p>“A week or so later Chapman was wounded. +Considering the number of fights he had been +in and the courage with which he attacked it +was a miracle he had not been hit before. +He always fought against odds and far within +the enemy’s country. He flew more than +any of us, never missing an opportunity to go +up, and never coming down until his gasoline +was giving out. His machine was a sieve +of patched-up bullet holes. His nerve was +almost superhuman and his devotion to the +cause for which he fought sublime. The day +he was wounded he attacked four machines. +Swooping down from behind, one of them, a +Fokker, riddled Chapman’s plane. One bullet +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span>cut deep into his scalp, but Chapman, a +master pilot, escaped from the trap, and fired +several shots to show he was still safe. A +stability control had been severed by a bullet. +Chapman held the broken rod in one hand, +managed his machine with the other, and succeeded +in landing on a nearby aviation field. +His wound was dressed, his machine repaired, +and he immediately took the air in pursuit of +some more enemies. He would take no rest, +and with bandaged head continued to fly and +fight.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_197" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_197.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood & Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Distinguished Aviators of the Lafayette Escadrille.</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">From the left: Lufbery, Hinkle, Thenault, Bigelow, and Thaw.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Balsley, a newcomer, managed to get +wounded in the meantime. He had started +out with a party of four that had met a German +squadron. Balsley attacked the nearest +German, “only to receive an explosive bullet +in his thigh. Extra cartridge rollers, dislodged +from their case, hit his arms. He was +tumbling straight toward the trenches, but +by an effort he regained control, righted +the plane, and landed without disaster.</p> + +<p>“Soldiers carried him to shelter, and later +he was taken to a field hospital, where he lingered +for days between life and death. Ten +fragments of the explosive bullet were removed +from his stomach. He bore up bravely +and became the favorite of the wounded officers +in whose ward he lay. When we flew +over to see him they would say: ‘Il est un +brave petit gars, l’aviateur américain.’ [He’s +a brave little fellow, the American aviator.] +On a shelf by his bed, done up in a handkerchief, +he kept the pieces of bullet taken out +of him, and under them some sheets of paper +on which he was trying to write to his +mother, back in El Paso.</p> + +<p>“Balsley was awarded the Médaille Militaire +and the Croix de Guerre, but the honors +scared him. He had seen them decorate officers +in the ward before they died.</p> + + +<h3>THE FIRST OF THEM TO DIE</h3> + +<p>“Then came Chapman’s last fight. Before +leaving, he had put two bags of oranges in +his machine to take to Balsley, who liked to +suck them to relieve his terrible thirst, after +the day’s flying was over. There was an +aerial struggle against odds, far within the +German lines, and Chapman, to divert their +fire from his comrades, engaged several enemy +airmen at once. He sent one tumbling to +earth, and had forced the others off when two +more swooped down upon him.” The wings +of his plane suddenly buckled and the machine +dropped like a stone.</p> + +<p>Chapman had only started the list of deaths. +He was to be followed by perhaps the most +beloved of all the section. Kiffin Rockwell +had started off with Lufbery one morning. +Just before he reached the lines he “spied +a German machine under him flying at 11,000 +feet.” Rockwell had fought more combats, +than the rest of the Escadrille put together, +says McConnell. “He had shot down many +German machines that had fallen in their +lines, but this was the first time he had had +an opportunity of bringing down a Boche in +our territory.”</p> + +<p>Rockwell approached so close to the enemy +plane that it seemed there would be a collision. +The German aeroplane carried two machine +guns. When Rockwell started his dive the +enemy opened a rapid fire. “Rockwell +plunged through the stream of lead and only +when very close to his enemy did he begin +shooting. For a moment it looked as if the +German was falling, but then the French +machine turned rapidly nose down, the wings +of one side broke off and fluttered in the wake +of the airplane, which hurtled earthward in +a rapid drop. It crashed into the ground in +a small field—a field of flowers—a few hundred +yards back of the trenches. It was +not more than two and a half miles from the +spot where Rockwell, in the month of May, +brought down his first enemy machine. The +Germans immediately opened up on the wreck +with artillery fire. In spite of the bursting +shrapnel, gunners from a nearby battery +rushed out and recovered poor Rockwell’s +broken body.”</p> + +<p>“Lufbery engaged a German craft but before +he could get to close range two Fokkers +swooped down from behind and filled his +aeroplane full of holes. Exhausting his ammunition, +he landed at Fontaine, an aviation +field near the lines. There he learned of +Rockwell’s death and was told that two other +French machines had been brought down +within the hour. He ordered his gasoline tank +filled, procured a full band of cartridges and +soared up into the air to avenge his comrade. +He sped up and down the lines, and made a +wide détour to Habsheim, where the Germans +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span>have an aviation field, but all to no avail. +Not a Boche was in the air.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_199" style="max-width: 61.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_199.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The Marines’ Watch on the Rhine</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">General Neville decorating the Colors of the 6th Regiment with the Croix de Guerre at Coblenz, +Germany.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>No greater blow could have befallen the +Escadrille than Rockwell’s death. “The bravest +and best of us all is no more,” said the +French Captain. “Kiffin was the soul of the +Escadrille,” writes Jim McConnell. “He +was loved and looked up to by not only every +man in our flying corps, but by every one +who knew him. Kiffin was imbued with the +spirit of the cause for which he fought and +gave his heart and soul to the performance of +his duty. He said: ‘I pay my part for Lafayette +and Rochambeau,’ and he gave the fullest +measure. The old flame of chivalry burned +brightly in this boy’s fine and sensitive being. +With his death France lost one of her most +valuable pilots. When he was over the lines +the Germans did not pass—and he was over +them most of the time.”</p> + +<p>“Rockwell had been given the Médaille +Militaire and the Croix de Guerre, on the +ribbon of which he wore four palms, representing +the four magnificent citations he had +received in the order of the army.”</p> + +<p>Kiffin was given a funeral worthy of a general. +“His brother, Paul, who had fought in +the Legion with him, and who had been +rendered unfit for service by a wound, was +granted permission to attend the obsequies. +Pilots from all nearby camps flew over to render +homage to Rockwell’s remains. Every +Frenchman in the aviation at Luxeuil marched +behind the bier. The British pilots, followed +by a detachment of five hundred of their men, +were in line, and a battalion of French troops +brought up the rear. As the slow moving +procession of blue and khaki-clad men passed +from the church to the graveyard, airplanes +circled at a feeble height above and showered +down myriads of flowers.”</p> + +<p>The fates seemed to be envious of the +American section in France. Rockwell had +fallen September 23. On the 15th of October +Norman Prince died. “It was hard to realize +that poor old Norman had gone, but I do not +think he minded going,” writes McConnell. +“He wanted to do his part before being killed, +and he had more than done it.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_200" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_200.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>International News.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">A Few Members of the Lafayette Escadrille</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_200fp" style="max-width: 46.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_200fp.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +Painting by Joseph Cummings Chase.<br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Corporal Walter E. Gaultney</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He was selected by his commander as an example of his finest type of soldier, being “alert, +ingenious, speedy,” and “heedless of personal danger.”</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<h3>JIM’S TURN CAME</h3> + +<p>Thus did Jim McConnell—honest, tender, +courageous Jim, Irish Jim—glory in the glory +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span>of his friends and mourn their loss. His good +humor and native wit remained to the last, +but the deaths of those so dear to him were +deepening his character. There are touches +of tense seriousness in the book—a tragic note +at times. It was hard to see those brave fellows +go one by one, and so steadily. And you +never could tell which of your remaining +friends was to go next. Then of a sudden +came Jim’s turn. There are a few letters +which describe Jim’s death as tenderly as Jim +wrote about Chapman and Rockwell and +Prince. The affection, loyalty, and undying +gallantry of the group is quite evident. In +one of these letters, dated March 21, 1917, +to Paul Rockwell, Edmond Genet tells of the +last flight:</p> + +<p>“On Monday morning, Mac, Parsons, and +myself went out at nine o’clock on the third +patrol of the Escadrille. We had orders to +protect observation machines along the new +lines around the region of Ham. Mac was +leader, I came second and Parsons followed +me. Before we had gone very far Parsons was +forced to go back on account of motor trouble.</p> + +<p>“Mac and I kept on, and up to ten o’clock +were circling around the region of Ham, +watching out for the heavier machines doing +reconnoitering work below us. We went +higher than a thousand meters. About ten, +for some reason or other of his own, Mac suddenly +headed into the German lines toward +Saint Quentin—perhaps for observation purposes—and +I naturally followed close to his +rear and above him. At any rate we had +gotten north of Ham and quite inside the +hostile lines, when I saw two Boche machines +crossing toward us from the region of Saint +Quentin at an altitude higher than ours—we +were then about 1,600 meters up. I supposed +Mac saw them too. One Boche was far ahead +of the other, and was in position to dive at +any moment on Mac. I saw the direction +Mac was taking, and pulled back climbing up, +in order to gain an advantageous height over +the nearest Boche. It was cloudy and misty +and I had to keep my eyes on him all the time, +so naturally I lost track of Mac.”</p> + +<p>The letter goes on to tell how the writer +got back—to find Mac had not returned.</p> + +<p>“The one hope that we have is that some +news of Mac will be brought by civilians who +might have witnessed his flight over the lines +north of Ham. We likewise hope that Mac +was merely forced to land inside the enemy +lines on account of a badly damaged machine, +or a bad wound, and is well, but a prisoner. +I wish, Paul, that I had been able to help Mac +during his combat. The mists were thick, +and consequently seeing any distance was difficult. +I would have gone out that afternoon +to look for him, but my machine was so damaged +it took until yesterday afternoon to be +repaired. Lieutenant de Laage and Lufbery +did go out with their Spads, around the region +north of Ham, toward Saint Quentin, but saw +nothing of a Nieuport grounded or anything +else to give news of what had occurred.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_201" style="max-width: 43.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_201.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood & Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Captain James Norman Hall,</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">An American ace who was captured and made +a prisoner of war by the Germans.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Four days later Genet wrote:</p> + +<p>“The evening before last definite news was +brought to us that a badly smashed Nieuport +had been found by French troops. Beside it +was the body of a sergeant-pilot which had +been there at least three days and had been +stripped of all identification papers, flying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span> +clothes and even the boots. They got the +number of the machine, which proved without +further question that it was poor Mac.</p> + +<p>“Mac has been buried right there beside +the road, and we will see that the grave is +decently marked with a cross. The Captain +brought back a square piece of canvas cut +from one of the wings, and we are going to +get a good picture we have of Mac enlarged +and placed on this with a frame. I suppose +that Thaw or Johnson will attend to his belongings +which he had asked to be sent to +you. In the letter which he had left in case +of his death he concludes with the following +words: ‘Good luck to the rest of you. Vive +la France!’</p> + +<p>“All honor to him, Paul. The world, as +well as France, will look up to him just as it +is looking up to your fine brother and the rest +who have given their lives so freely and gladly +for this big cause.</p> + +<p>“The Captain has already put in a proposal +for a citation for Mac, and also one for me. +Mac surely deserved it, and lots more, too.”</p> + +<p>McConnell was awarded the Croix de +Guerre with palm.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_LEGENDARY_HERO">A “LEGENDARY HERO”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Place in Fame to Which the French Assign Their Miracle “Ace”</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">In</span> that charming French style of which he +is a known master, Henry Bordeaux tells +the story of a frail little boy, delicate as a +girl and having the general appearance of +one, with his long curls, his too pretty face, +his pale complexion, his gentle manners. Because +he was so frail of body and so uncertain +of health he was closely looked after by +the women of the household, which means, +among other things, that he was quite thoroughly +spoiled. The child looked like a +little princess, as though adapted more to a +future of effeminate surroundings, not like +a boy in whose infant breast waited a great +spirit.</p> + +<p>One day, when the child was about six +years old, it suddenly occurred to the father +that they were taking a wrong course with +the boy. After reflection he took the boy +on his knee and said to him:</p> + +<p>“I’ve a great mind to take you with me +where I am going.”</p> + +<p>“Where are you going, papa?”</p> + +<p>“Where I am going only men go.”</p> + +<p>“I wish to go with you.”</p> + +<p>The father hesitated, but finally said:</p> + +<p>“After all, it is better to be too soon than +too late. Get your hat. I’ll take you.”</p> + +<p>He took him to the hair-cutter’s.</p> + +<p>“I’m going to have my hair cut,” said the +father. “How about yours?”</p> + +<p>“I wish to do as the men do,” the boy +answered. And the beautiful curls were +shorn.</p> + +<p>There were tears when the mother folded +her transformed darling to her breast, but the +child stiffening proudly declared: “Je suis un +homme!”</p> + +<p>Bordeaux says here: “Il sera un homme, +mais il restera longtemps un gamin aussi. +Longtemps? Presque jusqu’à la fin—à ses +heurs, jusqu’à la fin.”</p> + +<p>It was Georges Guynemer, who not so +very long after flamed out a boy hero of +France, doing deeds that struck the world +with wonderment, and while the world marveled +vanished mysteriously, leaving no trace +behind.</p> + +<p>Small and feminine, educated chiefly by +governesses and his sisters, later a day student +at the Lyceum, afterwards for a time at Stanislas, +he was not the stuff for a soldier, yet +soldier he wished to be when France set out +to repel the German horde. He was twenty +years old then. He hastened to his father.</p> + +<p>“I’m going to enlist.”</p> + +<p>“You are in luck.”</p> + +<p>“Ah! you authorize me!”</p> + +<p>“I envy you.”</p> + +<p>“Then as an old soldier you can help me. +You can speak for me.”</p> + +<p>“I will.”</p> + +<p>But it was to no avail. He was not able<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span> +to carry the equipment and endure the fatigue +of a private, and the effects of a childhood’s +illness made it impossible for him to serve +in the cavalry. He was rejected—laughed at +by some, be it said.</p> + +<p>He made a second attempt to enlist with +no better result. Says M. Bordeaux: “He +returned with his father to Biaritz, pale, +silent, mournful, in such a state of rage and +bitterness that his face was distorted.” He +wrote to his old preceptor at Stanislas: “If I +have to lie at the bottom of an auto-camion +I wish to go to the front; and I will go. +I mean to serve, it doesn’t matter where nor +how, it doesn’t matter in what branch, but go +to the front, serve I will.”</p> + +<p>That sort of spirit is not to be denied. Fate +and circumstances make way for it.</p> + +<p>He met the pilot of an airplane one day +and in conversation with him asked: “How +can one get into the air service?”</p> + +<p>“See the Captain; you’ll find him at Pau.”</p> + + +<h3>A SMALL BEGINNING</h3> + +<p>His parents, or rather his father, consenting, +he was on his way to Pau next morning. +He rushed to Captain Bernard-Thierry with +his plea. The Captain objected. Georges +pleaded, passionately, tearfully, begging even +as a child for a desired object. The troubled +captain made the only practicable concession—he +would receive the youth as a mechanician +student. The heavens opened. “That’s the +thing! That’s the thing! I know automobiles.” +And so it began, with hard work to +the like of which he had never been accustomed, +his endurance of which was problematical. +But January 26, 1915, he was +named as pilot student; March 10, 1915, he +made his veritable first flight. In a letter +to his father about this time he said: “I +believe I am not making a reputation for prudence, +but I hope this will come. I shall +know soon.”</p> + +<p>That reputation never came, on the contrary +it was said of him: “Returning almost +daily from his chases with his aeroplane and +often his clothing riddled with bullets, hurling +himself with absolute abandon against +three, ten, fifteen or twenty enemy machines +in formation, among which he usually succeeded +in bringing down one or more; exulting +in the number of wounds which his faithful +planes brought home as if to bear witness +to his charmed life, and encircling them with +red paint to make them more conspicuous; on +two occasions shooting down an enemy plane +with a single bullet; on May 25, 1917, bringing +down four enemy aeroplanes in one day—these +extraordinary exploits coupled with the +very extraordinary energy of this slim boy +soon placed him upon a pedestal which raised +him high above his comrades; and by reason +of his many miraculous escapes from certain +death, eventually surrounded him with a halo +of fame unknown to the French populace +since the day of Jeanne d’Arc.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_203" style="max-width: 32.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_203.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right"> +© <cite>Underwood & Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Captain Guynemer,</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">France’s immortal knight of the air.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span></p> + +<p>“Conqueror in fifty-three aerial combats +wherein the result was officially established +by the verification of three or more eye-witnesses, +Guynemer brought down as many +more German aeroplanes quite as effectively +if less officially. His comrades in the +escadrille knew this and respected their chief +accordingly.</p> + +<p>“Possessed of every decoration that a grateful +nation could officially bestow upon him, +conscious of a position in the public esteem +that, tinctured as it was with the legendary, +illumined him with more glory and worship +than was accorded even to a Joffre or a Foch, +Georges Guynemer fulfilled the expectations +of his fellow countrymen, when on September +11, 1917, he disappeared from the eyes of the +world while in the full exercise of his duty. +The heavens swallowed him up, and to this +day no reliable clue to his disappearance has +been discovered. Small wonder then that +the people of France in contemplation of this +last exploit of their adored hero place his memory +with one acclaim alongside the niche so +long occupied by the heroic Jeanne d’Arc!”</p> + + +<h3>MIRACULOUS ESCAPES</h3> + +<p>His fellows and the soldiers in general were +devoted to him; and that their devotion was +something profounder than lip-service one incident +of his career, one of his narrow escapes, +will attest. It was in September, 1916. +He was far within the enemy lines combating +seven machines when a shot penetrated the +radiator of his engine and the motor stopped. +He was then quite fifteen miles distant from +his own lines and about twelve thousand feet +in the air. There was nothing for it but to +point his machine for home, with the least +practicable slant, and trust to the glide sustaining +him until he could reach home lines. +The turn made, he gave all his attention to +his pursuers, who, not suspecting his plight +and having a lively respect for the generalship +of the redoubtable “Ace,” seemed to think +discretion the better part of valor, did not +continue the chase but dived for their own +quarters. The machine on its glide fell +lower and lower as he approached the trenches +and finally the German gunners recognized +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span>the craft as that of the dreaded young champion +and the guns were leveled at him, and +he was gliding through a veritable shower of +bursting shrapnel. His machine was riddled +and it was a grave question if it could reach +the French lines. It crossed the German +trenches a scant fifty feet above the heads +of the enemy who stood up in the trenches +in their eagerness to send a shot into the +tattered plane that would bring it down.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_204" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_204.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>International Film Service.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">A Duel Above the Clouds</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">A German plane falling in flames after a fight with a French plane.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>The French soldiers, who had watched the +coming of the Cigogne through the rain of +bullets and realized the helplessness of their +idol, were recklessly and excitedly hanging +over their trenches raging that they were +powerless to help. Almost simultaneously +with Guynemer’s consciousness of his inability +to reach his lines the poilus perceived the +fact and with yells they leaped to the rescue, +scrambling from their trenches in a wild +charge against the Huns.</p> + +<p>The aeroplane fell into a shell hole some +forty yards short of the French lines and was +smashed to pieces, but the charmed pilot was +thrown free of the wreck and was absolutely +without injury when his rescuing comrades +picked him up and surrounding him carried +him hurriedly to their protecting trenches. +He is credited with saying, when they marveled +at his escape, “I was born on Christmas +Eve. They cannot hurt me.”</p> + +<p>M. Bordeaux, who is a loving biographer, +devotes over three hundred pages to the events +and deeds of the amazing hero, and there is +not with it all an event recorded that is not +worthy the record. Among them is an +instance of the irony of fate that occasionally +turns intended service into serious hurt. It +was in September, 1916, in the Somme battle. +Guynemer had shot down two Boche machines +and was after a third at an altitude +of 10,000 feet when a foolishly fired French +shell meant for the enemy machine caught him +in full flight, breaking a wing and taking off +part of his radiator. Of course the machine +began falling to the earth. By energetic efforts +with the controls and the swing of his +body Guynemer succeeded in checking the fall +and establishing a glide, but he could not +lessen the velocity with which he was approaching +the ground. The catastrophe was +witnessed by the troops and when the Spad +crashed head first they ran to take up the +remains of the doomed pilot. But when they +reached the spot there stood Guynemer unharmed +regarding mournfully the wreck of his +machine. An idea of the force of the impact +may be had from the fact that the nose of +the machine was driven so deep that it could +not be budged.</p> + +<p>The jubilant soldiers lifted Guynemer to +their shoulders and bore him to the General’s +quarters. The General embraced him and +ordered the troops to form for review. Then +the adored aviator was led by the General +down the lines. One can imagine the enthusiasm, +the emotions of the French.</p> + + +<h3>WON WITHOUT ARMS</h3> + +<p>Guynemer kept a diary of all his doings +day by day, and his biographer makes free use +of it. His method of entry was laconic. He +never stressed a point. Take as an example +of the style and as a character sketch of the +man his entry of January 26, 1917, when he +did that incredible thing, brought down and +captured a two-seater enemy machine when +he himself was without offensive arms. He +went up in a borrowed machine of which he +was sufficiently contemptuous. The day before +he had not gone up. His only diary +entry for that day was “Je regarde voler les +autres et ronge.”</p> + +<p>The translation of his entry for the 26th +is as follows:</p> + +<p>“Bucquet lends me his taxi. Gun sights +nothing, simply an emptiness. What a layout! +Line of aim worse than pitiful.</p> + +<p>“12 o’clock saw a Boche at 12,000 feet. +Up went the lift. Arrived in the sun. In +tacking about was caught in nasty tail spin. +Descending, I see the Boche 400 yards behind, +firing at me. Recovering I fire ten shots. Gun +jams completely. But the Boche seemed to +feel some emotion and dived away full south +with his motor wide open. Let’s follow him!</p> + +<p>“But I do not get too close to him, for +fear he will see that I can’t shoot. Altimeter +drops to 5,000 feet above Estrées-Saint-Denis. +I maneuver my Boche as nicely as I can, and +suddenly he redresses and sets off towards +Rheims.</p> + +<p>“I essay a bluff. I mount to 2,000 feet +over him and drop on to him like a stone. +Made an impression on him but was beginning<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span> +to believe it did not take when he suddenly +began to descend. I put myself 10 +yards behind him; but every time I showed +my nose around the edge of his tail the gunner +took aim at me.</p> + +<p>“We take the road towards Compiègne—3,000 +feet—2,000 feet again I show my nose, +and this time the gunner stands up, takes his +hands from his machine gun and motions to +me that he surrenders. <em>All Right!</em></p> + +<p>“I see underneath his machine the four +bombs in their resting place. 1,500 feet. The +Boche slows down his windmill. 600 feet. +300 feet. I swerve over him while he lands. +I make a round or two at 300 feet and see +that I am over an airdrome. But not having +any gun or cartridges I cannot prevent them +from setting fire to their taxi, a 200 H. P. +Albatross, magnificent.</p> + +<p>“When I see they are surrounded I come +down and show the two Boches my disabled +machine gun. Some headpiece!</p> + +<p>“They had fired 200 shots at me. My ten +bullets that I fired before I jammed had +struck their altimeter and the revolution +counter, hence their emotion! The pilot told +me that my aeroplane I shot down day before +yesterday at Goyancourt had gunner killed +and pilot wounded in the knee. Hope this +unique confirmation will be accepted by authorities. +It will make my 30th.”</p> + + +<h3>THE FLIGHT INTO THE UNKNOWN</h3> + +<p>But after he had brought down his fiftieth, +for some unaccountable reason a change came +over Guynemer. He became nervous and +irritable. He lost his old vivacity, nerve, dash, +and with them his instincts of the air seemed +to desert him. Friends urged him to rest, +to give over fighting and direct his genius to +teaching others to fly. But he answered: +“They would say I would fight no more because +France has no more decorations to give +me”; and he had a jealous pride to work harder +than ever, do even more valiant deeds. And +he did work harder. He did take greater +risks. He engaged in combats but was unable +to win. Luck had turned and his chums, +his comrades, knew him to be a sick man in +no condition to fly. They ’phoned to their +commanding officer in Paris begging him to +come and take Guynemer away for a recuperative +rest. Captain Brocard responded +promptly. He arrived at the Dunkerque +aerodrome at nine o’clock the next morning. +But Guynemer had ordered his machine and +taken flight half an hour before, accompanied, +in another machine, by Lieut. Bozon-Verduras.</p> + +<p>It was Sept. 11, 1918. It was Guynemer’s +last flight. All that is known of it Bozon-Verduras +tells. Somewhat northeast of +Ypres, at an altitude of 12,000 feet, a two-seater +enemy machine was discovered. Directing +Lieut. Bozon-Verduras to take a position +above to guard against rescue, Guynemer +rushed to the attack. While on guard the +Lieutenant detected a distant enemy formation +and drove forward to intercept its course. +But without seeing him the formation +changed its course and the Lieutenant returned +to position. He did not, however, see Guynemer’s +machine, nor did several hours of extended +search lead to any trace above or below +of the vanished aviator. His fuel exhausted, +the Lieutenant returned to the aerodrome hoping +Guynemer might be there. But he was +not. All day they waited for his return. He +never returned. “Undoubtedly,” said some +one of the men, “he has been taken prisoner.”</p> + +<p>Says M. Bordeaux:</p> + +<p>“Guynemer a prisoner! He had said one +day, laughingly, ‘The Boche will never have +me alive’—but his laugh was terrible. No +one believed Guynemer to be a prisoner. +What then?”</p> + +<p>Nothing more is known. The Germans +made contradictory and unreliable reports +about his death. The simple minded among +the French believe their hero an immortal, +taken up into his native heaven. The lofty +minded French name him “Héros légendaire, +tombé en plein ciel de gloire, après trois ans +de lutte ardente,” and this they have inscribed +on a marble plaque in the crypt of the Panthéon, +that temple which the French hold +sacred as the “Sepulcher of Great Men.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="WORTHY_CITATION">WORTHY CITATION</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Distinguished Service on the Battle Front for Which No Honors Provision +Has Been Made</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">There</span> is a kind of heroism that never +gets tagged. Many would not think it +heroism. But when you come to analyze +heroism into its elemental parts you find that +it is a spiritual energy with myriad forms of +expression, though these forms always have +the character of self-dedication to an altruistic +service. By that definition Capt. E. W. Zinn +takes place in the ranks of war heroes; but if +you have not seen what <cite>The Stars and Stripes</cite>—the +official newspaper of the A. E. F., published +in France—has said about him you +probably never have heard of Capt. Zinn and +his self-appointed mission. It is well to know +about him; so here is the story as it appeared +in the official organ:</p> + +<p>“It was Captain Zinn, a veteran of the +French Foreign Legion and the Lafayette Escadrille, +who, when eager young American +aviators, fresh from their training-camps, reported +for duty where the fighting was, assigned +them to squadrons and each to a particular +airplane. Thus it was that he came +to know them all. He sent them to their +stations. He knew what ships they would +pilot in combat in the air, on bombing expeditions, +on reconnaissances over the lines.</p> + +<p>“And now he seeks for those he sent out +and who never returned. He asked that he +might do it. If you talk to Captain Zinn +about it, you know why he made the request. +You know how he feels about that which he +is doing. There is no mawkish sentiment +about Captain Zinn.</p> + +<p>“But deep down within him Captain Zinn +feels that he and no other should go out on +the mission that now engages him. He has +an interest that is intimate and personal.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_207" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_207.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>International News.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Athletes Among French Airmen</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Georges Carpentier, heavyweight boxer (the second figure from the left).</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span></p> + +<p>“Already, Captain Zinn’s quest has led him +over the greater part of northern France and +into Belgium and Germany. Through the +torn fields and woods in the Verdun, Château-Thierry, +St. Mihiel, and Meuse sectors he has +gone. He has tramped through the Argonne +to Sedan and sought in the mountains that encircle +Metz and hide the valley of the Moselle. +Wherever there was fighting in which +the American Air Service participated, there +has gone, or will go, Zinn.</p> + +<p>“Out of 150 missing American aviators, +Captain Zinn already has definitely located +and identified the spots where seventy fell +and were buried. It has required many days +of painstaking search and inquiry to attain +this result.</p> + +<p>“Captain Zinn has found that in a great +many cases American fliers were buried either +by the Germans or by civilians with no mark +of identification left on them.</p> + + +<h3>THE UNIDENTIFIED</h3> + +<p>“Many times he has come upon a grave +with a rude cross on which was scrawled: +‘Unidentified American Aviator’ or ‘Two +Unidentified American Aviators.’ He has had +to obtain positive identification by careful examination +of air-service records, questioning +of peasants and civilians who saw American +machines brought down and deductions based +on the information he gathered. In some instances +it has been necessary to open graves +to make sure.</p> + +<p>“To start out with, Captain Zinn has the +records of squadrons, which show, for instance, +on what date a missing pilot went out, +what his mission was, over what country he +naturally would go, and what kind of machine +he had. Perhaps an attack by an overwhelming +force or an accident or other circumstances +forced the pilot off the course +marked out for him. When he failed to return, +only speculation as to where he fell +could be indulged in. Unless the Germans +notified his squadron of his death and the location +of his grave, he became one of the men +for whom Captain Zinn now seeks.</p> + +<p>“There was the case of young Kenyon +Roper, of the 91st Aero Squadron. By a +process of elimination of facts gathered, it was +fairly definitely established that Roper had +come down in the night between the lines. +Captain Zinn questions scores of peasant folk. +But the search appeared to be hopeless. And +then Captain Zinn heard that a small boy +had a handkerchief that the dead flier had +possessed. He found the boy and the handkerchief. +And written in indelible ink on the +little piece of linen was the name ‘Kenyon +Roper.’ It was easy then to learn from the +boy where the grave was and to be sure that +Kenyon Roper lay sleeping there.”</p> + + +<h3>A LAST AUTOGRAPH</h3> + +<p>“Then there was the case of Lester Harter, +of the 11th Squadron. He went out and his +machine caught fire. Harter jumped, just as +Major Lufbery did and as other aviators +have done, and fell many thousand feet to his +death. When awe-stricken peasants ran from +the fields to his crushed body they found in +his hand a scrap of paper, and on it was written +in hurried, jerky letters, ‘Lester Harter.’</p> + +<p>“Fearing lost identity among the dead, Lester +Harter must have written his name on +that piece of paper before he jumped from +his machine.</p> + +<p>“Then there were Kinne and McElroy, of +the 99th Aero Squadron. Only a piece of +the tail of their machine was found. Their +plane came down in flames between Cunel +and Nantillois. Both jumped. One day +their squadron commander joined in the +search for their bodies. He hunted for +hours in a thick wood. And he gave up. He +was standing on the edge of a covered shell-hole, +discouraged. Some impulse caused him +to stir the earth in the shell-hole with his foot. +And there he found the body of young McElroy. +Near by they later found Kinne.</p> + +<p>“There are many such stories that Captain +Zinn can tell.</p> + +<p>“From the information he gathers, Captain +Zinn writes personal letters to the relatives +of the dead aviators, telling in simple +words how and where they went to their +deaths. His letters usually give the first true +account of the manner in which the fighters +of the air met their ends. Sometimes those +letters destroy cherished hopes that the aviators +reported as ‘missing’ by the War Department +might some time, somehow, turn up. +But it is better so, says Captain Zinn.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_CHALLENGE_DUEL">A CHALLENGE DUEL</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Guns of Both Armies Suspend Fire as Captains Ball and Immelman +Fight in Air</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">It</span> was often said in the early months of +the war that the air combats revived the +spirit of ancient chivalry. It was true for a +time, but German treachery and ruthlessness +soon changed the character of the upper warfare. +When the raider and the dastard entered, +gallantry necessarily gave way to grim +and merciless antagonism.</p> + +<p>There were many, though, on both sides +who felt that no glory came to aviation from +methods of frightfulness and reprisals for +such frightfulness and to the last there were +instances of clean, brave fights. One of the +last duels on the knightly lines of conduct +was that in which Captain Immelman, “The +Falcon” of the German army, met Captain +Ball, one of the most brilliant airmen of the +British Royal Flying Corps. Immelman had +a record of some fifty-one British airplanes +downed. Captain Ball wanted to wipe out +this record, and the daring German at the +same time; so one day he flew over the German +lines and dropped the following note:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> +<p class="no-indent"> +“Captain Immelman:<br> +</p> + +<p>I challenge you to a man-to-man fight to take +place this afternoon at two o’clock. I will meet +you over the German lines. Have your anti-aircraft +guns withhold their fire, while we decide +which is the better man. The British guns will +be silent.</p> + +<p class="right"> +“Ball.”<br> +</p> +</div> + +<p>Ball was by that time quite renowned. The +Germans were aware of his official record. He +had taken part in twenty-six combats, had destroyed +eleven hostile machines, driven two +out of control, and forced several others to +land.</p> + +<p>In these combats Captain Ball had gone up +alone. On one occasion he had fought six +hostile machines, twice he had fought five +machines, and once four. When leading two +other British aeroplanes he had attacked an +enemy formation of eight. On each of these +occasions he had brought down at least one +enemy.</p> + +<p>The Germans knew all that, but evidently +Ball had picked an opponent worthy of him +not only in skill but in courage and chivalry, +for that day the answer to the note was +dropped from a German machine:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> +<p class="no-indent"> +“Captain Ball:<br> +</p> + +<p>Your challenge is accepted. The guns will +not interfere. I will meet you promptly at +two.</p> + +<p class="right"> +“Immelman.”<br> +</p> +</div> + + +<h3>CHEERS FROM OPPOSING TRENCHES</h3> + +<p>Far and wide along the trenches the word +was spread. Firing stopped as though a flag +of truce had been hoisted. Germans and English +left covers and sought positions of vantage +from which to watch the battle royal. +At the appointed time both flyers rose promptly +and made their way over “No Man’s +Land.”</p> + +<p>“Cheering arose,” relates an eye-witness.</p> + +<p>“There were wild cheers for Ball. The +Germans yelled just as vigorously for Immelman.</p> + +<p>“The cheers from the trenches continued; +the Germans’ increased in volume; ours +changed into cries of alarm.”</p> + +<p>Immelman was known to have a method +of attack peculiar to himself. Instead of +approaching his adversary from the side, he +maneuvered to get squarely behind him. His +study was to hold the nose of his machine +almost on the tail of the aircraft he was +pursuing. This gave him, Abbot points out, +what used to be called in the Navy a raking +position, for his shots would rake the whole +body of the enemy airplane from tail to nose +with a fair chance of hitting either the fuel +tank, the engine, or the pilot. Failing to +secure the position he coveted, this daring +German would surrender it with apparent +unconcern to the enemy, who usually fell into +a trap. For just as the foeman’s machine +came up to the tail of Immelman’s craft the +latter would suddenly turn his nose straight +to earth, drop like a stone, execute a backward +loop and come up behind his surprised +adversary, who thus found the tables suddenly +turned....”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_210" style="max-width: 46.625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_210.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">1st Lieut. Philip Benson</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Volunteered for night bombing and was particularly efficient in “chassi” work. He gave the +Germans a taste of their own medicine—by dropping bombs on German towns and firing upon +German supply trains.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>We have left the description of the duel +with the English in alarm.</p> + +<p>“Ball,” continues the eye-witness, “thousands +of feet above us and only a speck in +the sky, was doing the craziest things imaginable. +He was below Immelman and was +apparently making no effort to get above him +and thus gaining the advantage of position. +Rather he was swinging around, this way +and that, attempting, it seemed, to postpone +the inevitable.</p> + +<p>“We saw the German’s machine dip over +preparatory to starting the nose-dive.</p> + +<p>“‘He’s gone now,’ sobbed a young soldier +at my side, for he knew Immelman’s +gun would start its raking fire once it was +being driven straight down.</p> + +<p>“Then in a fraction of a second the tables +were turned. Before Immelman’s plane could +get into firing position, Ball drove his machine +into a loop, getting above his adversary +and cutting loose with his gun and smashing +Immelman by a hail of bullets as he swept by.</p> + + +<h3>A WREATH FOR HIS VICTIM</h3> + +<p>“Immelman’s airplane burst into flames and +dropped. Ball from above followed for a few +hundred feet and then straightened out and +raced for home. He settled down, rose +again, hurried back, and released a huge +wreath of flowers, almost directly over the +spot where Immelman’s charred body was +being lifted from a tangled mass of metal.</p> + +<p>“Four days later Ball too was killed.”</p> + +<p>Shortly before his death Ball wrote to a +friend: “You will be pleased to hear that I +have ten more Huns, and that my total is +now 40—two in front of my French rival. +Oh, I’m having a topping time! To-day or +to-morrow I’m being presented to Sir Douglas +Haig. Am very pleased. I just want to +get a few more if I can.”</p> + +<p>Ball’s wish was gratified. He got more +than a few more and then—died as he had so +often lived—fighting against great odds, for +when last seen, on the evening of May 7, +1917, he was high above the enemy’s lines engaging +three German machines at once.</p> + +<p>What slender hope had been left for him +was shattered by the War Office intimation +that Ball had been killed. The brave young +officer lost his life at a village 5½ miles +east of La Bassée.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="AN_AMERICAN_WONDER">AN AMERICAN WONDER</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Brief but Greatly Achieving Career of Lieut. Frank Luke, Jr.—His +Mysterious End</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Innumerable</span> are the instances, never +to be reckoned, of the sudden meteoric +flame of splendid daring—the sudden flash of +the courageous soul in achievement, and the +equally sudden extinction—that a thousand attested +circumstances assure us characterized +the terrible passing of the Great War. Happily +for the world, always the better for new +evidence that “divinity still lives in the hearts +of men,” very many of those deeds of devoted +heroism have been written into history for +the inspiration of high-minded youth.</p> + +<p>There was no experience more aptly described +as meteoric than that of Frank Luke, +Jr., who joined the 27th Aero Squadron near +Château-Thierry late in July, 1918, did brilliant +service in that connection, and before +the end of September had utterly disappeared +from the knowledge of men—one of the missing +never definitely accounted for.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span></p> + +<p>Frank was a Phoenix, Arizona, boy, barely +twenty when he entered the service. After +a period of training in Texas he was sent to +France and had further training at Issoudun +and was then sent to join the squadron near +Château-Thierry. He was an enthusiast for +flying, never getting enough of it. It was like +second nature to him, and he adhered to no +rules but his own, apparently indifferent to +safety regulations when in the air, and so +impatient of restrictions that he almost invariably +got lost from his flight when it went +out in formation. This gave rise among his +fellows to the belief that he was afraid to +follow, his getting lost being the deliberate +result of “funk.” In course of time, however, +they came to understand that Frank Luke +held no acquaintance with fear. He simply +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span>had a method—method and initiative—and +put his abilities to their most effective use. +It was so good a method, so wisely reasoned +and so admirably executed that in the space +of seventeen days he shot down eighteen enemy +balloons and planes.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_212" style="max-width: 46.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_212.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">Lieutenant Frank Luke</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He joined an Aero Squadron near Château-Thierry, late in July, 1918, and before the end of +September he disappeared without being heard from again.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Lieut. Col. Harold E. Hartney, Chief of +Gunnery in the Air Service, at that time +Commander of the Squadron to which Luke +belonged, gave an account of the young aviator’s +first exploit. August 6, 1918, the First +Pursuit Group, which included the 27th +Squadron, was operating on the Château-Thierry +sector. The work was seriously interfered +with by heavy barrages of pursuit +planes maintained by the enemy to prevent +Allied reconnaissance over the territory being +evacuated. Col. Hartney says:</p> + + +<h3>HIS FIRST EXPLOIT</h3> + +<p>“Lieut. Luke believed that if he could get +across the opposing lines unobserved and far +enough, he would be able to take the enemy +formations unaware and swoop down upon +the unsuspecting rear man, shoot him down +and get away in safety. Accordingly one day +he went off on his own at great altitude and +crossed over into enemy territory. Far below +him he spied an enemy formation of six machines +dropping down to land on their own +aerodrome. Perfectly aware of the odds +against him, he swooped from 15,000 feet to +3,000 feet in one long dive, speeding at approximately +200 miles an hour, closed in on +the rear man, and from a distance of no more +than twenty yards sent him crashing down.</p> + +<p>“The enemy formation had been taken completely +by surprise. Before they could realize +what had happened or engage Luke in combat +the latter dropped to an elevation of less +than 400 feet, and, zigzagging, made his way +home, dodging anti-aircraft fire and machine-gun +nests until he crossed the lines. By then +he was completely out of gasoline and was +compelled to make a forced landing near the +front line. He had seen the enemy machine +crash to earth, but was unable to give the +location, and therefore he could not get from +eye-witnesses on the ground the confirmation +required to make the victory official.”</p> + +<p>That feat indicated the man. It was very +soon apparent that on the occasions when he +was “lost” he was off on adventures of his +own, planning actions and studying the means +to execute them,—qualifying himself for what +he conceived to be his most valuable and effective +service. He was a veritable hunter.</p> + +<p>The morning set for the opening of the St. +Mihiel offensive, Sept. 12, 1918, the clouds +hung low and the weather was such that ordinarily +it would have been regarded as altogether +unfit for flying. But Luke was not to +be deterred by it. He was off at dawn in +quest of enemy planes or balloons and after +many vain explorations he finally discovered a +German balloon at the extreme right of the +American sector, but operated against a portion +of the line allotted to other flyers. He +returned to his aerodrome, and on reporting +the balloon learned that it had been doing +great damage by an enfilading fire, but that it +had been attacked repeatedly without success +both by American and French aviators. Luke +offered to destroy the balloon and set off with +Lieut. Fritz Wehner, his flying partner. The +statement of eye-witnesses from the ground +was that Luke dived suddenly out of the +clouds taking the balloon wholly by surprise, +but the balloon-gun which he was handling +for the first time jammed when he attempted +to discharge it. He rose into the clouds, got +the gun free, immediately dived again and +fired the heavy incendiary bullet that sent the +balloon down in flames.</p> + + +<h3>DOWNED THREE BALLOONS IN ONE DAY</h3> + +<p>Two days later he sent another balloon +flaming down in somewhat more exciting circumstances. +While he was speeding with +an escort of other pilots, to attack three enemy +balloons operating at an unusually low +altitude, his escort became engaged with a +formation of Fokkers. This would have +made it seem to many pilots unwise to proceed +with the attack; but Luke took advantage +of the fight above to dive down and begin the +assault on one of the balloons which, after +several attempts, he succeeded in shooting +down, though machine bullets and anti-aircraft +shells and flaming onions were showered +about him. As the balloon fell burning, Luke +flew down to close range and turned loose +his machine gun on the Huns on the ground +with the desired result of many casualties.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span> +When he got back home he found that his +machine was so full of bullet holes that a very +few more taps would have weakened it +enough to bring it down in collapse. But +within five minutes he was in another machine +and begging leave to go on a further quest.</p> + +<p>At 5 o’clock that afternoon he sent down +the second balloon in flames. Later he discovered +attempts being made to send up another +balloon north of Verdun; he hastened back +to his squadron and asked to be ordered +out at dusk to surprise and destroy the big +bag.</p> + +<p>He left with instructions not to descend +on the balloon until 7.50 (that being for the +benefit of his protective escort who would follow +him down a few moments later). Precisely +at 7.50 the watchers on the aerodrome +saw the balloon flare in the darkness and +fall to the ground.</p> + +<p>And so the story runs; each new adventure +a companion thriller to the others, every machine +in which he flew being more or less +riddled with bullets, and the miracle is that +the daring youth passed so many hazards unscathed. +Col. Hartney is authority for the +statement that balloon strafing is in reality +“the most dangerous exploit any man in any +branch of the service can undertake.”</p> + +<p>Frank Luke in seventeen days accounted +for eighteen enemy balloons and planes. He +was the first American flyer to win the Congressional +Medal of Honor.</p> + + +<h3>HIS END A MYSTERY</h3> + +<p>But there is an end to successful adventures +as to other things, and the brilliant career of +this Arizona lad came to abrupt conclusion, +leaving the shadow of mystery as to just how +the hero passed on. Here is the story of the +last exploit as Col. Hartley tells it:</p> + +<p>“His next official victory was on Sept. 28, +when he shot down a German Hanoveraner +airplane which was being escorted by a single-seater +Fokker.</p> + +<p>“That evening he did not return to his own +aerodrome, but remained all night with the +French squadron and went out the next day +for the express purpose of destroying three +balloons. The wonderful story of his exciting +fight against hopeless odds and of his +glorious death need not be dwelt upon. For +his work on Sept. 29 he was awarded the +Medal of Honor.</p> + +<p>“Briefly, what happened was that he flew +over an American aerodrome and dropped a +weighted message. The message asked that +a lookout be kept for three drachens over on +the German side. He was next seen to go +over in that direction at a very high altitude, +and when very nearly over the drachens was +attacked by ten enemy machines. He engaged +all of them single-handed and crashed two of +the ten. Then he dropped—out of control, +as it seemed, but most likely only pretending +to be so. When he reached the level of the +balloons he shot them down one after another +in flames—all three of them. The anti-aircraft +guns were very busy about the second +balloon. After that he disappeared.”</p> + +<p>Beyond this all that is known is more or +less speculative. Jan. 3, 1919, the Graves +Registration officer of Neufchateau reported +to the Chief of the A. E. F. Air Service on +the subject of the grave of an unknown American +aviator, killed Sept. 29, 1918, in the village +of Murvaux (Meuse), and asked for possible +information to identify the body. “Reported +as having light hair, young, of medium +height and rugged physique. Reported by the +inhabitants that previous to being killed this +man brought down three German balloons, +two German planes and dropped hand bombs, +killed eleven German soldiers and wounded a +number of others. He was wounded himself +in the shoulder and evidently had to make a +forced landing, and upon landing opened fire +with his automatic and fought until he was +killed. It is also reported that the Germans +took his shoes, leggings and money, leaving +his grave unmarked.”</p> + +<p>Supporting the report is an affidavit (Jan. +15, 1919) signed by twelve inhabitants of the +village that gives the foregoing facts in detail +and adds this:</p> + +<p>“Certify equally to have seen the German +Commandant of the village refuse to have +straw placed on the cart carrying the dead +aviator to the village cemetery. This same +officer drove away some women bringing a +sheet to serve as a shroud for the hero, and +said, kicking the body, ‘Get that out of my +way as quick as possible.’”</p> + +<p>Two of the villagers placed the body on the +cart.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="ONE_TO_TWENTY-TWO">ONE TO TWENTY-TWO</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Formidable Odds Against Which a Young English Pilot Daringly +Battled, Only to Fall 14,000 Feet Into the Sea</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">German</span> air-raids on London which +were entirely without military justification, +being a part of the scheme of frightfulness, +resulted in the death of relatively few +persons; but they roused British resentment +to a pitch that had a tremendous influence +upon the fighting spirit of the soldiers at the +front and the aviators summoned to the defense +of London.</p> + +<p>In one of the later raids, Lieutenant I. E. +R. Young, of the Royal Flying Corps, lost +his life in highly dramatic circumstances that +proved his heroic quality. The event is best +recorded, perhaps, in a letter written by +Young’s commanding officer to the father of +the daring aviator. The letter was as follows:</p> + +<p>“Your son, as you know, had only been in +my squadron for a short time, but quite long +enough for me to realize what a very efficient +and gallant officer he was. He had absolutely +the heart of a lion and was a very good pilot. +Your son had been up on every raid of late, +and had always managed to get in contact with +the enemy machines. The last raid, which +unfortunately resulted in his death, shows +what a very gallant officer we have lost.</p> + +<p>“Almost single-handed he flew straight into +the middle of the twenty-two machines, and +both himself and his observer at once opened +fire. All the enemy machines opened fire also, +so he was horribly outnumbered. The volume +of fire to which he was subjected was too +awful for words. To give you a rough idea: +There were twenty-two machines, each machine +had four guns, and each gun was firing +about 400 rounds per minute. Your son never +hesitated in the slightest. He flew straight +on until, as I should imagine, he must have +been riddled with bullets. The machine then +put its nose right up in the air and fell over, +and went spinning down into the sea from +14,000 feet.</p> + +<p>“I, unfortunately, had to witness the whole +ghastly affair. The machine sank so quickly +that it was, I regret, impossible to save your +son’s body, he was so badly entangled in the +wires, etc. H. M. S. —— rushed to the spot +as soon as possible, but only arrived in time to +pick up your son’s observer, who, I regret to +state, is also dead. He was wounded six times, +and had a double fracture in the skull.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="FROM_SADDLE_TO_COCKPIT">FROM SADDLE TO COCKPIT</h2> +</div> + +<h3>It Was a Problem of Mud That Turned Trooper Bishop Into an +“Ace” of the Royal Flying Corps</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">It</span> was not unnatural that intrepidity in the +air should have commanded more of public +attention and enthusiasm during the war +than did the courage, daring and amazing fortitude +of the men in the trenches. The sensation +of novelty makes stronger appeal to the +curious interest of humanity than do deeds +and events no less masterful though more familiar +to experience. So it was that the invaders +of the air, who fought their duels or +delivered their assaults above the clouds, came +in for the lion’s share of the popular plaudits,—the +miracles of the flyers having the advantage +of the romantic and picturesque over<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span> +the miracles of the men who kept their feet +on the earth. That is why there are more +stories of the one than of the other. But are +they not wonder stories? The career of any +of the “Aces,” American, French, British, Italian, +German, compels an affirmative answer.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_216" style="max-width: 41.0625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_216.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Colonel William A. Bishop, a Canadian +“Ace” of the Royal Flying Corps</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Among the many is that of Col. William +A. Bishop, a Canadian member of the British +Royal Flying Corps, his story rather the more +interesting by reason of his living to tell it +himself after the battles of the air had ceased. +He had a record of forty-nine German planes +and balloons actually destroyed. In addition to +this, he was the victor in eighty to a hundred +other fights high in air, the enemy engaged +being driven from the field, either because +of wounds or of that discretion said to be the +better part of valor. In recognition of these +achievements he received the Victoria Cross, +the Distinguished Service Order, twice bestowed, +and the Military Cross—all in a +single fighting season and before he was twenty-three +years of age. Perhaps the most remarkable +thing about it all was that the hero +of these officially honored achievements was +little known, until the war ended, to the public +at large. But that was due to the fact that the +British policy was not to emphasize the performances +of one branch of the service more +than those of another. It is claimed that +there were about forty “aces” of the British +Royal Flying Corps of whom the world has +never heard. Only when there was repeated +mention of a name in <cite>The Official Gazette</cite> +was the public made aware that a flyer had +won exceptional title to honors.</p> + +<p>Bishop went to England as a cavalry officer +in a unit of the Second Canadian Division, +and expected that his services would be in +the saddle, not in the cockpit. That was in +July, 1915, in a period of torrential rains and +consequent mud—cheer-despoilers of a cavalry +camp. It was while wallowing in knee-deep +mud that he viewed with envy a pilot gliding +overhead in a trim little aeroplane, and the +sudden desire possessed him to follow that +airy mind-free branch of the service. He +talked with a friend in the Royal Flying Corps +who approved his purpose, and assured him +the transfer could be made quite easily. He +got the transfer and was soon training as an +observer, his first lessons being flights in a +ponderous training “bus” (as the airmen name +their planes) that was not equal to a speed +of more than fifty miles an hour. In a few +months he got the observer’s badge or insignia, +an O with a spread wing attached to +one side, and within a little while was making +observations and taking photographs in +France over the enemy lines.</p> + +<p>This useful work, so highly important to +the men fighting on the ground, was drudgery +to him because he was burning to become a +fighter. Some six months later his longing +was gratified; he returned to England and +set about acquiring the knowledge and skill +to fly “on his own.” He had the usual experience +of the beginner,—elation over his +first “solo”; uncertainties, anxieties as to how +to get back to earth safely; a somewhat humiliating +landing, etc.; but he suffered no misadventure. +The first week in March, 1917, he +landed in Boulogne with ten or twelve other +flying men for his second experience on the +fighting front.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_217" style="max-width: 47em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_217.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Courtesy Red Cross Magazine.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">In Formation</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">These airplanes have ascended early in the morning for battle formation. The range of vision +is interesting from this altitude.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span></p> + + +<h3>KEEPING UP WITH THE FORMATION</h3> + +<p>The first time he was to go over the lines +his orders were to bring up the rear of a +flight of six machines, and he found keeping +up with the formation such a busying task +that he could be conscious of little else. “Every +time the formation turned or did anything unexpected,” +he says, “it took me two or three +minutes to get back in my proper place. But +I got back every time as fast as I could. I +felt safe when I was with the formation and +scared when I was out of it, for I had been +warned many times that it is a fatal mistake +to get detached and become a straggler. And +I had heard of German ‘head hunters’ too. +They are German machines that fly very high +and avoid combat with anything like an equal +number, but are quick to pounce down upon +a straggler, or an Allied machine that has been +damaged and is bravely struggling to get +home. Fine sportsmanship that!</p> + +<p>“The way I clung to my companions that +day reminded me of the little child hanging to +its mother’s skirts while crossing a street. I +remember I also felt as a child does when it +is going up a dark pair of stairs and is sure +something is going to reach out somewhere +and grab it. I was so intent on the clinging +part that I paid very little attention to anything +else.”</p> + +<p>Some distance off was another formation on +patrol that became engaged with a Hun formation +and he saw the young flyer of one of the +machines, “one of our own,” going down in +flames, but his reflections on that incident +were suddenly interrupted by a “bang” of +terrifying violence close to his ears. The tail +of his machine shot up in the air and he fell +three or more hundred feet before he could +recover control. It was a shot from an “Archie” +(an anti-aircraft gun), and Colonel +Bishop says of it: “That shot, strange to +relate, was the closest I have ever had from +anti-aircraft fire.”</p> + + +<h3>THE GERMAN “FLYING PIG”</h3> + +<p>In his highly entertaining book, <cite>Winged +Warfare</cite>, Colonel Bishop introduces an amusing +incident as the finish of this night’s patrol. +He says:</p> + +<p>“We continued to patrol our beat, and I +was keeping my place so well I began to look +about a bit. After one of these gazing spells, +I was startled to discover that the three leading +machines of our formation were missing. +Apparently they had disappeared into nothingness. +I looked around hastily, and then discovered +them underneath me, diving rapidly. +I didn’t know just what they were diving at, +but I dived, too. Long before I got down +to them, however, they had been in a short +engagement half a mile below me, and had +succeeded in frightening off an enemy artillery +machine which had been doing wireless observation +work. It was a large white German +two-seater, and I learned after we landed +that it was a well-known machine and was +commonly called ‘the flying pig.’ Our patrol +leader had to put up with a lot of teasing +that night because he had attacked the ‘pig.’ +It seems that it worked every day on this part +of the front, was very old, had a very bad +pilot and a very poor observer to protect +him.</p> + +<p>“It was a sort of point of honor in the +squadron that the decrepit old ‘pig’ should +not actually be shot down. It was considered +fair sport, however, to frighten it. Whenever +our machines approached, the ‘pig’ would +begin a series of clumsy turns and ludicrous +maneuvers, and would open a frightened fire +from ridiculously long ranges. The observer +was a very bad shot and never succeeded in +hitting any of our machines, so attacking this +particular German was always regarded more +as a joke than a serious part of warfare. The +idea was only to frighten the ‘pig,’ but our +patrol leader had made such a determined dash +at him the first day we went over that he never +appeared again. For months the patrol leader +was chided for playing such a nasty trick upon +a harmless old Hun.”</p> + +<p>As Colonel Bishop’s story is that of one +thrilling and perilous adventure following +fast upon another, it is impossible to give +his career in detail or recount even the chief +of his many engagements. The fight in which +he won the Military Cross is a good illustration +of the clear judgment and fearlessness +which characterized his exploits in general.</p> + +<p>The Allies had been preparing for the great +offensive that began with the battle of Arras, +and for a week in advance of the date set for +the initiative (April 9th, 1917) the airmen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span> +had been carrying out orders to keep the sky +free from prying eyes of men in planes and +to attack and destroy enemy observation balloons. +The balloons flew from the same places +every day because there were batteries of anti-aircraft +guns stationed below that area. +Bishop was assigned to the destruction of a +particularly annoying balloon that went up +daily in contempt of scouting planes. The +balloon, because of cloudy weather, did not go +up the first day after the assignment. The +character of the fighting may be determined +from the fact that in two days, April 6 and 7, +the Allies lost twenty-eight machines as against +fifteen German machines accounted for. But, +says Bishop, “We considered this a small +price to pay for the amount of work accomplished +and the number of machines engaged +(every class of machine was thrown into the +clearing process) coupled with the fact that +all our work was done within the German +lines.”</p> + + +<h3>HOW HE WON THE MILITARY CROSS</h3> + +<p>“My own experiences on the seventh of +April brought me my first decoration—the +Military Cross. The thrills were all condensed +into a period of two minutes for me. +In that time I was fortunate enough to shoot +down an enemy machine and destroy the ‘sausage’ +I had started for two days before. This +should have been excitement enough, but I +added to it by coming within fifteen feet of +being taken a German prisoner and becoming +an unwilling guest of the Huns for the ‘duration.’</p> + +<p>“I was ordered after my particular balloon +and had climbed to about 5,000 feet before +heading for the lines. On my way there I +had to pass over one of our own observation +balloons. I don’t know what it was that attracted +my attention, but looking down I +saw what appeared to be two men descending +in parachutes. A moment later the balloon +below me burst into flames. I saw the enemy +machine which had set it on fire engaged with +some of ours, but as I had definite orders to +proceed straight to the lines and destroy the +hostile balloon which had been allotted to me, +I was unable to join in the fighting.</p> + +<p>“Just about this time an amusing incident +was in progress at our aerodrome. A Colonel +of the Corps was telephoning my squadron +commander, informing him that one of our +balloons had just been destroyed.</p> + +<p>“Well, if it is any consolation, young +Bishop, of my squadron, has just gone over to +get one of theirs,’ replied my commander.</p> + +<p>“‘Good God,’ said the Colonel, ‘I hope he +has not made a mistake in the balloon and set +ours on fire.’</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_219" style="max-width: 50.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_219.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Western Newspaper Union.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Colonel Bishop Inspecting a Lewis Aircraft +Gun</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“At this moment I was serenely sailing over +the enemy trenches keeping a sharp lookout +for some sign of my own balloon. After flying +five miles over the lines I discovered it +and circled around as a preliminary to diving +down upon it. But just then I heard the +rattle of machine guns directly behind me and +saw bullet holes appear as if by magic in the +wings of my machine. I pulled back as if to +loop, sending the nose of my machine straight +up into the air. As I did so the enemy scout +shot by underneath me. I stood on my tail +for a moment or two, then let the machine +drop back, put her nose down and dived after +the Hun, opening fire straight behind him at +very close range. He continued to dive away +with increasing speed and later was reported +to have crashed just under where the combat<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span> +had taken place. This victory I put down +entirely to luck. The man flew directly in +line with my gun and it would have been impossible +to have missed him.</p> + +<p>“I proceeded now to dive for the balloon, +but having had so much warning, it had been +pulled down to the ground. I would have +been justified in going home when I saw this, +for our orders were not to go under 1,000 feet +after the sausages. But I was just a bit peevish +with this particular balloon, and to a certain +extent my blood was up. So I decided to +attack the ungainly monster in its ‘bed.’ I +dived straight for it and when about 500 +feet from the ground, opened fire. Nothing +happened. So I continued to dive and fire +rapid bursts until I was only fifty feet above +the bag. Still there were no signs of it catching +fire. I then turned my machine gun on +the balloon crew who were working frantically +on the ground. They scattered and ran all +about the field. Meantime a ‘flaming onion’ +battery was attempting to pelt me with those +unsavory missiles, so I whirled upon them +with a burst of twenty rounds or more. One +of the onions had flared within a hundred +yards of me.”</p> + + +<h3>“SUDDENLY MY ENGINE HAD FAILED”</h3> + +<p>“This was all very exciting, but suddenly, +with a feeling of faintness, I realized that my +engine had failed. I thought that again, as +during my first fight, the engine had oiled up +from the steep diving I had done. It seemed +but a moment before that I was coming down +at a speed that must have been nearly 200 +miles an hour. But I had lost it all in turning +my machine upon the people on the +ground.</p> + +<p>“There was no doubt in my mind this time +as to just where I was, and there appeared +no alternative but to land and give myself +up. Underneath me was a large open field +with a single tree in it. I glided down, intending +to strike the tree with one wing just +at the moment of landing, thus damaging the +machine so it would be of little use to the +Huns, without injuring myself.</p> + + +<h3>A MIRACULOUS RECOVERY</h3> + +<p>“I was within fifteen feet of the ground, +absolutely sick at heart with the uselessness +of it all, my thoughts having turned to home +and the worry they would all feel when I +was reported in the list of the missing, when +without warning one of my nine cylinders +gave a kick. Then a second one miraculously +came to life, and in another moment the old +engine—the best old engine in all the world—had +picked up with a roar on all the nine cylinders. +Once again the whole world changed +for me. In less time than it takes to tell it +I was tearing away for home at a hundred +miles an hour. My greatest safety from attack +now lay in keeping close to the ground, +and this I did. The ‘Archies’ cannot fire +when you are so close to earth, and few +pilots would have risked a dive at me at the +altitude which I maintained. The machine +guns on the ground rattled rather spitefully +several times, but worried me not at all. I +had had my narrow squeak for this day and +nothing could stop me now.</p> + +<p>“I even had time to glance back over my +shoulder, and there, to my great joy, I saw +a cloud of smoke and flames rising from +my erstwhile <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bête noir</i>—the sausage. We +afterward learned it was completely destroyed.</p> + +<p>“It was a strange thing to be skimming +along just above the ground in enemy territory. +From time to time I would come on +groups of Huns who would attempt to fire +on me with rifles and pistols, but I would +dart at them and they would immediately +scatter and run for cover. I flew so low +that when I would come to a clump of trees +I would have to pull my nose straight up +toward the sky and ‘zoom’ over them. Most +of the Germans were so startled to see me +right in their midst, as it were, they either +forgot to fire or fired so badly as to insure +my absolute safety. Crossing the three lines +of German trenches was not so comfortable, +but by zigzagging and quick dodging I negotiated +them safely and climbed away to our +aerodrome. There I found that no bullets +had passed very close to me, although my +wingtips were fairly perforated.</p> + +<p>“That evening I was delighted to get congratulations +not only from my Colonel, but +my Brigadier as well, supplemented later by +a wire from the General commanding the Flying +Corps. This I proudly sent home the +same evening in a letter.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span></p> + + +<h3>“LIKE SHOOTING CLAY PIGEONS”</h3> + +<p>There seems to be a general feeling among +airmen that theirs is not a business or profession, +but a game. Colonel Bishop declares +that it did not seem to him to be killing a +man to bring down a machine; “it was more +as if I were destroying a mechanical target, +with no human being in it. Once or twice +the idea that a live man had been piloting the +machine would occur to me, and it would +worry me a bit. My sleep would be spoiled +perhaps for a night. I did not relish the idea +of killing even Germans, yet, when in a combat +in the air, it seemed more like any other +kind of sport, and to shoot down a machine +was very much the same as if one were shooting +down clay pigeons. One has the great +satisfaction of feeling that he had hit the target +and brought it down; that one was victorious +again.” The fascination that such a +game has for the airman is easily understood.</p> + +<p>Bishop brought down his fortieth enemy +plane six miles within the enemy lines, and +escaped in spite of a hail of shells from anti-aircraft +guns for five miles of the return trip, +his machine being fairly well riddled; and, +one day just at that time, his cup of happiness +filled and overflowed with the award of the +Victoria Cross.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="DODGING_JACK_DEATH">DODGING “JACK DEATH”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A German Aviator’s Perils and Escapes On An Observation Tour</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">In</span> the early days of the war, the value of +the flying machine as a weapon was not +by any means appreciated. It was used for +observation and bomb-dropping purposes almost +exclusively. The Germans were the +first to realize its possibilities as a gunning +as well as bombing or spying craft. They +began carrying rifles and pistols with which +to pot enemy aviators, and the chivalry of +the air, so excellent a feature of the initial +period, disappeared, for, necessarily the Allied +aviators were not slow to follow the lead. +It was, however, in the early stage, September, +1914, that the duel occurred of which the following +is an account. The narrative was written +by the German aviator, the chief figure in +the adventure.</p> + +<p>The story, the truth of which is unquestioned, +was published originally in the Berlin +<cite>Tageblatt</cite> from which the New York <cite>Evening +Post</cite> made the translation. It is of special interest +as a report of one of the first, if not +the first of the armed encounters between belligerent +planes.</p> + + +<h3>OBSERVING THE RETREAT OF THE BRITISH</h3> + +<p>God be thanked! After a veritable Odyssey +I am at last joined again this noon to my +division. To be sure, my wanderings were +not much to be wondered at, for, during my +absence, my troop had advanced about sixty-five +kilometers in a southwesterly direction. +All the more joyfully, however, was I greeted +on all sides, for I had already been given up +after an absence of more than four days; and, +indeed, I myself wondered, as I made my report +to my commander, that Jack Death had +so allowed me to slip through his fingers.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 6th of September, +I had ascended from D—— with the commission +to report the positions of the enemy at +S—— and F—— and to make charts of the +opposing forces which I observed. First Lieut. +K—— went with me as a guest on the flight, +and my brave biplane soon bore us at an altitude +of about 800 meters above the hostile +positions, which were repeatedly sketched and +photographed from aloft. As we had expected, +we were soon the objective of a lively +bombardment, and several times I felt a +trembling of the machine, already well known +to me, a sign that a shot had struck one of the +wings. After a three hours’ flight we were +able to give our report at the office of the +General Staff of the —— army at M——, +and earned for it the warmest praise and half +of a broiled chicken and an excellent Havana.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span></p> + +<p>As I was making my “Kiste” ready for +flight again in the afternoon, with the help of +several drivers of the General Staff auto—that +is to say, refilling the benzine tank and +carefully patching with linen the places where +shots had pierced—I counted four of them, +one in the body and three in the wings—a +Bavarian officer of the General Staff informed +me that he would be glad to observe the retreat +of the English along the great military +road toward M——. I prepared the machine +at once, and ascended at about four o’clock in +the afternoon with Major G——, the aforementioned +General Staff officer.</p> + +<p>Following the road, it was at once obvious +that the retreat of the English was a disorderly +one, absolutely without plan, that it had +apparently occurred to the troops to reach the +fortified positions at Paris as soon as possible, +and there to make their stand.</p> + +<p>At Paris! My flying companion shouted +something into my face. Although the noise +of the motor drowned it out, I believed that +I nevertheless understood what he meant. I +glanced at the benzine indicator. I had sufficient +fuel. Then I held a direct course to the +south, and after a period of about half an +hour we saw ahead of us in the gray distance, +far, far below, the gray, immeasurable sea of +stone that was the chief city of France. At +a speed of a hundred kilometers an hour we +rushed toward it. It became clearer and +plainer. The chain of forts, St. Denis, Montmartre, +stood out; from the haze there raised +itself the filigree framework of the Eiffel +tower. And now—now we hover over the +mellow panorama of Paris.</p> + + +<h3>THE “CONQUEROR” AT PARIS</h3> + +<p>There lay the white church of Sacré Cœur, +there the Gare du Nord, from which the +French thought to leave for across the Rhine; +there Notre Dame, there the old “Boul Mich,” +the Boulevard St. Michel, in the Latin Quarter, +where I Bohemianized so long as an art +student, and over which I now flew as a conqueror. +Unprotected beneath me lay the heart +of the enemy, the proud glittering Babel of +the Seine. The thought of everything hateful, +always attached to the great city, was swallowed +up; an emotion of possession, of power, +alone remained. And doubly joyful we felt +ourselves. Doubly conquerors! In a great +circle I swept over the sea of houses. In the +streets raised itself a murmuring of the people, +whom the bold “German bird” astonished, +who cannot understand how the Germans +are turning the French discovery to their +own service more cleverly and advantageously +than the French themselves.</p> + + +<h3>THE RETURN FROM PARIS</h3> + +<p>For nearly an hour we had been flying in +swoops and had been shot at vainly from here +and there below us, when there approached +in extremely rapid flight from the direction +of Juvisy a French monoplane. Since it was +much faster than my biplane, I must turn and +seek to escape, while the major made ready +my rifle and reached for his revolver. The +monoplane came steadily closer and closer; I +sought to reach an altitude of 2,000 meters, +in order to reach the protecting clouds, but +my pursuer, on whom we constantly kept an +eye, climbed more rapidly than we. And +came always closer and closer. And suddenly +I saw at a distance of only about 500 meters +still a second biplane, attempting to block my +way.</p> + +<p>Now it was time to act. In an instant my +companion had grasped the situation. I darted +at the flyer before us; then a turn—the major +raised the rifle to his cheek. Once, twice, +thrice, he fired. Then the hostile machine, +now beside us, and hardly a hundred meters +away, quivered and then fell like a stone. Our +other pursuer had in the meantime reached a +position almost over us, and was shooting at us +with revolvers. One bullet struck in the body +close beside the fuel controller. Then, however, +impenetrable mist enfolded us protectingly; +and the clouds separated us from the +enemy, the sound of whose motor grew ever +more distant.</p> + +<p>When we came out again from the sea of +clouds, it was toward seven o’clock. In order +to get our position, we descended, but suddenly +there began to burst before us and behind us +and beside us roaring shrapnel shells. I found +myself still always over hostile positions and +exposed to French artillery. “The devil to +pay again!” Ever madder grew the fire! I +noticed that the machine received blow after +blow, but held cold-bloodedly to my course;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span> +at the time, it did not come into my mind at +all that these little pointed pieces of steel +meant death and destruction. Something in +mankind remains untouched by knowledge and +logic!</p> + +<p>There—suddenly before me, a yellow-white +burst of flame! The machine bounds upward; +at the same time the major shrinks together, +blood runs from his shoulder, the wiring of +one of the wings is shattered. To be sure, the +motor still booms and thunders as before, but +the propeller fails. An exploding grenade +had knocked it to pieces, torn one of the wings +to shreds, and smashed the major’s shoulder. +Steeply my machine sinks to the ground. By +calling up all my power, I succeed in getting +the machine into a gliding flight, and I throw +the biplane down into the tops of the forest +trees. I crash through the branches and tree +crowns. I strike heavily, and know no more +what goes on around me.</p> + +<p>When I wake again from my unconsciousness, +I find Major G. lying beside me on the +ground, in the midst of a group of Landwehr +men. German outposts had recognized me as +a friend, and had forced their way into the +woods, although only in small numbers, to +protect me. Major G. had suffered a severe +injury to his shoulder, which made it necessary +to transfer him to the nearest field hospital. +I, however, had only sustained a bruise +on my leg, and after the application of an +emergency bandage remained with the outpost, +later to find my way, by all possible—and +some impossible—means of transportation, +back to my troop.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="WARNEFORDS_TRIUMPH">WARNEFORD’S TRIUMPH</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Brilliant Exploit That Marked the First “Down” of a “Zepp” by +Airplane</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> air raids on the coast towns of England +were regarded as the most brutally +wanton of the cowardly “frightfulness” tactics +of the Germans employed against England. +The killing of non-combatants, chiefly +women and children, and the destruction of +private property were the only material results +of those raids, but the moral indignation +of the world was aroused. After a period +of suspension of this sort of warfare the Germans +once more, in June, 1915, began raiding +the East and Northeast Coast, the most serious +of any that had happened being the raid +of June 6.</p> + +<p>The raiders sailed over a town on the East +Coast during the night and bombed it at their +leisure. One large drapery house was struck +and was completely wrecked, the entire building—a +somewhat old one—collapsing. Adjoining +these premises, with only a narrow +roadway between, there was one of the most +beautiful Norman churches in England. The +church was wholly uninjured save a few of +the panes in the glass windows. A rumor was +spread over the country, and was generally believed, +that a large number of girls and women +“lived in” on the draper’s premises, and were +killed when the house was struck. This rumor +was false. The drapery firm had ceased +to house its attendants on the premises for a +couple of years before the raid. Some working-class +streets were very badly damaged, a +number of houses destroyed, and many people +injured. It was one of the peculiarities of +this raid that, unlike results from most of the +others, all the people injured were struck while +indoors. The total casualties here were twenty-four +killed, about sixty seriously injured, +and a larger number slightly injured.</p> + +<p>The outrage was quickly avenged by a +young British naval airman, Flight Sub-Lieutenant +R. A. J. Warneford, in one of the +most brilliant aerial exploits of the war—the +first Zeppelin brought down by an aeroplane.</p> + +<p>Mr. Warneford, who was only 22 years of +age, was the son of an Anglo-Indian railway +engineer, and before the war was in the mercantile +marine. He went home to “do something” +for his country, enlisted in the 2nd +Sportsman’s Battalion, was transferred to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span> +Royal Naval Air Service, passed the tests for +a pilot’s certificate within a few days, and was +given a commission. He was noted at the +flying school as one of the most brilliant pupils +the instructors had ever known. A month +after obtaining his commission he went to +France, where his reckless daring soon made +him conspicuous in a service where venturesomeness +is the general rule. On the morning +of June 7, 1915, at 3 a.m., he encountered a +Zeppelin returning from the coast of Flanders +to Ghent, and chased it, mounting above +it and sailing over it at a height of 6,000 feet. +Zeppelin and aeroplane exchanged shots, and +when the Zeppelin was between one and two +hundred feet immediately below him he +dropped six bombs on it. One bomb hit the +Zeppelin fairly, causing a terrific explosion, +and setting the airship on fire from end to +end.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_224" style="max-width: 42.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_224.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Leslie Weekly.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The Tragic Death of Lieut. Warneford</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">A few days after he had destroyed a Zeppelin, he fell to his death while making a flight near +Paris. With him Henry Beach Needham, an American writer, was also killed.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Warneford’s aeroplane was caught by the +force of the explosion and turned upside down, +but he succeeded in righting it before it +touched the ground. He was forced to alight +within the German lines. Nevertheless he +restarted his engine, though not without great +difficulty, and in due course returned to his +station without damage. Only the framework +of the Zeppelin was left, the crew being +all burned or mangled, and the body of +the machine being completely destroyed. The +flaming framework dropped on the Convent +School of St. Amandsberg, killing one nun +and burning two Sisters who had rushed into +the street with children in their arms. The +machine on which Warneford made this +attack was a Morane “Parasol,” a little monoplane +with a pair of wings raised well above +the pilot’s head. This construction gives the +aviator full view on either side below, thus +enabling him to take good aim for bomb dropping. +The Morane of that type was also +noted as a quick-climbing machine, a very +decided advantage in attacking Zeppelins.</p> + +<p>The story of Warneford’s triumph sent a +thrill through England. The King promptly +sent a personal telegram of congratulation to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span> +him, and conferred upon him the Victoria +Cross. The telegram ran as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“I most heartily congratulate you upon +your splendid achievement of yesterday, in +which you single-handed destroyed an enemy +Zeppelin.</p> + +<p>“I have much pleasure in conferring upon +you the Victoria Cross for this gallant act.</p> + +<p class="right"> +“<span class="smcap">George</span> R.I.”<br> +</p> +</div> + +<p>Next day the French War Minister, on the +recommendation of General Joffre, awarded +Warneford the Cross of the Legion of Honor. +It was known that he was returning on a +visit to England. A splendid public welcome +was prepared for him. He went first, however, +to Paris, and there in company with +Henry Needham, an American journalist, he +set out on a new Henry Farman biplane, +which he proposed to take by air to Dunkirk. +Warneford and his passenger had risen to 700 +feet when the machine wobbled violently for +a few seconds, and then overturned, throwing +them both out. They were both killed instantly. +The return to England was different +from that which had been anticipated. In the +late evening of June 21, a fortnight after the +deed which won him fame, the train carrying +Warneford’s body came into Victoria Station. +Thousands of people had assembled there to +pay their final tributes to the hero, and the +little procession of the coffin covered by the +Union Jack, mounted on a gun-carriage, and +guarded by seamen of the Royal Naval Division, +moved out amid the bared heads of the +silent crowd. Warneford was buried in +Brompton Cemetery.</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>The strictly American aviation operations started in the middle of March, 1918, with +the patrolling of the front from Villeneuve-les-Vertus by an American pursuit squadron +using planes of the French-built Nieuport-28 type. These operations were in the nature +of a tryout of the American trained aviators, and their complete success was followed +by an immediate increase of the aerial forces at the front, with enlargement of their +duties and field of action. By the middle of May, 1918, squadrons of all types—pursuit, +observation, and bombing—as well as balloon companies were in operation over +a wide front. These squadrons were equipped with the best available types of British +and French-built service planes.</p> +</div> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_226" style="max-width: 46.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_226.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>New York Herald.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The Pilot in the Forward Gondola of a Zeppelin</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The front gondola of a Zeppelin is screened to protect the pilot and assistants. Searchlights +and other means of illumination are carried on board to be used when necessary.</p></figcaption> +</figure> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="ONE_MINUTE_PLUS">ONE MINUTE PLUS</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Three Attacking Hun Machines Downed by “Ricky” in About Seventy +Ticks</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">No</span> one has succeeded better than Boyd +Cable, in the <cite>Red Cross Magazine</cite>, in +conveying an impression of what “Quick +Work” means in the war combats between +aeroplanes when the fighting machines are in +expert hands. But after all it is doubtful +if one can realize in reading how quick the +action was, inasmuch as the fight took less +time than you will require to read one of +these columns aloud. As Mr. Cable says:</p> + +<p>“It is difficult, if not indeed impossible, to +convey in words what is perhaps the most +breath-catching wonder of air fighting work, +the furious speed, the whirling rush, the sheer +rapidity of movement of the fighting machines, +and the incredible quickness of a pilot’s brain, +hand, and eye to handle and maneuver a machine, +and aim and shoot a gun under these +speed conditions. I can only ask you to try +to remember that a modern fast scout is +capable of flying at well over a hundred miles +an hour on the level, and at double that (one +may not be too exact) in certain circumstances, +and that in such a fight as I am going to try +to describe here the machines were moving at +anything between these speeds. If you can +bear this in mind, or even realize it—I am +speaking to the non-flying reader—you will +begin to understand what airmen-o’-war work +is, to believe what a pilot once said of air fighting: +‘You don’t get time to think. If you +stop to think, you’re dead.’</p> + +<p>“When the flight of half a dozen scout machines +was getting ready to start on the usual +‘offensive patrol’ over Hunland, one of the +pilots, ‘Ricky-Ticky’ by popular name, had +some slight trouble with his engine. It was +nothing much, a mere reluctance to start up +easily, and since he did get her going before +the flight was ready to take off, he naturally +went up with it. He had a little more trouble +in the upward climb to gain a height sufficient +for the patrol when it crossed the line to stand +the usual respectable chance of successfully +dodging the usual ‘Archie’ shells.</p> + +<p>“Ricky, however, managed to nurse her up +well enough to keep his place in the formation, +and was still in place when they started +across the lines. Before they were far over +Hunland he knew that his engine was missing +again occasionally, and was not pulling as +she ought to, and from a glance at his indicators +and a figuring of speed, height, and engine +revolutions was fairly certain that he was +going almost full out to keep up with the other +machines, which were flying easily and well +within their speed.”</p> + + +<h3>FOLLOWING THE CHANCE</h3> + +<p>“This was where he would perhaps have +been wise to have thrown up and returned +to his ’drome. He hung on in the hope that +the engine would pick up again—as engines +have an unaccountable way of doing—and +even when he found himself dropping back +out of place in the formation he still stuck +to it and followed on. He knew the risk of +this; knew that the straggler, the lame duck, +the unsupported machine is just exactly what +the Hun flyer is always on the lookout for; +knew, too, that his Flight-Commander before +they had started had warned him (seeing the +trouble he was having to start up) that if +he had any bother in the air or could not +keep place in the formation to pull out and +return. Altogether, then, the trouble that +swooped down on him was his own fault, and +you can blame him for it if you like. But +if you do you’ll have to blame a good many +other pilots who carry on, and in spite of +the risk, do their best to put through the job +they are on. He finally decided—he looked +at the clock fixed in front of him to set a +time and found it showed just over one minute +to twelve—in one minute, at noon exactly, if +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span>his engine had not steadied down to work, +he would turn back for home.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_228" style="max-width: 46.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_228.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Courtesy Red Cross Magazine.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Airplanes in Battle Formation</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">When the first light of day appeared enemy and allied airplanes both ascended and fought +for the supremacy of the air.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“At that precise moment—and this was the +first warning he had that there were Huns +about—he heard a ferocious rattle of machine +gun fire, and got a glimpse of streaking +flame and smoke from the tracer bullets whipping +past him. The Huns, three of them and +all fast fighting scouts, had seen him coming, +had probably watched him drop back out of +place in the flight, had kept carefully between +him and the sun so that his glances round and +back had failed to spot them in the glare, +and had then dived headlong on him, firing +as they came.</p> + +<p>“They were coming down on him from +astern and on his right side, or, as the Navals +would put it, on his starboard quarter, and +they were perhaps a hundred to a hundred +and fifty yards off when Ricky first looked +round and saw them. His first and most +natural impulse was to get clear of the bullets +that were spitting round and over him, +and in two swift motions he had opened his +engine full out, thrust his nose a little down, +and was off full pelt. Promptly the three +astern swung a little, opened out as they +wheeled, dropped their noses, and came after +Ricky, still a little above him, and so fairly +astern that only the center one could keep +a sustained accurate fire on him. (A scout’s +gun being fixed and shooting between the +blades of the propeller—gun and engine being +synchronized so as to allow the bullet to +pass out as the blade is clear of the muzzle—means +that the machine itself must be aimed +at the target for the bullets to hit, and two +outer machines of the three could only so aim +their machines by pointing their noses to converge +on the center one—a risky maneuver +with machines traveling at somewhere about +a hundred miles an hour.)</p> + +<p>“But the fire of that center one was too +horribly close for endurance, and Ricky knew +that although his being end-on made him the +smaller target, it also made his machine the +more vulnerable to a raking shot which, piercing +him fore and aft, could not well fail to +hit petrol tank, or engine, or some other vital +spot. He could do nothing in the way of +shooting back, because, being a single-seater +scout himself, his two guns were trained one +to shoot straight forward through the propeller, +the other, mounted on the top plane on a +curved mount allowing the gun to be grasped +by the handle above him and pulled back and +down, to shoot from direct ahead to straight +up? Neither could shoot backward.</p> + +<p>“Ricky, the first shock of his surprise over, +had gauged the situation, and, it must be admitted, +it was</p> + + +<h3>“DANGEROUS IF NOT DESPERATE</h3> + +<p>“He had dropped back and back from the +flight, until now they were something like a +mile ahead of him. A mile, it is true, does +not take a modern machine long to cover, but +then, on the other hand, neither does an air +battle take long to fight, especially with odds +of three to one. With those bullets sheeting +past him and already beginning to rip and +crack through his wings, any second might see +the end of Ricky. It was no use thinking +longer of running away, and even a straight-down +nose-dive offered no chance of escape, +both because the Huns could nose-dive after +him and continue to keep him under fire, and +because he was well over Hunland, and the +nearer he went to the ground the better target +he would make for the anti-aircraft gunners +below. He must act, and act quickly.</p> + +<p>“A thousand feet down and a quarter of +a mile away was a little patch of cloud. +Ricky swerved, dipped, and drove ‘all out’ for +it. He was into it—400 yards remember—in +about the time it takes you to draw three level +quiet breaths, and had flashed through it—five +or six hundred feet across it might have +been—in a couple of quick heart-beats. The +Huns followed close, and in that half-dozen +seconds Ricky had something between fifty and +a hundred bullets whizzing and ripping past +and through his wings. As he leaped clear +of the streaming wisps of the cloud’s edge he +threw one look behind him and pulled the +joy-stick hard in to his stomach. Instantly +his machine reared and swooped up in the loop +he had decided on, up and over and round. +At the first upward zoom Ricky had pulled +down the handle of his top gun and brought +it into instant action. The result was that as +he shot up and over in a perfect loop the center +machine, which had been astern of him, +flashed under and straight through the stream +of his bullets.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span></p> + +<p>“Ricky whirled down in the curve of his +loop with his gun still shooting, but now that +he had finished his loop and flattened out, +shooting up into the empty air while his enemy +hurtled straight on and slightly downward +ahead of him. Instantly Ricky threw +his top gun out of action, and having now +reversed positions, and having his enemy +ahead, steadied his machine to bring his bow +gun sights to bear on her. But before he +could fire he saw the hostile’s left upper plane +twist upward, saw the machine spin side on, +the top plane rip and flare fiercely back and +upward, the lower plane buckle and break, and +the machine turning over and over plunge +down and out of his sight. One of his bullets +evidently had cut some bracing wires or +stays, and the wing had given to the strain +upon it. So much Ricky just had time to +think, but immediately found himself in a +fresh danger.</p> + + +<h3>CLEVER WORK</h3> + +<p>“The two remaining hostiles had flashed +past him at the same time as the center one, +while he threw his loop over it, but realizing +apparently on the instant what his maneuver +was, they both swung out and round while +he passed in his loop over the center machine. +It was smart work on the part of the two +flanking hostiles. They must have instantly +divined Ricky’s dodge to get astern of them +all, and their immediate circle out and round +counteracted it, and as he came out of his loop +brought them circling in again on him. In +an instant Ricky was suddenly roused to the +fresh danger by two following short bursts +of fire which flashed and flamed athwart him, +and caught a glimpse of the other two closing +in and again astern of him and ‘sitting on +his tail.’</p> + +<p>“Both were firing as they came, and again +Ricky felt the sharp rip and crack of explosive +bullets striking somewhere on his machine, +and an instant later knew that the two were +following him and hailing lead upon him. He +cursed savagely. He had downed one enemy, +but here apparently he was little if any better +off with two intact enemies in the worst possible +position for him, ‘on his tail,’ and both +shooting their hardest. A quick glance ahead +showed him the white glint of light on the +wheeling wings of his flight, attracted by the +rattle of machine guns, circling and racing to +join the fight.</p> + +<p>“But fast as they came, the fight was likely +to be over before they could arrive, and with +the crack and snap of bullets about him and +his own two guns powerless to bear on the +enemy, it looked uncomfortably like odds on +the fight ending against him. Another loop +they would expect and follow over—and the +bullets were crippling him every instant. Savagely +he threw his controls over, and his machine +slashed out and down to the right in a +slicing two-hundred-foot side-slip.</p> + +<p>“The right-hand machine whirled past him +so close that he saw every detail of the pilot’s +dress—the fur-fringed helmet, dark goggles, +black sweater. He caught his machine out of +her downward slide, drove her ahead, steadied +her, and brought his sights to bear on the +enemy a scant twenty yards ahead, and poured +a long burst of fire into her. He saw the bullets +break and play on and about the pilot and +fuselage. Then came a leaping flame, and a +spurt of black smoke whirling out from her; +Ricky had a momentary glimpse of the pilot’s +agonized expression as he glanced wildly +around, and next instant saw a trailing black +plume of smoke and the gleam of a white underbody +as the enemy nose-dived down in a +last desperate attempt to make a landing before +his machine dissolved in flames about him.</p> + +<p>“With a sudden burst of exultation Ricky +realized his changed position. A minute before +he was in the last and utmost desperate +straits, three fast and well-armed adversaries +against his single hand. Now, with two down, +it was man to man—no, if he wished, it was +all over, because the third hostile had swung +left, had her nose down, and was ‘hare-ing’ for +home and down toward the covering fire of +the German anti-aircraft batteries. Already +she was two to three hundred yards away, +and the first German Archie soared up and +burst with a rending ‘Ar-rrgh’ well astern of +him. But Ricky’s blood was up and singing +songs of triumph in his ears. Two out of +three downed; better make a clean job of it +and bag the lot.”</p> + + +<h3>MAKING A CLEAN JOB</h3> + +<p>“His nose dipped and his tail flicked up, +and he went roaring down, full out, after his +last Hun. A rapid crackle of one machine +gun after another struck his ear before ever +he had the last hostile fully centered in his +sights. Ricky knew that at last the flight +had arrived and were joining in the fight. But +he paid no heed to them; his enemy was in +the ring of his sights now, so with his machine +hurling down at the limit of speed of a falling +body plus all the pull of a hundred and +odd horsepower, the whole fabric quivering +and vibrating under him, the wind roaring +past and in his ears, Ricky snuggled closer in +his seat, waited till his target was fully and +exactly centered in his sights, and poured in +a long, clattering burst of fire.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_231" style="max-width: 46.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_231.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Major James A. Meissner</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He was decorated for bravery in action in the Toul sector. He attacked many enemy observation +balloons. He was shot down in his plane several times.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“The hostile’s slanting nose-dive swerved +into a spin, an uncontrolled side-to-side plunge, +back again into a spinning dive that ended in +a straight-downward rush and a crash end on +into the ground.</p> + +<p>“Whether it was Ricky or some other machine +of the flight that got this last hostile +will never be known. Ricky himself officially +reported having crashed two, but declined to +claim the third as his. On the other hand, +the rest of the flight, after and always, with +enthusiastic unanimity, insisted that she was +Ricky’s very own, that he had outplayed, outfought, +and killed three Huns in single combat +with them—one down and t’other come on. +If Ricky himself could not fairly and honestly +claim all rights to the last Hun, the flight did. +‘<em>Three!</em>’ they said vociferously in mess that +night, and would brook no modest doubts +from him.</p> + +<p>“As the last Hun went reeling down, Ricky, +in the official language of the combat reports, +‘rejoined formation and continued the patrol.’ +He pulled the stick toward him and rose +buoyantly, knowing that he was holed over and +over again, that bullets, and explosive bullets +at that, had ripped and rent and torn the +fabrics of his machine, possibly had cut away +some strut or stay or part of the frame. But +his engine appeared to be all right again, had +never misbehaved a moment during the fight, +was running now full power and blast; his +planes swept smooth and steady along the +wind levels, his controls answered exactly to +his tender questioning touch. He had fought +against odds of three to one and—he had won +out. He was safe, barring accident, to land +back in his own ’drome; and there were two +if not three Huns down on his brazen own +within the last—how long?</p> + +<p>“At the moment of his upward zoom on the +conclusion of the fight he glanced at his +clock which had not been hit by the enemy +fire, could hardly believe what it told him, +was only convinced when he recalled that +promise to himself to turn back at the end +of that minute, and had his belief confirmed +by the flight’s count of the time between their +first hearing shots and their covering the distance +to join him. His clock marked exactly +noon. The whole fight, from the firing of +the first shot to the falling away of the last +Hun, had taken bare seconds over the one minute. +That pilot was right; in air fighting ‘you +don’t get time to think.’”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_PICTURES_ARE_GOOD">“THE PICTURES ARE GOOD”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>That’s All That Observation Pilot Miller Cared About When the End +Came</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Among</span> the men killed at Château-Thierry +was John Q. Miller, of Fairview, +N. C., first lieutenant of the air service, +shot down July 24, 1918. He was one +of the airmen of whom the public had probably +not heard, for his courage and daring +were not as spectacular as the bravery of Luke, +Rickenbacker or Lufbery. At the time of +his death he was the greatest observation pilot +on the front, according to the story of Major +Elmer R. Haslett in an issue of <cite>United States +Air Service</cite>, the official publication of the +Army and Navy Air Service Association.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_233" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_233.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">At the Tomb of Napoleon</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">In this historic spot a hero of the World War is being decorated for bravery.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>The unsung, silent heroes of the air are +the observation pilots, who at the risk of life +go forward into impossible places to get pictures +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span>of enemy positions and come back with +their machines riddled with shrapnel from +“archie” fire. At the outset Miller, says +Major Haslett, attracted attention for the +serious way in which he took his work. He +took assignment after assignment when he +might have stayed back in the barracks, and +never failed to complete his mission. Momentarily +driven off by hostile aircraft or by too +heavy “archie,” he would return to the job +and come back with his pictures or observations, +and his plane so full of holes that it +had to be salvaged.</p> + + +<h3>IN SPITE OF WOUNDS</h3> + +<p>Six Germans finally brought Miller and +his observer down on his last trip over the +lines, but not until the photographs had been +made. Badly wounded, Miller pulled his +plane out of a spin and landed his observer +with the pictures. Major Haslett says:</p> + +<p>“He gave the plane the gun, and they took +off on Johnny’s last ride. The plane accompanying +was piloted by Lieut. Baker and an +observer by the name of Lieut. Jack Lumsden, +both of whom were the very finest of +our personnel. On this mission Thompson, +I believe, was taking photographs—oblique +views—which must be taken very low, in fact, +dangerously low, in order that the advancing +troops may see from the photographs exactly +what is in front of them. It was a very +poor day, and the clouds were low.</p> + +<p>“As they were just finishing this perilous +work, a drove of eleven Huns swooped out +of the clouds and made for them. Five attacked +Lumsden and Baker, and six attacked +Thompson and Miller. Our boys were about +two or three kilometers within the enemy’s +lines, and, with such a superiority of numbers, +of course, were immediately outclassed.</p> + +<p>“The Hun planes surrounded Thompson +and Miller, pouring in lead from all sides. +Thompson, who had shot down a Boche before +and had been in a number of scraps, was +giving them the fight of his life. Miller was +heading toward No Man’s Land. It is hard +in such a fight to know exactly one’s location, +and it is better to pick out one’s general direction +when at such a low altitude, and be sure +the plane is on the friendly side of the line +before hitting the ground.</p> + +<p>“While still about a kilometer within German +territory, a bullet struck Miller in the +chest and another in the arm. Thompson +told me that Miller put his hand over the +fuselage as if semi-conscious, then the plane +started to go from right to left, climb and +dive as if partly under control.</p> + +<p>“As Thompson described it, it seemed as +if Miller were doing his best to keep up his +strength to go on with the flight. They +crossed the lines, and as they did so Miller +motioned to him in one of his conscious +moments as if to point to home. He then +put the plane into a dive.</p> + +<p>“One of the German planes had dropped +out of the combat, but the others were determined +upon putting the plane down in +flames or out of control. In these last few +seconds they closed in with every gun concentrated +on Miller. This fighting was so +close that Thompson was aiming point blank. +Miller was shot again; he made some sort +of a motion as if falling forward.</p> + + +<h3>MILLER’S RALLYING FEAT</h3> + +<p>“In a moment Thompson scored a direct +burst into one of the planes; it made a sudden +climb, then went into a tail spin from which +it never recovered. Thompson swung his +tourrelle round to get the one coming up on +his tail. While himself falling, by sheer +good fortune Thompson, fighting to the end, +turned loose all he had, and the plane underneath +his tail ceased firing, dived and fell +within a hundred yards of the other he had +just got.</p> + +<p>“The three remaining Huns followed Miller +down. One of them got Thompson in +the arm and leg with an explosive bullet. The +plane was out of control. By some miracle, +Thompson says, as they were about to strike +earth, Miller came out of his forward position, +pulled the stick back, and the plane +landed without a crash.</p> + +<p>“Thompson had enough strength to jump +out of the cockpit and run around to Miller, +who, with a strength that was superhuman, +was climbing out of the cockpit, bleeding +profusely, his face ghostly white.</p> + +<p>“He reached his arms up, man-like, and +let them rest limply on Thompson’s shoulders. +With closed eyes, and with a voice barely<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span> +audible, he mumbled: ‘Thompson, God bless +you! They got me, but I got you home, boy—and +we brought the pictures back. Get a +motorcycle, Tommy, and take them to headquarters. +You write a report—I can’t, Tommy; +you see I can’t, Tommy. And be sure to +put in it that the pictures are good—that the +mission was successful.’</p> + +<p>“These were his last words, and he fell +over unconscious. His wounds were of a hopeless +nature, and he died without regaining +consciousness a few minutes later in a sort of +improvised dressing station in the front lines.</p> + +<p>“Well, those are incidents in the life of +the observation game.</p> + +<p>“The official records credit Johnny Miller +with the destruction of two enemy planes, and +the French Government has bestowed upon +him posthumously the Croix de Guerre with +Palm, but those of us who had the pleasure +of serving with him and who have lived to +tell the tale credit Johnny Miller with having +been just a plain, ordinary, brave fellow, who +gave his life with all willingness to insure +the successful completion of the mission to +which his country assigned him.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="SUBDUING_THE_TURK">SUBDUING THE TURK</h2> +</div> + +<h3>When Captain Butt, the British Ace, Found Bakshish a Cure of Captivity</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">When</span> the war broke out, Alan Bott +was one of the younger set of newspaper +men in London. Soon after England cast +in her lot with France, Bott was training with +the airmen. Right speedily he became a fighting +flyer and anon an Ace, with seven German +planes to his credit. He won the Victoria +Cross, and the rank of Captain. Readers may +remember having heard him lecture when he +made a tour of this country early in 1919, +and gave very impressive pictures of adventures +in the air. Not many aviators had the +varied experiences that fell to the fortune of +Captain Bott, for though he was for a time +with his fellows of the Royal British Air +Force operating in France, he was transferred +to the East later and many of his thrilling adventures +were in the Holy Land. He gave an +account of one of these soon after his arrival +in this country. He said:</p> + +<p>“It all began when I fell out of the clouds +from a height of six thousand feet and bumped +my nose after a fight with a Boche plane. +It wasn’t exactly a fight with one plane, +either. I was chasing a Boche who had a +machine nearly as fast as mine, and by the +time I caught up with him we were forty +miles behind the enemy lines and above some +rough, rocky, partly wooded hills.</p> + +<p>“I was just beginning to pepper the Boche +when two enemy scout planes I had not seen +literally dropped from the clouds right above +and shot me up, especially the petrol tank. +I whirled and crashed down, and the next +thing I knew it was moonlight and my leg +was paining like the deuce, held down by +part of my engine. It was a very lonely, +desert spot, and I figured that hill would be +my last resting-place. I figured they would +name it after me.</p> + +<p>“Whether fortunately or not a bunch of +Arabs came along, sort of bandits, I suppose, +and found me. As far as I could make +out, after they lifted the engine off me they +were tossing up whether they should kill me +or turn me over to the Turks and get some +bakshish, which is a popular pastime in that +part of the country. They used to say that +with £1,000 you could bribe the Grand Vizier +himself.</p> + +<p>“While they were drawing lots to see +whether I would live or die, a party of Turkish +soldiers came along and chased the Arabs +off, but detained me. In fact, they were decent +enough to take me to an Austrian hospital +at Afion-Kara-Hisson, about seventy +miles from our base at Jaffa. It was three +weeks before I could get around much, and +then I foolishly tried to escape. My leg was +so bad that the attempt was a foozle, as the +guards caught me up before I had gone very +far.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_236" style="max-width: 43.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_236.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant Pearl J. Wines</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>90th Division, 358th Infantry, Company “E”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">While fighting in the St. Mihiel sector on September 12, 1918, Wines was wounded in his side +by a party of Germans. Becoming infuriated he engaged the entire party: killed three of them, +and captured the other two without aid of any kind.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<h3>IN JAIL AT NAZARETH</h3> + +<p>“Finally, I was taken to Nazareth and put +in a criminal jail with murderers and brigands, +all filthy brutes. At first I was put in an +underground dungeon, with one other man, +an Arab, whose great penchant was chasing +cooties. There were other English prisoners +there, and we were all treated pretty badly. +Our food consisted of a bowl of soup and a +loaf of bread each day. It was some bread!</p> + +<p>“Several of us planned to escape and tried +several stunts, none of which appealed to the +Turks, until I selfishly hit on the scheme of +becoming temporarily insane. I was very +crazy, for a few days, and then the highly +ornate boss of the jail shook his head seriously +and said he would have to send me to Constantinople.</p> + +<p>“We finally began to rumble across the +desert in a very slow train, and I decided to +drop off at the first convenient way-station and +cut across lots for Jaffa. We were quite near +Constantinople before an opportunity came, +and then, at the psychological moment, there +was a very opportune train wreck, and I +walked away and hid in among some rocks.</p> + +<p>“When night came I met a Turkish officer +dressed in a German uniform, and then +worked the popular game of bakshish, which +is really the national game of Turkey.</p> + +<p>“I gave the officer a couple of Turkish +pounds and he peeled the uniform. He put +on mine and I have no doubt he was duly +captured by the guards. I went to Constantinople +and was saluted very regularly by +Turkish and German soldiers. It took a lot +of dodging to keep clear of the Germans in +Constantinople, but I managed to get along, +having a lot of fun sometimes in the cafés, +listening to the gossip and plotting.</p> + + +<h3>A STOWAWAY ON A “HELL SHIP”</h3> + +<p>“It appeared at that time that Turkey had +been ready for quite a while to sign a separate +peace, but the Allies couldn’t get the idea. +My greatest desire was to get out of Constantinople, +and I finally stowed away on a +little rusty cargo-steamer bound for Odessa. +We were rolling around the Black Sea one +day when the crew were seized with Bolshevism +and went on strike.</p> + +<p>“It was great on that ship with the engines +dead. We rolled and rolled for days on end. +I had bought a Russian sailor’s uniform by +that time and so could go about without fear +of capture. The main thing was to get a +crust of bread and cup of water. It was a +hell ship and no mistake, with the sun beating +down all day and the officers and crew +in continual fights.</p> + +<p>“Finally they patched up a truce and we +made Odessa, the trip taking almost three +weeks. It was bad in Odessa and when we +heard that Bulgaria had made a separate peace +I decided to make a try for the Bulgarian +coast. I stowed away aboard another cargo +steamship and finally reached Bulgaria and +my British countrymen.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_DARING_PURSUIT">A DARING PURSUIT</h2> +</div> + +<h3>In An Ordinary Plane Aviator Bone Chased a German Sea-Plane Over +Sea</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">On</span> Sunday, March 19, 1916, four German +sea-planes sailed over East Kent, +England, in a bombing raid upon defenseless +towns—Deal, Margate, Ramsgate—and arrived +over Dover about 2 o’clock in the afternoon +and dropped more than a dozen bombs, +doing a considerable amount of damage. One +bomb went through the roof of a Home where +there were a large number of children; fortunately, +the children, at the first sound of +the raiders, had been taken to the shelter of +the basement. Several children going to Sunday +school were killed or injured. A woman +walking along the street was blown into a +doorway of a shop and badly hurt. The invaders +were given very little time to do their +work. British aeroplanes rose in pursuit. A +sharp fight followed, both attackers and defenders +using their machine guns freely in the +air. One British airman particularly distinguished +himself. Flight Commander R. J. +Bone, R. N., pursued one of the German sea-planes +out to sea for nearly 30 miles, in a +small single-seater land machine. There, after +an engagement lasting about a quarter of an +hour, he forced it to descend, the German +machine having been hit many times, and the +observer disabled or killed. For this, Flight +Commander Bone received the D. S. O.</p> + +<p>The commander left the aerodrome while +the enemy machine was still in sight, and +making no attempt to climb steeply, kept the +enemy in view. After a pursuit of nearly 30 +miles he rose to 9,000 feet, 2,000 feet above +the enemy. Rapidly overhauling the other +machine, he attempted to make a vertical dive +for it, both sides firing vigorously. Then he +maneuvered ahead of the other and steered +straight at him, diving below him and turning +with a vertical right-hand bank immediately +under him.</p> + + +<h3>BROUGHT HIM DOWN</h3> + +<p>The German pilot swerved his machine to +the left before they met, and the Englishman +as he passed could see the German observer +hanging over the right side of the fuselage, apparently +dead or severely wounded. The gun +was cocked at an angle of 45 degrees. Continuing +his courageous maneuvers, Flight-Commander +Bone brought his machine within +15 or 20 feet of the enemy, and poured in +five or six bursts of six rounds until the enemy +dived deeply, with smoke pouring from +his machine. The propeller stopped, but the +pilot kept control and succeeded in landing +safely on the water. Here the English airman +had to leave him, as he could not come down +on a land machine, and his engine showed +signs of giving out.</p> + +<p>One machine apparently escaped from the +fight at Dover and rapidly made its way to +Deal, where it dropped seven bombs, doing +considerable damage to property, but not killing +or injuring any persons. A second pair +of sea-planes appeared over Ramsgate at 2.10 +p.m. and dropped bombs on the town. Four +children on their way to Sunday school were +killed, and a man driving a motor-car near +by was also killed. A hospital for Canadian +troops was damaged, but no one in the building +was hurt, and the nurses went out in the +streets to assist in the work of tending the +injured. One of the sea-planes traveled on +from Ramsgate to Margate, where it dropped +a bomb, damaging a house. The German aircraft +were now all pursued by British machines +and driven out to sea.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_ROOSEVELT_BOYS">THE ROOSEVELT BOYS</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Four Sons of a Famous Fighter Gather Their Own Laurels of War</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> Roosevelts are not the only family to +have given four sons to the cause of their +country, and those other sons have fought as +bravely as Archibald and Theodore and Kermit, +and died as daringly as Quentin. It isn’t, +then, because the sacrifices of the Roosevelts +are unique that they have become so dear to +the hearts of Americans. The Roosevelts +would be the first to decry any attempt to +single out their deeds as any nobler than the +deeds of their millions of comrades in arms. +It seems only fair, however, to the traditions +of our democracy that having recounted so +many exploits by heroes who before the war +were not known outside their little towns, we +should include a few of the many, many names +which proved that connection with more noted +families did not make them any slower to welcome +the dangers which war brought alike to +rich and poor.</p> + + +<h3>ARCHIE GOES TO FRANCE</h3> + +<p>Back in June, 1917, Theodore Roosevelt, +Jr., went across with Archie. Theodore was +a Major then; Archie a Captain. Both were +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span>assigned to General Pershing’s staff. In August +it was reported that the two, anxious for +real action, had been transferred to the 26th +Infantry. So anxious was Archie to get into +line duty that he accepted a reduction to Second +Lieutenancy in order to get into the +trenches.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_239" style="max-width: 50.0625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_239.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Pirie MacDonald.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Theodore Roosevelt</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The late Ex-President of the United States, and great American Patriot.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>All this had happened quickly. It was only +in April that Archie had been engaged to +Grace Lockwood. Some five days after that he +had passed his examination for the Officers’ +Reserve Corps. By April 15 he had married. +June 20 he left Plattsburg with confidential +orders. June 25 his father announced that +Archie and Theodore had left for France.</p> + +<p>Archie did not stay long as a Second Lieutenant. +By Christmas, following distinguished +service in leading patrols in No Man’s +Land, General Pershing recommended that +Archie be promoted. In February Archie was +made a Captain. One month later Captain +Archie was wounded in the arm and leg by +shrapnel. He received the French War Cross +while lying on the operating table. “He lay +wounded for fourteen hours unattended,” +writes an American surgeon in a letter home. +In May Archie was reported able to walk +again.</p> + +<p>His wounds did not make Archie callous to +the suffering of others. In July (1918) we +read that “Archie’s request for aid for Sergeant +F. A. Ross whose hand was amputated +will be heeded by Colonel Roosevelt.”</p> + +<p>A shrapnel wound of its nature usually +results in more serious complications than an +ordinary bullet wound. On July 13 the Captain +had to undergo another operation for partial +paralysis of the left arm. His spirit never +wavered. When wounded he had directed that +the wounded men in his command be attended +first. Archie was hurt worse than he knew. It +would take eight months, at least, for him to +recover. In September he was brought back +to the United States for special treatment.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_240" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_240.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Theodore Roosevelt and Family at the Time He Was Governor of the +State of New York</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span></p> + + +<h3>THEODORE, THE IDOL OF HIS MEN</h3> + +<p>In the meantime Theodore was making +himself feared, loved and famous. He was a +Major, we said. He had been a Major once +before, but under what different conditions—a +Major in the Connecticut National Guards. +He got into action from the very start. You +could find him at the head of the most dangerous +charges. In June (1918) he was cited +for bravery after he had been gassed in the +fight at Cantigny.</p> + +<p>Theodore, too, retained his tenderness despite +war’s horrors. In July we read of his +paying homage to Lieut. G. Gustofson, Jr. +In September he writes to the widow of Lieut. +Newbold telling her that he would be proud +to have his two little sons grow up to live +and die like the Lieutenant. Theodore’s men +made an idol of him. That, however, did +not save him a second wound—this time +(July 24) it was in the left knee. He received +it while leading a battalion in a charge +at Ploisy. It was the same fearlessness which +a month before had called forth the official +citation.</p> + +<p>“On the day of our attack on Cantigny, +although gassed in the lungs and gassed in +the eyes to blindness, Major Roosevelt refused +to be removed and retained the command +of his battalion under a heavy +bombardment throughout the engagement.”</p> + +<p>After his second operation Major Roosevelt +was promoted once more, and it was as +Lieutenant-Colonel that in November he occupied +the headquarters of von Hindenburg’s +son at Luxemburg.</p> + + +<h3>KERMIT IN MESOPOTAMIA AND FRANCE</h3> + +<p>The Major’s younger brother Kermit had, +like the rest, come in from the very start, but +fortune kept at least this one member of the +family a little safer. He had left Plattsburg +to accept a position in the British Army as +early as July, 1917. In September he was +made Temporary Honorary Captain. After +being rewarded with the Distinguished Service +Order for bravery with the British in Mesopotamia, +Kermit, through the aid of Lord +Derby, obtained a transfer to the American +Army. In April he was appointed Captain. +By June he had received the British Military +Cross.</p> + + +<h3>QUENTIN</h3> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_241" style="max-width: 36.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_241.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="right fs80"><cite>© Underwood and Underwood.</cite></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, Junior.</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He was gassed in the fight at Cantigny, and +wounded when making a charge at Ploisy.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Kermit, Archibald, Theodore—all have +done their duty, but, of course, death has +made the youngest of the Roosevelts dearest +to American hearts. Perhaps, indeed, the +death of no other man at the front has so +touched the people as that of young Lieutenant +Quentin. He stands almost like the symbol +of young America giving itself up for freedom. +“In the sorrow of his parents,” writes +the <cite>Outlook</cite>, “his fellow-countrymen have felt +the sorrow of all who have lost sons in this +struggle. In the pride his parents have simply +expressed his fellow-countrymen have been +able to understand in part the pride of all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span> +those who have learned that for his purpose +of making mankind free God has had need +of their dearest. In honoring Quentin Roosevelt +Americans honor all those young men who +have rendered to their country their full +measure of devotion.”</p> + +<p>Part of the special glory of the Roosevelts +comes from the fact that they were watched +so closely. Quentin, especially, was known to +the nation from his very childhood. The nation +knew him, and it watched him. Quentin +died fighting against odds—a symbol of +young American manhood.</p> + +<p>When we think of what Colonel Roosevelt +and his sons stood for in this war there is +something soul-stirring in the fact that the +father and his youngest boy have both so suddenly +passed away, and in the light of all this +there is a pathetic significance in the answer +which Colonel Roosevelt gave to the man who +at a public meeting asked the Colonel why +he himself had not gone across:</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_242" style="max-width: 49.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_242.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Quentin Roosevelt’s Entrance Card Into the +Ecole de Tir Aerien</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“I asked not only to go over there, but I +came with one hundred thousand more men +in my hands to help. And I will tell you, +you man over there, that I have sent my four +sons. I have sent over my four boys, for +each of whose lives I care a thousand times +more than I care for my own.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_242a" style="max-width: 36.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_242a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Dr. Richard Derby,</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Lieutenant Colonel, Medical Corps, Army of the +United States.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Of these four sons Kermit received his +cross for bravery. Archibald and Theodore +rose steadily from rank to rank—wounds and +honor marking their path. And Quentin gave +his life. There is something more than fortitude +in the words of the proud, strong, old +man bearing up against the saddest of tidings:</p> + +<p>“Quentin’s mother and I are very glad he +got to the front and had the chance to render +some service to his country, and to show the +stuff there was in him before his fate befell +him.”</p> + +<p>Quentin Roosevelt was not yet twenty-one. +He was born in Washington, November 19,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span> +1897, while his father was Assistant Secretary +of the Navy. After 1901 Quentin, starting +out as the “White House baby,” kept +Washington interested and amused for seven +years.</p> + +<p>Sturdy, impetuous, frank, and democratic, +he was friends with everybody. He rode locomotives +between Washington and Philadelphia +with his chums, the engineers and firemen of +the Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p>Meantime, he was captain also of a crew +of warrior Indians recruited from members +of his classes in a public school.</p> + +<p>One day, during an illness of his brother +Archie, Quentin decided that a sight of a pet +pony might prove better than the White House +doctor’s prescriptions.</p> + +<p>Without waiting for permission he went +out to the stables, introduced the Shetland into +one of the private elevators, and had the little +horse on the way into his sick brother’s room +before he was stopped.</p> + +<p>As recorded by the New York <cite>Times</cite>: +“Quentin’s life while in Washington—he was +running around here in kilts and afterward +in short trousers when his father was President—was +just the adventurous childhood of +the boy who later slammed his motor cycle +into a tree at Oyster Bay when he was trying +to establish a new speed record and smiled +when a home-assembled automobile took a +corner under his guidance on one wheel. He +was not afraid for himself and worried only +about the expense of rebuilding the motor +cycle.”</p> + +<p>Quentin was sent to Harvard. He took a +prominent part in athletics. He inherited his +father’s pluck and determination. Like his +father, too, Quentin suffered from a defect +of vision. That is why when the first officers +training-camp was organized and Archie +was admitted and won a commission, Quentin, +on account of his eyes, was rejected.</p> + +<p>He thereupon applied for enlistment in the +Canadian Flying Corps. That was in April, +1917. When the United States decided to +send troops to Europe he was transferred to +the United States Signal Corps as a private.</p> + +<p>He underwent a brief period of training at +Mineola. He reached France a few weeks +after Archie, who, we remember, was then a +Captain. Theodore, Jr., was already commanding +one of the first American battalions +to go under fire. Kermit also had by that +time sailed for the war zone.</p> + + +<h3>HE MAKES A DOWN</h3> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_243" style="max-width: 24.9375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_243.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Captain Kermit Roosevelt</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Quentin became known to his fellow flyers +as “Q.” Before the fatal day he had been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span> +fighting in the air five weeks. A few days +before that last fight Quentin had a very +narrow escape. He was cut off by a cloud +from his fellows and coming out of the clouds +saw three aviators whom he took for Americans. +When he got quite close he found they +were Boches, and coolly opened fire on them. +All three attacked him. Quentin “did” for +one of them and got home safe. An account +of this is included in Captain McLanahan’s +description of Quentin’s last days.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_244" style="max-width: 25.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_244.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“Our airdrome was north of Verdun, about +twenty miles back of the American front line. +Quentin had joined us June 1. He had been +instructor at the aviation school at Issoudun, +and I had formed his acquaintance there. I +left Issoudun for patrol work at the front +about two months before Quentin was allowed +to join us. They liked his work at +the aviation school so well that he had a hard +time to obtain leave to get into the more perilous +work at the front, for which he was always +longing.</p> + +<p>“Our regular occupation in the patrol service +consisted of two flights a day, each lasting +from an hour and a half to two hours. As +this involved the necessity of going over the +enemy lines, it was, of course, extremely trying +upon the nerves. I doubt whether anybody, +except perhaps the most foolhardy, ever +performed this sort of work without feeling +greatly exhausted after a few hours of so tense +a strain. Nevertheless, we were often required, +when circumstances demanded it, to +go aloft four or even more times in the course +of a day. This was of rare occurrence and +only when the enemy showed extreme activity +and every resource at our command had +to be called into service in opposition.</p> + +<p>“Usually a patrol consisted of three squads +of from six to eight planes, one squad going +to a height of 20,000 feet, the second 12,000, +and the third 4,000 feet. They would fly +in V formation, the leader about a hundred +feet below the level of the next two, these +100 feet lower than those next after them, +and so on to the last ones of the squad, who +were always the highest.”</p> +</div> + +<p>July 14 was an exceptionally fine day for +the sort of work the squadron was doing. +“We went up at eleven o’clock in the forenoon,” +says Captain McLanahan, and describes +the flight and the fatal fight that followed:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“There were eight of us, all, at that time, +Lieutenants—Curtis, of Rochester, N. Y.; +Sewall, of Bath, Me.; Mitchell, of Manchester, +Mass.; Buford, of Nashville, Tenn.; +Roosevelt, Hamilton, Montague, and I. As<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span> +was customary, we chatted together before +we went up, and of course, planned what we +were going to do. It was arranged that Lieutenant +Hamilton was to lead, and in case of +any hitch to his motor Lieutenant Curtis was +to take his place in the van.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_245a" style="max-width: 22.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_245a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Western Newspaper Union.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Captain Archie Roosevelt</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">on Fifth Avenue in New York. He was wounded +in action.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_245b" style="max-width: 48.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_245b.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Facsimile of Quentin Roosevelt’s record card +in the Ecole de Aerien de Casuaz.</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The captain’s remarks at the bottom of the card: +“Very good pilot; regular landings; very good +shot; excellent military spirit, and very daring.”</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“There was a rather stiff wind blowing in +the direction of the German lines, and when +we reached an altitude of about 10,000 feet +we began to be carried with great rapidity +toward them. We had not yet sighted any +enemy airplanes after we had been aloft an +hour. Hamilton’s motor went wrong about +that time and he had to glide back home. +In a few minutes he was followed by Montague, +whose motor also had gone back on him.</p> +</div> + + +<h3>MEETING THE ENEMY</h3> + +<p>“Half an hour after this, when we were +five miles inside the German lines, we saw +six of their Fokker planes coming toward us. +They had been concealed until then by clouds +between them and us, they flying on the under<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span> +side of the clouds. Our planes were of the +Nieuport type, of the lightest pursuing kind, +and in almost every respect like the type the +Germans approaching us were using. The +chief difference was that they carried stationary +motors while ours were rotary ones, which +gave us a trifle the advantage in turning. +But this was more than neutralized by the +very much greater inflammable material in +our machines.</p> + +<p>“When we got to within 500 feet of each +other both sides began firing. The weapons +on each side were virtually identical, each +Nieuport and each Fokker carrying two machine +guns. As each plane had but one occupant, +upon whom, of course, devolved the +work not only of steering his craft but firing +the guns, there was an arrangement by which +these two duties could be executed with, so +to speak, one movement. The steering gear +and the firing and aiming devices were adjusted +to a stick in front of the aviator, in +such a manner that his hand could clutch all +three levers at once and work each by a +slight pressure.</p> + +<p>“Each of the machine guns carried about +250 rounds of ammunition, and unless it got +jammed it was capable of firing the entire +lot in half a minute. In order to determine +whether the aim is accurate some of the bullets +are so constructed that they emit smoke +and can thus be seen. These are called tracers. +Without them it would be well-nigh impossible +to gage one’s range so far up in the +air, remote from anything by which comparisons +could be made to rectify the judgment +in aiming.</p> + +<p>“From the moment that I singled out the +enemy whom I was to engage in duel I naturally +lost sight of everything else and kept +my eyes pretty well glued upon him alone. +Now and then, of course, I would, when I +got a chance, look backward, too. For one +can never tell but that another enemy plane, +having disposed of its opponent, may pay his +respects to another one.</p> + +<p>“But if anybody imagines that an aviator +engaged in battle with an active opponent +gets a chance to help along an associate, or +even to pay attention to what is happening +to any of the others, he is mistaken. One has +to be on the alert for every move the enemy +makes, and even do a lot of correct guessing +as to what would be the most logical next +move for him to make. For it is upon that +next move that the entire fortunes of the war +for those particular two aviators may hinge.</p> + +<p>“After I had fired every round of ammunition, +which seemed to be about the same +time as my adversary discovered himself to +be in the same plight, we drew away from +each other and flew toward our respective +bases. During our duel my airplane had +become separated from the others of our +unit and I could see no trace of them. I assumed, +however, that they were either still +fighting or had also finished and were on their +way back home. Somehow I did not think +of the third alternative, namely, that anything +serious had happened to any of them.</p> + +<p>“Indeed, one’s thoughts are so completely +directed toward the business in hand, especially +during a fight, that there is not a moment’s +time that can be devoted to other matters, +even those of the dearest, tenderest, or +most sacred nature. To divert the mind even +for an instant from the grim business of battle +itself would be scarcely short of suicidal. +And the home-bound journey after the battle +is enlivened by so continuous a gauntlet of +bursting enemy anti-aircraft shells that they +suffice to keep the mind engaged in ways and +means of dodging them until the home base is +finally reached. During an air-battle, of +course, the anti-aircraft guns are silent, for +their shells would be equally dangerous for +friend and foe.”</p> + + +<h3>ALL BUT QUENTIN RETURNED</h3> + +<p>Lieutenants Buford and McLanahan arrived +after all of the others, except Lieutenant +Roosevelt, had returned to the field. They +were not worried about him at the time, but +when hours went by and he failed to return, +they knew that something had gone wrong. +Still, they did not think he had been killed. +As Captain McLanahan explains:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“We were encouraged to hope for the best +by the fact that Quentin had remained out a +considerable time longer than the rest of us +three days before. On that occasion he had +become separated from the squad, I don’t just +know in what way, and when we saw him +again he jumped out of his airplane in great<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span> +excitement and so radiant with elation and +with so broad a smile that his teeth showed +exactly in the same famous way as his father’s +used to do. He never reminded us so much +of his father as on that occasion.</p> + +<p>“He told us that after losing track of us +he sighted a group of airplanes which he believed +to be ours and headed his airplane +toward them. He was too cautious, however, +to take anything for granted, and so in steering +toward the group he kept himself in the +rear of them, and when he got closer he discovered +that they had the cross of the Germans +painted on them.</p> + +<p>“His first impulse was to get away as fast +as possible; but then the hero in him spoke +up and he decided to avail himself of the +chance to reduce the number of our enemies +by at least one. And so, flying quite close to +the last one of the airplanes, he fired quickly +and with such good aim that the plane immediately +went down, spinning around, with +its nose pointed to the ground.</p> + +<p>“‘I guess I got that one all right,’ he said; +but he did not wait to see what the final outcome +might be, for aviators are full of tricks +and, by feigning disaster to their own machine, +often succeeded in drawing an overconfident +enemy to destruction. Quentin knew this; +and moreover, he had another big contract +on his hands, namely, to get away from the +associates of the man whom he had attacked. +They all turned upon him, firing from a +dozen machine guns; but in firing his own gun +he had wheeled about at the same instant, +and in that way had a big handicap over the +pursuers. He kept far enough in advance of +them to get back within the American lines +before they were able to lessen the distance +sufficiently to make their shells effective. The +rate of speed, by the way, was 140 miles an +hour.</p> + +<p>“Despite his excitement and the really exceptional +achievement, Quentin modestly refrained +from declaring positively that he had +bagged his man. It was only afterward, when +we learned through an artillery observation-balloon +that the airplane brought down by +Quentin had been seen to strike the earth with +a crash, that he himself felt satisfied that he +was entitled to be regarded the victor. This +was the occasion which brought him the Croix +de Guerre.”</p> +</div> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_247" style="max-width: 27.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_247.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood, and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>When the day passed and Quentin failed +to return, his associates still remained hopeful +that he had landed in the enemy lines, and +had been taken prisoner. But there was +further news, bad news, as Captain McLanahan +relates:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“Even this forlorn hope was dispelled the +following day, when news was received that +an observation-balloon’s crew had seen a Nieuport +machine fall at Chamery, east of Fère-en-Tardenois,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span> +the place where Quentin had gone +into the battle.</p> +</div> + + +<h3>GERMANS REPORT DEATH</h3> + +<p>“A few days after that German aviators +flying over the American lines dropped notes +announcing that Lieut. Quentin Roosevelt had +been killed by two bullet wounds in the head +and had been buried with military honors by +the Germans.</p> + +<p>“After the armistice was signed, we saw +the aviator who had killed Quentin. He was +a non-commissioned officer and one of the +most expert flyers in the enemy’s air service. +After the armistice he was acting as an inspector +in the surrender of German airplanes +to the Allies.</p> + +<p>“This man said that when he learned that +the officer whom he had brought down belonged +to so prominent a family in America +he felt sorry.</p> + +<p>“‘He was identified by a metal identification-plate +fastened by a little chain to his +wrist,’ said the German, ‘and I was then told +of the young man’s prominence and his own +personal popularity. Of course, even if I +had known during the battle who he was, I +would not have hesitated to try my best to +down him; because, if I hadn’t, he surely +would have downed me.</p> + +<p>“‘He made a gallant fight, although I recognized +almost from the beginning of our +duel that he was not as experienced as some +others I had encountered and won out against.</p> + +<p>“‘As it was, he dipped and circled and +looped and tried in a variety of ways to get +above and behind me. It was not at all an +easy task for me to get the upper hand and +down him.’”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_248" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_248.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">When the Great American Patriot Died Flyers Dropped Wreaths from +the Air Over the Roosevelt Home at Sagamore Hill</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Simple praise this is, but sincere we feel. +The German felt sorry for our boy-hero. +“He made a gallant fight,” he said. And he +was not the only German who was forced to +give due admiration to the dauntless American. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span>The enemy buried him with military +honors, and marked his grave. The German +Cross, however, has been removed from +the grave of Quentin. The grave is now +simply fenced with stones. The French strew +flowers over it. It bears a soldier’s inscription:</p> + +<p>“Here rests on the field of honor First +Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt, killed in action +July, 1918.”</p> + +<p>A memorial just as eloquent in its simplicity +is the letter from General Pershing to +the father of Quentin:</p> + +<p>“Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt during his +whole career in the air service both as a cadet +and as a flying officer was a model of the best +type of young American manhood.”</p> + +<p>Quentin is a hero—a soldier—an officer—yet +most of all he remains to our memory as +our ex-President’s youngest boy. Eleanor +Reed expresses this lasting appeal in her poem +to Quentin, in the New York <cite>Times</cite>:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Young Roosevelt is dead—and I whose son</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Is just a little boy, too young to go,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Read with bewildered eyes the tales recalled</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of pranks the little White House boy had played.”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="JUST_WHAT_HE_WANTED">JUST WHAT HE WANTED</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Restless Seeker After Excitement, the War Filled the Bill for Lieutenant +Roberts</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Few</span> young men enlisted for the war more +frankly in the spirit of adventure than did +Lieutenant E. M. Roberts, an American boy, +born in Duluth, and seemingly born with the +unrest of the winds of the Northwest in his +blood. When he was but ten years old he ran +away from home in obedience to the restless +longing to fare for himself, go whither he +listed, and taste the ruggedness of nature in +experience. He tried lumbering in the Northwest. +He crossed the border into Canada and +successively turned his hand to many things—mining, +automobile repair, railroad construction, +cow-punching, sheep-raising, etc.—getting +a liberal education in the “University of Hard +Knocks,” as he expressed it, but never finding +just the excitement he vaguely yearned for.</p> + +<p>He was in Calgary in October, 1914, and +by chance learned from a newspaper in which +he had wrapped a purchase, that there was +war doing in Europe. It struck him that the +thing sought, the desired excitement, was now +ready to hand. He met an old friend and +talked the news with him. The friend told +him that there had been a call that morning +for men for service in Europe. “Let’s join!” +Both were of the same mind; both were ready +for adventure. Next morning he enlisted as a +member of the 10th Canadian Infantry Battalion. +But the officer in charge of the barracks +knew Roberts, and recalling that he was +familiar with mechanics, transferred him to a +mechanical transport section, not at all to his +liking, mechanics being but a tame affair.</p> + +<p>In time he went with the battalion to +France as driver of a lorry. He got a dose +of gas at Ypres and was sent back to England +for hospital treatment. On recovery he +was returned to France as Section Sergeant, +his duty being to scout the roads ahead on a +motor cycle. He found that he was getting +very little out of the war but hard work, +plodding knee deep in mud much of the time +while up there the flyers were having a jolly, +enviable time. Ambition to get into the Royal +Flying Corps seized him and never let go of +him, but it was long before the opportunity +to join came to him. Much experience of +many kinds came his way, despatch riding +among the rest, before the happy day when +he was attached to an air squadron as gunner +on probation, the getting of which position +was in itself an adventure, as is duly set forth +in <cite>A Flying Fighter</cite>, the intensely interesting +story of his career told by Roberts himself.</p> + +<p>Though on the way he was yet far from +his goal. He had first to go into the trenches +to learn what infantrymen had to go through.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span> +He got a thorough lesson, which included +prowls in No Man’s Land, charging enemy +trenches and plunging in to prod with the +bayonet and fling hand grenades and much +like matter rather adapted, one would imagine, +to disqualify an aspirant for service in the +air, for rising above ground. But he arrived +in due time at the dignity of an accepted aviator, +and made his first flight. Then came the +excitement of shooting down his first Hun, +but we pass that and many other arresting incidents +and exploits of his apprenticeship to +come to his account of an exceptional sort of +encounter with hostile planes that has in it all +the elements of dramatic surprise.</p> + +<p>He was assigned to pilot duty with a scout +and fighting squadron doing service in France, +and his first turn of service consisted of patrol +duty for three days running. It was an +uneventful start, nothing occurring in the three +days. On the fourth day he went up again +on patrol to 20,000 feet. He was looking for +Huns up there but found none. As it was +very cold he decided to go down a way, and +shut off power. He says:</p> + +<p>“At the level of 18,000 feet, I found myself +sweeping along a very large peak of +cloud. Intending to spoil its pretty formation +I dived into it, and coming out on the other +side, found myself along side of a Hun plane +of the Albatross type. [Roberts was in a +Spad.] I had no intimation at all that a Hun +was present, and I guess he was in the same +position.</p> + + +<h3>“THE HUN WAVED AT ME AND I WAVED AT +HIM”</h3> + +<p>“I suppose he was as much surprised as I +was when he saw me emerging from the cloud. +Neither of us could shoot at the other for +the reason that the guns of the machines we +were flying were fixed to the machine so that +the machine itself has to be pointed.</p> + +<p>“We were so close together that this could +not be done without our ramming one another, +which both of us had to avoid if we +did not wish to crash to the earth together.</p> + +<p>“The Hun waved at me and I waved at +him.</p> + +<p>“We found ourselves in a very peculiar +situation. I was so close to him that I could +see with the naked eye every detail of his +machine. His face also I could see quite +clearly, even to the wrinkles around his mouth.</p> + +<p>“There was something odd in our position. +I had to smile at the thought that we were +so close together and yet dared not harm one +another. The Hun also smiled. Then I +reached down to feel the handle on my pressure +reservoir to make sure that it was in its +proper place, for I knew that one of us would +soon have to make a break.</p> + +<p>“I had never before met a Hun at such +close quarters in the air and though we flew +parallel to one another for only a few minutes, +the time seemed like a week. I remembered +some of the tactics told me by some of the +older and best fighters in the corps, and was +wondering how I could employ them. Finally +a thought occurred to me. Two machines +flying at the same height are not necessarily +on exactly the same level, as they keep going +up and down for about 20 feet.</p> + +<p>“I was flying between the Hun and his +own lines and I had fuel for another hour +and a quarter anyway. I wanted to make +sure of this bird, but decided to play a waiting +game. We continued our flight side by +side.</p> + +<p>“After a while, however, much sooner than +I expected, the Hun began to get restless and +started to maneuver for position; like myself +he was utilizing the veriest fraction of every +little opportunity in his endeavor to out-maneuver +the antagonist. Finally, the Hun +thought he had gotten the lead.</p> + +<p>“I noticed that he was trying to side-slip, +go down a little, evidently for the purpose of +shooting me from underneath, but not far +enough for me to get a dive on him. I was +not quite sure as yet that such was really his +intention, but the man was quick. Before I +knew what had happened he had managed to +put five shots into my machine, but all of them +missed me.</p> + + +<h3>THE HUN SPINS EARTHWARD</h3> + +<p>“I maneuvered into an offensive position as +quickly as I could, and before the Hun could +fire again I had my machine gun pelting him. +My judgment must have been fairly good.</p> + +<p>“The Hun began to spin earthward. I +followed to finish him, keeping in mind, meanwhile, +that it is an old game in flying to let +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span>the other man think you are hit. This bit +of strategy will often give an opportunity to +get into a position that will give you the drop +on your antagonist. The ruse is also sometimes +used to get out of a fight when in trouble +with gun jam, or when bothered by a defective +motor.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_251" style="max-width: 46.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_251.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant James B. Lepley</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>42nd Division, 168th Infantry, Company “M”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">On the night of July 14 and 15, 1918, to the northeast of Châlons-sur-Marne, near Souain, Lepley +left his trench in a dense gas attack, and made his way to a wood through a rain of shrapnel. He +went in search of two men lost from his platoon. He found them and guided them back to the +trenches. A few days later, near Sergy, he led his platoon in a charge upon six machine-gun +emplacements, which they captured, together with over thirteen prisoners of the Prussian Guards.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“I discovered soon that this precaution was +not necessary, for the Hun kept spinning +down to the ground. He landed with a +crash.</p> + +<p>“A few minutes later I landed two fields +away from the wreck and ran over to see the +kill I had made.</p> + +<p>“I had hit the Hun about fifty times and +had nearly cut off both his legs at the hips.</p> + +<p>“There was nothing left in the line of souvenirs, +as the Tommies had gotten to the +wreck before I did. I carried off a piece of +his props and had a stick made of it. That +night we had a celebration over the first Hun +I had brought down behind our own line since +I became a pilot.</p> + +<p>“Next day I went out to get another Hun +to add to my collection. I was in the act of +crossing the Hun lines when, bang! to the +right of me came a thud, and my engine +stopped. Revenge, I thought. I volplaned +to the ground, made a good landing in a field +just behind our lines, and, ’phoning up the +squad, I then had another engine brought out +to replace mine.</p> + + +<h3>AVIATOR PRICE DOWNS THREE PLANES</h3> + +<p>“On my way to the squadron I witnessed +one of the greatest air fights I have ever seen. +It took place above the cemetery of P——.</p> + +<p>“Three Huns were aloft behind their own +lines, and back of them was one of our patrolling +scouts.</p> + +<p>“The Hun does not believe in coming over +our lines if he can possibly help it, and generally +he will maneuver so that any engagement<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span> +will have to be waged over German territory.</p> + +<p>“One of our men named Price, who was +coming in from patrol, was pilot of the scout, +which was flying at the same height as the +Hun aircraft, about 12,000 feet. Price was +well behind the Hun lines when they saw him, +and all three of them made for him at once. +I happened to be at an artillery observation +post, which I had to pass on my way home, +and so was able to get a good view of the +combat.</p> + +<p>“The foremost of the Huns made straight +for Price, and for a minute it looked as +though he intended ramming him. The combatants +separated again and began to fire upon +one another, as the tut-tut-tut of the machine +guns told me. Of a sudden one Hun volplaned, +while another made straight for Price. +I wondered what Price would do, but saw +the next moment that he had ‘zoomed’ over +the second Hun machine, which just then +swooped down upon him. While Price was +‘zooming’ I noticed that the first Hun was +falling to the ground, having either been disabled +or killed by Price’s machine gun.</p> + +<p>“Yet within a few moments the second Hun +also crashed to earth, and the third was now +making for home as fast as his motor would +carry him; but Price chased and quickly +caught up with him. It was an exciting race. +Price was working his machine gun for all +the thing was worth, and before long the third +Hun went down.</p> + +<p>“Just five minutes had been required for +the fight. When I met Price later I congratulated +him. I remember wishing him all +the good luck a fellow could have. But that +did not help, for within a month he, too, came +down in a heap.”</p> + +<p>Roberts won his lieutenant’s commission +and achieved the distinction of Ace before he +returned home. He was four times wounded +in mid-air.</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>In April, 1918, the American forces just going into active sectors had three squadrons, +two for observation and one for pursuit. Their strength totaled 35 planes. In May, +1918, the squadrons were increased to nine. The most rapid growth occurred after +July, 1918, when American De Haviland planes were becoming available in quantity +for observation and day bombing service, and by November, 1918, the number of squadrons +increased to 45, with a total of 740 planes in action.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_RED_BATTLE_FLYER">“THE RED BATTLE FLYER”</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Von Richthofen’s Brilliant Career in the Air an Offset to His Failure as +a Uhlan</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> cheery egotism of a man fully assured +within himself that he merits his +own good opinion is the dominant note of +Captain Baron Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen’s +account of his experiences as a flyer. +It is not an offensive egotism; you do not +resent it; though you may smile, wondering +that a spirit so entirely valiant could so lock +arms with that quality of juvenile vanity commonly +described as “cockiness.” Von Richthofen +was a remarkable fellow, the most debonair +as well as the most redoubtable of the +German aviators and really entitled to exemption +from the opprobrious terms of “Hun” and +“Boche.” Though a resolute foe he did not +forget that he was a gentleman, an aristocrat, +and he played the game on that level. He +was easily the foremost of aviators—as far as +official recognition can determine priority—at +the time of his death, April 21, 1918. He +then had a record of 80 downs—70 aeroplanes +and 10 observation balloons. His nearest rival +at that time was Major Raymond Collishaw, +the British Ace, with a record of 77.</p> + +<p>Von Richthofen was shot down on the +Amiens front, over the Somme, April 21st, and +his machine, a new and elaborate triplane of +the Fokker type, recently presented to him—its +speed was 140 miles an hour and it could +climb 15,000 feet in 17 minutes—fell in the +British lines. The esteem in which he was +held by those who had so often sought to +shoot him down was attested in his burial with +full military honors and the tributes of genuine +admiration heaped on his grave. In the +fifteen months of his active flying he became +the favorite of the Kaiser and the idol of the +Germany Army. Some one has said, perhaps +not too extravagantly, that the fall of Amiens, +then besieged, would not have compensated +Germany for the loss she sustained in the +death of the greatest and most beloved of her +heroes of the air.</p> + +<p>Von Richthofen belonged to the country +gentry, of noble family. He entered the Cadet +Corps when he was eleven years old. In 1911 +he entered the Army. At the outbreak of the +war he was a lieutenant of Uhlans. He +went to the Western front with his regiment. +His first experience with whistling bullets +was when he and his company of Uhlans, +out to ascertain the strength of the enemy in +the forest near Virton, were caught in a trap. +They fled in wild disorder, not without casualties. +He was in the trenches before Verdun +and found it “boresome.” When off duty he +sought amusement shooting game in the forest +of La Chaussée. So passed several months. +Then one day he rebelled against inactivity. +It was not the thing for which he went to +war. He made his plea to the higher powers. +With much grumbling his prayer was granted. +He joined the Flying Service in May, 1915. +He made his first flight the next day as an +observer. Of that experience he wrote in his +book:</p> + + +<h3>HIS FIRST FLIGHT</h3> + +<p>“The draft from the propeller was a beastly +nuisance. I found it quite impossible to make +myself understood by the pilot. Everything +was carried away by the wind. If I took up +a piece of paper it disappeared. My safety +helmet slid off. My muffler dropped off. My +jacket was not sufficiently buttoned. In short, +I felt very uncomfortable. Before I knew +what was happening, the pilot went ahead at +full speed and the machine started rolling. +We went faster and faster. I clutched the +sides of the car. Suddenly, the shaking was +over, the machine was in the air and the earth +dropped away from under me.</p> + +<p>“I had been told the name of the place to +which we were to fly. I was to direct my +pilot. At first we flew right ahead, then my +pilot turned to the right, then to the left, +but I had lost all sense of direction above our +own aerodrome. I had not the slightest notion +where I was!”</p> + +<p>He continued—with steadily increasing +knowledge of aircraft—to serve as an observer +until October 10, 1915, when, having passed +his examination and been accepted as a pilot, +he had the ecstasy of his first solo-flight. In +his book (<cite>The Red Battle Flyer</cite>, translated by +T. Ellis Barker, published by Robert M. McBride +& Company), he describes that flight:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“I started the machine. The aeroplane +went at the prescribed speed and I could not +help noticing that I was actually flying. After +all I did not feel timorous but rather elated. +I did not care for anything. I should not +have been frightened no matter what happened. +With contempt of death I made a +large curve to the left, stopped the machine +near a tree, exactly where I had been ordered +to, and looked forward to see what would +happen. Now came the most difficult thing, +the landing. I remembered exactly what +movements I had to make. I acted mechanically +and the machine moved quite differently +from what I had expected. I lost my balance, +made some wrong movements, stood on my +head and I succeeded in converting my aeroplane +into a battered school ’bus. I was very +sad, looked at the damage which I had done +to the machine, which after all was not very +great, and had to suffer from other people’s +jokes.</p> + +<p>“Two days later I went with passion at the +flying and suddenly I could handle the apparatus.”</p> +</div> + + +<h3>THE BOELCKE CIRCUS</h3> + +<p>It was not, however, until September 17, +1915, when he was a member of the newly +organized Boelcke flying squadron that came +to be known as the Circus, that he scored his +“first English victim.” It was “a gloriously +fine day, and therefore only to be expected +that the English would be very active,” so +under the leadership of Boelcke the squadron +took the air. As they approached the front, +Boelcke discovered an Allied squadron going +in the direction of Cambrai. There were +seven of the Allies to five of the Germans. +They came within range. Here is a sample +of that “cockiness” with which von Richthofen +described his various and manifold encounters:</p> + +<p>“The Englishman nearest to me was traveling +in a large boat painted with dark colors. +I did not reflect very long but took my aim +and shot. He also fired and so did I, and both +of us missed our aim. A struggle began and +the great point for me was to get to the rear +of the fellow because I could only shoot forward +with my gun. He was differently +placed, for his machine gun was movable. It +could fire in all directions.</p> + +<p>“Apparently he was no beginner, for he +knew exactly that his last hour had arrived +at the moment when I get at the back of him. +At that time I had not yet the conviction ‘He +must fall!’ which I have now on such occasions, +but, on the contrary, I was curious to +see whether he would fall. There is a great +difference between the two feelings. When +one has shot down one’s first, second or third +opponent, then one begins to find out how the +trick is done.</p> + +<p>“My Englishman twisted and turned, going +criss-cross. I did not think for a moment that +the hostile squadron contained other Englishmen +who conceivably might come to the aid +of their comrade. I was animated by a single +thought: ‘The man in front of me must come +down, whatever happens.’ At last a favorable +moment arrived. My opponent had apparently +lost sight of me. Instead of twisting +and turning he flew straight along. In a fraction +of a second I was at his back with my excellent +machine. I gave a short series of shots +with my machine gun. I had gone so close +that I was afraid I might dash into the Englishman. +Suddenly, I nearly yelled with joy, +for the propeller of the enemy machine had +stopped turning. I had shot his engine to +pieces; the enemy was compelled to land, for +it was impossible for him to reach his own +lines. The English machine was curiously +swinging to and fro. Probably something had +happened to the pilot. The observer was no +longer visible. His machine gun was apparently +deserted. Obviously I had hit the +observer and he had fallen from his seat.</p> + + +<h3>HIS FIRST VICTIMS</h3> + +<p>“The Englishman landed close to the flying +ground of one of our squadrons. I was so excited +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span>that I landed also and my eagerness was +so great that I nearly smashed up my machine. +The English flying machine and my own stood +close together. I rushed to the English machine +and saw that a lot of soldiers were running +towards my enemy. When I arrived I +discovered that my assumption had been correct. +I had shot the engine to pieces and both +the pilot and observer were severely wounded. +The observer died at once and the pilot while +being transported to the nearest dressing station. +I honored the fallen enemy by placing a +stone on his beautiful grave.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_254fp" style="max-width: 49.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_254fp.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +Painting by Joseph Cummings Chase.<br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant Herman Korth</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>32nd Division, 121st Machine Gun Battalion, Company D</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Under heavy fire from machine guns and artillery. Sergeant Korth crawled to the crest of +a hill, near Juvigny, north of Soissons, August 31, 1918, setting stakes to line the American +artillery on enemy machine-gun emplacements. He remained in observation in this perilous +position for half an hour, signaling back when American troops were endangered by the +fire of the batteries.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“When I came home Boelcke and my other +comrades were already at breakfast. They +were surprised that I had not turned up. I +reported proudly that I had shot down an +Englishman. All were full of joy, for I was +not the only victor. As usual, Boelcke had +shot down an opponent for breakfast and +every one of the other men also had downed +an enemy for the first time.</p> + +<p>“I would mention that since that time no +English squadron ventured as far as Cambrai +as long as Boelcke’s squadron was there.”</p> + +<p>“Still,” said von Richthofen, in his airily +patronizing way, “the Englishman is a smart +fellow. That we must allow. Sometimes the +English came down to the very low altitude +and visited Boelcke in his quarters upon which +they threw bombs. They absolutely challenged +us to battle and never refused fighting.”</p> + + +<h3>BOELCKE’S FINISH</h3> + +<p>But October 28, 1916 (when the squadron +had 40 downs to its credit), Boelcke, von +Richthofen and four others flying in formation +saw at a distance “two impertinent Englishmen +in the air who actually seemed to be enjoying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span> +the terrible weather.” The struggle +began. “Boelcke tackled one, I the other. +I had to let go because one of the German +machines got in my way.” All that seems to +have interested him further in the fight was +the fact that Boelcke’s machine suffered a sort +of collision with one of the other German +machines, a part of his planes was broken off, +his machine was no longer steerable and it +fell. Boelcke was killed.</p> + +<p>Some little time after he had brought down +his sixteenth victim von Richthofen was given +the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Ordre pour le Mérite</i> and appointed commander +of the Eleventh Chasing Squadron. +It was then that the idea seized him to paint +his machine a flaming red, which became afterward +the personal identification of the Captain, +who became famous through the adventures +and success he had with his machine—<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Le +Petit Rouge</i>, as “everyone got to know +my red bird.”</p> + +<p>French, English, and American airmen who +gained wisdom at the front may find an amusing +flavor in a sage remark of von Richthofen +about the time he became captain of the squadron. +“In my opinion, the aggressive spirit is +everything and that spirit is very strong in us +Germans. Hence we shall always retain the +domination of the air.” Events did not altogether +sustain the boast.</p> + +<p>But it is not necessary to object strongly to +the complacency of a man who fought with +undiminished valor throughout his flying career, +accounted for 80 enemy machines, and +died at last, shot down over the enemy’s lines. +If he was self-confident to the degree of vanity, +his audacity was truly admirable. He +lacked just ten days of attaining his twenty-sixth +birthday when he fell. The English +grudged him no honors.</p> + + +<h3>THE WORLD’S GREATEST LAUNCHING</h3> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>American shipbuilders established a world’s record on July 4, 1918, by launching 92 +ships of 450,000 deadweight tonnage—one third more than the tonnage produced during +the fiscal year, 1915-16. The previous year’s record of total tonnage was 398,000 +tons in 1901. American Labor’s answer to Germany’s unrestricted warfare was the +launching on one day of 54,000 tons more shipping than had been constructed in any +previous year.</p> +</div> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_256" style="max-width: 46.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_256.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Lieutenant Pat O’Brien</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">An American youth who, in the early part of the war, joined the Canadian Royal Flying Corps. +Shot down from a height of 8,000 feet, he was captured by the Germans. Afterwards making his +escape, he passed through 72 days of harrowing ordeal leading finally to safety.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="PAT_OBRIEN_OUTWITS_THE_HUN">PAT O’BRIEN OUTWITS THE HUN</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Remarkable Story of an American Boy in a Seventy-two Days’ +Ordeal of Escape from the Germans</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> publishers of his book, <cite>Outwitting +the Hun</cite>, were not extravagant when +they advertised Lieut. Pat O’Brien’s story as +“one of the strangest and most thrilling since +the outbreak of the war.” No one else had +quite such an experience, and that he lived to +tell of it was due to indomitable Irish pluck +rather than to any favor of circumstances. You +get the flavor of the capital book he wrote +and the tone of the man from the name he +transferred to the title page. There is no +Lieut. Patricius, or even Lieut. Patrick +O’Brien; but straightforward character-delivery +in plain “Lieut. Pat. O’Brien.” and you +get from it an odd sort of subconscious assurance +that the very extraordinary story he tells +of his escape from the Germans is every whit +true. Yet, between his being shot down from +a height of 8,000 feet and the last item of his +seventy-two days of anguish and adventure in +escaping the Huns there is many a challenge +to credulity. There can be but little of his +story reproduced here.</p> + + +<h3>AS A FIGHTING SCOUT</h3> + +<p>Pat started flying, in Chicago, in 1912. “I +was then eighteen years old,” he says, “but I +had had a hankering for the air ever since I +can remember....</p> + +<p>“In the early part of 1916, when trouble +was brewing in Mexico, I joined the American +Flying Corps. I was sent to San Diego, +where the Army flying school is located, and +spent about eight months there, but as I was +anxious to get into active service and there +didn’t seem much chance of America ever +getting into the war, I resigned and, crossing +over to Canada, joined the Royal Flying +Corps at Victoria, B. C.</p> + +<p>“I was sent to Camp Borden, Toronto, +first to receive instruction and later to instruct. +While a cadet I made the first loop +ever made by a cadet in Canada, and after +I had performed the stunt I half expected +to be kicked out of the service for it. Apparently, +however, they considered the source +and let it go at that. Later on I had the +satisfaction of introducing the loop as part of +the regular course of instruction for cadets in +the R. F. C., and I want to say right here +that Camp Borden has turned out some of the +best fliers that have ever gone to France.</p> + +<p>“In May, 1917, I and seventeen other +Canadian fliers left for England on the <em>Megantic</em>, +where we were to qualify for service +in France....</p> + +<p>“Within a few weeks after our arrival +in England all of us had won our ‘wings’—the +insignia worn on the left breast by every +pilot on the western front.</p> + +<p>“We were all sent to a place in France +known as the Pool Pilots’ Mess. Here men +gather from all the training squadrons in +Canada and England and await assignments +to the particular squadron of which they are +to become members.”</p> + +<p>He was soon “called” to a squadron stationed +about eighteen miles back of the Ypres +Line. There were eighteen pilots. The +routine was two flights a day, each of two +hours’ duration. He presently found that +his squadron “was some hot squadron,” the +fliers being assigned to special-duty work, +“such as shooting up trenches at a height of +fifty feet from the ground.”</p> + + +<h3>CAPTURED BY THE HUN</h3> + +<p>Pat holds August 17, 1917, as a day he +will “not easily forget.” He has fairly good +reason for thinking the day a fixity in his +memory, for, as he says:</p> + +<p>“I killed two Huns in a double-seated machine +in the morning, another in the evening, +and then I was captured myself. I may have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span> +spent more eventful days in my life, but I +can’t recall any just now.”</p> + +<p>Considering the fact that he had been shot +down from a height of 8,000 feet the miracle +is that he became “a prisoner of war.” His +fellows of the squadron who had seen the +fight took it as a matter of fact that he had +been killed outright. One realizes that a +chap who could come through that sort of juggle +with death was quite equal to his later +adventures.</p> + +<p>Convalescent, after some time spent in +a hospital, O’Brien was sent to the officers’ +prison camp at Courtrai, preparatory +to transfer to a prison in the interior of Germany. +He remained there nearly three weeks, +to which he devotes an interesting chapter. +He had many fellow prisoners, and, of course, +one frequent topic of conversation was “what +were the chances of escape?” There were +many ingenious plans but O’Brien did not +remain to attempt to carry out any of them. +September 9th he and six other officers were +marked off for transfer into Germany, and +later were marched to the train that was to +convey them. They were objects of derision +to the crowd gathered at the station. +There were twelve coaches, eleven of them +containing troops going home on leave, the +twelfth, fourth class, filthy, being reserved for +the prisoners, eight of them under four guards.</p> + +<p>He proposed to the other officers that if +the eight of them would at a given signal +jump on the four guards and overpower them, +they could, when the train slowed down on +approaching a village, leap to the ground and +take to flight. But the others turned the +plan down on the ground that if they did get +free they would be recaptured speedily. +O’Brien therefore resolved to make a try on +his own account by a leap from a window +when the train was in motion. After long +self-debate, as they were getting nearer and +nearer to their destination he successfully put +his resolution into effect.</p> + + +<h3>MAKING HIS ESCAPE</h3> + +<p>Then began one of the most remarkable +series of perils, hardships, struggles and curious +adventures that fell to the lot of any +individual in the course of the war. With +the aid of a map, which he had stolen from a +guard’s room at Courtrai, he set out with the +distant Holland frontier as his objective. It +is a narrative that loses by condensation, for +there is hardly an adventure or experience +that has not novel interest as O’Brien relates +it. To avoid detection and capture he had +to secrete himself by day, all his travel being +by night. His guide was the Pole Star. “But +for it I wouldn’t be here to-day.”</p> + +<p>About the ninth night he crossed into Luxemburg, +but though the principality was officially +neutral it offered no safer haven than +Belgium would. Discovery would have been +followed by the same consequences as capture +in Germany proper. In the nine nights he +had traveled perhaps seventy-five miles.</p> + +<p>He was nine or ten days getting across +Luxemburg, a task that could have been +accomplished in two days of normal travel, +but swollen feet and knees, aching body and +a hunger-griping stomach together with the +necessity of stealth to avoid discovery, German +guards, workmen and others often having +to be widely circled are not conducive +to speed. About the eighteenth day after his +leap from the train he entered Belgium, and +some days later brought up at the Meuse +between Namur and Huy, where it was at +least half a mile wide. There he came nearest +of all to giving up the struggle. But he +must get across. There was nothing to do +but swim.</p> + +<p>There were adventures in Belgium, some +amusing, some harrowing, all of them perilous +to an English officer escaped from captivity. +When, after narrow escapes not a few he +reached the Holland frontier, one of the greatest +of his herculean tasks presented itself. +He had to pass the triple barbed-wire +barrier with its electrically charged nine-foot-high +fence. With hands and sticks he resolutely +set to work to dig under the deadly +barrier—hard work and most dangerous. He +was forced to stop from time to time to +escape detection. At last, on November 19, +1917, the hole was finished. He writhed +through and into Holland territory.</p> + +<p>A few more difficulties to surmount, then +on board train for Rotterdam, a run to London, +a presentation to the King, some banquet +pleasures in London and, crowning all, +home again, “in the little town of Momence, +Illinois, on the Kankakee River.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_TRACK_AND_TRACKLESS_WINNER">A TRACK AND TRACKLESS WINNER</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Eddie Rickenbacker, Who Won Popularity as an Auto Racer, Snatched +Lasting Glory from the Void.</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> spirit of adventure had won for Eddie +Rickenbacker a wide popularity long +before he began plucking laurels from the +skies. His performances as an automobile +racer had made him the idol of lovers of that +perilous sport and taught him the cool judgment +and generalship in dealing with velocities +which served him to such good purpose +when he exchanged automobiles for aeroplanes. +When America entered the war Rickenbacker +was in England on automobile business, but +hastened back to America with the intention +of organizing a flying squadron of motor +drivers for service in France. His plan was +not possible at the time from the government +point of view, and Rickenbacker accepted the +position of chauffeur to General Pershing and +sailed with that officer. It was not long after, +however, that the loftier ambition found its +channel and at Villeneuve, March 4, 1918, +he became a member of Squadron 94, the so-called +“Hat-in-the-Ring” squadron of which +Major Lufbery was the commander. Lufbery +was then America’s top ace, his service +of more than three years in the French Air +Service and with the Lafayette Escadrille having +netted him seventeen Huns, omitting those +not officially recorded. A little over two +months later, May 19, 1918, Major Lufbery +was killed by a leap from his flaming machine. +The title of American Ace of Aces passed +from Lufbery to Lieutenant Paul Baer, who, +with a record of nine victories, had not gotten +over his repugnance to shooting down an +enemy aviator. Two days later Baer was shot +down and captured. Lieutenant Frank Baylies +succeeded to the title. He was killed +June 12th with 13 victories to his credit. Then +David Putnam, with 12 victories, took the +lead. He was shot down in flames. Rickenbacker, +who in the period between March and +July had accounted for seven enemy machines, +next was ace of aces for a brief time, but +Frank Luke took the title from him in a +single day’s stunning exploit, as told in the +special story of that amazing young man. In +due course, however, the Rickenbacker record +grew becomingly and in addition to attaining +the highest score on downs he conspicuously +distinguished himself in the service as Squadron +Commander. Some of his eulogists do +not hesitate to give him preëminence as a commander +because of the judgment he exercised +in protecting himself and guarding the safety +of less competent pilots.</p> + +<p>Not a few aviators have written books descriptive +of their experiences and there is quite +a library of these high adventure stories; but +it is probable that the uncommonly voluminous +book Rickenbacker has contributed to the long +list is one of the most valuable because of the +great variety of interesting matter it comprises. +Indeed <cite>Fighting the Flying Circus</cite> has historic +importance as well as storied interest and +is not by any means a glorification of its +author. That fact makes it rather difficult +to take from the book the material wanted for +a personal sketch without including attractive +matter that would speedily exceed our limits +of space—for example, the complete narrative +of the exploit with “Rumpler Number 16”; +or the story of Douglas Campbell, America’s +first ace; or the story of Jimmy Meissner, +who piloted his machine with the canvas +gone; and others.</p> + + +<h3>CHAGRIN A SAVING GRACE</h3> + +<p>Before Rickenbacker scored a victory he +suffered many disappointments, and felt the +chagrin of seeing his expected quarry escape. +There was serviceable virtue in it all nevertheless, +as he admits in his account of downing +his first Hun. He says:</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_260" style="max-width: 57.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_260.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Captain “Eddie” Rickenbacker with His Mother and Sister</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“My preparation for combat fighting in the +air was a gradual one. As I look back upon +it now, it seems that I had the rare good +fortune to experience almost every variety of +danger that can beset the war pilot before I +ever fired a shot at an enemy from an aeroplane.</p> + +<p>“This good fortune is rare, it appears to me. +Many a better man than myself has leaped +into his stride and begun accumulating victories +from his very first flight over the lines. +It was a brilliant start for him and his successes +brought him instant renown. But he +had been living on the cream at the start and +was unused to the skim-milk of aviation. One +day the cream gave out and the first dose of +skim-milk terminated his career.</p> + +<p>“So despite the weeks and weeks of disappointment +that attended my early fighting +career, I appreciated even then the enormous +benefit that I would reap later from these +experiences. I can now most solemnly affirm +that had I won my first victory during my +first trips over the lines I believe I would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span> +never have survived a dozen combats. Every +disappointment that came to me brought with +it an enduring lesson that repaid me eventually +tenfold. If any one of my antagonists +had been through the same school of disappointments +that had so annoyed me it is probable +that he, instead of me, would now be +telling his friends back home about his series +of victories over the enemy.”</p> + +<p>It was April 29, 1918, that he had his turn +of luck. He was in the air with Captain +James Norman Hall following a course +towards Pont-à-Mousson, as that experienced +flyer led the way.</p> + +<p>“Whether or not he knew all along that a +German craft was in that region I could not +tell. But when he began to change his direction +and curve up into the sun I followed +close behind him knowing that there was a +good reason for this maneuver. I looked +earnestly about me in every direction.</p> + +<p>“Yes! There was a scout coming towards +us from north of Pont-à-Mousson. It was +at about our altitude. I knew it was a Hun +the moment I saw it, for it had the familiar +lines of their new Pfalz. Moreover, my confidence +in James Norman Hall was such that +I knew he couldn’t make a mistake. And he +was still climbing into the sun, carefully keeping +his position between its glare and the +oncoming fighting plane. I clung as closely +to Hall as I could. The Hun was steadily +approaching us, unconscious of his danger, for +we were full in the sun.</p> + +<p>“With the first downward dive of Jimmy’s +machine I was by his side. We had at least +a thousand feet advantage over the enemy and +we were two to one numerically. He might +outdive our machines, for the Pfalz is a famous +diver, while our faster climbing Nieuports had +a droll little habit of shedding their fabric +when plunged too furiously through the air. +The Boche hadn’t a chance to outfly us. His +only salvation would be in a dive towards his +own lines.</p> + +<p>“These thoughts passed through my mind in +a flash and I instantly determined upon my +tactics. While Hall went in for his attack I +would keep my altitude and get a position the +other side of the Pfalz, to cut off his retreat.</p> + +<p>“No sooner had I altered my line of flight +than the German pilot saw me leave the sun’s +rays. Hall was already half-way to him when +he stuck up his nose and began furiously climbing +to the upper ceiling. I let him pass me +and found myself on the other side just as +Hall began firing. I doubt if the Boche had +seen Hall’s Nieuport at all.</p> + +<p>“Surprised by discovering this new antagonist, +Hall, ahead of him, the Pfalz immediately +abandoned all idea of a battle and +banking around to the right started for home, +just as I had expected him to do. In a trice +I was on his tail. Down, down we sped with +throttles both full open. Hall was coming +on somewhere in my rear. The Boche had +no heart for evolutions or maneuvers. He was +running like a scared rabbit, as I had run +from Campbell. I was gaining upon him +every instant and had my sights trained dead +upon his seat before I fired my first shot.</p> + + +<h3>WITHOUT A RETURN SHOT</h3> + +<p>“At 150 yards I pressed my triggers. The +tracer bullets cut a streak of living fire into +the rear of the Pfalz tail. Raising the nose +of my aeroplane slightly the fiery streak lifted +itself like a stream of water pouring from a +garden hose. Gradually it settled into the +pilot’s seat. The swerving of the Pfalz course +indicated that its rudder no longer was held +by a directing hand. At 2,000 feet above the +enemy’s lines I pulled up my headlong dive +and watched the enemy machine continuing on +its course. Curving slightly to the left the +Pfalz circled a little to the south and the +next minute crashed onto the ground just at +the edge of the woods a mile inside their own +lines. I had brought down my first enemy +aeroplane and had not been subjected to a +single shot!”</p> + +<p>So capital a beginning had an appropriate +sequence of performances and honors to match, +among them, as early as May 15th, the Croix +de Guerre. That day, too, Lieutenant Jimmy +Meissner, the merriest, most reckless member +of the squadron, took to his breast the Croix +de Guerre, and much ado the two had to keep +their elation within the limits of decorum, +which stunt flying for the entertainment of the +French officials did not diminish. Rickenbacker +says:</p> + +<p>“Suddenly Jimmy Meissner stood by my +side, grinning his most winsome grin. ‘Rick,’ +said he, ‘I feel that “Hate-the-Hun” feeling<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span> +creeping over me. What do you say to going +up and getting a Boche?’</p> + +<p>“‘Right!’ I called back over my shoulder. +‘Come along. We’ll take a real ride.’</p> + +<p>“As luck would have it, we had hardly left +the ground when we saw a Hun two-seater, +probably a Rumpler machine, very high above +us. The Rumpler has the highest ceiling of +any of the German two-seaters and frequently +they sail along above us at an elevation quite +impossible for the Nieuport to reach. It is +maddening to attain one’s maximum height +and see the enemy still sailing imperturbably +along, taking his photographs and scorning +even to fire an occasional burst at one. We +climbed at our fastest to overtake this fellow +before he could reach his safety spot. Evidently +he got ‘wind up,’ for after a few +minutes climbing he sheered off towards Germany +and disappeared from our view. We +completed our patrol of the lines without +finding another enemy in the sky and returned +to our field, where we landed with the mutual +vow that on the morrow we would begin +seriously our palm collecting shows until we +might dangle our new Croix de Guerre well +down below our knees.</p> + +<p>“Jimmy looked contemplatively down at my +long legs.</p> + +<p>“‘Have a heart, Rick!’ he said softly, ‘think +of the cost of the red tape!’”</p> + +<p>As combats in the air, however varied in +the performance, have a great similarity in +narrative, it were bootless to follow the captain +through the many experiences that earned +his distinction. The earlier incidents were +when the squadron was confined to the use of +Nieuports because more satisfactory machines +were not available. He dwells with some +pride of possession on the later equipment of +Spads. Soon after getting them he had become +Flight Commander, and relates an unusual +experience to illustrate the extent to +which the Flight Leader of a squadron feels +himself morally bound to go.</p> + +<p>“Six of my Spads were following me in +a morning’s patrol over the enemy’s lines in +the vicinity of Rheims. We were well along +towards the front when we discovered a number +of aeroplanes far above us and somewhat +behind our side of the lines. While we made +a circle or two, all the while steadily climbing +for higher altitude, we observed the darting +machines above us exchanging shots at one +another. Suddenly the fracas developed into +a regular free-for-all.</p> + +<p>“Reaching a slightly higher altitude at a +distance of a mile or two to the east of the +mêlée, I collected my formation and headed +about for the attack. Just then I noticed that +one side had evidently been victorious. Seven +aeroplanes remained together in compact formation. +The others had streaked it away, each +man for himself.</p> + + +<h3>SEVEN TO SEVEN</h3> + +<p>“As we drew nearer we saw that the seven +conquerors were in fact enemy machines. +There was no doubt about it. They were +Fokkers. Their opponents, whether American, +French or British, had been scattered and +had fled. The Fokkers had undoubtedly seen +our approach and had very wisely decided to +keep their formation together rather than +separate to pursue their former antagonists. +They were climbing to keep my squad ever a +little below them, while they decided upon +their next move.</p> + +<p>“We were seven and they were seven. It +was a lovely morning with clear visibility, and +all my pilots, I knew, were keen for a fight. I +looked over the skies and discovered no reason +why we shouldn’t take them on at any terms +they might require. Accordingly I set our +course a little steeper and continued straight +on towards them.</p> + +<p>“The Spad is a better climber than the +Fokker. Evidently the Boche pilots opposite +us knew this fact. Suddenly the last four in +their formation left their line of flight and +began to draw away in the direction of Soissons—still +climbing. The three Fokkers in +front continued towards us for another minute +or two. When we were separated by less +than a quarter of a mile the three Heinies +decided that they had done enough for their +country, and putting down their noses, they +began a steep dive for their lines.</p> + +<p>“To follow them was so obvious a thing +to do that I began at once to speculate upon +what this maneuver meant to them. The four +rear Fokkers were well away by now, but the +moment we began to dive after the three +ahead of us they would doubtless be prompt +to turn and select a choice position behind our<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span> +tails. Very well! We would bank upon this +expectation of theirs and make our plans +accordingly!</p> + +<p>“We were at about 17,000 feet altitude. +The lines were almost directly under us. Following +the three retreating Fokkers at our +original level, we soon saw them disappear +well back into Germany. Now for the wily +four that were probably still climbing for +altitude!</p> + +<p>“Arriving over Fismes I altered our course +and pointed it towards Soissons, and as we +flew we gained an additional thousand feet. +Exactly upon the scheduled time we perceived +approaching us the four Fokkers who were +now satisfied that they had us at a disadvantage +and might either attack or escape, as +they desired. They were, however, at precisely +the same altitude at which we were now flying.</p> + +<p>“Wigwagging my wings as a signal for the +attack, I sheered slightly to the north of them +to cut off their retreat. They either did not +see my maneuver or else they thought we were +friendly aeroplanes, for they came on dead +ahead like a flock of silly geese. At two +hundred yards I began firing.</p> + +<p>“Not until we were within fifty yards of +each other did the Huns show any signs of +breaking. I had singled out the flight leader +and had him nicely within my sights, when +he suddenly piqued downwards, the rest of +his formation immediately following him. At +the same instant one of my guns—the one +having a double feed—hopelessly jammed. +And after a burst of twenty shots or so from +the other gun it likewise failed me! There +was no time to pull away for repairs!</p> + +<p>“Both my guns were useless. For an instant +I considered the advisability of withdrawing +while I tried to free the jam. But +the opportunity was too good to lose. The +pilots behind me would be thrown into some +confusion when I signaled them to carry on +without me. And moreover the enemy pilots +would quickly discover my trouble and would +realize that the flight leader was out of the +fight. I made up my mind to go through +with the fracas without guns and trust to +luck to see the finish. The next instant we +were ahead of the quartet and were engaged +in a furious dog-fight.</p> + +<p>“Every man was for himself. The Huns +were excellent pilots and seemed to be experienced +fighters. Time and again I darted into +a good position behind or below a tempting +target, with the sole result of compelling the +Fritz to alter his course and get out of his +position of supposed danger. If he had known +I was unarmed he would have had me at his +mercy. As it was I would no sooner get into +a favorable position behind him than he would +double about and the next moment I found +myself compelled to look sharp to my own +safety.</p> + +<p>“In this manner the whole revolving circus +went tumbling across the heavens—always +dropping lower and steadily traveling deeper +into the German lines. Two of my pilots had +abandoned the scrap and turned homewards. +Engines or guns had failed them. When at +last we had fought down to 3,000 feet and +were some four miles behind their lines, I +observed two flights of enemy machines coming +up from the rear to their rescue. We +had none of us secured a single victory—but +neither had the Huns. Personally I began to +feel a great longing for home. I dashed out +ahead of the foremost Spad and frantically +wigwagging him to attention I turned my little +’bus towards our lines. With a feeling of +great relief I saw that all four were following +me and that the enemy reënforcements were +not in any position to dispute our progress.</p> + +<p>“On the way homeward I struggled with +my jammed guns—but to no result. Despite +every precaution these weapons will fail a +pilot when most needed. I had gone through +with a nerve-racking scrap, piquing upon +deadly opponents with a harmless machine. +My whole safety had depended upon their not +knowing it.”</p> + + +<h3>AS SQUADRON COMMANDER</h3> + +<p>The night of September 24th Rickenbacker +received the order promoting him to the command +of the 94 Squadron, his pride and +pleasure being greater than he could find +words to express. He had been with the +squadron since the first day at the front; but +three of the original members were left—Reed +Chambers, Thorn Taylor, and himself. He +took counsel for himself that night and formulated +rules for himself. He would never ask +a pilot to go on a mission he would not +undertake himself. He would lead by example +as well as by precept. He would accompany +the new pilots to watch their errors and +give them more confidence by showing their +dangers. He would work harder than ever +he did as a pilot. Full of enthusiasm to carry +out his purpose he started out the next morning +on a lone, voluntary patrol and within +half an hour returned to the aerodrome with +two more victories to his credit—“the first +double-header I had so far won.” He discovered +a pair of L. V. G. two-seater machines, +above which was a formation of five Fokkers. +From a position well up in the sun Rickenbacker +drove down at the nearest Fokker and +sent it crashing with the first volley. The +Huns were so surprised by the suddenness of +the attack and the drop of one of them that +their only thought was of escape. Before they +recovered their wits and renewed their formation, +one of the L. V. G. two-seaters was +shot down in flames, and quite content with +his morning’s work Rickenbacker put on gas +and piqued for home.</p> + +<p>October 30th Rickenbacker won his 25th +and 26th victories, the last that were added +to his score. But on November 9th Major +Kirby, who had just joined the 94 Squadron +for a little air fighting experience, was one of +a party of four who flew off for a try at +the retreating Huns, and shot down an enemy +plane across the Meuse. This was the last +plane shot down in the war. Rather exultingly, +pardonably so, Captain Rickenbacker +says:</p> + +<p>“Our old 94 Squadron had won the first +American victory over enemy aeroplanes when +Alan Winslow and Douglas Campbell had +dropped two biplane machines on the Toul +aerodrome. 94 Squadron had been first to +fly over the lines and had completed more +hours flying at the front than any other +American organization. It had won more victories +than any other—and now, for the last +word, it had the credit of bringing down the +last enemy aeroplane of the war!”</p> + +<p>And this word from Laurence Driggs:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> +<p>“After having visited some sixty-odd British +flying squadrons at the front, many of the +French escadrilles and all of the American +squadrons, I was given the pleasure of entering +Germany, after the armistice was signed, +as the guest of the Hat-in-the-Ring Squadron, +of which Captain Rickenbacker was and +is the commanding officer. In no other organization +in France did I find so great a loyalty +to a leader, such true squadron fraternalism, +such subordination of the individual to the +organization. In other words, the commander +of 94 Squadron had perfected the finest flying +corps I have ever seen.”</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_GUNBOAT">THE GUNBOAT</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent"><em>By</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Dana Burnet</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Out in the good, clean water where it’s blue and wide and deep,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The pride of Britain’s navy lies with thunders all asleep,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the men they fling their British songs along the open sky,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But the little modest gunboat, she’s a-creepin’ in to die!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The First Line’s swingin’ lazy on the purple outer ring,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The proudest ships that ever kept the honor of a King!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But nosin’ down the roadway past the bones of other wrecks</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Goes the doughty little gunboat with her manhood on her decks!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Oh, the First Line’s in the offing, with its shotted lightnings pent,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The proudest fleet that ever kept the King in his sacrament!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But down the death-sown harbor where a ship may find her grave,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The plucky little gunboat is a-sinkin’ ’neath the wave!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Then sing your British chanteys to the ends of all the seas,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And fling your British banners to the Seven Oceans’ breeze—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But when you tell the gallant tale beneath the open sky</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Give honor to the gunboat that was not too small to die!</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CAPTAIN_FRYATTS_MURDER">CAPTAIN FRYATT’S MURDER</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Court-Martial in Which Vengeful Malice Mocked Justice and the Rules +of Naval War In the Lust of Blood</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Brutal</span> blundering was a German characteristic +throughout the war. Indeed +it has been declared more than once that her +abandonment of moral restraints and obligations, +imposed by international codes and the +laws of humanity, is responsible for Germany’s +overthrow. Without entering into that question +it is admitted that two of the German +blunders—both of which were subjects of diplomatic +efforts at prevention—which incensed +the world and roused the United States from +its dream of neutrality were the murders of +Edith Cavell and Capt. Charles Fryatt. We +have told the story of Miss Cavell; that of +Capt. Fryatt is no less a testimony to German +turpitude if less revolting to sentiment in that +the first was a nurse, a ministering angel to +the sick and wounded (German soldiers included) +whose offense was due to her compassion +for the helpless and hunted.</p> + +<p>Capt. Fryatt, an Englishman, was master +of the Great Eastern Railway Company’s +steamer <em>Brussels</em>, a merchant vessel. June +23, 1916, the <em>Brussels</em> was captured by German +warships. (The circumstances of the +capture are presented in the report of First +Officer Hartwell, which follows later.) The +steamer, its officers and the crew were taken +to Zeebrugge and searched. On Capt. Fryatt +was found a gold watch that had been +presented to him by the Mayor of Harwich +at a public demonstration in his honor, the +inscription commemorating an incident of +March 20, 1915, when Capt. Fryatt attempted +to ram the German submarine <em>U-33</em>, +to avoid capture or destruction. After a brief +imprisonment at Zeebrugge he was transferred +to Bruges, where, July 27th, he was tried by +court-martial, was condemned to be shot as a +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">franc-tireur</i> and was executed that same afternoon.</p> + +<p>June 28th the English Government first +learned of the Germans’ intention to try +Fryatt by court-martial, and immediately undertook +to arrange for his proper defense. +Sir Edward Grey telegraphed to the American +Ambassador at Berlin requesting his efforts +in this behalf and that he would convey +to the German authorities the contention of +the English Government that “in committing +the act impugned Capt. Fryatt acted legitimately +and in self-defense for the purpose of +evading capture or destruction, and that the +act of a merchant ship in steering for an +enemy submarine and forcing her to dive is +essentially defensive and precisely on the same +footing as the use by a defensively armed vessel +of her defensive armament in order to resist +capture, which both the United States and +His Majesty’s Government hold to be the +exercise of an undoubted right.”</p> + +<p>In spite of possible influence and efforts, +Ambassador Gerard’s intervention was unavailing, +and on July 27th, the very day of +the execution, he telegraphed to London that +his efforts to secure a postponement of the +trial were futile because the German Government +insisted that “the German submarine +witnesses could not be further detained.” In +other words, the men whose business it was to +conduct a sea campaign of lawlessness and +“frightfulness” could not be delayed from their +destructive work by anything so paltry as a +consideration of justice and honor in the trial +of a prisoner.</p> + + +<h3>GERMAN EXULTATION</h3> + +<p>Neither Sir Edward Grey and Ambassador +Gerard, nor others interested in securing a fair +trial for the accused, imagined that his trial +and execution would be the hurried work of +an afternoon, and there was consternation +when a Reuter despatch of July 28th gave the +first news of the shooting and made public +the German <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">communiqué</i> as follows:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“The accused was condemned to death because +although he was not a member of a combatant +force, he made an attempt on the afternoon +of March 20, 1915, to ram the German +submarine <em>U-33</em> near the Maas Lighthouse. The +accused as well as the first officer and the chief +engineer of the steamer received at the time +from the British Admiralty a gold watch as a +reward of his brave conduct on that occasion, +and his action was mentioned with praise in the +House of Commons.</p> + +<p>“On the occasion in question, disregarding the +U-boat’s signal to stop and show his national +flag, he turned at a critical moment at high +speed on the submarine, which escaped the +steamer by a few meters only by immediately +diving. He confessed that in so doing he had +acted in accordance with instructions from the +Admiralty.</p> + +<p>“One of the many nefarious <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">franc-tireur</i> proceedings +of the British Merchant Marine against +our war vessels has thus found a belated but +merited expiation.”</p> +</div> + +<p>This report aroused intense indignation in +England, and hardly less resentful feelings in +neutral countries, especially in the United +States, whose Ambassador in Berlin was the +intermediary of the English protest against the +basis of the court-martial. At once the British +Foreign Office addressed a note to Ambassador +Page in London in which was the statement:</p> + +<p>“His Majesty’s Government finds it difficult +to believe that a master of a merchant +ship who, after German submarines adopted +the practice of sinking merchant vessels without +warning and without regard to the lives +of passengers or crew, took the only means at +his disposal of saving not only the vessel but +the lives of all on board can have been deliberately +shot in cold blood for that action”; +and the request was made that urgent inquiry +be made by the United States Embassy at +Berlin.</p> + +<p>The inquiry made it only too clear that the +report was authoritative. Premier Asquith, in +the House of Commons, July 31st, said: “I +deeply regret that it appears to be true that +Captain Fryatt has been murdered by the +Germans.” That he was not speaking extravagantly +in using the word “murdered” is +evidenced by the fact that naval and military +experts, including those of Holland, strongly +suspected of more than a casual sympathy with +the Germans, concurred in denouncing the execution +as a “judicial murder,” and insisting +that Fryatt was entitled to be regarded as a +prisoner of war. In the subsequent review of +the case it was demonstrated conclusively by +many citations from German legal and military +naval sources in declarations and regulations +made in 1914 and earlier that “Capt. +Fryatt was well within his rights in attempting +to ram a hostile marine.” Had he sent the +submarine with her crew to the bottom by +shell fire in avoiding capture or destruction, he +would have been held as a prisoner of war if +subsequently captured, but because he used +the only weapon at his command to escape the +enemy vessel itself, “he was condemned to execution +by a court of German naval officers as +a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">franc-tireur</i>.”</p> + +<p>August 15th, in the House of Commons, +Premier Asquith declared: “This country +will not tolerate a resumption of diplomatic +relations with Germany after the war until +reparation is made for the murder of Capt. +Fryatt.”</p> + + +<h3>THE FIRST OFFICER’S REPORT</h3> + +<p>The first officer of the <em>Brussels</em>, referred to +in the German <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">communiqué</i> quoted, was William +Hartwell. He was interned in Holland +and from there sent the following report to +Mr. C. Busk, one of the officials of the Great +Eastern Railway. It gives all the particulars +known of the arrest and execution of Capt. +Fryatt:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“Sir: This being the first opportunity since +the capture of the <em>Brussels</em> in 1916, I will endeavor +to give you details of the capture and +happenings up to July 27th, this being the date +of Capt. Fryatt’s death. I beg to report that +on June 22d the steamship <em>Brussels</em> left Rotterdam +with cargo and passengers for Tilbury, +stopping at the Hook of Holland. She left +the Hook Quay at 11 p. m. on that day, the +weather being very fine and clear. All saloon +and cabin lights were extinguished before passing +the North Pier Light. Directly after passing +it, a very bright light was shown from the +beach, about four miles north of the Hook, +followed by a bright star, such as a rocket would +throw. After a lapse of ten minutes this was +repeated. On both occasions Capt. Fryatt +and myself remarked upon it, as we had never +seen similar lights on any previous occasions.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span> +After passing the Maas Light Vessel, all Board +of Trade Regulation Lights were darkened. +Five miles west of the light vessel a very small +craft, probably a submarine not submerged, +commenced Morseing the letter ‘S’ at intervals. +No other lights were visible.</p> + +<p>“After running for one hour and thirty minutes, +an extra sharp lookout was kept for a +steamer that was going in the same direction +and without lights, the port and starboard +lights of the <em>Brussels</em> being put on for the +time being. At 12:46 craft without lights were +seen at a point on the starboard bow, traveling +at a great speed in the opposite direction. +These proved to be German destroyers of +the latest type, five in all. Two came alongside +on the starboard side, and one on the port +side, the other two following close behind. +During the time the destroyers were approaching +their commanders were shouting orders to +stop, asking the name of the ship, and threatening +to fire on us. No firing occurred, however. +As soon as Capt. Fryatt was assured +that the destroyers were German, he gave orders +for all passengers to be ready to take +to the boats if necessary, and quietly instructed +me to destroy all dispatches and official papers. +His instructions were carried out, and as the +last bag was destroyed German seamen, armed +with pistols and bombs, appeared on the starboard +alleyway. I passed through the saloon to +the deck and met more German seamen, who +were driving all the crew they could find +over the rail on to the destroyers. I was +ordered over the rail, but refused to go, and +then met the officer who came on board to take +charge. He requested me to show him to the +bridge, which I did. He greeted Capt. Fryatt, +and congratulated himself over the great prize.</p> + + +<h3>GERMAN INTELLIGENCE</h3> + +<p>“Satisfied that all was well, the destroyers left +and made for Zeebrugge. The course was +given for the Schouwenbank light vessel, and +the order was given for full speed ahead, but +no reply came from the engine room, as the +engineers had been driven over the side with +the majority of the crew. This greatly excited +the German officer, who drew his revolver +and threatened to shoot Capt. Fryatt and myself +if we failed to assist him, and to blow up +the ship if the orders to the engine room were +not complied with at once. It was some minutes +before the German officer could be convinced +that the engineers and most of the crew +were on the destroyers. He then ordered his +own men to the engine room, and instead of +going full speed ahead, the engines were put +on full speed astern. This also angered the +officer, and matters became very unpleasant +on the bridge. I was ordered to go to the +engine room to inform the Germans of their +mistake. By this time the steam was greatly +falling back, owing to the stokers being away, +and the order was given that all on board, +except Capt. Fryatt and myself, should maintain +steam till the ship arrived at Zeebrugge. +On reaching the Schouwenbank light vessel the +German flag was hoisted, and directly after +the Flushing mail boat for Tilbury passed +quite close.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_267" style="max-width: 41.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_267.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Naval Honors for Captain Fryatt</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The body received from Belgium is being escorted +in lengthy procession through the streets +of Dover.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Capt. Fryatt was assured that soon after +her arrival at Tilbury the capture of the +<em>Brussels</em> would be reported. The <em>Brussels</em> +was met and escorted by several airplanes to +Zeebrugge, where the destroyers were already +moored. On arrival at Zeebrugge the <em>Brussels</em> +was moored alongside the Mole. The engineers +and crew all returned. The crew were +sent to their quarters and kept under armed +guard. The officers and engineers were placed +under a guard in the smokeroom, and Captain +the same in his room. The Belgian refugees +were closely searched, and landed at Zeebrugge. +After a stay of about five hours the <em>Brussels</em> +left and proceeded to Bruges under her own +steam.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_268" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_268.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Memorial Service to Captain Fryatt at St. Paul’s, London</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“For some reason Capt. Fryatt was kept in +his cabin, and I was sent to the bridge, not +to assist or officiate in any way, but simply +to stand under guard and to be questioned at +intervals by the Germans if they could get +the right answers. During the passage from +Zeebrugge to Bruges both sides of the canal +were thronged in places, and both the soldiers +and the marine Landsturm were greatly excited. +On reaching Bruges the crew were +taken off and sent to a waiting shed. Only +Capt. Fryatt and myself, with many German +officers, remained on board. After we had +been questioned at lunch Capt. Fryatt and I +were photographed, and we then joined the +crew in the shed, being afterward taken to a +building in the town. All of us, including +stewardesses and twenty-five Russians, were +packed in, leaving scarcely standing room.</p> + + +<h3>SHIPPED LIKE CATTLE</h3> + +<p>“After some hours, following a request to +the prison commandant, the stewardesses were +allowed separate quarters in the top of the +building. Otherwise they were treated in the +same way as male prisoners until they were +separated to go to a different camp. At 3 +a. m., on June 25th, orders came for all to be +ready for the train to Germany, the stewardesses +joining us at the station. At 5 a. m. +we all left, closely packed, in cattle trucks, +and on arrival at Ghent we were escorted to +very dirty and unhealthful quarters underground. +At 5 a. m. on the following day we +left Ghent for Germany, via Cologne, where +the stewardesses and Russians were separated +to go to other camps. After being exhibited +at Berlin, as at Hanover and other stations, +the rest went to Ruhleben, where they arrived +at 5 p. m., June 28th. Two days later Capt. +Fryatt and I received orders to the effect that +we were to be prepared to leave the camp at +8 p. m. for Bruges on ship’s business.</p> + +<p>“We arrived at Bruges at 7 a. m., on July +2d, after visiting Ostend by mistake on the part<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span> +of the escort. We reported to the port commandant +at 9 a. m., and were taken from +him to the town prison and put in cells. From +then onward we were treated as criminals. We +were occasionally visited by German officials +and questioned as to the submarine and other +subjects, on which Capt. Fryatt made a clear +and open statement to the Germans, with nothing +condemning to himself. From the time of +being placed in the prison at Bruges to July 15th +I saw Capt. Fryatt and spoke to him on several +occasions, after which I never spoke to him +until one hour before he was shot.</p> + +<p>“I will endeavor to make you understand +the so-called tribunal or trial. On July 24th +Capt. Fryatt and myself were questioned and +cross-questioned in the prison, and, so far as I +could learn, Capt. Fryatt never added to or departed +from his opening statement. It was +then that we were first informed of the tribunal +that was to follow. On July 26th we were +told to be ready for the tribunal, which was to +take place at Bruges Town Hall on the 27th +at 11 a. m. On July 27th at 9 a. m. the door +of the cell was opened, and an escort was waiting. +To my surprise, four of the crew were +in the waiting cell. Each man was escorted to +the Town Hall, Capt. Fryatt and I being the +last to go, and placed under a strong guard +until the trial began.</p> + +<p>“At 12 noon Capt. Fryatt was called into +his place before the so-called bench, and repeated +his previous statement. I followed and +answered questions that appeared to be ridiculous, +not appearing either to defend or condemn +Capt. Fryatt. At the same time an officer +in uniform appeared, and, approaching +Capt. Fryatt and myself, informed us in +broken English that he was for the defense. +The Naval Commandant of the port conducted +the trial, and also acted as interpreter. At 4 +p. m. the Naval Commandant informed us that +all was over so far, and that the decision, resting +with the naval officers, would be made known to +us in our cells.</p> + + +<h3>SIXTEEN BULLETS</h3> + +<p>“After being again placed in the cells, the +chief warder of the prison came to me at 5:30 +p. m. and told me I was to go and stop with +Capt. Fryatt, as that was his last night. I +then met Capt. Fryatt, who was very much distressed, +not so much because of the verdict, but +of the unfair and cowardly manner in which +everything was done. He told me himself that +he was to be shot on the next morning, and +after having a talk for about an hour—it was +then 6:30 p. m.—the prison official took his +watch from his pocket and said that in a short +time the escort would be there, and Capt. +Fryatt would be shot at 7 p. m. The last +twenty-five minutes I spent with him were appalling. +At 6:55 p. m. I wished him good-bye, +and promised I would deliver his last messages, +which were many, and returned to my cell.</p> + +<p>“Punctually at 7 p. m., a very short distance +from the prison walls, a band commenced to +play, and poor Fryatt was no more. Late the +same evening an official came to my cell and +described to me, in the best way he could, how +Fryatt died. He was shot by sixteen rifles, +the bullets of which penetrated through his +heart, carrying with them the clothes he was +wearing through the body and out at the back.</p> + +<p>“Sir, I was and am still proud of Capt. +Fryatt’s manly conduct right up to the last, +and I may add that there was not a German +present at the trial who could face him.”</p> +</div> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_269" style="max-width: 40.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_269.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Captain Fryatt’s Grave</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>The Germans made a long official statement +in an impotent attempt to justify this vengeful +murder.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_270" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_270.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>D. Davison.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The <em>Deutschland</em> Arriving at Baltimore</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The <em>Deutschland’s</em> maiden trip was a trans-Atlantic voyage from Bremen. Its cargo was worth over two hundred thousand +dollars in dyestuffs and medicines of German manufacture.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="JULES_VERNE_VINDICATED">JULES VERNE VINDICATED</h2> +</div> + +<h3>How Capt. Paul Koenig of the <em>Deutschland</em> Turned Incredible Fiction Into +Practical Reality</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">There</span> was a very positive thrill throughout +the world when the startling report +was published that a German submarine had +crossed the Atlantic and, on July 10, 1915, +entered an American port. It had not been +believed possible at that time for a submarine +to make so great and perilous a voyage, and +the first news of the unique achievement was +somewhat sceptically received. But when +there was no remaining doubt that the +<em>Deutschland</em>, dodging and evading British hostile +craft, had actually voyaged from Bremen +to Baltimore, Capt. Paul Koenig, commander +of the U-boat, was prominently head-lined +in the press.</p> + +<p>This historic event was interesting not only +as something new and wonderful in marine +annals, but there was a graver interest in the +demonstration of the fact that distance from +the base of operations was no sure protection +from submarine warfare. No little alarm +was manifested in the United States for a +time. But this subsided, and the romantic +side of the exploit appealed to the dullest imagination.</p> + +<p>When Capt. Koenig returned to Germany +he wrote his experiences in book form, parts of +which have been translated into several languages. +No more absorbing story than Koenig’s +own could easily be written, and from +an American version of it the following excerpts +were made.</p> + +<p>After leaving port the <em>Deutschland</em> traveled +submerged until they were far out in the +North Sea on their westerly course. It was +about two o’clock in the morning. Capt. +Koenig thought it safe to rise to the surface +and gave orders for the emptying of the tanks. +But as the boat approached the surface it began +to toss and plunge in a way that gave +warning of a storm above. The nearer the +surface the wilder the antics of the boat, +which occasionally indulged in regular leaps. +The emptying of the tanks went calmly on +nevertheless, Capt. Koenig being of the order +of men not to be moved from a purpose by +so inconsiderable a thing as an ill-mannered +sea. They got to the surface without too +much disorder. Then says Capt. Koenig:</p> + +<p>“I was just about to give orders to put +on the oil-engines—when—what was that? +That dark stripe over there—wasn’t that a +smoke-flag? <em>Donnerwetter!</em> It’s a destroyer!</p> + +<p>“With one leap I am back in the turret +and have closed the tower-hatch. ‘Alarm—submerge +quickly—depth rudder—go to twenty +meters.’</p> + +<p>“The whole boat trembles and shakes under +the increased pressure and makes a couple +of real jumps; it literally reels in the wild +sea. Will it not go down pretty soon? With +a sudden jerk the <em>Deutschland</em> darts below the +surface and now, bending her bow lower and +lower, rapidly descends into the depths. The +light of the just dawning day disappears from +the turret windows, the manometer shows in +quick succession, two, three, six, ten meters. +But the bow drops lower and lower.</p> + +<p>“The boat had bent forward in an angle of +36 degrees and stood on its head, as it were. +Its bow rested on the sea’s bottom and its +stern was violently swinging back and forth. +The manometer showed a depth of about +fifteen meters. I quickly realized our situation. +It was something less than comfortable.</p> + +<p>“We were revealing our position by a peculiar +buoy, and we expected momentarily to +hear the crashing blow of a shell in the stern. +But everything remained quiet. The screws +could no longer betray us. Also it probably +was still too dark up there, and the destroyer +perhaps had enough of its own troubles in the +wild sea.</p> + +<p>“There must have been a combination of +several causes. Aside from the fact that only +in the most extraordinary and rare cases is it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span> +possible for a big boat to submerge against a +high sea, it is conceivable that in the haste +which was forced upon us by the destroyer +the tanks were not completely emptied of air.</p> + +<p>“But, above all, I recall that my first +thought was the cargo. ‘Is the cargo safely +stored? Can it lose its equilibrium?’ Curious +as it may sound in retrospect, that is what +I instinctively thought of. A ‘big steamer’ +captain doesn’t easily get rid of his second +nature, even on a U-boat.</p> + + +<h3>A WASH, A FEAST AND A NIGHT’S REST ON +THE OCEAN BOTTOM</h3> + +<p>“We have submerged and placed ourselves +on the bottom. We are in no hurry. Why +should we not for once give ourselves a little +rest? Our resting-place was rather deep, but +therefore safer and calmer.</p> + +<p>“This night on the bottom of the sea was +truly a recreation for us all. One could for +once take a good wash and go to bed in +peace, without fearing to be frightened at +the next moment with a ‘Hey-a’ in the speaking-tube.</p> + +<p>“But before resting we had a regular banquet. +Both the phonographs were playing and +the glasses were raised, filled with French +champagne.</p> + +<p>“Our good Stücke, who was our steward, +kitchen boy, and maid of all work, at the +same time served us in such a dignified manner +as if he were still a steward in the dining-room +of the <em>Kronprinzessin Cecile</em>, as if he +had never been in French captivity for nearly +a whole year, in order to develop his ability +in our company at the bottom of the sea.</p> + +<p>“Again we come to the surface the next +morning. The pump is working with a hissing +noise as we climb upward. On the twenty-meter +depth the boat loses its stability.</p> + +<p>“First, we can see it on the manometer, +then it is noticed on the depth rudder, which +becomes more difficult to handle. And as the +boat at times moves in unexpected jumps we +realize there must be a considerable sea above.</p> + + +<h3>RISING TO THE SURFACE</h3> + +<p>“I now carefully rise to the periscope depth +and proceed for a time in this position and +am looking around. Nothing can be seen except +a stormy army of white wave-crests. This +weather suits me exactly, as we need not be +on our guard so very closely.</p> + +<p>“I decided therefore to rise to the surface. +But before this is done the boat must be +placed across the wind, as the long heavy +hull would not otherwise be able to climb out +of the water.</p> + +<p>“At slow speed, we place the <em>Deutschland</em> +right across the seas. The boat rolls fearfully. +It feels just as if the soul would shake out of +its body, and now it obeys the deep rudder +and its nose rises slowly out of the water.</p> + +<p>“When we are completely out of the water +the ship makes the alarming motions of a +pendulum all around the compass. Then +comes the unpleasant moment when we have +to turn the ship slowly into its course.</p> + +<p>“Protected by the thick conning tower windows, +which the heavy seas are continually +washing over and streaming down, with arms +and legs ready to withstand the sharp twistings +of our craft, I keep watch on all sides.”</p> + +<p>They were getting out of the North Sea +into the Atlantic currents, in an increasing +storm. The boat plunged and tossed sickeningly +and the navigation was hard work. +Finally they were free of the turbulent sea +and rode into the ocean proper and its less +angry motion.</p> + + +<h3>OUT INTO THE BROAD ATLANTIC</h3> + +<p>“The reception of the Atlantic can not be +called cordial. We undoubtedly had got accustomed +to much during the past days, but +I decide as far as possible to save my men’s +nerves so that they will be able to withstand +that which was about to come. I therefore +selected the southerly course, hoping to get +better weather, but I was not entirely successful. +The seas continually sweep over the +boat from stem to stern, because it is too heavy +to be lifted out of them as other steamers are.</p> + +<p>“It certainly was not pleasant in the conning-tower, +but it was a thousand times better +than below deck, where the crew, because +of the unbroken rolling of the ship, began +to suffer on account of seasickness in the close +and stagnant air. Many an old sailor offered +himself on the altar of Neptune for the first +time.</p> + +<p>“On the third day the storm begins to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span> +abate, the sea becomes calmer, and we can +open all the hatches in order to get air and +dry out. All who were off duty came up to +stretch themselves on the deck in the sunshine +and pull themselves together again after their +confinement and suffering during the rough +weather, which certainly was necessary. With +pale faces, worn out by sleepless nights, they +came out of the hatches, but hardly had they +reached the fresh air and had felt the beautiful +sea-wind blowing on their cheeks refreshingly +before the dear cigars or pipes were produced.”</p> + +<p>Following days were fair for a time and +the boat rode the surface. It was the daily +practice on fair days to put the <em>Deutschland</em> +through her diving exercises so important to +efficiency in a sudden emergency. A very +considerable part of the westward trip was +made on the surface, though storms and the +prospect of unfriendly encounters often +enough sent them below.</p> + + +<h3>A DUMMY SMOKE-STACK</h3> + +<p>“During the calm days we had prepared a +clever disguise which would change us from +a submarine to a regular steamer. Out of +sail-cloth we had made a smoke-stack which, +with steel rings, we could fasten to the periscope +and raise it up. To cover the conning-tower +we had a dressing of sail-cloth so that +it would look like the deck-house on a small +freight-steamer. In this way we made ready +for any possibility and directed our course +through the beautiful sunshine until one evening +at half-past seven a steamer appeared +ahead of us on the port bow. We knew at +once that he would pass close if we continued +on our course. We changed it a little, swinging +off a few points in order to test our disguise.</p> + +<p>“The smoke-stack is hoisted on the periscope +and bellies out in the wind. In order to make +it more real we build a fire in the lower opening, +using cotton soaked in oil for fuel. At +the same moment the conning-tower disappears +under the cover, which trembles in the breeze. +The oily cotton loses its honor and only +stinks. There is no smoke coming from it. +Every one is standing blowing with cheeks +puffed out until our ‘tradelose,’ a foxy Berliner, +fetches an air-pump and gets a big flame +in our fake stoke-hole. With one hurrah his +trick is rewarded; above the smoke-stack’s upper +opening we could see a slender stream of +smoke only to diminish to nothing in the next +minute. We roar with laughter and again +make ready to proceed with our dummy smoke-stack +minus smoke.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_273" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_273.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>International Film Service.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The <em>Deutschland</em> Arriving at Bremen, Having Returned from a Trans-Atlantic +Voyage</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“When our boatswain, Humke, comes with +a jar filled with tar, the air-pump again starts +to work, and at last big clouds of smoke pour +out of the funnel. The effect was great. +The steamer, which was at a distance, suddenly +changes its course and comes straight +for us.</p> + +<p>“This we had never expected. I therefore +order the mast taken down and make ready +for diving. Our canvas covering disappears +from the conning-tower and with a deep bow +the smoke-stack comes down.</p> + +<p>“As soon as the steamer sees this change +in our make-up, fear fills his heart. He +changes his course and flees, throwing thick, +black clouds of smoke which we admire not +without a feeling of jealousy.</p> + +<p>“Without hindrance we again hoist our funnel. +The masts are raised. And while our +steamer speeds away in her wild flight we +laugh so the tears run down our cheeks.</p> + +<p>“Our fine disguise which was intended to +let us pass unnoticed had instead attracted +the steamer’s attention to us. He undoubtedly +took us for a wreck or a ship in distress +and came toward us with the kind intentions +to save us. When he could suddenly see +himself the target for the devilish cunning of +a foxy U-boat he fled precipitately.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span></p> + +<p>“What did the people of the steamer think +when they recovered from their scare? Maybe +they felt proud to have been able to escape +from the heartless ‘pirate.’ And we, who +would have been so proud if our disguise had +worked a little better, were preparing to sink +below the surface to avoid him.</p> + +<p>“Well, we thought, ‘better luck next time,’ +and we improved our invention with the result +that two days later, while throwing off +solid clouds of smoke, we passed by a steamer +which we met without causing the least +suspicion.”</p> + +<p>And so without mishap or misadventure the +<em>Deutschland</em> fared to her destination, tarried +some while in the American port where officers +and men were discreetly entertained, +the United States being a neutral country +then. Suddenly, mysteriously she put to sea +again. Many were the rumors of disaster to +her—for the return trip was long and beset +with peril from paroling and watchful destroyers +eager to catch sight of her; but in due +course and in triumphant contradiction of reports +of her destruction the first authentic +news was of her safe return to the home harbor.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="WEDDIGENS_WONDER_FEAT">WEDDIGEN’S WONDER FEAT</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Dramatic Sinking of Three British Cruisers by U-boat in the Early +Days of the War</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Early</span> on the morning of September 22, +1914, three 12,000-ton armored cruisers +of the British Navy—the <em>Aboukir</em>, the <em>Cressy</em>, +and the <em>Hogue</em>—were torpedoed in the North +Sea and sunk by a German submarine, with a +loss of 1,433 men. The news startled the whole +world. It was as if three Goliaths, imposing, +formidable, on parade in panoply, challenging +the stoutest, had succumbed impotently to +the assault of the diminutive David—for it +was a solitary submarine that sank the naval +giants in less than an hour. So adroit, +rapid and precise had been the maneuvers of +the submarine that the officers of the attacked +warships were of the belief that there were +several of the invisible devil-boats, and that +the guns of the <em>Cressy</em> sank one of them. Nor +did they become the wiser until Captain Lieutenant +Otto Weddigen, commander of <em>U-9</em>, +made report of his exploit on his return to +Wilhelmshaven, whence he had set forth for +the enterprise. Conditions, be it said, were entirely +favorable to him, for the sea was calm, +and the weather clear. The three cruisers, +unsuspicious, were steaming along in close +formation, patrolling the silent sea, and they +gave him a famous victory—the destruction of +the first warships by the U-boat.</p> + +<p>There follow three separate accounts of +the event as related by three different sources, +the first being that of an officer of the <em>Cressy</em>, +published in the <cite>Manchester Guardian</cite>.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_275" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_275.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Press Photo Syndicate.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Crew Quarters Aboard a German Submarine</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The vast machinery leaves but little room for the crew. They enjoy none of the conveniences found on vessels that ply above water.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span></p> + + +<h3>EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT BY AN OFFICER OF THE +<em>Cressy</em></h3> + +<p>“I was awakened about 6:15 by the increase +of our speed, and, thinking it was nothing +more than just a slight spurt to take up +our day patrol position, I lay quiet. However, +about ten minutes later I felt the engines +going full speed astern, so, guessing at +once that something out of the ordinary was +happening, I sat up, and, opening my scuttle, +looked out. Conceive the jump I gave when +I saw the <em>Aboukir</em>, about half a mile away, +heeling over to port so that the starboard +copper plates were plainly visible glistening +red in the sun. I could also see considerable +commotion on board her, and one of her starboard +sea boats was lowered half-way, but +seemed to have stuck there.</p> + +<p>“While I watched she seemed to heel over +still more, so I leapt from my bunk, and, running +into the next cabin, I found —— jumping +out of his bunk, and together we ran up +on to the quarterdeck. From there we could +see that in the short time we had taken getting +up on deck she turned over much more, +and was down by the head, and while we +watched we could see the sun shining on pink, +naked men walking down her sides inch by +inch as she heeled over, some standing, others +sitting down and sliding into the water, which +was soon dotted with heads. All this time we +were hard at it lowering boats.</p> + +<p>“Both the sea-boats had gone, manned by +nucleus crews, and Lieutenant ——’s voice +could be heard as he directed the hands working +the main derrick, which was hoisting up +the launch—a boat capable of holding two or +three hundred men. Other men under the +direction of another lieutenant were busily +throwing overboard every bit of wood that +they could find for the swimming men to +clutch—an act which materially aided in our +escape afterward. I then ran along to the +sick-bay and ordered the stewards to get hot +blankets and coffee ready, and went below to +get into some clothes.</p> + + +<h3>“THE SHIP LIFTED, QUIVERING ALL OVER”</h3> + +<p>“I had only been in my cabin about a minute +when there was a terrific crash, and the +ship lifted up, quivering all over. A second +or two later another and duller crash, and +a great cloud of smoke, followed by a torrent +of water, came pouring in through my open +scuttle. The noise for a second or two was +deafening; everything seemed to be breaking, +and somewhere or other I could hear dishes +and glass being crashed to pieces on the deck, +and, in addition, all the lights in the ship +went out. I ran out of my cabin and along +to the first ladder, the aft deck being in darkness +and full of smoke; conceive my dismay +when I found that it had fallen down.”</p> + +<p>However, he found another ladder, farther +on. On the deck was worse confusion than +before. There was nothing left to do but +make escape in the shortest possible order. +He climbed down into the sea.</p> + +<p>“The first piece I clung to had sharp edges +which hurt, so I left that and swam to a table +floating near. Then another man came up +and climbed on to my table, so I left it to him +and struck out for a large spar which I caught +sight of some little distance off. This afforded +a very comfortable hold, and I lay over +it, kicking gently with my legs to keep them +warm, and I looked about me. Both the +<em>Aboukir</em> and the <em>Hogue</em> had gone, and the +<em>Cressy</em> was in front of me, about a quarter +of a mile away. Then she began to fire her +guns, and, hearing the shells going over my +head, I looked behind, and there, about 300 +yards off, I saw the periscope of a submarine.</p> + +<p>“For some time the firing continued, several +of the shells bursting most unpleasantly near, +and then the men on the <em>Cressy</em> started cheering, +and I heard after that they were unanimously +of the opinion—true or not, I don’t +know—that they had sunk one of the submarines. +However, the firing continued for some +time, till there was a sudden explosion, and +a great column of smoke, black as ink, flew +up as high as the <em>Cressy’s</em> funnels, while she +heeled over about ten degrees. Nothing much +further seemed to happen, however, and, looking +about me, I caught sight of —— hanging +on to a large fender of twigs, which kept revolving +and ducking him under, so, calling to +him, I started to push my spar toward him +till I got near enough, and then, giving it a +vigorous shove, pushed it alongside him and +swam after it.</p> + +<p>“The two of us clung to that for some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span> +time, till the sound of an explosion made us +look round to see the spray and smoke disappearing, +and as we watched another torpedo +struck, and the <em>Cressy</em> heeled right over and +almost entirely disappeared in a very short +space of time, the last few feet of ‘island,’ +however, taking a very long time to go. Soon +after this I realized the wonderful fact that +as the <em>Hogue</em> sank she must have righted herself, +for the picket boat and steam pinnace had +in some miraculous way floated clear quite +undamaged, though half full of water, and +were now about one hundred yards from us. +Turning the spar so that it lay pointing toward +the boats, and slipping the fingers of my left +hand into a notch that seemed made for the +purpose, I turned on my side and started to +tow the spar toward the boats.</p> + +<p>“These were soon reached, and we found +that some four or five people had already +boarded them. With their help we scrambled +on board, having been in the water about an +hour and a quarter. After this there is not +much to tell. The <em>Flora</em> hove in sight when +we had been in the boat about an hour, followed +by the <em>Titan</em>, and in an hour more we +naked, shivering mortals were all taken off to +the former.”</p> + + +<h3>THE OFFICIAL REPORT</h3> + +<p>In the official report to the Admiralty made +by Commander Bertram W. L. Nicholson +we find the expression of the belief that there +were several submarines, and that one was +sunk. The report is quoted:</p> + +<p>“The <em>Aboukir</em> was struck at about 6.25 a.m. +on the starboard beam. The <em>Hogue</em> and +<em>Cressy</em> closed and took up a position, the +<em>Hogue</em> ahead of the <em>Aboukir</em>, and the <em>Cressy</em> +about 400 yards on her port beam. As soon +as it was seen that the <em>Aboukir</em> was in danger +of sinking all the boats were sent away from +the <em>Cressy</em>, and a picket boat was hoisted out +without steam up. When cutters full of the +<em>Aboukir’s</em> men were returning to the <em>Cressy</em>, +the <em>Hogue</em> was struck, apparently under the +aft 9.2 magazine, as a very heavy explosion +took place immediately. Almost directly after +the <em>Hogue</em> was hit we observed a periscope on +our port bow about 300 yards off.</p> + +<p>“Fire was immediately opened and the engines +were put full speed ahead with the intention +of running her down. Our gunner, +Mr. Dougherty, positively asserts that he hit +the periscope and that the submarine sank. +An officer who was standing alongside the +gunner thinks that the shell struck only floating +timber, of which there was much about, +but it was evidently the impression of the men +on deck, who cheered and clapped heartily, +that the submarine had been hit. This particular +submarine did not fire a torpedo at the +<em>Cressy</em>.</p> + +<p>“Captain Johnson then maneuvered the ship +so as to render assistance to the crews of the +<em>Hogue</em> and <em>Aboukir</em>. About five minutes later +another periscope was seen on our starboard +quarter and fire was opened. The track of +the torpedo she fired at a range of 500 to +600 yards was plainly visible and it struck us +on the starboard side just before the after-bridge.</p> + +<p>“The ship listed about 10 degrees to the +starboard and remained steady. The time was +7.15 a.m. All the watertight doors, deadlights +and scuttles had been securely closed +before the torpedo struck the ship. All the +mess stools and table shores, and all available +timber below and on deck had been previously +got up and thrown over side for the saving of +life.</p> + +<p>“A second torpedo fired by the same submarine +missed and passed about 10 feet astern. +About a quarter of an hour after the first torpedo +had hit a third torpedo fired from a submarine +just before the starboard beam hit us +under the No. 5 boiler room. The time was +7.30 a.m. The ship then began to heel rapidly, +and finally turned keel up, remaining so +for about twenty minutes before she finally +sank, at 7.55 a.m.</p> + +<p>“A large number of men were saved by +casting adrift on Pattern 3 target. The steam +pinnace floated off her clutches, but filled and +sank.</p> + +<p>“The second torpedo which struck the +<em>Cressy</em> passed over the sinking hull of the +<em>Aboukir</em>, narrowly missing it. It is possible +that the same submarine fired all three torpedoes +at the <em>Cressy</em>.</p> + +<p>“The conduct of the crew was excellent +throughout. I have already remarked on the +bravery displayed by Captain Phillips, master +of the trawler <em>L. T. Coriander</em>, and his crew, +who picked up 156 officers and men.”</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_278" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_278.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Press Photo Syndicate.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The Daily Wash Aboard a German Torpedo Boat</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Germany’s torpedo boats were outclassed by her U-boats. In the battle of Jutland the world first heard of the torpedo boats’ extensive use.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span></p> + + +<h3>CAPT. WEDDIGEN’S OWN STORY</h3> + +<p>And here is the story of the daring enterprise, +one of the most extraordinary of naval +exploits, told by Captain Lieutenant Otto +Weddigen, Commander of <em>U-9</em>. He was 32 +years old at the time, and for the five years +preceding had been attached to the submarine +flotilla. He was married but twenty-four +hours to his boyhood sweetheart, a Miss Prete +of Hamburg, before he set out on the adventure +that offered more than an even chance +of making the bride a widow. Besides himself +there were twenty-five men in the <em>U-9</em> +and they were a picked crew.</p> + +<p>Weddigen’s own story of the cruise, first +published in the United States by the New +York <cite>World</cite>, was in part as follows:</p> + +<p>“I set out from a North Sea port on one +of the arms of the Kiel Canal and set my +course in a southwesterly direction. The name +of the port I cannot state officially, but it has +been guessed at; nor am I permitted to say +definitely just when we started, but it was not +many days before the morning of Sept. 22, +when I fell in with my quarry.</p> + +<p>“When I started from home the fact was +kept quiet and a heavy sea helped to keep +the secret, but when the action began the sun +was bright and the water smooth.</p> + +<p>“I had sighted several ships during my passage, +but they were not what I was seeking. +English torpedo boats came within, my reach, +but I felt there was bigger game further on, +so on I went. I traveled on the surface except +when we sighted vessels, and then I submerged, +not even showing my periscope, except +when it was necessary to take bearings. +It was ten minutes after 6 on the morning of +Tuesday when I caught sight of one of the big +cruisers of the enemy.</p> + +<p>“I was then eighteen sea miles northwest +of the Hook of Holland. I had then traveled +considerably more than 200 miles from my +base. My boat was one of an old type, but +she had been built on honor, and she was behaving +beautifully. I had been going ahead +partly submerged, with about five feet of my +periscope showing. Almost immediately I +caught sight of the first cruiser and two +others. I submerged completely and laid my +course so as to bring up in the center of the +trio, which held a sort of triangular formation. +I could see their gray-black sides riding +high over the water.</p> + +<p>“When I first sighted them they were near +enough for torpedo work, but I wanted to +make my aim sure, so I went down and in on +them. I had taken the position of the three +ships before submerging, and I succeeded in +getting another flash through my periscope before +I began action. I soon reached what I +regarded as a good shooting point.”</p> + +<p>[The officer was not permitted to give this +distance, but it is understood to have been considerably +less than a mile, although the German +torpedoes had an effective range of four +miles.]</p> + + +<h3>THE SHOT WENT STRAIGHT AND TRUE</h3> + +<p>“Then I loosed one of my torpedoes at the +middle ship. I was then about twelve feet +under water, and got the shot off in good +shape, my men handling the boat as if she had +been a skiff. I climbed to the surface to get +a sight through my tube of the effect, and discovered +that the shot had gone straight and +true, striking the ship, which I later learned +was the <em>Aboukir</em>, under one of her magazines, +which in exploding helped the torpedo’s work +of destruction.</p> + +<p>“There was a fountain of water, a burst of +smoke, a flash of fires and part of the cruiser +rose in the air. Then I heard a roar and felt +reverberations sent through the water by the +detonation. She had been broken apart, and +sank in a few minutes. The <em>Aboukir</em> had +been stricken in a vital spot and by an unseen +force; that made the blow all the greater.</p> + +<p>“Her crew were brave, and even with +death staring them in the face kept to their +posts, ready to handle their useless guns, for +I submerged at once. But I had stayed on +top long enough to see the other cruisers, +which I learned were the <em>Cressy</em> and the +<em>Hogue</em>, turn and steam full speed to their dying +sister, whose plight they could not understand, +unless it had been due to an accident.</p> + +<p>“The ships came on a mission of inquiry and +rescue, for many of the <em>Aboukir’s</em> crew were +now in the water, the order having been given, +‘Each man for himself.’</p> + +<p>“But soon the other two English cruisers +learned what had brought about the destruction +so suddenly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span></p> + +<p>“As I reached my torpedo depth I sent a +second charge at the nearest of the oncoming +vessels, which was the <em>Hogue</em>. The English +were playing my game, for I had scarcely to +move out of my position, which was a great +aid, since it helped to keep me from being +detected.</p> + +<p>“The attack on the <em>Hogue</em> went true. But +this time I did not have the advantageous aid +of having the torpedo detonate under the magazine, +so for twenty minutes the <em>Hogue</em> lay +wounded and helpless on the surface before +she heaved, half turned over and sank.</p> + +<p>“But this time, the third cruiser knew that +the enemy was upon her and she sought as best +she could to defend herself. She loosed her +torpedo defense batteries on boats, starboard +and port, and stood her ground as if more +anxious to help the many sailors who were in +the water than to save herself. In common +with the method of defending herself against +a submarine attack, she steamed in a zigzag +course, and this made it necessary for me to +hold my torpedoes until I could lay a true +course for them, which also made it necessary +for me to get nearer to the <em>Cressy</em>. I had +come to the surface for a view, and saw how +wildly the fire was being sent from the ship. +Small wonder that was when they did not +know where to shoot, although one shot went +unpleasantly near us.</p> + + +<h3>THE CRESSY TURNS TURTLE</h3> + +<p>“When I got within suitable range, I sent +away my third attack. This time I sent a +second torpedo after the first to make the +strike doubly certain. My crew were aiming +like sharpshooters and both torpedoes went to +their bullseye. My luck was with me again, +for the enemy was made useless and at once +began sinking by her head. Then she careened +far over, but all the while her men stayed at +the guns looking for their invisible foe. They +were brave and true to their country’s sea +traditions. Then she eventually suffered a +boiler explosion and completely turned turtle. +With her keel uppermost, she floated until the +air got out from under her and then she sank +with a loud sound, as if from a creature in +pain.</p> + +<p>“The whole affair had taken less than one +hour from the time of shooting off the first +torpedo until the <em>Cressy</em> went to the bottom. +Not one of the three had been able to use any +of its big guns. I knew the wireless of the +three cruisers had been calling for aid. I was +still quite able to defend myself, but I knew +that news of the disaster would call many +English submarines and torpedo-boat destroyers, +so, having done my appointed work, I +set my course for home.</p> + +<p>“My surmise was right, for before I got +very far some British cruisers and destroyers +were on the spot, and the destroyers took up +the chase. I kept under water most of the +way, but managed to get off a wireless to the +German fleet that I was heading homeward +and being pursued. I hoped to entice the enemy, +by allowing them now and then a glimpse +of me, into the zone in which they might be +exposed to capture or destruction by German +warships; but, although their destroyers saw +me plainly at dusk on the 22nd, and made a +final effort to stop me, they abandoned the attempt, +as it was taking them too far from +safety, and needlessly exposing them to attack +from our fleet and submarines.</p> + +<p>“How much they feared our submarines and +how wide was the agitation caused by my good +little <em>U-9</em> is shown by the English reports +that a whole flotilla of German submarines +had attacked the cruisers, and that this flotilla +had approached under cover of the flag of +Holland.</p> + +<p>“These reports were absolutely untrue.</p> + +<p>“I reached the home port on the afternoon +of the 23rd and on the 24th went to Wilhelmshaven +to find the news of my effort had +become public. My wife, dry-eyed when I +went away, met me with tears. Then I +learned that my little vessel and her brave +crew had won the plaudits of the Kaiser, who +had conferred upon my co-workers the Iron +Cross of the second class and upon me the +Iron Cross of the first and second classes.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="TORPEDOED">TORPEDOED!</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Nurse’s Graphic Personal Narrative of the Wanton Destruction of the +<em>Sussex</em></h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">On</span> a clear day with the sea a perfect mirror +reflecting the blue sky, the French +Channel Steamer <em>Sussex</em> left Folkstone harbor +on its fateful trip for Dieppe, March 24, +1916. Among the passengers was an English +nurse attached to a French hospital, who was +returning to duty from a month’s leave of +absence in England. The <em>Sussex</em> was a small +but finely built, stout passenger boat, unarmed. +She left harbor at 1.30 in the afternoon, +and in a short time encountered in the +Channel thousands of floating bags of a jettisoned +cargo. A group of passengers, standing +by the rail, began to discuss the possibilities +of torpedoing. A British officer, who had +braved dangers at Undros, laughed, saying +that it was not submarine weather, the Germans +being afraid to show themselves in a +calm sea. Soon the others of the group +strolled off leaving the nurse alone watching +a Belgian officer exercising his dog on the +deck. Presently they went away, and the +nurse turned to look out at the sea and watch +for a periscope.</p> + +<p>What followed the nurse tells, as her personal +experience, in an article published in +<cite>Blackwood’s Magazine</cite>:</p> + +<p>“It grew cold, and I was beginning to +think of going back to my sheltered chair to +roll myself up in my rug, when in a moment +the whole earth and heaven seemed to explode +in one head-splitting roar. In the thousandth +part of a second my mind told me ‘Torpedoed—forward—on +my right’—and then the sensation +of falling, with my limbs spread-eagle, +through space.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_281" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_281.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">The <em>Sussex</em> Beached</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">This channel ferryboat was torpedoed at night while carrying a large number of distinguished passengers. +The force of the explosion broke her amidships.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“When I came to myself again I was groping +amid a tangle of broken wires with an +agonizing pain in my back and the fiercest +headache I had ever known. My hair was +down, and plastered to my chin with blood +that seemed to be coming from my mouth. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span>There was more blood on my coat-sleeve. I +was conscious that I was bleeding freely internally +with every movement. My first +definite thought was, ‘If only it is all a ghastly +nightmare!’ But I remembered. My next +thought was a passionately strong desire not to +die by drowning—then. I crawled free of the +wires that were coiled all about me and +stood up.</p> + + +<h3>DEAFENED AND UNABLE TO SPEAK</h3> + +<p>“In one unsteady glance I took in a number +of things. Near me a horrible piece of something, +and a dead woman. (Afterwards I +wondered why I was so sure she was dead and +never stooped to make sure.) <em>Below me, on +the quarterdeck and second-class promenade +deck</em>, numbers of people moving to and fro, +many with lifebelts on. I never heard a +sound from them, but it did not strike me as +odd then. Now I know I was deafened. So +I had been blown up on to the top deck, to +the other end of the ship. I swayed to and +fro, and looked for a stairway, but could find +none, and began to be aware that I had only +a few moments of consciousness left me.</p> + +<p>“Something must be done if I was not to +drown. I forced my will to concentrate on +it, and came to the side, where I found three +men looking down on a lowered boat. I also +saw a lifebelt on the ground. I picked it +up and, not having the strength to put it on, +I tried to ask the men to tie it for me. Then +I found I could not speak. So I held it up, +and one, an American, understood, and hastily +tied it. Then I saw one of them catch hold +of a loose davit rope and swarm down it to the +boat. There was my one chance, I decided. +My arms were all right, but would my legs +work? I took hold, and made a mighty effort +to cross my knees round the rope: I succeeded. +Then I slid down till I was just above the +water.</p> + + +<h3>INTO ONE LIFEBOAT</h3> + +<p>“I waited till the roll of the ship brought +me near enough to the boat to catch, with my +right hand, another rope that I saw hanging +plumb above it, while I hung on with my +left. It came within reach: I caught it, let +go with my left, and lowered myself into the +boat. Then I wanted to sink down in her +bottom and forget everything, but I dared +not, for men were pouring into her. I saw a +man’s knee hooked over the side of the boat +where I sat. I could not see his body, but it +was in the water, between us and the side of +the <em>Sussex</em>. As in a dream I held on to his +knee with my left hand with all the grip I +had left, and with my right held on to the seat +on which I sat. I could do nothing to help +him in, but on the other hand, so long as I +remained conscious, his knee-hold should not +be allowed to slip. No one took any notice +of either of us. Gradually I began to hear +again. The men in the boat were shouting +that there was no more room, that the boat +was full. One last man tumbled in and then +the people in the boat pushed away, and men +on the <em>Sussex</em> helped. Others continually +threw gratings and planks overboard.</p> + + +<h3>ALMOST SWAMPED</h3> + +<p>“Our boat was dangerously overcrowded. +Already she was half swamped. I wondered +when she would upset. A man on either side +seized gratings and towed them alongside. +One made a herculean effort and pulled the +man whose knee I had been holding into our +boat, and nearly upset her. No one said a +word. He was an elderly man, and his fat +face was white and piteous. His hands never +ceased trembling. He had had a terrible +fright. Some one suggested getting out the +oars, and others said it was impossible, as they +were underneath us all. However, it was +managed, and several men stood up and +changed places. Again we nearly upset. I +joined with the others in commanding these +wild folk to sit still. Three oars were produced. +One was given to a young and sickly +looking Frenchman opposite to me. He did +not know how to use it. Everyone shouted +to get away from the steamer. The water +had now reached my knees, and I began to +notice how cold it was.</p> + +<p>“I saw three other women in the boat. +They sat together, white and silent, in the +stern, nor ever moved. They were French +women. Some one noticed that the water was +increasing and there was a wild hullabaloo of +alarm. A Belgian—the man who had pulled +into the boat the man whose knee I held—called +for hats with which to bale, setting the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</span>example with his. But we were so tightly +packed that no one could get at the water, +whereupon the Belgian climbed overboard on +to one of the gratings I have already mentioned, +and a young Belgian soldier followed +his example on the other side. They held on to +our gunwale with their fingers. This somewhat +relieved the congestion, enabling us to bail.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_283" style="max-width: 45.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_283.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Brigadier-General Leroy Eltinge</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Deputy Chief of Staff, G. H. Q., A. E. F.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Sometimes the people in the boat bailed +furiously, sometimes they stopped and stared +stupidly about them. Some shouted ‘Ramez! +Ramez!’ Others equally excited yelled ‘Mais +non! Videz l’eau! Videz l’eau!’ I apologized +to my immediate neighbors for that I +had no hat to lend, and for that I was too +hurt to stoop, but I put my hands on the erring +oar the young Frenchman was feebly moving +across my knees, and did my best to guide his +efforts. As often as not he put it flat on the +water, and sometimes he merely desisted altogether, +and gazed vacantly in front of him. +The Belgian asked for a handkerchief, and +groping in the water at the bottom of the +boat, found a hole and caulked it as best he +could. Thereafter the bailers kept the water +from increasing, but did little to reduce it.</p> + + +<h3>THE <em>SUSSEX</em> STILL AFLOAT</h3> + +<p>“Looking around I saw our steamer riding +quite happily on the water with her bows clean +gone. Afterwards I learned that the torpedo +had cut off her fore-part, to within an inch +or two of where I had been standing, and +that it had sunk. I saw another full boat +being rowed away from the ship, and an overturned +one with two people sitting on her +keel. I saw a man seated on a grating. All +were convinced that help would be forthcoming +speedily. And still the <em>Sussex</em> floated. +Four times I remarked—by way of a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">ballon +d’essai</i>—that it seemed as if she were not going +to sink, and always there was an outcry to +row, and get away from her. The Belgian +and the Belgian soldier evidently thought as +I did. They proposed that we should return +before we were swamped ourselves. Once +again a hysterical outburst. One man jumped +to his feet and shrieked, and asked us if it +were to hell that we intended returning? I +began to be afraid that he and those who +thought as he did would throw us others into +the sea, but common-sense told me that to +remain all night in that overcrowded half-swamped +boat would be to court death.</p> + +<p>“We saw at last that the other boat was +returning. This was our chance. Example +is a wonderful thing in dealing with mob hysteria. +Tentatively the two Belgians and I +proposed that we should go as close to the +steamer as prudence permitted, and ask the +Captain if she were going to sink. If his answer +were favorable, those who desired should +go on board, and any who liked could go off +again in the boat. If his answer were unfavorable, +we would stand off again. The +maniac still shrieked his protests, but the rest +of the boat was with us. But no one seemed +to know how to turn the boat. As soon as we +told one to backwater, the other two did likewise. +It seemed hopeless. Finally, we let +the other two oars pull, and I myself tried to +induce my <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">vis-à-vis</i> to ‘ramez au sens contraire,’ +which was the nearest approach I +could get to ‘backwater’ in French. He was +too dazed to understand, so I simply set my +teeth and pulled against him, and in about +fifteen minutes the boat gradually came round +in a wide circle. How I longed to be whole +again so that I could take his oar right away +and cox that mad boat! With my injured +back and inside I could only just compass +what I did. The pain kept me from collapsing, +and the exertion from freezing.</p> + +<p>“It looked as though we were to be +swamped, after all, within ten yards of the +<em>Sussex’s</em> gaping bows, for our crew, in their +excitement, had forgotten to bail for some +minutes. As we floated in under her sides I +made a final appeal, which a young Belgian +put into more forcible French, for everybody +to keep calm and not upset the boat at the last.</p> + + +<h3>BACK TO THE SHIP</h3> + +<p>“The women now spoke for the first time—and +it was to appeal to the excited boat’s load +to let me be taken off first, since I was injured. +I found I could not stand, so sat in the middle +of the seat trying to trim the boat while the +men scrambled out. I was left alone at last; +and the water that came over the gunwale +poured over my legs to my waist, some of it +soaking through my thick great-coat and chilling +me to the bone. The boat was floating +away. Some one shouted to me to get up. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</span>I got on to my hands and knees on the seat +and tried to crawl along the side, but the +change of position nearly caused me to faint +with pain. Then the Belgian managed to get +hold of the boat and hold her, and some sailors +leaned out of the hatchway in the <em>Sussex’s</em> side +and grasped me by the arms and pulled me up +and in as though I had been a sack. There +were many far worse hurt than I, and they +left me propped against a wall. The Belgian +again came to the rescue, and half dragged +me to the top of the second saloon stairway. +I got down by levering myself on my hands on +the rails, while he supported me under the +arms.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_285" style="max-width: 51.9375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_285.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Courtesy of Leslies.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Searching for U-Boats in the North Sea</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">A fleet of torpedo boats combing the seas for German raiders. The Allied Fleets maintained their +vigil until the German Navy was surrendered at Scapa Flow.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Once in the saloon, he and the young Belgian +soldier took off my loosely fixed lifebelt +and laid me on a couch. One forced a glass +of whisky down my throat, which burned and +gave me back renewed consciousness, while +the other ran for brandy. I was terribly cold, +and the good Belgian took off my boots and +puttees and stockings and chafed my feet till +one was warm. The other had no sensation +for over twelve hours, and five days later, +when it was radiographed, proved to be +sprained and fractured.</p> + + +<h3>“WHAT IS IT TO DIE?”</h3> + +<p>“After that, long hours of waiting. A +woman shrieked incessantly up on deck. A +man with a wounded head came and sat patiently +in a corner. A girl, complaining of a +pain in her chest, came down the stairs and +lay down on a corner couch. She never moved +nor spoke again. By midnight she was dead. +None of us guessed, none of us knew. She +died bravely and silently, quite alone. Another +woman showed signs of approaching hysteria. +A young Belgian officer, who had been +attending her, suddenly ceased his gallantry, +and standing sternly before her, said brusquely, +‘After all, if the very worst comes, you can +only die. What is it to die?’ The words +acted on her like a douche of cold water. She +became herself again and never murmured. +We others, perhaps, benefited too. It is nerve-racking +work lying helpless in a damaged +vessel, wondering whether the rescue ship or +another enemy submarine will appear first on +the scene. And no ship came. At intervals +the Belgian boy soldiers came down to reassure +us: ‘The wireless had been repaired. +Forty vessels were searching for us. There +was a light to starboard. We were drifting +towards Boulogne. The “Phares” of the coast +were in sight.’ But no ship came. The light +to starboard faded. Another appeared, and +faded too.</p> + +<p>“Then we heard the regular boom of a +cannon or a rocket. We all knew that something +must have blocked our wireless, but no +one said so. The Belgian came down to sleep, +fixing his lifebelt first. With him came a +good French-woman, who was very kind to +me and washed the blood from my face and +rinsed out my bleeding mouth. She was +very hungry, and all I could do to help her +was to hold her jewels while she went on +deck to search for her hand baggage, and, +later, to give her some soaked food out of my +pocket. There was no food left anywhere. +She said some brave words, too, about death +coming to all, only coming once, and being +soon over. How much one person’s courage +can help others at such a time! Then she tied +on a lifebelt and went to sleep beside me. The +ship was rolling now, and the seas slapped +noisily against her somewhere, jarring her all +through her frame. But the Captain had said +she would not sink for eighteen hours, and +we all believed his word implicitly. Still, it +was an ugly noise, and seemed to betoken her +helplessness.</p> + + +<h3>“WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST”</h3> + +<p>“And then at last the news of rescue! A +French fishing-boat was coming! ‘Women +and children first,’ the young Belgians cried. +My Belgian succorer roused himself and +fetched my stockings and boots. My right +boot would not go on. My puttees he could +not manage, and so he tied them round me. +He was always cool and practical and matter-of-fact. +‘I have been in the Belgian Congo,’ +he explained, ‘and in shipwrecks before. I +know what to do, and I am not alarmed. +You can trust entirely to me.’ And I did. +There was a great bump as the fishing-boat +came alongside, and a rush upstairs. Once +more I was left alone, for my Belgian friend +had gone up to see about getting me helped +on board. He came back to say that the +crush was so great that he would wait till it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</span>was over and then take me. It seemed a +long time, but he came back at last, only to +find he could not lift me. Then he went +away calling for an ‘homme de bonne volonté’ +to help. A young Chinese responded, and together +they staggered up the heaving stairway +with me. When they reached the ship’s rail +it was to hear that the boat had gone! A +British torpedo boat was coming, we were +told, and so the fisherman had gone off with +as many as he could safely carry to Boulogne. +With her went my hope of reaching +my own hospital in France. I had been sure +the destroyer would take her load to England.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_287" style="max-width: 47.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_287.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"><cite>Courtesy of Leslies.</cite></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sinking of the <em>Falaba</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">After torpedoing the ship, the U-boat came to the surface and gave the command “Abandon +ship.” Shortly afterward the <em>Falaba</em> broke into flames and was destroyed.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Perhaps half an hour passed, and then the +destroyer came. This time one of the French +sailors helped him to carry me, and I was +placed on my back, across the ship’s rail, and +when the roll brought her near enough to the +destroyer, British sailors grasped my arms and +pulled me over. For one sickening second my +legs dangled between the two ships, but the +sailors hauled me in just before the impact +came. They carried me to the chart-house +and laid me on the couch, and before long the +Belgian joined me, and, utterly exhausted, lay +down on the floor. From that moment I felt +entirely safe. We English are brought up to +feel complete confidence in the British Navy, +much as they teach us to trust in Providence. +And the Navy deserves our confidence.</p> + +<p>“It took a long time to transfer all the remaining +passengers of the <em>Sussex</em> to H. M. S. +——, for the sea was becoming restless, and +the two ships hammered and thumped at each +other’s sides to such purpose that the rescuing +destroyer had to go into dock for repairs +when her labors were over and she had landed +us all safely.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_VALLEYS_OF_THE_BLUE_SHROUDS">THE VALLEYS OF THE BLUE SHROUDS</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent">(<em>Where the Valiant Poilus Were Buried in Their Blue Uniforms</em>)</p> + +<p class="center no-indent"><em>By</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">John Finley</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">O shards of walls that once held precious life,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Now scattered, like the bones the Prophet saw</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lying in visioned valleys of the slain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Ere One cried: “Son of Man, can these bones live?”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">O images of heroes, saints, and Christs,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Pierced, broken, thrust in hurried sepulture</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In selfsame tombs with tinsel, dross, and dreg,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And without time for either shrift or shroud!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">O smold’ring embers of Love’s hearthstone fires,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Quenched by the fiercer fires of hellish hate,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That have not where to kindle flames again</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To light succeeding generations on!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">O ghost-gray ashes of cathedral towers</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That toward the sky once raised appealing hands</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To beg the God of all take residence</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And hold communion with the kneeling souls!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">O silent tongues of bells that once did ring</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Matin and Angelus o’er peaceful fields,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Now shapeless slag that will to-morrow serve</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To make new engines for still others’ woe!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">O dust that flowered in finial and foil</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And bright in many-petaled windows bloomed,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Now unto dust returned at cannon’s breath</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To lay thy faded glories on the crypt!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">O wounded cities that have been beloved</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As Priam’s city was by Hecuba,—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sad Hecuba, who ere in exile borne,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Beheld her Hector’s child Astyanax</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Spitted on spears (as if a Belgian babe)</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And saw the walls in smoke and flame ascend</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To hover heav’nward with wide-brooding wings</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Above the “vanished thing” that once was Troy!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">O shards of sanctuaries and of homes!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">O embers, ashes gray, and glinting dust!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Ye who were tile or tower in Laon or Ypres,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A village by the Somme, a church in Roye,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A bit of glass in Reims, a convent bell</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In St. Dié, a lycée in Verdun,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A wayside crucifix in Mézières,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Again I hear a cry: “Can these bones live?”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Yes! As the bones, o’er which the Prophet cried</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And called the breath from Heav’n’s four winds to breathe.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sprang straightway, bone to bone, each to its place,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To frame in flesh the features and the forms</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They still remembered and still loved to hold</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Once more on earth—so shall ye rise again!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Out of their quarries, cumulus, the clouds</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Will furnish back your flame in crystal stone;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The cirrus dawns in Parsee tapestries</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With azure broiderings will clothe your walls;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The nimbus noons will shower golden rain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And sunset colors fill each Gothic arch;</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">For o’er thy stricken vales, O valiant France,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Our love for thee shall prophesy anew,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And Heav’n’s Four Winds of Liberty, allied,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Shall breathe unpoisoned in thy streets till they</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Shall pulse again with life that laughs and sings,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And yet remembers, singing through its tears</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The music of an everlasting song—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Remembers, proudly and undyingly,</div> + <div class="verse indent0"><em>The hero dust that lies in shrouds of blue</em></div> + <div class="verse indent0"><em>But rises as thy soul, immortal France!</em></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"> +Dr. Finley and <cite>The Yale Review</cite>.<br> +</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="RIZZO_SINKS_THE_WIEN">RIZZO SINKS THE <em>WIEN</em></h2> +</div> + +<h3>An Italian Lieutenant Braves Batteries and Mines and Harbor Wire in +Novel Feat</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> Germans and Austrians, knowing +that it would be folly for them to risk +a naval battle, kept their navies cooped up in +harbors and rivers to the intense disgust of +real jackies, who thought it quite unbearable +at times that while the Allied fleets were roaming +about the high seas begging for a fight +the enemy was shutting itself up. English +and French and American sailors were so +hungry for action that they occasionally took +unwarranted chances for the sake of getting +at the enemy, and more than once these daring +leaders were at the same time rebuked for +their recklessness and rewarded for their +bravery and success.</p> + +<p>One of the most brilliant and picturesque +of naval adventures fell to the credit of a +young Italian who achieved a plan that +startled the Austrians and Germans as much +as it delighted the Allies.</p> + +<p>Lieut. Rizzo is really a Sicilian, strong and +handsome. He is about thirty years old—young +enough to go through with a daring +feat, old enough to be careful. Moreover, +there were two boats that carried out the +plan, and the second boat was in charge of an +elderly man, sixty-two years old, a fire-eater +though.</p> + +<p>The task was quite definite. In the Trieste +harbor the Austrians kept several ships which +were a source of great annoyance to the Italians. +Especially hateful was the <em>Wien</em> and +her sister the <em>Monarch</em>. She carried four +10-inch guns and six 6-inch guns and a crew +of 441 officers and men. A month before the +<em>Wien</em> had shelled the lower Piave line and +Italian motor boats had tried their torpedoes +on her. She had a narrow escape. Then she +was stored at Trieste. She must have felt +herself quite safe with her sister ship, the +<em>Monarch</em>, drawing by her. They were behind +steel nets fringed with mines. And +all day and all night sentries watched.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant’s Rizzo’s plans were all laid. +But he had no false hopes. He knew of the +Austrian combination of nets and mines, and +knew that at best he had great chances of +being blown to pieces. He started out, though, +with his two little launches—really not much +bigger than a ship’s lifeboat.</p> + + +<h3>DUMBFOUNDED AUSTRIANS</h3> + +<p>There was a mist on the sea. It was after +midnight when they crawled in toward the +coast. It was in December, and they could +just about make out the white city of Trieste. +The two boats stole toward the harbor. One +of the chief problems of Rizzo was that of +the huge steel cables attached to the nets; +but these he managed to cut apart, thus making +his way through the nets.</p> + +<p>They came nearer the harbor. It is an +affair of three piers, making two channels. +These channels were closed by booms and +nets. Mines were linked to the piers by great +steel hawsers.</p> + +<p>The boats crept up to one pier. Rizzo +climbed up and took in the situation. There +was nobody on that pier. On the middle +pier, however, was a guardroom. There +could be heard the sound of voices in that +room, and the barking of dogs, and the +monotonous rhythms of the sentry patrolling +the middle pier.</p> + +<p>“Lieutenant Rizzo,” Percival Gibbon +wrote to the New York <cite>Times</cite>, “crawled +back and gave the order, and up came his +men, crawling on hands and knees over the +concrete, passing the big cutting tools from +hand to hand, groping their way to the cables. +Some set to work to cut them, while two +men scanned the shore lest some sentry should +arrive.</p> + +<p>“The cutting instruments worked well. It +needed only a strong jar to set the mines<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</span> +exploding, but the cutters bit their way +through strand after strand of twisted steel +wire. Three cables above water were severed +without trouble; the five more below; +water were grappled and hauled to the surface +and cut in their turn.</p> + +<p>“At last the weight of the net and its +attachments tore the last steel strands asunder, +the whole great cobweb of metal and +explosives sank, and the harbor lay open. +Rizzo and his men crawled back to their +boats. Those boats moved like shadows +toward the <em>Wien</em> and the <em>Monarch</em>. Rizzo +backed off till he had his enemy at 150 yards. +His second boat, commanded by the old petty +officer, shifted out upon his beam to get a +line which cleared the <em>Wien’s</em> bow and commanded +the <em>Monarch’s</em> great steel flank. +Rizzo raised his arm in that gloom and saw +the answering gesture of the petty officer. It +was the moment to let her go. In a second +four long steel devils were sliding through +the water for the enemy.</p> + +<p>“A roar, a blast of flame, a waterspout +raining on them, and a second roar as the +<em>Monarch</em>, too, got her dose.</p> + +<p>“A searchlight flashed out from the <em>Wien</em> +and sawed at the darkness. A scream sounded +over the water: <em>Wer da?</em> (Who’s there?) +There were shoutings and stampings along +the deck of the wounded ship, searchlights +waking along the shore and on the breakwaters, +and anti-aircraft guns arousing everywhere. +No one in Trieste knew whence the +attack had come, whether from air or sea. +The sky was festooned with bursting shell, +while the ships in the harbor opened with +their guns toward the harbor mouth, shelling +the mist of the Adriatic at random. By the +light of that furious illumination the Italian +sailors saw the great bulk of the <em>Wien</em> listing +toward them.</p> + +<p>“By this time they were making for the +harbor mouth. Shells spouted all around +them, but not one hit them, and both boats +saw before they left that last subsidence, that +wriggle and resignation with which a great +ship goes under.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="EDITH_CAVELL">EDITH CAVELL</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent"><em>By</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Laurence Binyon</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">She was binding the wounds of her enemies when they came—</div> + <div class="verse indent2">The lint in her hand unrolled.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They battered the door with their rifle-butts, crashed it in:</div> + <div class="verse indent2">She faced them gentle and bold.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">They haled her before the judges where they sat</div> + <div class="verse indent2">In their places, helmet on head.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With question and menace the judges assailed her, “Yes,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">I have broken your law,” she said.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“I have tended the hurt and hidden the hunted, have done</div> + <div class="verse indent2">As a sister does to a brother,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Because of a law that is greater than that you have made,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Because I could do none other.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Deal as you will with me. This is my choice to the end,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">To live in the life I vowed.”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“She is self-confessed,” they cried; “she is self-condemned.</div> + <div class="verse indent2">She shall die, that the rest may be cowed.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">In the terrible hour of the dawn, when the veins are cold,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">They led her forth to the wall.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“I have loved my land,” she said, “but it is not enough:</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Love requires of me all.</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“I will empty my heart of the bitterness, hating none.”</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And sweetness filled her brave</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With a vision of understanding beyond the hour</div> + <div class="verse indent2">That knelled to the waiting grave.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">They bound her eyes, but she stood as if she shone.</div> + <div class="verse indent2">The rifles it was that shook</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When the hoarse command rang out. They could not endure</div> + <div class="verse indent2">That last, that defenseless look.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And the officer strode and pistoled her surely, ashamed</div> + <div class="verse indent2">That men, seasoned in blood,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Should quail at a woman, only a woman,—</div> + <div class="verse indent2">As a flower stamped in the mud.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And now that the deed was securely done, in the night</div> + <div class="verse indent2">When none had known her fate,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They answered those that had striven for her, day by day:</div> + <div class="verse indent2">“It is over, you come too late.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And with many words and sorrowful-phrased excuse</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Argued their German right</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To kill, most legally; hard though the duty be,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">The law must assert its might.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Only a woman! yet she had pity on them,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">The victim offered slain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To the gods of fear that they worship. Leave them there,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Red hands, to clutch their gain!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">She bewailed not herself, and we will bewail her not,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">But with tears of pride rejoice</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That an English soul was found so crystal-clear</div> + <div class="verse indent2">To be triumphant voice</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Of the human heart that dares adventure all</div> + <div class="verse indent2">But live to itself untrue,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And beyond all laws sees love as the light in the night,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">As the star it must answer to.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The hurt she healed, the thousands comforted—these</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Make a fragrance of her fame.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But because she stept to her right on through death</div> + <div class="verse indent2">It is Victory speaks her name.</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"> +From <em>The Cause</em>. Messrs. Houghton Mifflin Company.<br> +</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="AS_OF_OLD">AS OF OLD</h2> +</div> + +<h3>An Engagement When Pistol and Cutlass Revived Memories of Notable +Sea Fights of the Past</h3> + + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">A friendly</span> ghost of the old grappling +and boarding days at sea came to give +the color of romance to one of the encounters +between British and German ships in the latter +part of April, 1917. And a touch of ancient +charm is given to the experience in the +fact that the hero of the engagement was a +gallant and daring midshipman, for the honors +really fall to Midshipman Donald Gyles +of the good ship <em>Broke</em>—a British destroyer.</p> + +<p>Appropriately too, it was a dark and calm +night. The <em>Broke</em> (whose commander was +Capt. Evans, the antarctic explorer) and the +sister destroyer <em>Swift</em> were steaming leisurely +in a westerly course on patrol duty. Suddenly, +quite in the vein of romance, the lookout +of the <em>Swift</em> made out, not more than six +hundred yards distant, a flotilla of six German +destroyers. Here was a how-d’ye-do, +when you consider that a distance of a thousand +yards is a disagreeably close range in these +days of far-speaking guns. The Germans +were the first to fire, but the <em>Swift</em> lost no +time in making reply and also put on steam in +an attempt to ram the foremost enemy destroyer. +She failed of her purpose and ran +beyond the enemy line, but turning about she +sent a torpedo into one of the enemy ships +and made a second dash at the leader, which +again escaped a ramming and took to flight. +The <em>Swift</em> gave chase.</p> + +<p>The <em>Broke</em> was giving excellent account of +herself meanwhile. She had torpedoed one +of the enemy and then opened fire with every +gun. The other enemy destroyers were frantically +working for full speed. The <em>Broke</em> +swung around and rammed one of them square +abreast the after funnel, so that the two boats +were locked. Then began the desperate hand-to-hand +conflict reminiscent of ancient days. +The <em>Broke</em> raked the enemy’s decks point +blank with fire from big guns, maxims, rifle +and pistol. Two other German destroyers +came to the rescue and poured a furious fire +on the <em>Broke</em>, killing twelve of the eighteen +men of the gun crew.</p> + + +<h3>A HAND-TO-HAND FIGHT ON DECK</h3> + +<p>It might have been that at such a disadvantage +the <em>Broke</em> would fall speedy victim to +superior numbers. But something more +than numbers and preponderance of force +enter into the audit of the militant; and the +“something more” in this instance was the +spirit and understanding of Midshipman +Gyles. Although wounded in the eye he kept +all the foremost guns in action, himself helping +the sorely reduced crew to load. While +he was occupied in this way Germans began +swarming over the <em>Broke’s</em> forecastle from +the rammed destroyer, and to escape the blinding +flashes of the forecastle guns began pushing +aft, roaring and shouting like a frenzied mob. +A graphic account of what happened was published +right after the event:</p> + +<p>“The midshipman, amid the dead and +wounded of his own gun-crews, and half +blinded himself by blood, met the onset single-handed +with an automatic revolver. He was +grappled by a German, who tried to wrest +the revolver away. Cutlasses and bayonets being +among the British equipment in anticipation +of such an event, the German was +promptly bayoneted by Seaman Ingleson. The +remainder of the invaders, except two who +feigned death, were driven over the side, the +two being taken prisoner.</p> + +<p>“Two minutes after ramming, the <em>Broke</em> +wrenched herself free from her sinking adversary +and turned to ram the last of the three +remaining German boats. She failed in this +object but, in swinging around, succeeded in +hitting the boat’s consort on the stem with a +torpedo. Hotly engaged with the two fleeing +destroyers, the <em>Broke</em> attempted to follow the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</span><em>Swift</em> in the direction she was last seen, but +a shell struck the <em>Broke’s</em> boiler-room, disabling +her main engines.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_294" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_294.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Courtesy of Hunter.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Through the North Sea</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Night and day the Allied Fleets patrolled the North Sea, watching for U-boats and waiting for the German Navy to act.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Thus freed from pursuit the enemy ships +made off swiftly and disappeared in the darkness. +In spite of her disability the <em>Broke</em> made +such headway as her crippled engines were capable +of in quest of the <em>Swift</em>. Soon a burning +German destroyer was sighted and immediately +its crew saw the <em>Broke</em> they rushed +to the rails shouting for mercy and begging to +be saved. Disregarding the danger and unsuspicious +of treachery the <em>Broke</em> steered slowly +toward the burning ship. The German +crew redoubled their plea, “Save, Save,” and +then suddenly opened fire on the vessel coming +to their rescue.</p> + +<p>The <em>Broke</em> in her crippled condition was +not able to maneuver for safety, but she had +her guns and happily they served her. She +silenced the German with four shots and then, +the desert of baseness, torpedoed the German +amidships.</p> + +<p>The <em>Swift</em> had a somewhat different experience. +She had, owing to impaired speed, abandoned +the pursuit of the first destroyer, and +began a search for other quarry. After a +time she sighted a motionless destroyer from +which came calls for help. She approached +cautiously with guns ready for instant action +and presently made out that it was the destroyer +that the <em>Broke</em> had rammed. The +Germans were shouting, “We surrender,” but +the <em>Swift</em> was wary, suspecting treachery, and +waited. In a little while the destroyer keeled +and went down stem first, the crew jumping +into the water.</p> + +<p>The <em>Swift</em> switched on her searchlights and +there being no enemy ship visible, lowered her +boats and rescued the Germans swimming +toward her. Then the <em>Broke</em> and the <em>Swift</em> +reported to each other on the details of the +engagement and those who remained of the +two crews cheered each other well nigh as long +a time as the thrilling engagement itself had +lasted.</p> + +<p>And let not be forgotten, when quiet heroisms +are remembered, the conduct of Seaman +William Rowles, helmsman of the <em>Broke</em>. +Though hit four times by shell fragments he +stuck to the wheel during the entire action +and only betrayed the fact that he was wounded +by fainting as he reported to his captain, +“I’m going off now, Sir.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="DEATH_IN_A_SUBMARINE">DEATH IN A SUBMARINE</h2> +</div> + +<h3>One of a Crew That Was Saved Tells of the Thrilling Moments Just Before +the Final Plunge</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Many</span> submarines, rammed or shot, were +sent to the bottom with their crews, +and for the most part the world has been +left to imagine how the doomed men met +their fate. There is always a desire, deeper +than mere curiosity, to know how men behave +in such circumstances; now and then the desire +is gratified, and we have learned that +brave men go down to death cooped in a +submarine with the same resolute calm with +which brave men meet death in any guise. +That the spirit of man is a wondrous thing +the war has given new proof in myriad +ways.</p> + +<p>A survivor tells the story of the crew of +the <em>Monge</em>, a French submarine commanded +by Lieutenant Morillot, rammed by an Austrian +warship and sunk in the Adriatic, Dec. +29, 1915. It was more than a year after +that date before any of the details became +known. Then the letter of one of the crew +released from an Austrian military prison was +published, giving the thrilling particulars. +After telling how the warship smashed into +the submarine the letter continued:</p> + +<p>“The water enters in torrents. The safety +hatch is closed, but the <em>Monge</em> descends very +swiftly; it reaches a depth of 200 feet, and +the plates crack under the pressure of the +water. We give ourselves up as forever lost. +Our vessel is being crushed; we feel it flattening +in upon us. No one says a word, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</span> +everybody works. Orders are executed as in +ordinary times; no panic, not a cry.</p> + +<p>“We are facing the most certain and perhaps +the most hideous death, yet our commander +is superb in his coolness, and he has +a crew that is worthy of him. The steel +braces supporting the hull—bars as thick as +my fist—are twisted like so many wires. The +accumulators fall down on each other; the +electric current is intensified, the fuses burn +out, the acid decomposes—it is the second +phase; after the crushing comes asphyxiation.</p> + +<p>“‘Courage! Courage! We are rising!’ +That is the cry of the second torpedo master, +for to him belongs the most delicate and certain +of all our remedies. In fact, we feel +that we are rising, and in a minute or two +we have gone from a depth of 200 feet to +the surface. We are saved!</p> + +<p>“Alas! A third ordeal! The Austrians +have seen us and begin shelling us at short +range. A single shell pierces our hull. The +commandant orders for the third time: ‘To +your posts for the dive!’ This time all is +indeed ended; the motors no longer act, none +of the machinery runs, and the water keeps +pouring in. Everybody goes to his post without +a murmur, and yet we all know that this +time death awaits us—and what a death! +The commandant changes his mind. Our vessel +is lost; why sacrifice the crew? He lets +his arms drop, and two big tears roll down +his cheeks, tears of pride and of impotence.</p> + +<p>“In a calm voice, however, he tells us to +save ourselves. The impossible had been attempted; +we could give up with a light +heart.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_296" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_296.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">The Conning Tower of a New British Submarine of the “L” Type</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Before rising to the surface the commandant +asks us to cry three times, ‘<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive la +France!</i>’ and to sing the ‘<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Marseillaise</i>.’ Such +were the last words and orders of the man +who was and remained the commandant of +the <em>Monge</em>, for he chose not to leave his +beloved boat. As soon as we reached the +deck we complied with his request and thrice +shouted ‘<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive la France!</i>’ and sang the refrain +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</span>of the ‘<cite>Marseillaise</cite>.’ When the water rose +to our waists we had only time to throw +ourselves into the sea. The <em>Monge</em> sank on +Dec. 29, 1915, at 2:30 in the morning. There +were three deaths—the commandant and two +mechanician quartermasters.”</p> + +<p>Afterward the French Government honored +Lieutenant Morillot by giving his name +to a ship captured from the enemy; but one +wonders why so gallant an officer should have +been so unprofitably sacrificed to a naval +tradition. Captains go down with their ships +because tradition and court-martials have +made it more honorable than living to serve +their country in new duties and responsibilities.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_NOTABLE_EXPLOIT">A NOTABLE EXPLOIT</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Two Italian Naval Officers Destroy an Austrian Dreadnought in a Novel +Way</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Lieut. Col. R. Rossetti</span> of the +Italian Naval Construction Corps and +his friend, Dr. Paolucci, also of the Navy, on +the night of October 31-Nov. 1, 1918, destroyed +an Austrian dreadnought in circumstances +as thrilling as they were exceptional. +They struck an entirely new note in marine +warfare.</p> + +<p>The Austrian warship <em>Viribus Unitis</em>, having +a displacement of 20,010 tons, and an +armament of twelve 12-inch guns, and representing +a cost of $13,000,000, was moored +in the harbor of Pola, about as secure a place +as she could possibly have been at rest in. +The entrance of the harbor was formidably +fortified; it was a most important naval base +and was guarded accordingly. Obstacles and +obstructions, however, did not dismay Col. +Rossetti, who was of a mind to blow up the +greatest and newest of Austrian dreadnoughts +of the super variety. He was of an inventive +faculty, this daring Genoese, and he devised +an apparatus, a curious motor, the especial +purpose of which was to enable a swimmer to +get a mine safely over the obstructions that +closed Pola harbor.</p> + +<p>With this device supporting the necessary +mine, Col. Rossetti and Dr. Paolucci swam +into the harbor in the night. They had approached +as near as was expedient in the +chaser <em>M. A. S. 95</em> which towed the apparatus. +They left the chaser with the parting +whisper “<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive il Re!</i>” and steered their course +between two lighthouses until they came to +the obstruction at the extreme end of the +jetty. The obstruction consisted of long beams +bound together at the ends by wire rope. +Buoys at intervals kept the obstruction in position. +The apparatus was put in a line with +the beams and dragged slowly forward for +about a quarter of an hour. At a certain +point the beams were submerged and the men +could no longer guide themselves by them, so +the motor was put into action to reach the +inner edge of the obstruction. In his official +report Col. Rossetti gave in detail by hours +the incidents and events that followed. The +report is quoted:</p> + +<p>“On our left (that is, toward the open +sea) I have noticed a submarine with one +tower. She is on the surface, and passes, darkened +and noiseless, between the harbor obstruction +and the chaser which had brought us. +I can see her like a shadow against the +sky, and point her out to Dr. Paolucci.</p> + +<p>“About 11.15 p.m.—We can distinctly see +a red light shining at intervals and moving +up and down along the jetty. Probably it +is on a patrol boat stationed between the jetty +and the outside obstructions. This will not +affect us, however, for here we shall be keeping +to the outer side of the obstructions.</p> + + +<h3>PAOLUCCI EXPLORES</h3> + +<p>“About 11.45 p.m.—We are nearing the +jetty and are about 100 meters from it after +passing rapidly through the second diagonal. +At my request Dr. Paolucci swims off to explore +in the direction of the jetty, and returns<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</span> +in a few minutes to say that we can proceed. +During this pause I notice that a rather strong +current runs northward along the coast. We +move on until we reach the jetty, and then +work along parallel with it, placing ourselves +between our apparatus and the jetty. We +have a good hand hold, as the jetty is made +of blocks of cement, piled one on another. +The current, too, is in our favor. Everything +is going smoothly, but we are losing far too +much time, so I venture to start the motor +once more. This is not really imprudent—notwithstanding +the phosphorescence produced +by increased speed—for the breakwater, with +large intervals between the cement masses, +surely cannot be patrolled at night by a sentry. +We are in a dead sector as far as sentries +are concerned.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_298" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_298.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">The <em>Viribus Unitis</em>, an Austrian Dreadnought Ready for an Engagement +in the Adriatic</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“12.30 a.m.—Still clinging to the jetty, we +reach a group of chains that are fastened to +the top of the jetty and hang down toward +the water. I judge this may be the end of +the last diagonal of the first observation, and +conclude, therefore, that we must be about +200 meters from the small opening of the +jetty. Dr. Paolucci again goes alone to explore +the opening. He soon returns with the +report that we may advance. We are under +way again by about 12.45. When the opening +is clearly visible I silence the motor and we +proceed hand-over-hand.</p> + + +<h3>AVOIDS A SENTRY BOAT</h3> + +<p>“About 1 a.m.—We have reached the edge +of the opening, always sticking close to the +jetty, which now slopes down to the opening +and is guarded by a small gun (of about fifty +millimeters), which is silhouetted against the +sky as we pass under it at a distance of about +five meters.</p> + +<p>“A strong current coming from the interior +of the roadstead meets the current flowing +along the coast and drives us—despite all our +efforts—out to sea in the direction of the +northern extremity of the jetty. The motor +is started into full action and we manage to +make a wide loop toward the left, returning +to the small opening.</p> + +<p>“Here, too, we find an obstruction formed +by several sections of floating beams, joined +with wire ropes. Here and there points project +above the water. Having satisfied ourselves +that the obstruction has no submerged +nets, we decide to climb over it while passing +our apparatus underneath, and the plan is +carried out without accident. We follow the +inner side of this obstruction back to the jetty—easily<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</span> +recognized by the cannon and sentry-post +which we had already seen from the +other side. Still creeping along the jetty for +a few meters, we find ourselves near the bow +of a tug, moored there, and can hear the hissing +noise of a jet of steam. A little further +off, stern toward the jetty, is a large boat +that guards the port. This is indicated on +our chart, so we decide to turn toward the +inner harbor.</p> + +<p>“About 2 a.m.—We reach the third obstruction, +which runs parallel to the jetty, +without encountering that running from the +jetty on the right of the guard boat to the +large opening of the port. The obstruction +now to be overcome is made up of a row of +metal cylinders, with tops projecting about +twenty centimeters above the water, supporting, +about sixty centimeters below the water +level, a metal cable to which a net is attached. +Given the distance between buoys, and the +depth at which the net begins, it is easy +to pass this barrier. About ten meters behind +it is a second, and then a third, all parallel +and of the same type. These are passed without +real difficulty, though we have lost time +between the second and third series. A boat +was moored not more than thirty meters from +us, and we had to move with extreme caution +and very slowly.</p> + +<p>“It is easy to know where we are. Ahead +and to our left, I can recognize Valmaggiore +and the rocky mass near the curve toward the +interior of the port. We consult the pocket +compass, but it is full of water and will not +work. Once past the third section of this +obstruction, I steer in an oblique line to the +right, the direction in which I believe we +shall find the last series of obstructions—those +projecting from the north coast and running +perpendicular to the jetty.</p> + +<p>“The first big ships—dark, shadowy forms—are +barely visible on our right. Going forward, +we can see three other ships, further in, +that show lighted cabins and portholes, and +that have white deck-lights.</p> + + +<h3>NEARING THE SHIP</h3> + +<p>“About 3 a.m.—We reach and pass, without +trouble, a triple series of obstructions similar +to the preceding ones. Sure of our position, +I steer so as to pass between the north<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</span> +coast and the line of big ships, along which +we move for about 200 meters, now always +fighting against the current.</p> + +<p>“It is late, and we fear that the air pressure +of 120 atmospheres will not be sufficient +to insure our return to the chaser. After consultation, +we agree to continue as far as the +flagship, which had been pointed out to us +as of special importance. After sinking this +we will endeavor to land on the north coast, +sink our apparatus and dispose of our waterproof +suits. Then, in the uniform of Italian +naval officers, which we wear underneath the +waterproof, we will try to reach a place called +Fontaine, near Rovigno, where it has been +agreed that a motor boat will wait for us +each night from the 2d to the 7th of November.</p> + +<p>“As we move toward the ship I detach a +small device that had been added at the last +moment. It is supposed to insure an easy +mooring for the propelling apparatus, but fails +to work. To rid ourselves of this incumbrance +I unsheathe my knife, lose the sheath, and am +obliged to stick the knife into the wooden +cover of the apparatus. (I mention this merely +because it will explain why, later, I was +so long under the <em>Viribus Unitis</em>.)</p> + +<p>“At this time an incident occurs that very +nearly puts an end to the whole business. +We find that, with no apparent cause, our apparatus +is gradually, unmistakably, sinking—especially +at the stern, where I am. Greatly +disturbed, I endeavor to counteract this sinking +by crossing my legs beneath the stern, and +by accelerating the motor, at the same time +working to open the little valve that lets air +into the balance tank at the stern. After a +hurried examination, I find that the valve for +flooding the afterpart is open; how it happened +I cannot imagine. The valve is finally +closed, and when air is readmitted the apparatus +returns to its normal condition. Without +doubt these were the most exciting moments +of the trip.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_300" style="max-width: 47em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_300.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Corporal F. H. McKaig</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>2nd Division, 6th Marines, 83rd Company</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He was acting as battalion runner. The Germans were counter-attacking around Jaulny; but +Corporal McKaig with truest heroism carried the messages through the most dense enemy artillery +and machine-gun fire.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“We continue slowly and cautiously until +4.30 when we find ourselves at the bow of the +<em>Viribus Unitis</em>, the last of the six ships that +are drawn up in line. At about 100 meters +from the ship’s bow the motor is stopped, and +I move to the head of our apparatus and +prepare the first weapon of offense. The time +for the explosion must be calculated from 4.30 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</span>a.m., and the mine is so regulated that it will +go off four hours from that time. This, +however, is changed before finally sinking the +mine.</p> + +<p>“It takes from 4.30 until 4.45 to detach +the mine from our propelling apparatus. +Meanwhile the current carries us along parallel +to the right side of the ship at a distance +of sixty meters. We have drifted too far +toward the stern so, by using our arms as in +swimming, and by putting the propeller very +gently into action, we succeed in turning our +apparatus and in getting back toward the bow +of the ship near the lower boom, at a distance +of about twenty-five meters from the right +side. After another slight change of position +toward the rear, on account of the current, +I detach the mine, and, swimming, push it before +me until it touches the hull.</p> + + +<h3>ALL LIGHTED UP</h3> + +<p>“The ship is lighted up and shows all the +movement that is usual during the night. +Some one speaks on the bridge (also lighted); +some one is walking the deck. The spot +toward which I am swimming is between the +second and third of the 150-millimeter guns—counting +from the stern—which corresponds +roughly to the position of the principal motors. +It is a convenient position for the sure sinking +of the ship.</p> + +<p>“On the weapon of offense is a contrivance +for fixing the machine to the hull of the ship. +It is connected by a small rope that must be +loosened or cut. I set to work, but the knot +is intricate and my knife is sticking in the +wooden cover of the apparatus. Consequently, +as the rope is wet and my hands numb with +cold, it takes a long time to untie that knot. +Finally, after about twenty minutes, the knot +yields. I then attach the device to the hull, +and also fasten it to a rope that I find secured +to the ship at this point. During the operation +(it is about 5.15) I hear the morning bugle—it +is sounded repeatedly—soon followed by the +noise of all hands on board awake and moving. +Ashes are thrown out close to me, and +more steps sound on the deck. I must hasten +and complete the work. I change the clockwork +regulating the explosion from 4 to 2; +consequently the explosion should take place +at 6.30. I detach the bandage of linen and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</span> +cork that has floated the mine, and sink it. +It is now 5.30.</p> + +<p>“I swim away from the ship as quickly as +possible; the sky is cloudy, but in the east +are signs of dawn. It is a question whether +I can succeed in reaching our apparatus or +whether I must swim ashore and try to make +my way to the point where they will be waiting +for us. Happily, on my right I soon see +Dr. Paolucci and the apparatus about fifty +meters from the ship, and I soon reach them.</p> + +<p>“Again taking command, I send the apparatus +as rapidly as possible toward the bow of +the ship, and parallel to it, hoping to get +away from her and to gain the north coast +as we had planned. The ship’s crew is now +awake, and they must have discovered us by +the excessive natural phosphorescence, which +was increased by the more rapid movement of +our apparatus. Suddenly a searchlight is +operated upon the bridge and the light is +thrown on us. We remain breathlessly still +for a few moments, hoping against hope that +we may not be seen. The light remains stationary +on us and we move very slowly, for, +although no shot has been fired, we understand +that we have been discovered and that a +boat will now be sent out to us.</p> + +<p>“Dr. Paolucci, at the bow, now prepares +the second mine, while I open the valves that +will sink the apparatus. In this way, while +a motor boat is leaving the ship and approaching, +we abandon our apparatus which drifts +slowly forward—sinking—with the mine that +will destroy it. Our mission is ended.</p> + + +<h3>TAKEN ON BOARD</h3> + +<p>“The motor boat reaches us, paying no attention +to our apparatus, and they take us on +board. It is 5.45. We are recognized as +Italians and they take us to the ladder on the +port side of the ship. A crowd of sailors receives +us at the top of the ladder. We feel +it our duty to shout ‘<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Viva l’Italia!</i>’ This demonstration, +contrary to what might be expected, +is received in a spirit rather more cordial +than hostile. To our surprise we notice the +new Jugoslav insignia on the caps. We are +asked, in Venetian dialect, how we come to be +here. We answer (as Commander Ciano had +suggested) that we lighted on the water in +a hydroplane which we had afterward sunk. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</span>In the meantime they are escorting us aft. +The friendly reception and the changed nationality +of the fleet cause us to hesitate a bit; +we consult and come to a decision, asking to +speak with the Captain on a very important +and urgent matter. The Captain is called, +and it is 6 o’clock when he receives me in his +cabin. I give him Dr. Paolucci’s knife, which +I find myself still holding, and inform him +that his ship is in immediate and very serious +danger. The Captain inquires the nature of +the serious danger and asks if other ships are +in the same peril. I answer that I cannot +disclose the nature of the danger and that no +other ship is involved.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_302" style="max-width: 50.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_302.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant Stacy A. Lewis</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>1st Division, 2nd Machine-Gun Battalion, Company “A”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">On July 22, 1918, near Soissons, with great daring Sergeant Lewis killed an entire machine-gun +crew and captured their guns. He voluntarily organized a machine-gun crew, with which in the +hottest shell fire he advanced and gave battle to the enemy.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“The Captain picks up his lifebelt and +leaves the cabin at once, giving loud orders +in German that all should leave the ship. We +follow him up on deck, where he repeats the +order—obeyed, scatteringly, by all. I ask the +Captain to permit Dr. Paolucci and myself to +leave the ship. He consents, and we go down +the ladder at the right and swim off toward +the ship’s stern with the current, but impeded +by the great weight of our clothing. Numbers +of swimming sailors pass us, as well as +boats loaded with members of the crew. +Searchlight signals are flashed to the nearest +ship, <em>Tegethoff</em>, which sends boats to our +assistance.</p> + +<p>“About 6.20 a boat picks us up and takes +us back to the ladder on the right of the +<em>Viribus Unitis</em>, where a large boat is waiting +for the remainder of the crew. When we +reach the deck we are received with threats, +though the men are not especially violent. I +lose sight of Dr. Paolucci in the crowd. It +seems that they no longer believe in our warning +or in the danger. A sailor begins to rip +up my waterproof suit with his knife; others +go through my pockets.</p> + +<p>“There is a short, smothered thunderclap; +the ship shivers violently, while a crest of +foam is thrown up all along her starboard side. +External damage is very slight, but the ship +heels over to the right, at first very rapidly, +then more slowly, but steadily. Most of the +crowd has left us; a few, however, now +close in, threatening to shut us up on board. +The Captain, who stands a few meters off, +shows no interest in our fate. I appeal to +him, reminding him that we are prisoners of +war; that what we have done, as belligerents, +gives us the right to have our persons respected; +that the threatened treatment is contrary +to rules of war. The Captain acknowledges +the justice of my protest, again gives +permission for us to leave, and gives orders +in German for a boat within hailing distance +on the left of the stern to return and take +us off the ship. I succeed meanwhile, with +the help of Dr. Paolucci, in ridding myself +of my waterproof suit, which had hampered +me in swimming and which the sailors had +ripped open.</p> + +<p>“Dr. Paolucci and I let ourselves down into +the water on the port side of the stern. We +are both pulled into the boat and can watch +the end of the <em>Viribus Unitis</em>. She is still +settling on the right. When the water almost +reaches the deck—although the ship is +still high out of the water—she suddenly +heels over with remarkable rapidity. In a +few seconds nothing is visible save the flat +bottom of the keel and the four screws—encircled +by smoke, flames, and fragments of +shattered wood—while the sea all around is +lashed up into frothy waves. One sailor in +our boat gives vent to his grief in a most +touching manner; all the others appear indifferent. +If my calculations are correct not ten +minutes elapsed between the explosion and +the end.</p> + +<p>“I have learned with sincere grief that Captain +Ianko Vukovic de Podkapelski of the +<em>Viribus Unitis</em> was wounded by a fragment +of the sunken ship while swimming to a place +of safety. He was picked up and carried to +the hospital in Pola but died a few hours +afterward. Throughout, he was most chivalrous, +and treated us with all the consideration +that one could expect from an honorable +enemy.</p> + + +<h3>FREED AFTER THE ARMISTICE</h3> + +<p>“We were landed on the neighboring shore +and taken, under escort, on board the <em>Hapsburg</em>. +There we were despoiled of our clothing +and given Austrian uniforms. Then we +were removed to the arsenal, where we arrived +at 8. From that moment we became +prisoners of war, but for four days only. On +the signing of the armistice with Austria, Italian +naval forces entered Pola—and we were +free.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="RESCUE_EXTRAORDINARY">RESCUE EXTRAORDINARY</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Impossible Done in Saving Fifty Lives from the Flooded and Sunken +Submarine <em>K-13</em></h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">One</span> of the most dramatic episodes of the +war, one in which the tragedy of suspense +was exemplified with thrilling intensity, +had nothing to do with siege or battlefield, +though it partook of the nature and perils of +both. It was the salving of the <em>K-13</em>. The +story was first made public in its completeness, +two years after the event, by Bennet Copplestone, +who presented the facts, as he obtained +them at first hand, in a vivid article contributed +to the <cite>Cornhill Magazine</cite>.</p> + +<p>The story, which could not be released until +the war ended, is of such absorbing interest +that it is here reproduced with little abbreviation. +Mr. Copplestone begins:</p> + +<p>“I was in Scotland when this happened that +I write of, and I took the details in all their +intimate simplicity from the mouths of the +chief actors—from the salvors who sweated +blood that they might be in time to pluck live +men out of a steel coffin; from those who lay +below and who, drugged by poisoned air, remained +throughout indifferent to the issue, +whether of life or death. It was a queer paradox +of a fight in which the salvors, not those +saved, got all the excitement and all the thrills.</p> + +<p>“<em>K-13</em> was a fleet submarine of a new type, +more like a submersible destroyer than an ordinary +underwater boat. Fairfields of Govan +built her, and even now it were unwise to be +too explicit in description. But some few details +are necessary for an understanding of +my story. She was over three hundred feet +long and displaced two thousand tons when +submerged. Unlike most submarines, which +are driven on the surface by internal combustion +engines, <em>K-13</em> was a turbine-engined +steamer with two funnels fitted with watertight +covers for closing when she dived. The +ventilators which fed air to her boiler room +were also equipped for rapid closing down. A +bulkhead cut off the boiler and engine rooms +from the central control room, and another +bulkhead forward divided the control room +from the foc’sle. Thus, like Cæsar’s Gaul, +<em>K-13</em> was divided into three parts. Of her +armament, which does not concern us here, +I will observe a discreet silence, though to me +it was of absorbing interest. But I must say +something of her upper works. The conning +tower was large and humped forward, so that +a man could stand upright under the hump +yet needed to stoop to reach the hatch, which +was on the lower unhumped portion. Above +the conning tower was a chart-house and +bridge, and, of course, a mast stayed in the +usual fashion. For a submarine, therefore, +the <em>K-13</em> had a lot of top hamper, and a +passage from the conning-tower hatch, when +the submarine was under water, towards the +upper air was thickly studded with perils +from the chart-house roof and the stays of +the bridge and the mast. Yet two men did +pass out; one was caught and killed; the +other’s luck held—he was not killed.</p> + +<p>“At noon on Monday, January 29, 1917, +<em>K-13</em> left her builders’ yard to carry out diving +trials in the Gareloch. A large party +was on board. In charge of her was Commander +Herbert—‘Baralong’ Herbert—and +with him went Commander Goodheart, who +had been appointed skipper of another K of +similar type. Many of Fairfields’s staff were +there, for <em>K-13</em> had not yet been taken over +by the Admiralty. There were Percy Hillhouse, +the yard’s Naval Architect, Bullen, the +draughtsman in charge of submarine construction—a +man who knew every nut and bolt that +went to her—Searle, the Admiralty overseer, +and McLean, the yard manager of the K submarines. +It was no complement of amateurs +which manned the <em>K-13</em> upon her fatal trip. +While steaming down the Clyde she grounded +slightly at Whiteinch, but suffered no hurt. +No harm was done, and <em>K-13</em> went on to the +Gareloch, and there passed successfully +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</span>through her trials. She was accepted for the +Royal Navy by the Admiralty officials.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_304fp" style="max-width: 48em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_304fp.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +Painting by Joseph Cummings Chase.<br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Master Signal Electrician E. J. Moore</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>89th Division, 314th Field Signal Battalion, Company C</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">On November 5th Moore aided in extending and maintaining a line of communication to +the assaulting battalion of the 355th Infantry between Beauclair and Lauencille. On the +night of November 10th he rendered invaluable aid to the 356th Infantry in Pouilly, extending +a telephone line to them, and thence to La Pignepp Farm.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<h3>“ONE MORE DIVE”—THEN SUNK</h3> + +<p>“Then it was that the unexpected happened, +as it always does at sea. Herbert decided to +take one more dive—perhaps just for luck, +perhaps to satisfy himself upon some nicety +of trim. He gave the order to close down and +dive and the <em>K-13</em> dived. Though the order +had been given to close down, and the reply +received that the order had been carried out, +the ventilators had been left open. Instantly +the water poured into the engine and boiler +rooms, drowning those within, and <em>K-13</em> sank +by the stern. The water flowing towards the +control room bulkhead compressed the air in +the room and indicated immediately what had +happened to the alert senses of Commander +Herbert. ‘Our ears began to sing’ say those +who were within the belly of the ship.</p> + +<p>“All this occupied a space of time measured +in seconds. In a few more seconds Herbert +had all compartments closed tight and the +forward tanks blown. The hydroplanes, too, +were set to rise, but the resources of seamanship +could not overcome the loss of buoyancy. +Overweighted by her flooded boiler and engine +rooms <em>K-13</em> sank to the bottom, grounding +upright on the mud in twelve fathoms of +water. No blowing of ballast tanks could +bring her up, for the calculations of her builders +showed that with all tanks empty she +would still be too heavy by four hundred tons +to float. There is very little reserve of buoyancy +about even the biggest of submarines.</p> + +<p>“While Herbert in <em>K-13</em> had been struggling +to rise, his efforts were detected and +understood by skilled seamen above. An E +submarine had been attending the trials, and +her officers saw at once from the surging mass +of air-bubbles that Herbert was blowing his +tanks and was in grave difficulties. Submarines +dive when trimmed to float awash, and +descend or ascend by delicate movements of +the horizontal rudders (hydroplanes). In +this trim when diving they are lighter than the +water displaced, and do not need to blow tanks +in order to rise. Much time was saved by the +presence of the E-boat, for, when <em>K-13</em> did +not rise, and quite evidently could not rise, she +dashed off at once to gather assistance. Had +Herbert and Goodheart down below known +how quickly help was being summoned above +they might not have made that fatal though +most gallant effort to pass out through the +conning-tower hatch.</p> + + +<h3>HURRYING TO THE RESCUE</h3> + +<p>“It was at 3.30 in the afternoon that <em>K-13</em> +came to rest upon the bottom of the Gareloch, +and the short winter’s day in the North was +drawing towards sunset. As soon as the commander +of the E-boat had marked the spot +where <em>K-13</em> lay, he pressed at full speed for +Greenock, flashing as he went aerial signals +to the Senior Naval Officer in Glasgow. A +salvage steamer, which was lying at Greenock, +went off at once and picked up two hoppers +and two tugs as consorts. Telegrams were +dispatched to Fairfields and to Glasgow, and +the news spread quickly through those circles +whose business it is to be well informed. Not +a moment was lost by those upon whose shoulders +rested the responsibility of the salvage +operations. By the early hours of Tuesday, +long before daylight, a fleet of seven vessels +had collected at the spot below which, seventy +feet down, <em>K-13</em> rested motionless in the mud. +There were the Greenock salvage steamer, +the two tugs, the two hoppers, and two E-boats. +With them, in charge of everything +and responsible for everything, was the +S. N. O., Captain (now Rear-Admiral) Brian +Barttelot, and with him was his naval assistant, +Captain Corbett.</p> + +<p>“The problem before the salvors bristled +with novel difficulties. In peace and war we +had lost many submarines, but never had a +live man been taken out of one which had +sunk. Barttelot was limited by what was mechanically +possible. He had not—as I confess +now that I had when composing ‘The +Last of the Grenvillas’—the guiding light of +a precedent. First he had to get into continuous +communication with the survivors of <em>K-13’s</em> +company, for without their coöperation +he was helpless to aid them. Then he had to +devise a rapid and effective means to supply +them with air and food for a period which +might stretch into days. And, lastly, he had +to get them out. That was the worst of his +problems—how to get them out. For remember +<em>K-13</em> was a great bulky double-skinned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</span> +lump of a vessel of two thousand solid tons +and of more than three hundred feet in +length. She was not the kind of craft which +could easily be raised.</p> + +<p>“But although Barttelot’s difficulties were +great his advantages were greater. He had +nothing to fear from bad weather—the Gareloch +is narrow and well sheltered. He had +within reach the incalculable resources of the +biggest shipbuilding center in the world. And +there in Glasgow he had, too, just round the +corner, the builders of <em>K-13</em>, who knew the +work of their own hands as a man knows the +picture which he has painted or the book which +he has written. There was yet another advantage, +and one which was not small. There +inside <em>K-13</em>, if they could be got at, were +four of Fairfields’s experts who would supply +that intimate technical knowledge of the craft +which the salvors themselves could not possess. +Once communication had been established, +Fairfields in Glasgow and Fairfields +in <em>K-13</em> would be linked to the chain of salvage, +and would lift success from the barely +possible up to the almost probable.</p> + + +<h3>TUBES FOR AIR AND FOOD</h3> + +<p>“Meanwhile Fairfields in Glasgow were +hard at work. A special staff of draughtsmen +and mechanics were put on to the construction +of two flexible tubes, one designed for the passage +of air and food, and the other for bringing +up the men one by one, if no other and +better means was found to be possible. The +first tube, in comparison with the second, was +easy of construction. It was seven inches in +diameter and fitted with a screw union to +connect with the circular ammunition hoist +beside one of the deck guns of <em>K-13</em>. The +other, built of steel sections, was designed to +fit tightly over the torpedo hatch by means +of a connecting frame. The first was the more +immediately urgent, for until it was completed +and fixed in place the survivors in the +sunken submarine must remain coffined. Both +were put in hand long before communication +had been established between the salvors and +<em>K-13</em>, and here one sees how completely the +lives of all the imprisoned men depended upon +Fairfields’s exact knowledge. Both tubes +would have been useless unless their dimensions +had been precisely correct. There was +no need to press Fairfields’s workmen not to +waste a moment; by night as well as by day +they threw into their pious task every ounce +of energy and every refinement of skill which +they possessed. To lay hand to the work was +an honor for which all eagerly competed. +Though both tubes were completed in an astonishingly +short time, and the first proved to +be invaluable, the efficiency of the second—the +man-saver—was not tested. Other means +were successfully employed to get the men +out. But this does not detract in any way +from the merits of its design and of its rapid +accomplishment. Battles may be won without +calling upon the reserves, but he would +be a very poor general who had not the reserves +ready, if need be, at his call.</p> + +<p>“For the time being the salvage party could +do little except to send divers down and to +open up communications with the men whom +they had come to save. Until the first tube, +which I have just described, was ready to +their hands, they could take few active measures. +The vessels and plant at Barttelot’s disposal +were quite incapable of raising the great +hull which lay below them, and the famous +Ranger, for which he had telegraphed to Liverpool, +could not arrive till the following day. +The Ranger, owned by the Liverpool Salvage +Association, had been requisitioned by the Admiralty +early in the war, and had proved as +powerfully effective in war as she had been in +peace. She is worthy of her name, for under +Captain Young—the most accomplished of living +salvage officers—she has ranged over the +world, picking up wrecks a dozen times her +size with an ease which looks almost miraculous.</p> + + +<h3>A JOB THAT CALLED FOR FINESSE</h3> + +<p>“I have seen her at work. She is a little +old composite steamer built of iron and teak—incredibly +old, fifty years at least; she knocks +about among wreckage as indifferent to hard +blows as was Nansen’s Fram; and she brings +to her never-ending jobs gear and brains which +make their incredible accomplishment seem +easy. <em>K-13</em>, emptied of men, would soon have +been lightened and raised by the Ranger’s +tremendous steam pumps—she will lift a +dreadnought if it be not damaged beyond +possibility of patching up by her divers—but +<em>K-13</em>, with fifty living men inside, called for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</span>finesse rather than power. It was the men, +not the ship, that Barttelot and Young were +out to save.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_307" style="max-width: 51.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_307.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Photo by Paul Thompson.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The Result of a Depth-Charge Explosion</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The depth charge was the most efficacious means in dealing with the submarine. The charges +varied from one to over six hundred pounds of TNT—trinitrotoluol.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“And while in the cold pale light of that +Tuesday morning in the North the salvors +sent down divers to call in friendly Morse +upon their comrades below, and to cheer them +with the assurance of rescue, the unexpected +happened again, as it always does at sea. Suddenly +before the astonished eyes of the salvage +party up shot a column of foam and bubbles, +and in the center of an artificial whirlpool +gyrated stern upwards a human body. And a +very live body it proved to be when up-ended +and pulled clear of the water. Involuntarily, +without the smallest intention of quitting, +Commander Herbert had been boosted by the +ill-mannered high-pressure air out of his own +ship, and flung, a bedraggled, gasping figure, +in shirt and trousers, almost into the arms of +his would be rescuers. How he came out I +will now tell, and in doing so will return to +3.30 p.m. on the Monday when <em>K-13</em> settled +down in the mud of the Gareloch.</p> + + +<h3>INSIDE THE SUNKEN SHIP</h3> + +<p>“She lay upon an even keel in seventy feet +of water. In her flooded after-compartment, +shut off from the control room by a strong +closed bulkhead, were twenty-eight dead bodies, +including that of Engineer Lieutenant +Lane. The engine room and boiler room staffs—twenty-three +men of the navy and five of +Fairfields—had all been instantly drowned +when the submarine dived with her ventilators +open. The fore bulkhead had also been +closed, and in the control room were gathered +the fifty-one survivors of the disaster. The +air pressure in the compartment, raised by the +inflow of water to about two atmospheres, +dulled the sense of all and induced an apathy +which increased into hopeless fatalism as the +slow hours passed. Among the men there was +little talking. One heard at first an almost +careless comment, ‘Rotten way to die. We +would sooner go under fighting Germans.’ +That was all; no complaints and no trace of +panic. No one expected to be saved, and no +one cared very much. With Herbert and +Goodheart, his guest, it was, of course, different. +Upon them and on Fairfields’s officials +rested a nerve-racking responsibility.</p> + +<p>“At first there appeared to be little danger +that the survivors would lack for air. The +high-pressure bottles were far from empty, +and the bodies and minds of those within +<em>K-13</em> were suffering from too much air, not +from too little. Food they could do without +for a long while, for no one wanted to eat, +and even after supplies came from above few +ate. The men were not hungry, but thirst +devoured them, a thirst little appeased by +copious draughts of water.</p> + + +<h3>DANGER OF POISONOUS GASES</h3> + +<p>“The real dangers lay unseen below and +around. Behind the after-bulkhead stood a +wall of water at a pressure of thirty-one +pounds to the square inch, against which the +strength of the steel, supported by the air +pressure in the control room, was a sufficient +barrier. But though the bulkhead might +have been in little danger of collapse, it could +not prevent water from leaking through. +Those leaks were the deadly peril. If the +oozing salt water had reached the fully +charged electric batteries of the vessel poisonous +chlorine gas would have been given off +and the control room turned into a mortuary. +The batteries never were reached, but the risk, +even the probability that they would be, was +always present to the subconscious minds of +officers and men. Perhaps it was this, as much +as the air pressure, which caused that disbelief +in rescue which remained with them up to the +moment of actual safety.</p> + +<p>“But though the salt water did not turn the +batteries into ministers of death, it did its best +to suffocate the unhappy men who crowded +<em>K-13’s</em> control room. It reached and short-circuited +the switch, causing some of the cables +to fuse. Fumes of stinking smoke from the +burning insulation befouled the air, and the +fire was put out with the greatest difficulty. +The switch could not be touched and the current +cut off, so no method of extinction remained +except to beat out the fire with lumps +of wood wrapped in cloth. In this way it was +extinguished but the stink remained.</p> + + +<h3>THROUGH THE CONNING-TOWER HATCH—A +DARING IDEA</h3> + +<p>“It was on Tuesday morning that Goodheart +obtained permission from Herbert to go<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</span> +out through the conning-tower hatch and to +carry news of the disaster to the world outside. +No one in the sunken vessel knew anything +of the work of salvage which had begun +within a few minutes of the <em>K-13’s</em> fatal last +dive. To the officers and men of <em>K-13</em> it +seemed that they were isolated and already +dead to the human family. The risks of the +issue from the conning tower were beyond +experience, but the attempt at any rate was +accepted by the gallant Goodheart as a sacred +duty. If he could get out alive, then the survivors +of <em>K-13</em> would no longer be dead to +the world and might conceivably be saved. +If he were killed, well, he would be killed +in the way of business. While it was Herbert’s +plain duty to stick to his ship, it was +equally Goodheart’s duty to clear out and to +be jolly quick about it. So he argued, and +Herbert, a man of the same fine quality, accepted +his arguments as palpably sound. Nothing +remained except to devise means and methods +of exit.</p> + +<p>“It was decided to go forth by way of the +conning-tower hatch and to use high-pressure +air from the bottles to speed the passage. I +have explained how one part of the conning +tower was humped. The general idea was for +Goodheart and Herbert to climb up into the +conning tower and to take station together +under this hump, where they had head room +to stand upright. They would then close the +lower hatch which gave upon the control room +and have nothing between them and the upper +outside water except a bolted sheet of steel. +The density of the air cooped up with them +would be roughly two atmospheres (twenty-eight +pounds to the square inch) and the +water pressure outside about thirty-one pounds. +If, then, the sea-cocks were opened the water +would flow in not too furiously and would +fill the lower part of the tower, but would +be prevented by the imprisoned air from rising +very high in the hump. There the men +could stand in extreme discomfort, no doubt, +and under severe pressure, but, nevertheless, +alive and active. Then those inside would +turn on high-pressure air in large quantities +so as to expel the water and to give Goodheart +a handsome lift from behind when he sought +to be gone through the upper hatch. Herbert +went with Goodheart to help him and to wish +him Godspeed in his passing, but with no intention +of following in his path. His place +was with his men. It was a path both tortuous +and full of unknown dangers. Above +the conning tower was a chart-house, of which +the roof opposed a formidable obstacle to a +vertical ascent. There was a large manhole +in this roof, but, unluckily for Goodheart’s +bold scheme, it was not cut directly above +the hatch. This inclination of the passage out +caused Goodheart’s death.</p> + + +<h3>“DIED A MOST GALLANT OFFICER”</h3> + +<p>“The two officers made their way to the +conning tower, secured the lower hatch, then +through the opened sea-cocks in rushed the water, +but standing in security under the hump +the heads and shoulders of the men remained +uncovered. A moment later, according to +plan, the high-pressure air from below was +driven in and the bolts of the upper hatch +withdrawn. ‘Good-bye, sir,’ said Goodheart; +I’ll try now,’ and stooping under the open +hatch he was carried forth. Those were his +last words, for, missing the aperture above, +he was caught under the roof of the chart-house +and drowned.</p> + +<p>“There died a most gallant young officer, to +whose memory, months afterwards, a posthumous +award was made of the Albert Medal in +gold. The powerful air, forced in by the +pressure from the bottles, continued to surge +into the conning tower, driving the water before +it and tearing the helpless Herbert from +his retreat under the hump. He was whirled +out in the center of a column of air and +water, carried safely through the manhole in +the roof of the chart-house and clear of the +mast stays, and delivered at the surface like +a scrap of wreckage. He went up with both +hands before his face, and declares, according +to my authorities, that he breathed all through +his ascent. He was picked up immediately +and insisted upon giving all possible information +and guidance to the salvors before accepting +any of their kind offices for himself.</p> + + +<h3>MORSE CODE CONVERSATIONS</h3> + +<p>“We have reached noon on Tuesday and +the survivors of <em>K-13</em> have been entombed +for more than twenty hours. No word had +yet come to them from outside of the efforts +which were actively in progress for their rescue. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</span>But they were not destined to remain +much longer in ignorance. Even while Herbert +and Goodheart were making that effort +at communication, which had been so grievously +costly, the leaden soles of a diver were +planted on the submarine’s deck. At first +attempts were made to flash signals through +the periscope, but the surer and simpler +method of tapping Morse dots and dashes +on the steel plating was quickly substituted. +Between the inner and outer skins of <em>K-13</em> +were interposed five feet of water, admitted +through flap valves in order to distribute the +pressure when she penetrated the depths of the +sea. Linked together by stays and trusses, +these two skins formed an encircling girder +of immense strength. Water is an excellent +conductor of sound, and the Morse taps of +the divers without could have been readily +heard and interpreted by those within had +their senses not been dulled by the thick bad +atmosphere. Conduction was indeed so good +that the replies of <em>K-13</em>, struck on the frames +of the ship, were picked up and read without +difficulty by the salvors on the surface of the +loch. It happened, therefore, that though +outside talked to inside and replies were received, +it was by no means easy to get inside, +to grasp and to carry out precisely what outside +wanted done. And it was found to be +particularly difficult to secure the exact and +essential coöperation of those within <em>K-13</em> +when that flexible tube arrived which had +been designed by Fairfields to be screwed into +an ammunition hoist upon the deck.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_310" style="max-width: 48.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_310.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant Clarence W. Dawson</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>168th Infantry, Company “B”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Near Badonville, on March 5, 1918, a small group of combatants had survived a bombardment +on their front line. They were wounded and entirely surrounded. Sergeant Dawson was the +Corporal of the group, and when the Germans attempted to mop them up, he bravely resisted +them and succeeded in repelling their attempts to raid the position until assistance came to them.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<h3>“THE LIMITS OF HUMAN ENDURANCE”</h3> + +<p>“This was in the early hours of Wednesday +morning, and by that time the unhappy +men imprisoned within the submarine were +approaching the limits of human endurance. +Though no chlorine gas actually had been +given off by the electric batteries, the air in +the control room was so foul as to be almost +unbreathable. Fresh air from the bottles, +without means to expel the poisonous atmosphere +of the ship, would only have increased +a density which was already unbearable. +Many in drugged sleep forgot their troubles, +and even those few upon whose alertness +hung the lives of all, had become drowsy and +sluggish. Vitality was ebbing; the love of +life, and with it the expectation of rescue, +had passed from all. The company of <em>K-13</em> +may be divided during this period of imprisonment +into sleepers and somnambulists, and it +was only because trained minds retained some +small part of their habitual control over exhausted +bodies that the somnambulists were +able to understand and to coöperate sufficiently +with the salvors to bring this story to its +happy conclusion.</p> + +<p>“The long flexible tube, seven inches in +diameter, which was to open up a clear passage +between <em>K-13</em> and the upper air, arrived +at 4. a.m. on Wednesday morning, but it was +not until four hours later that it was in place +and in effective operation. To the eager salvers +the delays were exasperating; there were +many more delays, even more exasperating, to +be suffered, before their job was finished. +They had to explain to the enfeebled folk +within precisely where the tube was to be +fixed up and how they were themselves to +complete the open passage. The tube was +designed to screw, by means of an adaptor, +into an ammunition hoist, and, when this was +done, it needed but the removal of the retaining +plate inside to put the device to immediate +use.</p> + + +<h3>FRESH AIR AT LAST!</h3> + +<p>“When the salvors had done their part it +was for the prisoners to do the rest—to remove +the inner plate as quickly as they pleased. +But when it came to explaining this not very +complicated operation by tapping out messages +in Morse on the deck it was by no +means easy to get <em>K-13’s</em> survivors to take +it in. By patient repetition that was done at +last, and then the divers busied themselves +with fixing up the tube. They had to measure +the screw threads, so that the adaptor +might be made to fit accurately and to prepare +a packing of tow soaked in tallow to exclude +the water. A salvage steamer is a traveling +workshop and divers are skilled mechanics, so +that this part of the job, though it might consume +time, presented no difficulties. By eight +o’clock on the Wednesday morning the tube +had been screwed firmly into place, the inner +plate of the hoist had been removed, and the +men, who had for forty and a half hours lain +buried in a steel coffin, were at length enabled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</span> +to draw into their impoverished lungs +air which was free from pollution. It was +scarcely the fresh air of heaven, for it came +out of an E-boat’s bottles, but though tinned it +was a draught of infinite refreshment. The +pumps of <em>K-13</em> were at once set working and +the two days’ accumulations of foul smells +and gases were thankfully expelled. A pipe +run down the now open tube brought blasts +of high-pressure air which were allowed to +expand and to blow away all festering impurities; +this pipe also brought replenishment to +<em>K-13’s</em> bottles. With the power of her +charged batteries and her refilled air-bottles, +she was now ready to play her part in the +work of salvage.</p> + +<p>“The salvors had got through in time to +save, but the margin was small. At 6 a.m., +two hours before the tube was opened into +the sunken submarine, the water leaking +through the after-bulkhead had short-circuited +the lighting cables, and <em>K-13</em> was utter +darkness. To the men imprisoned it must +have seemed the darkness of the tomb. Even +the strongest among them could not have +borne up very much longer. They were so +little capable of excitement that not a man +cheered when the air-tube was opened.</p> + + +<h3>LEAKS IN THE BULKHEAD</h3> + +<p>For the salvors the worst had passed, but +for the prisoners the worst had yet to come. +Fourteen more hours of suffering had to be +endured before the rescue was completed, +and they were hours more full of perils than +those which had passed. The devils of the +sea were not willing to yield their prey to +the efforts of man. One of these perils was +the old haunting threat of chlorine gas intensified. +Of the others I will tell in their +place. When the control room was opened +up to the outer air by the tube which had +been fitted the pressure within fell to the normal. +It had been raised when the submarine +sank by the intrusion of hundreds of tons of +water into the enclosed space of the hull. But +the pressure in the flooded compartments and +upon the bulkhead, which alone stood between +the survivors and death by drowning, remained +at thirty-one pounds to the square inch. The +leaks in this bulkhead at once increased and +the water gushed through in greater volume. +It looked as if the means which had saved the +men from a slow death from suffocation would +hand them over to a quick death from poison +gas.</p> + +<p>“If the salt water had reached the powerful +batteries it must have been decomposed into its +constituents and given off gas in deadly volumes. +The expedient was adopted of pumping +the incoming water into the bilge, but this +could not continue indefinitely. Time was +now an even more urgent factor in the rescue +than it had been during the previous two +days. This was fully understood by the salvors, +who furiously yet with orderly precision +redoubled their efforts. It was decided not to +attempt the removal of the men one by one +through Fairfields’s big steel tube which had +been made to fit over the torpedo hatch. The +method was too uncertain and, even if feasible, +too slow. Instead of risking all upon this +doubtful means of egress, Barttelot determined +to throw all the energies of his plant and staff +into raising the bows of <em>K-13</em> above the water +and cutting a hole through her double skin. +The <em>Ranger</em> was on the way and would soon +arrive; what he could not do without her +would become comparatively easy with her +powerful assistance.</p> + + +<h3>TILTING UP THE BOW</h3> + +<p>“In the afternoon she came, and Barttelot, +though he remained responsible, gladly handed +over the entire direction of the critical operations +to Captain Young. They could not have +passed into better hands. No experience in +salvage in any part of the world counts beside +that of Young and his <em>Ranger</em>. Sunset +was approaching, and night would soon overshadow +the Gareloch. But this mattered little. +The <em>Ranger</em>, accustomed to work at all +hours of the night and day, was equipped with +arc lights which could shatter any darkness. +It was easy now to communicate with <em>K-13</em> +through the tube and to make clear how she +was to help herself. She was over three hundred +feet long—three hundred and forty feet, +to be precise—and did not need to be tilted +very steeply to bring her nose and upper +bow plates clear of the surface. But to be +got up into a working position she must be +lightened forward. This was done by blowing +all the forward oil tanks. The heavily loaded +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</span>stern held tight in the Gareloch mud, but the +bows were free and, as the tanks were blown, +they lifted rapidly. They heaved up through +ten degrees, and the salvors who were watching +for the movement instantly whipped steel +hawsers under the fore-part of the submarine +and secured the ends to bollards on tugs +alongside. <em>K-13</em> was up, but would she remain +up? It seemed most unlikely, and remained +most unlikely until the end.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_313" style="max-width: 47.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_313.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Captain Maurice W. Howe</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>42nd Division, 167th Infantry</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">In the early hours of September 22, 1918, Captain Howe with his company successfully raided the +village of Haumont; causing decimating losses among the enemy and taking seventeen prisoners. +Then alone he went to Haumont a second time to make sure that none of his men were left +there wounded.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“The hawsers—six-inch—were too light for +the job, but none stronger were at hand. No +sooner were the bows of <em>K-13</em> up and secured +than her stern began to slip backwards into +the mud. Before she brought up against hard +ground she had gone back thirty feet. More +hawsers were whipped under her and held, +but there was no security that they would continue +to hold. There was no security for +anything. It was a fight for life against the +ruthless chances and devilries of the sea.</p> + + +<h3>CUTTING A HOLE IN THE SIDE</h3> + +<p>“The supreme risk had to be taken of cutting +a big hole through the outer and inner +skins. If when it was cut the hawsers parted, +or <em>K-13</em> by burying her stern still more deeply +escaped from their embrace, all would be over. +The men remaining in the vessel, forty-nine +of them, would follow into the shades their +dead messmates whose bodies lay in the boiler +and engine rooms. But whatever the risk the +hole had to be cut, and that quickly.</p> + +<p>“Inside the submarine, hope, which may +have flickered a little when the air-tube was +first opened, had given place to the old dull +apathy. Food and drink had been passed +down the tube, but appetite for them had vanished. +They struggled mechanically, as +trained British seamen always will so long as +life is in them; they struggled mechanically +like automata against the incoming water. +It was difficult to move about upon the most +urgent duties. The wet and slippery floor of +the control room lay now on a long upward +slant upon which the half-dazed seamen +stumbled and fell. There was no lack of +courage; no one grumbled or lamented; but +frail human bodies have their limits of endurance, +and those limits had been reached.</p> + +<p>“Yet the men worked on and did their utmost +to carry out the directions of those who +led them. The place where the hole was +about to be cut lay far towards the bows, and +to reach it from within the fore bulkhead +must be opened. But when it was sought to +unclose the bulkhead which divided the control +room from the foc’sle, it was found that +the door had jammed and would not slide +back. For hours this miserable shut door +stood between these men and freedom. +Somehow at last it was got open, but no one +has clearly told me how. It was not until +the survivors of <em>K-13</em> had for a long time +been above water that they became voluble—and +untrustworthy. At the moment of rescue, +or shortly afterwards, they remembered as +little as one on awakening in the morning remembers +the details of a dream. Yet they +remembered that door, how it stood there obdurate +for hours and at last yielded. Though +how it had stuck or why it yielded they could +not say.</p> + + +<h3>“A DEVIL OF A LOT OF WATER”</h3> + +<p>“Meanwhile the hole in the bows was being +cut, and the cutting of this holes supplies +me with one pleasing bit of comedy with +which to round off this rather grim story. +Any acetylene plant makes butter of steel +plates, and it was very rapid work to draw +the spouting white flame, fed from the <em>Ranger’s</em> +plant, round a rough circle marked out +on <em>K-13’s</em> bows. The outer skin was quickly +cut through. Within lay water filling up the +space honeycombed with cross ties between the +inner and outer skins. Before the inner hole +could be cut, this water must be pumped out. +The place selected for the hole could not be +reached by the steam salvage pumps, so the +men working upon the submarine’s hull were +compelled to fit gear for pumping the water +out by hand. They knew that it was no more +than five feet deep, so they bent their backs to +it cheerfully. But they were less cheerful +when they found that their efforts produced +no appreciable result. ‘There must be a devil +of a lot of water between these skins,’ said +they, and bent to the task once more. Shift +followed shift, and the pumping went on. It +was a tiresome, backwearying business, but +precious lives were at stake, and they would +get that water down and the inner hole cut +if they died of disgust in the doing of it. But<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</span> +the water showed no sign of going down. +How long this pumping went on I cannot say +with precision. Admittedly it was hours, +probably as many hours as it took to pry open +that obtrusive bulkhead door, for some of +the survivors of <em>K-13</em> had got through their +job and arrived under the pumpers’ feet while +they were still pumping.</p> + +<p>“It then occurred to the slaves of the hand-pump +to seek after enlightenment from those +whom they were pumping to save. ‘How long +is it going to take,’ asked they, ‘to get rid of +this damned water between the skins?’ They +were asked by one of Fairfields’s experts how +long they had been pumping. The reply was +‘Hours.’ ‘Have you closed the flap valves?’ +dryly asked the man of Fairfields. They +hadn’t; the water was coming in just as fast +as they pumped it out; they had been trying +with hand-gear to pump out the ocean!</p> + + +<h3>SAVED AFTER 54½ HOURS</h3> + +<p>“After this little discovery progress became +rapid. The valves, which admitted water +between the skins, were closed and it did +not take long then to get through. A hole +was cut by acetylene flame in the inner skin +and the way out was opened at last. It was +ten o’clock on Wednesday evening, January +31, fifty-four and a half hours after <em>K-13</em> had +sunk, that her forty-nine survivors emerged +into the blazing arc lights which shone from +the <em>Ranger’s</em> masts. They could not speak; +many of them could scarcely walk. One by +one they were helped by kindly hands along +a gangway to a tug and thence to the shore. +They stumbled ashore, unconscious of the +cheers which greeted them, gazing without +recognition upon the friends who welcomed +them. And so to Shandon, where they were +put straight into hot baths and lifted thence +into bed. For they were dumb and perished +with cold. It is always cold in a deep-diving +submarine even in high summer; in the bowels +of <em>K-13</em>, lying seventy feet deep in the +Northern mid-winter, the cold, though little +noticed at the time, had been paralyzing. +Forty hours of bad and poisonous air, fifty-four +hours of bitter cold, had brought the +bright flame of these men’s life down to a +poor flicker. But recovery was rapid, and +not one of the survivors disappointed by dying +those who had saved him.</p> + +<p>“Twenty hours after the last man had been +plucked out of <em>K-13</em> the hawsers which held +her up parted, and she sank to the bottom of +the Gareloch.</p> + +<p>“The world did not ring with news of +the story which I have told, for the censor +forbade. But His Majesty, who was a sailor +before he was a King and remains first and +always a sailor, sent to Barttelot a telegram +of which the purport, rendered in the language +of the naval signal book, ran ‘Maneuver Well +Executed.’”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="I_HAVE_A_RENDEZVOUS_WITH_DEATH">I HAVE A RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent"><em>By</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Alan Seeger</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent4">I have a rendezvous with Death</div> + <div class="verse indent0">At some disputed barricade,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When Spring comes back with rustling shade</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And apple-blossoms fill the air—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have a rendezvous with Death</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When Spring brings back blue days and fair.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent4">It may be he shall take my hand</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And lead me into his dark land</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And close my eyes and quench my breath—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">It may be I shall pass him still.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have a rendezvous with Death</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On some scarred slope of battered hill,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When Spring comes round again this year</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the first meadow-flowers appear.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent4">God knows ’twere better to be deep</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Pillowed in silk and scented down,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where Love throbs out in blissful sleep</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where hushed awakenings are dear....</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But I’ve a rendezvous with Death</div> + <div class="verse indent0">At midnight in some flaming town,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When Spring trips north again this year,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And I to my pledged word am true,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I shall not fail that rendezvous.</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">From <cite>Poems</cite>. Copyrighted 1916 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. By permission of the Publishers.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_316" style="max-width: 42.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_316.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">A Poster Used for the Marine Recruiting Campaign</p></figcaption> +</figure> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="TRICKING_THE_TURK">TRICKING THE TURK</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Lieutenant-Commander Holbrook’s Perilous Adventure to Surprise and +Blow Up a Warship at the Dardanelles</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">It</span> hardly need surprise any one that each of +a multiplicity of deeds and feats of daring +and heroic adventure should, by different writers, +correspondents, or official observers, be +described as the most notable, the most brilliant, +or the most courageous undertaking or +achievement of the war. The simple fact is +that the unparalleled war called for the souls +and spirit and mental qualities of men as never +did war before, and so many things were done +that amounted to triumphs over the impossible, +each one of which taken by itself seemed to +overtop all others, that it would require a +concourse of Solomons to determine which was +the supreme excellence. They were all striking +enough to command the superlatives of +description. And some of these great accomplishments +need but a few lines for their recital. +It is not the volume of words that determines +the value.</p> + +<p>One of these briefly recorded deeds was +that of Lieutenant-Commander Norman D. +Holbrook, of the British submarine <em>B-11</em>, +which “all his brother officers concur in regarding +as one of the finest individual feats +performed during the war.”</p> + +<p>In the Dardanelles the old Turkish battleship +<em>Messudiyeh</em> lay in guard of the mine +fields, and, acting on his own initiative, Lieutenant-Commander +Holbrook set out to sink +the old ship by torpedoing her at her anchorage +where she idled under the protecting guns +of the land forts. It was, from the viewpoint +of the conservative minded, a mad enterprise. +Even under the most favorable conditions the +underwater navigation of the Dardanelles is +most perilous, beset with forbidding difficulties, +so swift are the currents that never cease +racing through the straits, producing swift +whirlpools and strong eddies as they strike +projections. But when to these natural obstructions +and dangers are added five distinct +rows of mines it would seem that running the +Dardanelles in a submarine would prove a +feat quite impossible of accomplishment. That +is what many said dissuasively; but Lieutenant +Holbrook is apparently one of those who hold +the opinion that nothing conceivable is impossible. +He set out with Lieutenant Sydney +Thornton Winn, his second in command, and +his regular crew. Cautiously, slowly the <em>B-11</em> +stole along toward its objective, fairly crawling +to avoid the rows of mines and beat the +swirling currents. Arrived clear of the mines, +but uncertain of the exact location of the +<em>Messudiyeh</em>, Lieutenant Holbrook deliberately +came to the surface in the bay, took an +informing survey, submerged again and a little +while later rose in perfect position for a shot +and sent a torpedo crashing into the side of +the astonished old warship that immediately +proceeded about the business of sinking to the +bottom of the sea.</p> + + +<h3>A COMPASSLESS RETURN</h3> + +<p>But the shot that settled the <em>Messudiyeh</em> +aroused the forts and started the torpedo +boats, and the <em>B-11</em> became the target of the +guns. She promptly sought refuge by a dive +and had to lie submerged for several hours to +elude her hunters. The object of the hazardous +excursion accomplished, there was the +problem of getting back, which was now +gravely complicated by the fact that the compass +of <em>B-11</em> went wrong in the commotion +and was not dependable. The Lieutenant had +to find his way out without it. But he did +it; passing again the five rows of mines, escaping +the swirl of the currents that seemed +rushing to slam the submarine against the +rocks, returning to station safely and without +casualty or mishap.</p> + +<p>That was Dec. 14 and Dec. 26 the London +<cite>Gazette</cite> published the announcement that the +King had approved the grant of the Victoria<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</span> +Cross to Lieutenant Holbrook, and that Lieutenant +Winn had been made a Companion of +the Distinguished Service Order. A writer +at that time said:</p> + +<p>“That the torpedoed battleship was guarding +the mine field adds a touch of comedy to +the proceedings that must have been singularly +gratifying to Lieutenant Holbrook and +his gallant companions who crept along the +sea floor with him that eventful day.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CANADIANS">CANADIANS</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent"><em>By</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">W. H. Ogilvie</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">With arrows on their quarters and with numbers on their hoofs,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With the trampling sound of twenty that re-echoes in the roofs,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Low of crest and dull of coat, wan and wild of eye,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Through our English village the Canadians go by.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Shying at a passing cart, swerving from a car,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Tossing up an anxious head to flaunt a snowy star,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Racking at a Yankee gait, reaching at the rein,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Twenty raw Canadians are tasting life again!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Hollow-necked and hollow-flanked, lean of rib and hip,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Strained and sick and weary with the wallow of the ship,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Glad to smell the turf again, hear the robin’s call,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Tread again the country road they lost at Montreal!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Fate may bring them dule and woe; better steeds than they</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sleep beside the English guns a hundred leagues away;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But till war hath ned of them, lightly lie their reins,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Softly fall the feet of them along the English lanes.</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Author and <cite>Country Life</cite>.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="FIRST_OF_ITS_KIND">FIRST OF ITS KIND</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Eye-witness Account of a Duel at Sea between Great Steamers Built for +Passenger Traffic</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Early</span> in the war the Cunard trans-Atlantic +steamer <em>Carmania</em> was converted +into an auxiliary cruiser. Painted black from +stem to stern (that was before the art of +“camouflage” was introduced), and mounted +with eight 4.7 guns, she left Liverpool for a +reconnoitering cruise in the South Atlantic. +Between 600 and 700 miles east of the coast +of Brazil there is a small island of rock known +as Trinidad (not to be confused with the +West Indian Island of that name). The +<em>Carmania</em> came in sight of this island one +morning toward the end of September and +discovered three steamers in the vicinity. As +soon as these steamers caught sight of the +piratical looking <em>Carmania</em> they moved about +uncertainly for a time and then made off. +But when it was apparent that the black intruder +was alone, the largest of the three +steamers turned back. This ship proved to be +the <em>Cap Trafalgar</em>, a magnificent steamer, the +chief of the Hamburg-South American Line,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</span> +built for the special purpose of successful competition +with the British Royal Mail in securing +the South American passenger traffic and +shipping trade. She too was equipped as an +auxiliary cruiser, with eight 4.1 guns, up to +date, their newness offsetting the extra caliber +of the <em>Carmania’s</em> older guns.</p> + +<p>The tonnage of the <em>Carmania</em> was 19,524, +that of the <em>Cap Trafalgar</em>, 18,710. Splendid +targets, both “so colossal,” said a writer, “as +to be beyond the possibility of a failure to hit +with any gun-layer.” A well-matched pair—ocean-going +palaces, taken from their peaceful +pursuits, transformed into war machines, +neither having any appreciable advantage over +the other as a belligerent, and now ranged +against each other for a decisive duel. There +was a fair field, too, for the two steamers +seen with the <em>Cap Trafalgar</em> continued their +retreat and disappeared across the horizon, +though one returned later.</p> + +<p>It was the first sea duel of its kind. Never +before had two floating hotels played at gun fire +with each other, each intent on sending +the other to Davy Jones’s locker if possible. +When the action began the vessels were separated +by about 8,000 yards, and their nearest +approach was about 4,000 yards. As the sinking +of its enemy was the aim, the guns of each +combatant were directed at the water line of +the other. Of the first few shells fired by +the <em>Cap Trafalgar</em>, three made holes in the +<em>Carmania</em> at and above the water line, one +tore through the stewards’ quarters, one +smashed the lower deck galley and carried +away the fire main leading to the bridge and +fore-part of the ship, the latter the most serious +damage.</p> + +<p>A report of the engagement written two +hours after, by one who took part in it was +published in the <cite>War Album De-Luxe</cite>, from +which the following is taken:</p> + + +<h3>A DISTURBED LUNCHEON</h3> + +<p>“One never saw such a scatter as when we +sat down to lunch and ‘Action!’ was sounded! +Feeling ran high that this time we were in +earnest; everyone was at his post in the twinkling +of an eye. Ten minutes afterwards the +conflict started, at a range of about six miles, +both ships closing rapidly. The din that followed +was unnatural and terrifying, and men’s +hearts leaped to their mouths, for here was +death amongst us. But the heat of work +changed white faces to red. Blood once seen +revives savagery in the human breast, and all +our thoughts, after those first few moments, +were concentrated in the grim work at hand, +which was to sink as speedily as possible the +monster that was vomiting red and steaming +arrogantly towards us.</p> + +<p>“By a clever maneuver our captain turned +the ship round just as the enemy was bringing +his pom-poms into play as well as the big guns, +and brought our starboard battery, fresh and +eager, to bear. Then we turned into demons, +in a scene that had turned diabolical. Screaming +shrapnel, returned by salvos of common +shell, splinters everywhere, lumps of iron, +patches of paint, a hurricane of things flying, +hoarse shouting, and unintelligible sounds +from dry throats, men discarding garments, +and laughing with delirium—over all a white +pall hiding the ghastly work.</p> + +<p>“What matter that a shot cannoned down +the after companion and laid low three of +the whip party? Volunteers were not wanting +to close in the breach and keep up a brisk +supply of ammunition to the hungry guns. +Or that a shot glanced off the shield of No. 1 +gun, past the officer in charge, and blew away +the neck of a corporal of Marines passing +projectiles along the deck, leaving him leaning +over the magazine hatchway, head dangling +down, and dripping blood on to the madmen +working below? Or that a shell burst by +the feet of a man carrying another one in his +hands?</p> + +<p>“Word went round that we were on fire +forward—the bridge, in fact, was blazing. A +shell had torn through the cabins below, setting +them alight, and the flames by this time +reached and enveloped the bridge, since water +could not be turned on in the first instance, +as the main on the lower deck had been shot +away. But the ill news was more than compensated +for by the frenzied announcement +that the enemy was also on fire and listing, +moreover, on his side. So our main control +was gone. The captain, first lieutenant, and +navigating party had to leave the bridge to +the flames—not before gaining us victory, +however, by the splendid way they handled the +ship in heading off the enemy, preventing him +from turning round and bringing his idle +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</span>guns on the port side to bear, and by keeping +him on our starboard quarter so we were able +to use five of our guns to his four.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_320" style="max-width: 47.0625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_320.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Major William A. Snow</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>2nd Division, 2nd Engineers, Company “E”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">He was cited four times in Division orders and twice recommended for the Distinguished Service +Cross. He went into the first line at Verdun March, 1918. When the British were attacked +by the Germans in the vicinity of Beauvais, in April, he received his majority in time to be in +command of a battalion at Château-Thierry.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“The enemy listed a little more, and our +work was done; his shooting became higher +and more erratic, then stopped altogether. +We ceased firing, and turned our attention to +fighting the flames roaring up on high in the +fore part of the ship. Luckily, we were able +to stop the engines and keep the ship before +the wind. The bridge and all its precious +fittings and contents were doomed, as also the +cabins below it; the officers who occupied +them lost all their effects. A fireproof door +in the staircase leading to the lower cabins +effectually kept the fire from spreading in this +direction, otherwise there might not have been +very much left of the <em>Carmania</em>. The action +raged hotly for an hour; after that, desultory +firing was continued until the end.</p> + +<p>“Of the two colliers that accompanied the +enemy, one steamed away at the commencement +of the action and was never seen again. +The other, and smaller of the two, followed +suit until he noticed the plight of his escort, +and returned to pick up the survivors. Anon, +an order went round the decks: ‘All firemen +down below.’ The firemen had been doing +yeoman service, running hoses and buckets of +water to the scene of the fire, just as the +stewards had distinguished themselves by taking +round water and limejuice to the guns’ +crews under shell fire, and also helping with +carrying away the wounded. The reason for +this order was ominous. The yeoman of +signals had sighted smoke on the horizon to +the north, and made out a bunch of funnels. +It could not but be the <em>Dresden</em>, or whatever +German cruiser the armed merchantman we +fought was in company with, returning to the +assistance of her consort, who had been signaling +to her during the action. A great pity, +indeed, one of our cruisers was not in touch +with us at the time. What a fine haul it +would have been!</p> + +<h3><em>Vale</em>, CAP TRAFALGAR!</h3> + +<p>“Just as we got the fire well in hand, and +were starting to run to the American coast, +we beheld the most awe-inspiring sight of our +lives—the last moments of an ocean leviathan. +The wounded ship, distant from us about five +miles, suddenly lurched over on the starboard +beam-ends, looking for all the world as if she +were about to turn turtle. Lower and lower +she went, until her huge funnels were level +with the water, pointing in our direction like +two tunnels side by side, and dense clouds +of smoke and steam escaped from all parts of +her as from a volcano in a high state of activity. +As quickly again, the mammoth +righted herself; down, down went her bows; +up and up her stern, till quite one-third of +the hull stood upright to the sky; then, with +a majestic plunge, she slid beneath the waves, +game to the end, for the last to disappear +was the German flag.</p> + +<p>“A ring of foam and half a dozen boats +crowded with dark forms were all that were +left at 2 p.m. of the brave <em>Cap Trafalgar</em> and +her ornate saloons and winter gardens, the +ship that conveyed Prince Henry of Prussia +on his triumphant tour of the South American +Republics.”</p> + +<p>The casualties of the <em>Carmania</em> are reported +to have amounted to nine men killed and +twenty-six wounded out of four hundred and +twenty-one hands all told, a low percentage +owing to the wide distribution of the various +parties. The survivors of the <em>Cap Trafalgar</em> +landed at Buenos Ayres consisted of eighteen +officers and two hundred and ninety-two men, +which would give her casualties at about eight +officers and one hundred men if she carried +the same number of men as the <em>Carmania</em>.</p> + +<p>Seventy-nine direct hits were counted on the +<em>Carmania</em>, and innumerable small holes from +splinters; her boats were riddled, as also masts +and ventilators; her rigging and wireless +aerial were shot away.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="NOT_TO_BE_FORGOTTEN">NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Men Who Captained the Merchant Ships Are Among the Heroes of +the War</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">By</span> telling the story of Captain Frank M. +Custance, of the Royal Navy Reserve, as +typical of the stories of a coterie of merchant +ship men in the service, Mr. Ralph E. Cropley +most interestingly reminds the public that +the war was not altogether won by the men in +the trenches. The merchant ship commanders +played some small part in the winning. Indeed, +Mr. Cropley goes somewhat further. +He concludes his story of Captain Custance, +which appeared in the New York <cite>Evening +Post</cite>, with this paragraph:</p> + +<p>“Without their valor this war would have +been over long ago and Germany would have +won. I say this without reserve, for it is the +truth. It has only been by their untiring sacrifices +that the soldiers have gotten to the +trenches at all and been kept supplied with +munitions and food. The merchant ship men +have done work which gold cannot pay for +and never have thought of themselves—simply +of the great cause which to them has meant +the end of cruelty.”</p> + +<p>Though Captain Custance is an English +seaman he is familiarly known to Americans +who have sailed between New York and +Bermuda in the winter or to the Land of the +Midnight Sun in summer, for he was Captain +of the tourist boat <em>Arcadian</em> that made +those trips in the different seasons. He was +up among the Norwegian fords when England +entered the war, and it was a question +whether he could save his ship by evading the +Germans. Not that he personally had any +question about it. He proceeded to act with +the calm assurance characteristic of his conduct +in normal sailings, quietly determined to get +safely away. So, excellent seaman that he +was, “in the darkness of that famous Monday +night of Aug. 4, 1914, without a pilot, he +took her through the dangerous ford to sea. +’Twas indeed a feat.”</p> + +<p>But there were dangers at sea, too, for it +was necessary to avoid any ship or craft that +heaved in sight, and constant vigilance, with +much dodging, was necessary before he got +into Liverpool with his American passengers +saved from anything so unpleasant and perilous +as drifting in open boats on the high seas. +With equal success he landed them in New +York some days later, their number having +been added to by Americans stranded in England.</p> + + +<h3>TURNED TO MINE-SWEEPING</h3> + +<p>Then the <em>Arcadian</em> was dismantled and +turned into a transport, and Captain Custance +took her back to England filled with Canadian +troops. But wanting a more war-like job he +appealed to the Admiralty and eventually was +assigned to the perilous duty of mine-sweeping, +to keep the sea about the Orkneys free from +the floating or sunk mines, to the sowing and +planting of which the Germans were devoting +their devilish activities. When it is borne in +mind that Captain Custance was then 46 years +old, with wife and several children, one may +appreciate the patriotic zeal that kept him in +this dangerous employ for two years. During +that time he stuck at it with never a glimpse +at his family until he was called to London +to have the King confer on him the D. S. O.</p> + +<p>Those broad-beamed boats known as trawlers +in which the fishermen ply their calling +were the instruments employed in mine-sweeping, +and admirable they were for the business, +but comfortless enough for other purposes. +Said the Captain in a letter: “It’s no joke +monkeying about in a tiny craft hunting ‘tin +fishes.’ In daylight it’s bad enough, but at +night it’s extremely dangerous, as one can’t +see the sea, and one is liable to half swamp +oneself in turning. And as far as any comfort +below goes, there isn’t any. Everything is +damp and cold, and the steward loses the +greater part of your food in bringing it to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</span>you, and what you finally receive is a cold, +unpalatable mess. Yet, by God! it’s something +to be out here having a chance to bag a bally +German swine.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_323" style="max-width: 47.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_323.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant William Herren</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>58th Infantry, Machine-Gun Company</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">His company was fighting near Villa Savage. The majority of their machine guns were destroyed. +On the morning of April 7, 1918, Sergeant Herren went through a deathly artillery bombardment +in order to get more machine guns and ammunition for his company. With his reinforcements +and bravery he enabled the right flank of his company to advance, and capture a German +machine-gun position and repulse counter-attacks.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Besides the danger from mines there was the +excitement of submarine shelling of the fleet +every now and then. In one attack of that +kind Custance’s trawler struck a mine and +sank. After that the Captain was given a +steam yacht, no longer at her best, the <em>Mingary</em>, +in which he did patrol work, visited and +overhauled neutral ships, and kept a weather +eye out for submarines and mines.</p> + +<p>The performance that gained him the D. S. +O. was the day after the Jutland naval fight, +when the German fleet had fled, leaving only +the submarines to prowl and finish off the +wounded if possible. The dreadnought <em>Warspite</em> +was one of the wounded and poorly protected +by destroyers as she toiled along with +deranged steering gear. The Captain saw +three submarines maneuvering against the +<em>Warspite</em>, and despite the fact that the chances +were all against him in an attempt to beat +off three submarines with his little yacht and +its tiny guns Custance rushed the <em>Mingary</em> +pell mell to the rescue, acting with such suddenness +that he took one submarine by surprise +and was able to ram it, got so close that +he could use his guns on the next one and +sink it and so thoroughly scared the third one +that it submerged instantly without an offer +of fight.</p> + +<p>Later the Captain was in command of the +<em>Maid of Honor</em> in convoying colliers across +the English Channel by night. There were no +lights, there was no signaling by whistle, there +was traffic both ways, troop ships, darkness +everywhere. Skilled navigators were necessary—men +of the merchant ship sort. Out +of all his convoys going or coming, only three +ships were torpedoed, only two being lost.</p> + +<p>In the final part of the war he crossed and +recrossed the Atlantic in convoy. It was then +that the <em>Justicia</em> was torpedoed. “She remained +afloat for twenty-four hours, and Custance +would have saved her if a German had +not dived under the ring of patrol boats that +surrounded her and fired a finishing torpedo.”</p> + +<p>In getting off the dying <em>Justicia</em> Custance +nearly lost his life, yet, says Mr. Cropley, +“I received a very apologetic letter saying he +was sorry he hadn’t been able to save the +cigarettes he was bringing over to me.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHRISTMAS_IN_THE_TRENCHES">CHRISTMAS IN THE TRENCHES</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent">(<em>An Incident</em>)</p> + +<p class="center no-indent"><em>By</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Dan Burnet</p> + +<p class="center no-indent">I</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Still</span> the guns!</div> + <div class="verse indent2">There’s a ragged music on the air,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">A priest had climbed the ruined temple’s stair,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Ah, still the guns!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">It’s Christmas morning. Had ye all forgot?</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Peace for a little while, ye battle-scarred—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or do ye fear to cool those minds grown hot?</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Up the great lovely tower, wracked and marred,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">An old priest toils—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Men of the scattered soils,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Men of the British mists,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Men of France!</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Put by the lance.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Men of Irish fists,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Men of heather,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Kneel together—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Men of Prussia,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Great dark men of Russia,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Kneel, kneel!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Hark how the slow bells peal.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A thousand leagues the faltered music runs,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Ah, still the wasting thunder of the guns,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Still the guns!</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</span></p> + +<p class="center no-indent">II</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Out of the trenches lifts a half-shamed song,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">“Holy Night”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Here, where the sappers burrowed all night long</div> + <div class="verse indent2">To bring the trench up for the morrow’s fight,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">A British lad, with face unwonted white,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Looks at the sky and sings a carol through,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">“God rest you merry, gentlemen!”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">It was the only Christmas thing he knew.</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And there were tears wrung out of hard-lipped men,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Tears in the strangest places,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Tears on troopers’ faces!</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent">III</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">They had forgotten what a life was for,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They had been long at suffering and war,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They had forgot old visions, one by one,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">But now they heard the tolling bell of Rheims,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Tolling bell of Rheims;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They saw the bent priest, white-haired in the sun,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Climb to the hazard of the weakened spire,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They saw, and in them stirred their hearts’ desire</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For Streets and Cities, Shops and Homes and Farms,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">They only wanted space to love and live;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They felt warm arms about them—women’s arms,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And such caresses as a child might give</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Coming all rosy in the early day</div> + <div class="verse indent2">To kiss his world awake....</div> + <div class="verse indent30">The British lad</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Broke off his carol with a sob. The play</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Of churchly musics, solemn, strange, and sad,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fluttered in silver tatters down the wind,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Flung from the tower where the guns had sinned</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Across the black and wounded fields.... The bell</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Sang on—a feeble protest to the skies,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Until the world stood like a halted hell,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And men with their dead brothers at their feet</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Drew dirty sleeves across their tired eyes,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Finding the cracked chimes overwhelming sweet.</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent">IV</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Aye, still the guns!</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And heed the Christmas bell,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Ye who have done Death’s work so well,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Ye worn embattled ones,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Kneel, kneel!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Put by the blood-stained steel,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Men from the far soils and the scattered seas,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Go down upon your knees,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While there lives one with peace upon his eyes,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While hope’s faint song is fluttered to the skies,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In that brief space between the Christmas suns,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Still the guns!</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="SPYING_AT_ITS_WORST">SPYING AT ITS WORST</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The German Secret Service System the Scrap Basket of Official Honor</h3> + + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Though</span> the knowledge of an enemy’s +plans, purposes and preparatory measures +is of the highest importance in military +campaigning, and though the utmost of courage +and daring are often necessary to obtain +the required information, the office of the +spy has, from time immemorial, been contemned +of men. There was but one fate for +the captured spy under military rule. Even +when the bravery and devotion of the adventuring +spy have been admitted to admiration +there has remained the instinctive aversion +to the office. The reason for the almost universal +mental attitude is that spying usually, +if not invariably, involves treachery, the betrayal +of trust and confidence gained by professions +of friendship and sympathetic opinion. +The word “spies” stirs the spleen of wholesome +minded persons. It implies craft, duplicity, +perversity. Few men have been willing +to confess themselves spies. However +greedily the sensational or adventure-loving +reader may follow the narrative of the experiences, +the desperate chances, the hazards, +the daring risks, the narrow escapes of the +successful spy, there is nevertheless a regretful +wish that the valor, the intelligence, had +found a nobler medium of expression.</p> + +<p>But because there is such a thing as fearless, +generous self-sacrifice in the performance +of undertakings or obligations that come under +the general classification of spying, it is +perhaps unfortunate that no attempt has been +made to discriminate what may be termed +honorable (in a military sense) espionage +from ignoble spying. Surely there is a vast +distinction between the soldier who volunteers +to penetrate an enemy’s lines to ascertain +particular facts and the person who under the +protection of social or official privilege wins +trust only to betray it. In the second class +there probably is no more despicable violation +of moral responsibility recorded in the history +of nations than the German intrigue against +the United States when this country was still +at peace with Germany. The indictment is +clearly drawn in a few words in the Flag +Day address of President Wilson, June 14, +1917. He said speaking of the German Government:</p> + +<p>“They filled our unsuspecting communities +with vicious spies and conspirators and sought +to corrupt the opinion of our people in their +own behalf. When they found they could +not do that, their agents diligently spread +sedition amongst us and sought to draw our +own citizens from their allegiance—and some +of these agents were men connected with the +official embassy of the German Government +itself here in our own capital.”</p> + + +<h3>ITS DIPLOMATIC AIDS</h3> + +<p>Their Ambassador, Count Johann von +Bernstorff; their military attaché, Capt. Franz +von Papen; their naval attaché, Capt. Karl +Boy-Ed; their financial agent, Dr. Heinrich +Albert, were the diplomatic and social spies +who engineered and supplied with necessary +information the vicious under-agents of the +spy system of which sedition and violence were +the shameful instruments.</p> + +<p>With patient diligence, John Price Jones, +a newspaper man, attached to the New York +<cite>Sun</cite>, collected—from documentary evidence, +from Secret Service officials and by means of +his own investigation over a period of eighteen +months—a vast amount of valuable and exact +information, the vital part of which Small, +Maynard and Company subsequently published +in book form, under the title <em>The +German Secret Service in America</em>. The information +in that book, substantiated by governmental +and other evidence, is authoritative, +and we are indebted to it for much of the +matter in this article.</p> + +<p>Of the organization of the spy system he +says:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</span></p> + +<p>“Count von Bernstorff, once his nation had +declared war upon France and England, went +to war with the United States. As ambassador, +diplomatic courtesy gave him a scope of +observation limited only by the dignity of his +position. A seat in a special gallery in the +Senate and House of Representatives was +always ready for his occupancy; he could virtually +command the attention of the White +House; and senators, congressmen and office-holders +from German-American districts respected +him. Messengers kept him in constant +touch with the line-up of Congress on +important issues, and two hours later that +line-up was known in the Foreign Office in +Berlin. As head and front of the German +spy system in America, he held cautiously +aloof from all but the most instrumental acquaintances: +men and women of prominent +political and social influence who he knew +were inclined, for good and sufficient reasons, +to help him. One woman, whose bills he paid +at a Fifth Avenue gown house, was the wife +of a prominent broker and another woman of +confessedly German affiliations who served +him lived within a stone’s throw of the Metropolitan +Museum and its nearby phalanx of +gilded dwellings (her husband’s office was in +a building at 11 Broadway, of which more +anon); a third, woman intimate lived in a +comfortable apartment near Fifth Avenue—an +apartment selected for her, though she was +unaware of it, by secret agents of the United +States.</p> + + +<h3>BAIT FOR INGÉNUES</h3> + +<p>“During the early days of the war the +promise of social sponsorship which any embassy +in Washington could extend proved bait +for a number of ingénues of various ages, +with ambition and mischief in their minds, +and the gracious Ambassador played them +smoothly and dexterously. Mostly they were +not German women, for the German women +of America were not so likely to be useful +socially, nor as a type so astute as to qualify +them for von Bernstorff’s delicate work. To +those women whom he chose to see he was +courteous, and superficially frank almost to +the point of naïveté. The pressure of negotiation +between Washington and Berlin became +more and more exacting as the war progressed, +yet he found time to command a +campaign whose success would have resulted +in disaster to the United States. That he +was not blamed for the failure of that campaign +when he returned to Germany in April, +1917, is evidenced by his prompt appointment +to the court of Turkey, a difficult and important +post, and in the case of Michaelis, a +stepping-stone to the highest post in the Foreign +Office.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_327" style="max-width: 32.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_327.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Count Johann von Bernstorff.</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">German ambassador to the United States at +the time the <em>Lusitania</em> was torpedoed. One of +his many acts of duplicity was the sending of a +secret message to Germany asking for funds +to be used to influence members of the United +States Congress.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Upon the shoulders of Dr. Heinrich +Albert, privy counselor and fiscal agent of +the German Empire, fell the practical execution<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</span> +of German propaganda throughout +America. He was the American agent of a +government which has done more than any +other to coöperate with business towards the +extension of influence abroad, on the principle +that ‘the flag follows the constitution.’ As +such he had had +his finger on the +pulse of American +trade, had +catalogued exhaustively +the +economic resources +of the +country, and held +in his debt, as his +nation’s treasurer +in America, +scores of bankers, +manufacturers +and traders +to whom Germany +had extended +subsidy. +As such also he was the paymaster of the +Imperial secret diplomatic and consular +agents.</p> + +<figure class="figleft illowp45" id="i_b_328a" style="max-width: 15.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_328a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Bain.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Dr. Dumba</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Austrian Ambassador</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>“You could find him almost any day until +the break with Germany in a small office in +the Hamburg-American Building (a beehive +of secret agents) at No. 45 Broadway, New +York. He was tall and slender, and wore +the somber frock coat of the European business +man with real grace. His eyes were blue +and clear, his face clean-shaven and faintly +saber-scarred, and his hair blond. He impressed +one as an unusual young man in a +highly responsible position. His greeting to +visitors, of whom he had few, was punctilious, +his bow low, and his manner altogether polite. +He encouraged conversation rather than offered +it. He had none of the ‘hard snap’ of +the energetic, outspoken, brusque American +man of business. Dr. Albert was a smooth-running, +well-turned cog in the great machine +of Prussian militarism.</p> + + +<h3>CORRUPTION FUND OF MILLIONS</h3> + +<p>“Upon him rested the task of spending between +$2,000,000 and $3,000,000 a week for +German propaganda. He spent thirty millions +at least in secret agency work, also +known by the uglier names of bribery, sedition +and conspiracy. He admitted that he wasted +a half million.</p> + +<p>“His methods were quiet and successful, +and his participation in the offenses against +America’s peace might have passed unproven +had he not been engaged in a too-absorbing +conversation one day in August, 1915, upon a +Sixth Avenue elevated train. He started up +to leave the train at Fiftieth Street, and carelessly +left his portfolio behind him—to the +tender care of a United States Secret Service +man. It contained documents revealing his +complicity in enterprises the magnitude of +which beggars the imagination. The publication +of certain of those documents awoke the +slumbering populace to a feeling of chagrin +and anger almost equal to his own at the loss +of his dossier. And yet he stayed on in +America, and returned with the ambassadorial +party to Germany only after the severance of +diplomatic relations in 1917, credited with expert +generalship on the economic sector of the +American front.</p> + +<p>“Germany’s military attaché to the United +States was Captain Franz von Papen. His +mission was the study of the United States +army. In August, 1914, it may be assumed +that he had absorbed most of the useful information +of the +United States +army, which at +that moment was +no superhuman +problem. In July +of that year he +was in Mexico, +observing, among +other matters, the +effect of dynamite +explosions +on railways. He +was quite familiar +with Mexico. +According +to Admiral von +Hintze he had +organized a military unit in the lukewarm +German colony in Mexico City, and he used +one or more of the warring factions in the +southern republic to test the efficacy of various +means of warfare.</p> + +<figure class="figright illowp45" id="i_b_328b" style="max-width: 15.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_328b.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Bain.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Captain von Papen</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">German Military Attaché</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>“Von Papen operated from New York after<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</span> +the outbreak of war. “German reservists +who had been peaceful farmers, shopkeepers or +waiters, all over the United States, were mobilized +for service, and paraded through Battery +Park in New York shouting ‘Deutschland, +Deutschland über alles!’ to the strains +of the Austrian hymn, while they waited for +Papen’s orders from a building near by, and +picked quarrels with a counter procession of +Frenchmen screaming the immortal ‘Marseillaise.’ +Up in his office sat the attaché, summoning, +assigning, despatching his men on missions +that were designed to terrorize America +as the spiked helmets were terrorizing Belgium +at that moment.</p> + +<p>“... Although von Papen marshaled his +consuls, his reservists, his thugs, his women, +and his skilled agents, for a programme of violence +the like of which America had never +experienced, the military phase of the war was +not destined for decision here, and there is +again something ironical in the fact that the +arrogance of Captain von Papen’s outrages +hastened the coming of war to America and +the decline of Captain von Papen’s style of +warfare in America.</p> + + +<h3>BOY-ED, A TURKISH HALF-BREED</h3> + +<p>“The Kaiser’s naval attaché at Washington +was Karl Boy-Ed, the child of a German +mother and a Turkish father, who had elected +a naval career and shown a degree of aptitude +for his work which qualified him presently +for the post of chief lieutenant to von Tirpitz. +He was one of the six young officers who were +admitted to the chief councils of the German +navy, as training for high executive posts.... +His duties took him all over the world as +naval observer, and he may be credited more +than casually with weaving the plan-fabric of +marine supremacy with which Germany proposed +in due time to envelop the world.</p> + +<p>“He impressed diplomatic Washington in +1911 as a polished cosmopolite. Polished he +was, measured by the standards of diplomatic +Washington, for rare was the young American +of Boy-Ed’s age who had his cultivation, +his wide experience, and his brilliant charm. +He was sought after by admiring mothers +long before he was sought after by the Secret +Service; he moved among the clubs of Washington +and New York making intimates of +men whose friendship and confidence would +serve the Fatherland, cloaking his real designs +by frivolity and frequent attendances at social +functions. His peace-time duties had been +to study the American navy; to familiarize +himself with its ship power and personnel, with +its plans for expansion, its theories of strategy, +its means of supply, and finally, with the coast +defenses of the country. He had learned his +lesson, and furnished Berlin with clear reports. +On those reports, together with those +of his colleagues in other countries, hinged +Germany’s readiness to enter war, for it +would have been folly to attempt a war of +domination with America an unknown, uncatalogued +naval power. (It will be well to +recall that the submarine is an American invention, +and that Germany’s greatest submarine +development took place in the years +1911-14.)</p> + +<p>“And then, suddenly, he dropped the cloak. +The Turk in him stood at attention while +the German in him gave him sharp orders—commands +to be carried out with Oriental +adroitness and Prussian finish. Then those +who had said lightly that ‘Boy-Ed knows +more about our navy than Annapolis itself’ +began to realize that they had spoken an +alarming truth. His war duties were manifold. +Like von Papen, he had his corps of +reservists, his secret agents, his silent forces +everywhere ready for active coöperation in +carrying out the naval enterprises Germany +should see fit to undertake in Western waters.</p> + +<p>“America learned gradually of the machinations +of the four executives, Bernstorff, Albert, +Papen and Boy-Ed. America had not +long to wait for evidences of their activity, but +it was a long time before the processes of +investigation revealed their source. It was +inevitable that they could not work undiscovered +for long, and they seem to have realized +that they must do the utmost damage at top +speed. Their own trails were covered for a +time by the obscure identities of their subordinates. +The law jumps to no conclusions. +Their own persons were protected by diplomatic +courtesy. It required more than two +years of tedious search for orthodox legal evidence +to arraign these men publicly in their +guilt, and when that evidence had finally been +obtained, and Germany’s protest of innocence +had been deflated, it was not these men who +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</span>suffered, but their country, and the price she +paid was war with America.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_330" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_330.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Courtesy of Leslie’s Weekly.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">A Deadly Torpedo Leaving the Tube of an American Destroyer</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">A Whitehead torpedo at the instant it leaves the tube. This tube is above the water line. Torpedo-boat destroyers carry both this kind of tubes +and submerged ones. The torpedo, when fired from above the water, submerges itself to a depth determined by the adjustment of its horizontal +steering gear, and thereafter runs its course at an even depth beneath the surface.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<h3>GERMANY’S SECRET ARMY</h3> + +<p>“A hundred or more of their subordinates +have been convicted of various criminal offenses +and sent to prison. Still more were +promptly interned in prison camps at the +outbreak of war in 1917. The secret army +included all types, from bankers to longshoremen. +Many of them were conspicuous figures +in American public life, and of these no small +part were allowed to remain at large under +certain restrictions—and under surveillance. +Germany’s army in the United States was +powerful in numbers; the fact that so many +agents were working destruction probably +hastened their discovery; the loyalty of many +so-called German-Americans was always questionable. +The public mind, confused as it +had never been before by the news of war, +was groping about for sound fundamentals, +and was being tantalized with false principles +by the politicians. Meanwhile Count von +Bernstorff was watching Congress and the +President, Dr. Albert was busy in great +schemes, Captain von Papen was commanding +an active army of spies, and Captain Boy-Ed +was engaged in a bitter fight with the British +navy.”</p> + +<p>But long after the departure of the principals +for their native land the enterprises they +had inaugurated persisted.</p> + +<p>Among the pre-war activities the German +government made a contract with Dr. Karl +Buenz, American head of the Hamburg-American +Line, for the provisioning, during +war, of German ships at sea, the contract +being jealously guarded in the German Embassy +at Washington. Merchant ships were +to be used for the purpose. July 31, 1914, a +cablegram from Berlin called on Dr. Buenz +to begin filling his contract. The first ship +to be loaded (with coal) was the <em>Berwind</em>, +and the question arose as to who among the +conspirators should apply for the clearance +papers. Finally G. B. Kulenkampff, a banker +and exporter, was directed to do so. He +swore to a false manifest of the cargo and +got the papers. The <em>Berwind</em> carried food +as well as coal for the provisioning of German +warships to be found at secretly designated +points, and her destination was not Buenos +Ayres as the clearance papers declared, so +the United States was unwittingly a party to +German naval operations, on the third day of +the war, by German mendacity. The <em>Berwind</em> +sailed for a little island known as Trinidad +(not the British West Indian island) about 70° +east of Brazil, and there her cargo was transferred +to five German ships, one of which +was the <em>Kap-Trafalgar</em>, presently sunk by the +British auxiliary cruiser, the <em>Carmania</em>, which +steamed into view while the <em>Trafalgar</em>, the +<em>Berwind</em> and one other of the vessels were +still at Trinidad.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to know that most of the +ships chartered for this lawless purpose did +not carry out the intention. The <em>Unita</em> was +one of them and we are told:</p> + +<p>“Her skipper was Eno Olsen, a Canadian +citizen born in Norway. Urhitzler, the German +spy placed aboard, made the mistake of +assuming that Olsen was friendly to Germany. +He gave him his ‘orders,’ and the +skipper balked. ’“Nothing doing,” I told +the supercargo,’ Captain Olsen testified later, +with a Norwegian twist to his pronunciation. +‘She’s booked to Cadiz, and to Cadiz she +goes!’ So the supercargo offered me $500 to +change my course. “Nothing doing—nothing +doing for a million dollars,” I told him. The +third day out he offered me $10,000. Nothing +doing. So,’ announced Captain Olsen +with finality, ‘I sailed the <em>Unita</em> to Cadiz and +after we got there I sold the cargo and looked +up the British consul.’”</p> + +<p>Under the Buenz contract twelve ships +were either purchased or chartered at a total +cost of $1,419,394, and it is said that of their +shiploads of supplies less than $30,000 worth +were ever transferred to German war vessels. +Buenz, after much delay in the proceedings, +was sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment +in the Federal penitentiary at Atlanta.</p> + + +<h3>THE WIRELESS TREACHERIES</h3> + +<p>The Sayville Wireless Station on Long +Island was for a long time a successfully controlled +medium for the direction of spy and +propaganda work in this country as well as +for communication with wireless stations in +Germany, in Central and South America, with +wireless ships interned, etc., etc. To this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</span> +and the other German-owned commercial +plants in the United States Capt. Boy-Ed +added amateur stations of more or less extended +radius as auxiliaries. But owing to +complaints of frequent interference with regular +messages, the “United States presently +ordered the closing of all private wireless stations, +and those amateurs who had been listening +out of sheer curiosity to the air conversation +cheerfully took down their antennæ. Not +so, however, a prominent woman in whose +residence on Fifth Avenue lay concealed a +powerful receiving apparatus. Nor did the +interned ships obey the order: apparatus apparently +removed was often rigged in the shelter +of a funnel, and operated by current supplied +from an apparently innocent source. +And the secret service discovered stations also +in the residences of wealthy Hoboken Germans, +and in a German-American ‘mansion’ +in Hartford, Connecticut.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_332" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_332.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood, and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">German Spies in France</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">After living for ten years in France, they were discovered giving information to the Germans +by telephone. They confessed and were shot.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Later suspicions were aroused by the activities +of the German wireless, but the German +operators were not at once removed. The +United States began taking down the seemingly +meaningless jargon that came every +morning from the Nauen Station near Berlin. +It was two years later, however, that +a key to the jumble was discovered and the +code revealed. Two codes in fact were +found.</p> + +<p>“The chief significance of the discovery of +the two codes is their conclusive proof that +while von Bernstorff was protesting to the +American government that he could not get +messages through to Berlin, nor replies from +the Foreign Office, he was actually in daily, +if not hourly, communication with his superiors. +Messages were sent out by his confidential +operators under the very eyes of the +American naval censors. After the break +of diplomatic relations with Berlin, in February, +1917, the authorities set to work decoding +the messages, and the State Department +from time to time issued for publication +certain of the more brutal proofs of Germany’s +violation of American neutrality. The +Ambassador and his Washington establishment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</span> +had served for two years and a half +as the ‘central exchange’ of German affairs +in the western world. After his departure +communication from German spies here was +handicapped only by the time required to forward +information to Mexico; from that point +to Berlin air conversation continued uninterrupted.”</p> + +<p>It may be noted in passing that Captain +Karl Grasshof of the cruiser <em>Geier</em>, that took +refuge from the British by tying up in Honolulu +harbor, gave high proof of the German +nice sense of honor in respect of hospitality. +He instituted a series of afternoon concerts by +the ship’s band, that the music might drown +out the noise of the wireless apparatus as he +sent messages to raiders at sea or threw off +false reports in English, the purpose of which +was to make trouble between the United +States and Japan. He said at one time that +von Papen inspired this peculiar treachery, +but afterwards denied it.</p> + + +<h3>TO INVADE CANADA</h3> + +<p>On the military side, one of von Papen’s +brilliant projects was to organize the German +reservists in the United States into an army +for the invasion of Canada. The plan was +to transport men and guns by night from +ports of the Great Lakes by means of powerful +motor boats and attack defenseless lake +cities, the object being to arouse such fear +in the Canadians that they would keep their +troops for home defense instead of sending +them to the aid of England. This, however, +was a project from which the craftier Bernstorff +recoiled as smacking too much of open +violence. Then von Papen proposed a scheme +to blow up the Welland Canal as a terrorizing +job. The plot was ascribed to “two +Irishmen, prominent members of Irish associations, +both of whom had fought in the +Irish rebellion.”</p> + +<p>The spy, Horst von der Goltz, was the +active agent in the preliminary steps, such as +recruiting men for the job, securing explosives, +etc., Papen, in the name of Steffens, supplying +the money and giving the necessary instructions. +But after being carried forward almost +to the point of action the Welland enterprise +was, for some unknown reason, suddenly abandoned +and the dynamite (three hundred +pounds in suitcases), which had been taken to +Niagara Falls, was left with an aviator, and +Goltz, with his immediate associate, Constance +Covani, a private detective, returned to New +York. Von Papen was much provoked by the +failure of his second plan to terrorize Canada. +Goltz was sent on some commission to +Germany in October, sailing on a forged passport, +got safely to Berlin and, on his return +trip in November, was arrested in England, +spy fashion. After a protracted imprisonment, +Goltz agreed to turn State’s evidence against +his fellow conspirators. A number of arrests +resulted, and the plots against Canada were +fully revealed.</p> + +<p>As more and more precise rules for the +issue of passports were made by the government +the difficulties of the conspirators in +making direct communication with Berlin increased +correspondingly. It devolved upon +von Papen to provide for the supply of passports +to meet the needs of couriers and others +who could not get passports in their own +names.</p> + +<p>“The military attaché selected Lieutenant +Hans von Wedell, who had already made a +trip as courier to Berlin for his friend, Count +von Bernstorff. Von Wedell was married +to a German baroness. He had been a newspaper +reporter in New York, and later a lawyer. +He opened an office in Bridge Street, +New York, and began to send out emissaries +to sailors on interned German liners, and to +their friends in Hoboken, directing them to +apply for passports. He sent others to the +haunts of tramps on the lower East Side, to +the Mills Hotel, and other gathering places +of the down-and-outs, offering ten, fifteen or +twenty dollars to men who would apply for +and deliver passports. And he bought them! +He spent much time at the Deutscher Verein, +and at the Elks’ Club in 43rd Street where he +often met his agents to give instructions and +receive passports. His bills were paid by +Captain von Papen.”</p> + + +<h3>MANUFACTURING PASSPORTS</h3> + +<p>The passports secured in this way by von +Wedell and by his successor, Carl Ruroede, +Sr., in the employ of Oelrichs & Co., were +supplied to reservist officers whom the General +Staff had ordered back to Berlin, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</span>also to spies whom von Papen wished to send +to England, France, Italy or Russia. Among +the latter was Anton Kuepferle, who was +captured in England, confessed and killed +himself in Brixton jail.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_334" style="max-width: 53.1875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_334.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>International News.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Anti-German Riots in Britain</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The destruction of the <em>Lusitania</em> by a German submarine caused anti-German riots in many +parts of the world. These started in Liverpool when the bodies of dead members of the crew were +brought to their homes there, and spread rapidly to other parts of the United Kingdom. The +photograph shows the looting of a German’s residence in High Street, London.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>When it became obvious that passports +must be serving the ends of persons other than +those to whom they were issued the government +demanded that each passport should have +the photograph of the bearer. But this did +not disconcert the conspirators, as <em>The German +Secret Service in America</em> tells us. It +says: “The Germans found it a simple matter +to give a general description of a man’s eyes, +color of hair, and age to fit the person who +was actually to use the document; then forwarded +the picture of the applicant to be +affixed. The applicant receiving the passport +would sell it at once. Even though the official +seal was stamped on the photograph the +Germans were not dismayed.</p> + +<p>“Adams [Albert G. Adams, a United States +Secret Service agent, who had insinuated himself +into Ruroede’s confidence] rushed into +Ruroede’s office one day waving a sheaf of +five passports issued to him by the government. +Adams was ostensibly proud of his +work, Ruroede openly delighted.</p> + +<p>“‘I knew I could get these passports easily,’ +he boasted to Adams. ‘Why, if Lieutenant +von Wedell had kept on here he never +could have done this. He always was getting +into a muddle.’</p> + +<p>“‘But how can you use these passports +with these pictures on them?’ asked the agent.</p> + +<p>“‘Oh, that’s easy,’ answered Ruroede. +‘Come in the back room. I’ll show you.’ And +Ruroede, before the observant eyes of the +Department of Justice, patted one of the passports +with a damp cloth, then with adhesive +paste fastened a photograph of another man +over the original bearing the imprint of the +United States seal.</p> + +<p>“‘We wet the photograph,’ said Ruroede, +‘and then we affix the picture of the man who +is to use it. The new photograph also is +dampened, but when it is fastened to the +passport there still remains a sort of vacuum +in spots between the new picture and the old +because of ridges made by the seal. So we +turn the passport upside down, place it on a +soft ground—say a silk handkerchief—and +then we take a paper-cutter with a dull point, +and just trace the letters on the seal. The +result is that the new photograph dries exactly +as if it had been stamped by Uncle Sam. +You can’t tell the difference.’</p> + + +<h3>NABBED AT SEA</h3> + +<p>“Through Adams’ efforts Ruroede and four +Germans, one of them an officer in the German +reserves, were arrested on January 2, on +the Scandinavian-American liner <em>Bergensfjord</em> +outward bound to Bergen, Norway. +They had passports issued through Adams at +Ruroede’s request under the American names +of Howard Paul Wright, Herbert S. Wilson, +Peter Hanson and Stanley F. Martin.</p> + +<p>“Von Wedell himself was a passenger on +the <em>Bergensfjord</em>, but when he was lined up +with the other passengers, the Federal agents, +who did not have a description of him, missed +him and left the vessel. He was later (January +11) taken off the ship by the British, +however, and transferred to another vessel +for removal to a prison camp. She struck a +German mine and sank, and von Wedell is +supposed to have drowned.”</p> + +<p>An explicit letter from von Wedell to von +Bernstorff dispelled any possibility of doubt +that the German Ambassador was fully cognizant +of the false passport frauds.</p> + +<p>“Ruroede was sentenced to three years in +Atlanta prison. The four reservists, pleading +guilty, protested they had taken the passports +out of patriotism and were fined $200 each.</p> + +<p>“The arrest of Ruroede exposed the New +York bureau, and made it necessary for the +Germans to shift their base of operations, but +did not put an end to the fraudulent passport +conspiracy. Capt. Boy-Ed assumed the burden, +and hired men to secure passports for +him.”</p> + +<p>But the increased vigilance and thoroughness +of the British reduced this service to a +negligible quantity before the entrance of the +United States into the war squelched it +entirely.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_336" style="max-width: 46em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_336.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">From the Fighting Top of the Battleship <em>Wyoming</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The <em>Wyoming</em> is 562 feet in length, of 26,000 tons displacement, and carries twelve 12-inch and +twenty-one 5-inch guns.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>An incident in connection with the arrest +of Ruroede is related by French Strother in +his story “Fighting German Spies” published +in <cite>The World’s Work</cite>. Ruroede “was being +urged by the Assistant United States District +Attorney to ‘come across’ with the facts +about his activities in the passport frauds, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</span>he had stood up pretty well against the persuasions +and hints of the attorney and the +doubts and fears of his own mind. About +eleven o’clock at night, as he was for the +many’th time protesting his ignorance and his +innocence, another agent of the Bureau of +Investigation walked across the far end of +the dimly lit room—in one door and out another—accompanied +by a fair-haired lad of +nineteen.</p> + +<p>“‘My God!’ exclaimed Ruroede, ‘have they +got my son, too? The boy knows nothing at +all about this.’</p> + +<p>“This little ghost-walking scene, borrowed +from <em>Hamlet</em>, broke down Ruroede’s reserve, +and he came out with pretty much all the +story, ending with the melancholy exclamation +‘I thought I was going to get an Iron Cross; +but what they ought to do is to pin a little tin +stove on me.’”</p> + + +<h3>A SENSATIONAL CAPTURE</h3> + +<p>In addition to von Papen, Dr. Albert and +Boy-Ed, one of Bernstorff’s effective agents +was Wolf von Igel, who was the leader of +the dynamite men of the conspiracy. He set +up at 60 Wall Street ostensibly in the “advertising” +business. Attention was attracted +to him by the fact that his visitors during +the two years he was undisturbed were Germans +who had nothing whatever to do with +advertising. Moreover, conspicuous in his +office was a large safe bearing the insignia of +the German Imperial Government. Suspicions +were aroused and by degrees these +suspicions were strengthened by circumstances +and incidents that indicated von Igel as a +German agent. Therefore, as the New York +<cite>Times</cite> reported, one morning in April, 1916, +while von Igel was engaged preparing a mass +of papers taken from the safe for transfer to +Washington, the office was entered by four +United States Secret Service agents from the +Department of Justice, who made their way +past the guardians always on duty, put von +Igel under arrest, and undertook to seize the +papers. The German was powerful and +brave. With the aid of one associate he stubbornly +fought the officers, striving to rescue +the papers, to close the safe, to get to the +telephone and communicate with his superiors. +Revolvers were drawn by the Secret Service +men. They produced no effect upon the +intrepid von Igel.</p> + +<p>“This is German territory,” he shouted. +“Shoot me and you will bring on war.”</p> + +<p>There was no shooting. But after a protracted +struggle the defenders were overpowered +and the papers seized. The German +Embassy at once entered its protest. These +were official papers. They were sacrosanct. +The diplomatic prerogative of a friendly nation +had been overridden and the person of +its representative insulted. To this the State +Department replied that the invaded premises +at 60 Wall Street were described in the contract +as a private business office for the carrying +on of advertising, and that von Igel had +not been formally accredited as a German +representative.</p> + +<p>When the papers were examined by the +Department of Justice the reason for von +Igel’s determined fight became apparent. +Here, in the form of letters, telegrams, notations, +checks, receipts, ledgers, cashbooks, cipher +codes, lists of spies, and other memoranda +and records were found indications—in +some instances of the vaguest nature, in +others of the most damning conclusiveness—that +the German Imperial Government, +through its representatives in a then friendly +nation, was concerned with—</p> + +<p>Violation of the laws of the United States.</p> + +<p>Destruction of lives and property in merchant +vessels on the high seas.</p> + +<p>Irish revolutionary plots against Great Britain.</p> + +<p>Fomenting ill-feeling against the United +States in Mexico.</p> + +<p>Subornation of American writers and lecturers.</p> + +<p>Financing of propaganda.</p> + +<p>Maintenance of a spy system under the +guise of a commercial investigation bureau.</p> + +<p>Subsidizing of a bureau for the purpose of +stirring up labor troubles in munition plants.</p> + +<p>The bomb industry and other related activities.</p> + +<p>One of the most significant papers in the +von Igel collection was a letter directly convicting +von Papen of paying money to a +plotter (Paul Koenig, manager of an alleged +Bureau of Investigation established by +the Hamburg-American Steamship Company +for secret service purposes) designing to blow<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</span> +up merchant ships sailing from the port of +New York. Koenig had reported the make +of the bombs which it was proposed to use. +They were made to look like lumps of coal, +to be concealed in the coal laden on steamers +of the Allies. By this or other means thirty +ships carrying munitions to the Allies were +sunk.</p> + + +<h3>MORE BERNSTORFF CRAFT</h3> + +<p>Closely related to and to some extent under +the guidance of von Igel was the German and +Austro-Hungarian Labor Information and +Relief Bureau, with central headquarters at +136 Liberty Street, New York City, and +branches in Cleveland, Detroit, Bridgeport, +Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Chicago. The +head of the enterprise was Hans Liebau, from +whom it took its familiarly accepted name of +the “Liebau Employment Agency.” During +the trying days which followed the arrest of +the Welland Canal conspirators it was unwaveringly +asserted that the Liebau concern +was a bona fide employment agency and nothing +else, with no object other than to secure +positions for German, Austrian, or Hungarian +workmen seeking employment. That +was for publication only. In von Igel’s papers +the truth appears, brought out by the refusal +of the Austro-Hungarian Embassy to continue +its subsidies to the bureau.</p> + +<p>That the Austro-Hungarian Embassy had +taken official cognizance of the bureau previously, +however, is disclosed in the letter written +by the Ambassador to the Austro-Hungarian +Minister for Foreign Affairs, which was +found in the possession of James F. J. Archibald +by the British authorities August 30, +1915. In this letter the Ambassador stated:</p> + +<p>“It is my impression that we can disorganize +and hold up for months, if not entirely prevent, +the manufacture of munitions in Bethlehem +and the Middle West, which, in the +opinion of the German Military Attaché, is +of importance and amply outweighs the comparatively +small expenditure of money involved.”</p> + +<p>Representations on behalf of the bureau’s +efficiency were made, under date of March +24, 1916, in a letter to the German Ambassador, +von Bernstorff:</p> + +<p>“Engineers and persons in the better class of +positions, and who had means of their own, +were persuaded by the propaganda of the bureau +to leave war material factories.”</p> + +<p>The report comments with unconcealed +amusement upon the fact that munitions concerns +innocently wrote the bureau for workmen +(which, of course, were not furnished) +and continues in reviewing later conditions in +the munitions industry:</p> + +<p>“The commercial employment bureaus of +the country have no supply of unemployed technicians.... +Many disturbances and suspensions +which war material factories have had +to suffer, and which it was not always possible +to remove quickly, but which on the contrary +often led to long strikes, may be attributed +to the energetic propaganda of the +employment bureau.”</p> + +<p>The captured documents contained letters +and communications that established intimate +relations between the German Diplomatic +Service and the Irish revolutionary movement. +Among others was the letter concerning a +Justice of the New York Supreme Court, +Daniel F. Cohalan, beginning, “Judge Cohalan +requests the transmission of the following +remarks.” The remarks are then quoted as +follows:</p> + +<p>“The revolution in Ireland can only be +successful if supported from Germany, otherwise +England will be able to suppress it, even +though it be only after hard struggles. Therefore +help is necessary. This should consist, +primarily, of aerial attacks in England and a +diversion of the fleet simultaneously with Irish +revolution. Then, if possible, a landing of +troops, arms, and ammunition in Ireland, and +possibly some officers from Zeppelins. This +would enable the Irish ports to be closed +against England and the establishment of stations +for submarines on the Irish coast and the +cutting off of the supply of food for England. +The services of the revolution may therefore +decide the war.”</p> + +<p>“He asks that a telegram to this effect be +sent to Berlin,” the letter continues. It is but +fair to say that Judge Cohalan has denied +making the request.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_339" style="max-width: 43.0625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_339.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">Poster for the Fourth Liberty Loan</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Other documents revealed the German Secret +Service dealings with Sir Roger Casement, +subsequently executed by the British for +treason, but though the Department of Justice +had this incriminating evidence, it did +not reach the Attorney General until the afternoon +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</span>following the arrest of Casement. +The cause of Casement’s arrest was not, +therefore, information furnished by the Department, +as was loosely charged at the time.</p> + + +<h3>LANSING’S REVELATION</h3> + +<p>The most sensational of the revelations of +German plotting in the United States was made +by Secretary Lansing on September 21, 1916, +when he published without comment a telegram +written by Ambassador Bernstorff himself +and asking his government for $50,000 +to be used in influencing Congress. This was +not one of the papers taken from von Igel, +but was of much later date, and Mr. Lansing +stated that the cablegram had not been sent +to Germany through the State Department, +leaving it to be implied that it went by way +of some neutral legation.</p> + +<p>There was a veritable storm of excitement +in Congress over the imputation of bribery, +some Congressmen in the heat of the moment +intimating that they knew what members had +benefited from the fund. But later it was +made evident that Bernstorff had no idea of +bribery but of starting a volume of letters and +telegrams from various parts of the country +to influence Congressmen against a declaration +of war. Some time afterwards Secretary Lansing +made public the fact that when Bernstorff +asked for the $50,000 to influence the +American Congress he was already aware that +Germany was about to resume her ruthless +submarine warfare which she had assured the +United States would be abandoned.</p> + + +<h3>THE BOLO PASHA FOLLY</h3> + +<p>The most amazing instance thus far discovered +of the German government’s lavish +waste of the German people’s money for useless +intrigues in other countries is that revealed +after the arrest of Paul Bolo, alias +Bolo Pasha, in Paris, Sept. 29, 1917. The +following account is taken from the <cite>New +York Times Current History</cite>:</p> + +<p>“Bolo had long been under suspicion and +had been temporarily under arrest several +weeks before, but only upon receipt of important +evidence from the United States was +he imprisoned without bail. He is a Frenchman, +born at Marseilles, and, according to an +article in the Paris <cite>Matin</cite>, is a brother of an +eloquent French prelate of that name. He has +had an adventurous career in various countries, +including Egypt, and at the beginning +of the war he was penniless; but when in +Switzerland in March, 1915, he met Abbas +Hilmi, former Khédive of Egypt, and apparently +concluded an arrangement by which he +was to receive $2,500,000 to be used in influencing +the French press in favor of a German +peace. The plan was approved by Gottlieb +von Jagow, German Foreign Minister, +who was to pay the money partly through the +ex-Khédive and partly through Swiss and +American banks.</p> + +<p>“In accordance with this arrangement +$1,000,000 was paid by roundabout methods +through Swiss banks, to avert suspicion. Abbas +Hilmi and an associate are said to have +collected $50,000 as a commission. After that +time Bolo Pasha and Abbas Hilmi seemed to +have fallen out, for their relations ceased. +At the time of his arrest Bolo was said to have +received $8,000,000 from Germany, of which +$2,500,000 had been traced to the Deutsche +Bank. Large portions of this sum were said +to have been paid through an American channel. +The actual facts, now proved by the documents, +go far toward confirming those original +estimates.</p> + +<p>“Bolo arrived in New York on February +22, 1916, and left on March 17 following. He +had rooms at the Plaza Hotel, and was careful +not to be seen in public with German agents. +He saw Bernstorff secretly in Washington.</p> + +<p>“When the French government got an inkling +of his traitorous activities it appealed to +Governor Whitman of New York for evidence, +and ten days’ work by Merton E. +Lewis, the Attorney General of the State, assisted +by an expert accountant, resulted in sensational +disclosures which were made public +on the evening of October 3. The evidence, +which included photographic reproductions of +many telltale checks, letters, and telegrams, +revealed the fact that Count Bernstorff, then +German Ambassador at Washington, had +eagerly fallen in with Bolo’s proposition to betray +France by corrupting the press in favor +of a premature peace and had advanced him +the enormous sum of $1,683,500 to finance the +plot. The State Department and Ambassador +Jusserand examined the evidence and attested +its genuineness.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_341" style="max-width: 51.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_341.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +From <cite>Punch</cite>, Sept. 9, 1914.<br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">India for the King</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The man on horseback is a Hindu. To his right is a Mohammedan, to his left a Parsee. This +cartoon from <cite>Punch</cite> depicts the loyalty of the natives of India in the World War.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</span></p> + +<p>“Many banks had been used to confuse and +hide the transaction, but the persons and agencies +who figured knowingly in it are Bolo +Pasha, Ambassador von Bernstorff, and two +bankers—Hugo Schmidt, former New York +agent of the Deutsche Bank of Berlin, who +acted as Bernstorff’s financial agent, and +Adolph Pavenstedt, former head of the New +York banking house of G. Amsinck & Co.</p> + +<p>“Of the mass of documents exhibited by +Attorney General Lewis, the most important +was a letter written by Bolo Pasha to the +New York City branch of the Royal Bank +of Canada on March 14, 1916, three days +before he sailed to return to France. That +letter reads:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> +<p class="right"> +“‘New York, March 14, 1916.<br> +</p> + +<p>“‘The Royal Bank of Canada, New York, +N. Y.</p> + +<p>“‘Gentlemen: You will receive from +Messrs. G. Amsinck & Co. deposits for the +credit of my account with you, which deposits +will reach the aggregate amount of about +$1,700,000, which I wish you to utilize in the +following manner:</p> + +<p>“‘First—Immediately on receipt of the first +amount on account of this sum pay to Messrs. +J. P. Morgan & Co., New York City, the +sum of $170,068.03, to be placed to the credit +of the account with them of Senator Charles +Humbert, Paris.</p> + +<p>“‘Second—Establish on your books a credit +of $5,000, good until the 31st of May, in +favor of Jules Bois, Biltmore Hotel, this +amount to be utilized by him at the debit +of my account according to his needs, and the +unused balance to be returned to me.</p> + +<p>“‘Third—Transfer to the credit of my +wife, Mme. Bolo, with agency T of Comptoir +National d’Escompte de Paris a sum of +about $524,000, to be debited to my account +as such transfers are made by you at best rate +and by small amounts.</p> + +<p>“‘Fourth—You will hold, subject to my +instructions, when all payments are complete, +a balance of not less than $1,000,000.</p> + +<p class="right"> +<span style="padding-right: 6em">“‘Yours truly,</span><br> + +“‘<span class="smcap">Bolo Pasha</span>.’<br> +</p> +</div> + +<p>“That is how the $1,683,500, which was +the exact amount Bernstorff ordered Schmidt +to place at the service of Bolo, came into the +latter’s actual possession.</p> + + +<h3>BERNSTORFF THE MASTER MIND</h3> + +<p>“Direct evidence that Count Bernstorff was +the master mind behind the plot on this side +of the Atlantic came to light in five dispatches +that were made public by Secretary Lansing +on October 5. These messages were exchanged +in the Spring of 1916:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“‘<em>The Department of State communicates +to the press the following telegrams bearing +upon the case of Bolo Pasha, exchanged between +Count von Bernstorff and Herr von +Jagow, German Minister of Foreign Affairs.</em></p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“‘Number 679, Feb. 26. I have received +direct information from an entirely trustworthy +source concerning a political action +in one of the enemy countries which would +bring peace. One of the leading political personalities +of the country in question is seeking +a loan of one million seven hundred thousand +dollars in New York, for which security will +be given. I was forbidden to give his name +in writing. The affair seems to me to be of +the greatest possible importance. Can the +money be provided at once in New York? +That the intermediary will keep the matter +secret is entirely certain. Request answer by +telegram. A verbal report will follow as +soon as a trustworthy person can be found to +bring it to Germany.</p> + +<p class="right"> +“‘<span class="smcap">Bernstorff.</span>’<br> +</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“‘Number 150, Feb. 29. Answer to telegram +Number 679. Agree to the loan, but +only if peace action seems to you a really serious +project, as the provision of money in New +York is for us at present extraordinarily difficult. +If the enemy country is Russia have +nothing to do with the business, as the sum +of money is too small to have any serious effect +in that country. So, too, in the case of Italy, +where it would not be worth while to spend +so much.</p> + +<p class="right"> +“‘<span class="smcap">Jagow.</span>’<br> +</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“‘Number 685, March 5. Please instruct +Deutsche Bank to hold nine million marks at +disposal of Hugo Schmidt. The affair is very +promising. Further particulars follow.</p> + +<p class="right"> +“‘<span class="smcap">Bernstorff.</span>’<br> +</p> +</div> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_343" style="max-width: 45.1875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_343.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Sergeant William M. Butterfield</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>32nd Division, 125th Infantry, Company “G”</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">A descendant of the famous Rebel general, Milo J. Butterfield. He was made a corporal and +requested to be reduced to the rank of private, in order to get to the front more quickly. He +participated in three drives: Château-Thierry, Soissons, and Argonne. He was made a Sergeant in +Company “G” as a reward for his splendid fighting in the latter offensive.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> + +<p>“‘Number 692, March 20. With reference +to telegram Number 685, please advise +our Minister in Berne that some one will call +on him who will give him the passport Sanct +Regis and who wishes to establish relations +with the Foreign Office. Intermediary further +requests that influence may be brought +to bear upon our press to pass over the change +in the inner political situation in France so +far as possible in silence, in order that things +may not be spoiled by German approval.</p> + +<p class="right">“‘<span class="smcap">Bernstorff.</span>’</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“‘Number 206, May 31. The person announced +in Telegram 692 of March 20 has +not yet reported himself at the legation at +Berne. Is there any more news on your side +of Bolo?</p> + +<p class="right">“‘<span class="smcap">Jagow.</span>’</p> +</div> +<br> + +<p>“In France the most sensational feature of +the case was Bolo’s payment of $170,000 to +Senator Charles Humbert, owner of <cite>Le Journal</cite>. +The money was in part payment for +1,100 bonds of that newspaper. Senator +Humbert immediately came out with a statement +to prove that he was entirely unaware +of the treasonable purpose of the purchases. +He gave facts showing that Bolo Pasha had +used his contract with <cite>Le Journal</cite> to extract +money from Germany. On Oct. 12, the +French Military Court appointed a sequestrator +for the money advanced to Senator Humbert. +It amounted in all to $1,200,000 and +was handed over to the care of the Deposit +and Consignment office, a section of the Ministry +of Finance.</p> + +<p>“Whatever the total number of millions extracted +from the German government by +Bolo Pasha, the utter futility of the expenditure, +so far as Germany is concerned, must +remain one of the most striking features of +the case.”</p> + + +<h3>A CONTINUING EVIL</h3> + +<p>The exposures of German intrigue and the +departure from this country of the official +representatives of Germany who had so grossly +abused their diplomatic privileges did not by +any means put an end to pro-German activities +and expenditures. They were uninterrupted +though necessarily transferred to channels +of less commanding importance. What +was true late in 1917, was practically true +of the major part of 1918, before the armistice. +Societies as well as individuals continued +to distribute German money and carry +on pro-German or anti-English propaganda. +The <cite>New York Times</cite> said in October, 1917:</p> + +<p>“The thing needs no proof. She is paying +every man who will accept pay for the same +purpose for which, before the war began, she +was paying every man who would accept pay +to handicap and weaken the arm of the American +government.</p> + +<p>“How are we to recognize the trail of her +money? Before the war she was organizing +strikes, blowing up factories, and purchasing +the creation of a false public opinion against +trading with the Allies. The outbreak of +war somewhat altered her aims; there have +been no purchased strikes lately and no dynamiting +of factories. Her aim, which is always +the same—the weakening of the government’s +arm—can now be best attained by +creating a false public opinion in favor of laying +down our arms and consenting to peace +before the objects of the war are attained. +All her own moves from Berlin are now directed +to that end, and when we find a movement +in the United States which duplicates +the moves from Berlin it is safe to assume +that Germany is backing it in the same way +in which she backed other movements, to +quote von Bernstorff, ‘on former occasions.’</p> + +<p>“It makes no difference that some of the +men who are engaged in this movement may +be merely foolish or deluded and not in receipt +of money from Wilhelmstrasse. There +are others who are, and these dupes are merely +their tools. One and all they are doing the +work for which Germany pays those who get +the pay and those who do not. The ignorant +zealot goes where the paid traitor sends him. +That the ignorant zealot does not know the +paid traitor is paid does not alter in the slightest +the deadly effect of his action, the deadly +effect calculated on and purposed by the German +paymaster.”</p> + +<p>The <cite>New York Tribune</cite>, commenting on +the facility of espionage and propaganda by +Germans, said:</p> + +<p>“Conditions are incredible. These enemy +aliens, acting as spies and carriers of information, +are everywhere.</p> + +<p>“They are going freely to and fro.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</span></p> + +<p>“They are in the Army and Navy.</p> + +<p>“They occupy hundreds of observation +posts.</p> + +<p>“They are in possession of hundreds of +sources of information of military value.</p> + +<p>“They are in factories producing war-materials.</p> + +<p>“They are in all the drug and chemical +laboratories.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="i_b_345" style="max-width: 52.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_345.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Tribitsch Lincoln</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The man in the middle, exmember of parliament, +is hand-cuffed to a detective. He confessed +that he was a spy for the German government.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“‘If you discharge the Germans,’ says Herman +A. Metz, a manufacturer of drugs and +chemicals, ‘you will close every chemical plant +in the country.’”</p> + + +<h3>ORGANIZED PROPAGANDA</h3> + +<p>To quote again from <cite>The German Secret +Service in America</cite>:</p> + +<p>“Many of the peace movements which were +set going during the first three years of the +war were sincere, many were not. A mass +meeting held at Madison Square Garden in +1915 at which Bryan was the chief speaker, +was inspired by Germany. In the insincere +class falls also the ‘Friends of Peace,’ organized +in 1915. Its letterhead bore the invitation: +‘Attend the National Peace Convention, +Chicago, Sept. 5 and 6,’ and incidentally +betrayed the origin of the society. The letterhead +stated that the society represented the +American Truth Society (an offshoot of the +National German-American Alliance), The +American Women of German Descent, the +American Fair Play Society, the German-American +Alliance of Greater New York, the +German Catholic Federation of New York, +the United Irish-American Societies and the +United Austrian and Hungarian-American +Societies. Among the ‘honorable vice-chairmen’ +were listed Edmund von Mach, John +Devoy, Justices Goff and Cohalan (a trinity +of Britonophobes), Colquitt of Texas, ex-Congressman +Buchanan (of Labor’s National +Peace Council fame), Jeremiah O’Leary (a +Sinn Feiner, mentioned in official cables from +Zimmermann to Bernstorff as a good intermediary +for sabotage), Judge John T. Hylan, +Richard Bartholdt (a congressman active in +the German political lobby), and divers officers +of the Alliance.</p> + +<p>“The American Truth Society, Inc., the +parent of the Friends of Peace, was founded +in 1912 by Jeremiah O’Leary, a Tammany +lawyer later indicted for violation of the Espionage +Act, who disappeared when his case +came up for trial in May, 1918; Alphonse +Koelble, who conducted the German-American +Alliance’s New York political clearing +house; Gustav Dopslaff, a German-American +banker, and others interested in the German +cause. In 1915 the Society, whose executives +were well and favorably known to the German +embassy, began issuing and circulating noisy +pamphlets, with such captions as ‘Fair Play +for Germany,’ and ‘A German-American +War.’ O’Leary and his friends also conducted +a mail questionnaire of Congress in an +effort to catalogue the convictions of each +member on the blockade and embargo questions. +Their most insidious campaign was an +effort to frighten the smaller banks of the +country from participating in Allied loans, by +threats of a German ‘blacklist’ after the war, +to organize a ‘gold protest’ to embarrass +American banking operations, and in general +to harass the Administration in its international +relations.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_346" style="max-width: 42.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_346.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">Prize Winning War Savings Poster</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“So with their newspapers, rumor-mongers, +lecturers, peace societies, alliances, bunds, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</span>vereins, lobbyists, war relief workers, motion +picture operators and syndicates, the Germans +wrought hard to avert war. For two +years they nearly succeeded. America was +under the narcotic influence of generally comfortable +neutrality, and a comfortable nation +likes to wag its head and say ‘there are two +sides to every question.’ But whatever these +German agents might have accomplished in +the public mind—and certainly they were sowing +their seed in fertile ground—was nullified +by acts of violence, ruthlessness at sea, and +impudence in diplomacy. The left hand +found out what the right hand was about.”</p> + + +<h3>PAUL KOENIG, THE ATLAS LINE’S MAN</h3> + +<p>One of the delectable agents of the Bernstorff-von +Papen intrigues was a “bull-headed +Westphalian” named Paul Koenig, who had +been one of the Hamburg-American Line’s +detectives in service with the subsidiary company, +the Atlas Line. His duties brought +him into close relations with sailors, tug-captains, +wharf-rats, longshoremen and keepers +of dives of the lowest sort. That experience, +coupled with the fact that he was, as his apelike +countenance suggests, crafty and brutal, +made him an ideal man for von Papen’s more +dastardly purposes, especially as Koenig had +under him the company’s police force of ten +or twelve men, obedient to his will. Here was +a nice little organization ready to hand.</p> + +<p>On von Papen’s request the Atlas Line put +Koenig entirely at his disposal, and no time +was lost in making use of his service. Under +von Papen, Koenig became the chief of a +majority of the German Secret Service groups +in the eastern part of the country. Gradually +his work extended to the execution of commissions +for the higher-ups, Bernstorff, Dr. +Albert, the curious Austrian Ambassador, Dr. +Dumba, as well as the orders of von Papen. +He was a sort of factotum to them on various +occasions, guard, messenger, investigator, etc. +But to preserve the air of unsuspicious employment +the Line continued to pay his wages, +his work for the conspirators being covered +by special bills and von Papen’s special checks. +Koenig kept a book in which were listed the +names of hundreds of persons—German-Americans +and Americans, clerks, army reservists, +scientists, city and federal employees, +etc.—indicating his wide range of sources of +information and the effectiveness of his system +of poisonous propaganda.</p> + +<p>His staff had numbers and special initials +as well as aliases for identification in correspondence +and telephone or other communications. +He provided against the tapping of +his telephone wires by talking in code. His +code seems to have been devised with some +sense of humor in the possibility of sending +listeners-in on wild-goose chases, which was +often the result. Then to prevent being +shadowed he had one or two of his own men +trail him, ready to notify him by signal if +he seemed to be the object of too persistent +attention. It is said he had the trick, when +being followed, of suddenly turning a corner +and waiting until the detective came up, when, +taking a good look to identify the follower, +he would go on with a boisterous laugh. By +this trick he came to know quite a number +of the agents of the Department of Justice. +Such a cunning and cautious fellow of course +gave the police a deal of trouble to keep tabs +on him. Mr. John Price Jones says in his +book:</p> + + +<h3>A SUPERSUBTLE KNAVE</h3> + +<p>“So elusive did he become that it was necessary +to evolve a new system of shadowing him +in order to keep him in sight without betraying +that he was under surveillance. One detective, +accordingly, would be stationed several +blocks away and would start out ahead of +Koenig. The ‘front shadow’ was signaled +by his confederates in the rear whenever +Koenig turned a corner, so that the man in +front might dart down a cross-street and maneuver +to keep ahead of him. If Koenig +boarded a street car the man ahead would hail +the car several blocks beyond, thus avoiding +suspicion. In more than one instance detectives +in the rear, guessing that he was +about to take a car, would board it several +blocks before it got abreast of Koenig.</p> + +<p>“It was impossible to overhear direct conversation +between Koenig and any man to +whom he was giving instructions. Some of +his workers he never permitted to meet him +at all, but when he kept a rendezvous it was +in the open, in the parks in broad daylight, +or in a moving-picture theater, or in the Pennsylvania +Station, or the Grand Central Terminal.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</span> +There he could make sure that nobody +was eavesdropping. If he met an agent +in the open for the first time he gave him +some such command as this:</p> + +<p>“‘Be at Third Avenue and Fifty-ninth +Street at 2:30 to-morrow afternoon beside a +public telephone booth there. When the telephone +rings answer it.’</p> + +<p>“The man would obey. On the minute +the telephone would ring and the man would +lift the receiver. A strange voice told him to +do certain things—either a definite assignment, +or instructions to be at a similar place +on the following day to receive a message. +Or he might be told to meet another man, who +would give him money and further orders. +The voice at the other end of the wire spoke +from a public telephone booth and was thus +reasonably sure that the wire he was talking +over was not tapped.”</p> + +<p>But cunning, like vaulting ambition, sometimes +“doth o’erleap itself,” and Koenig’s +fall into the clutches of the law was due to +that excess of caution that forbade him to +trust any of his men or assistants. His rule +was to employ no one man more than once +in any service that gave him a “hold” on +Koenig sufficient to warrant blackmail or +threaten exposure. The detectives found this +out, by observation. Then they noticed that +one George Fuchs, a young relative with +whom Koenig had been quite chummy at first, +came to be seen less and less in his company. +The detectives thereupon set about making +the acquaintance of Fuchs and getting into his +good grace. It did not take them long to +learn that he was resentful of his unappreciative +relative, and they gave sympathetic ear +to his complaints. The desired result was the +betrayal of Koenig to the authorities.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="AS_TO_SPIES_IN_ENGLAND">AS TO SPIES IN ENGLAND</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Dozen Were Shot, Hundreds Were Imprisoned, But “Cherished Spies” +Were Allowed To Go Free Because Their Work Was So Bad.</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">There</span> has never been a war since the +one in which the daughter of Jupiter and +Leda, the inconstant Helen, figured so conspicuously, +that has not had its fact or fiction +of “beautiful” women. Whether it be Homer +or Timothy Tubbmutton who wields the recording +pen, there is always the woman beautiful +to flavor the narrative. And usually +the “beautiful” is a clever spy who casts a +seductive spell over diplomats, statesmen, generals +or, if need be, corporals of the guard. +Inevitably a war of a magnitude to take in +every clime and nation offered alluring field +for the play of the reportorial or literary imagination, +and we have had—in novel, movie +and magazine as well as in the columns of the +press—stories unlimited about beautiful +women spies.</p> + +<p>It goes without saying that, with the rarest +possible exception, beauty is not a feature of +the type of person whose mentality delights +in “treasons, stratagems and spoils.” But we +seldom have an authoritative pronouncement +on the subject, and for that reason it is particularly +interesting to reproduce in part an +interview Miss Gertrude Lynch had with an +English secret service official in 1917 while +the war was still very much on. Miss Lynch +was one of the “Vigilantes,” an association of +American writers whose object was to “help +win the war” by the dissemination of educative +information. The interview with the +English official was to get some light on the +German espionage system as applied to England. +Though not named, the official is described +as the spy expert of England. A +great many spies, of one and another sort, were +nabbed in England. The article says:</p> + + +<h3>ONLY A DOZEN SHOT</h3> + +<p>“There have only been twelve spies shot +since the beginning of the war, but hundreds +are either in penal servitude for life or serving +shorter sentences. The actual number +was not known to the official who talked with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</span>me on this topic—with the distinct understanding +that I should not mention his name +or title. He is the acknowledged authority on +the spy evil. Not far from where we sat, in +a formidable cabinet which looked as if it +held other interesting documents, the papers +taken from von Papen were carefully locked.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_349" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_349.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Courtesy of Leslie’s Weekly.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">French and German Soldiers as Comrades in Death</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Clearing a battlefield after the advance of the French armies in September, 1915. The fallen of both armies were loaded together on wagons and +hauled to convenient places for interment. Their identity was learned from numbered metal tags on cords around the neck, or sewn into the clothing.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“‘No woman spies have been shot in England +and only one among the feminine lot—a +bad lot—who are serving sentence could possibly +lay claim to being a “beautiful lady” spy. +This woman had all the hall-marks of the +fiction and cinema character, charming in +manner, well gowned, having plenty of money, +traveling about luxuriously, and was finally +nabbed with the incriminating papers on her. +But the popular conception of the feminine +secret agent rarely exists outside of sensational +stories because only women without +moral sense can take up this profession, and +when a woman is devoid of moral sense she is +sure to be devoid of the other qualities that +might make her work efficacious.</p> + +<p>“‘There are, of course, numberless men and +women who would be spies if they had not +been interned, and, among the 30,000 Germans +who are at this moment so confined, +there are doubtless several who treasure the +belief that they would have been of inestimable +use to their country; but as they will +never get a chance to prove themselves wrong +that poor solace is permitted them.</p> + +<p>“‘We have,’ continued my informant, ‘a +great number of “cherished spies” with us. +These are the spies who go about plying their +profession and believing themselves the personification +of that cleverness the Germans +demand for this work. That is why we have +dubbed them “Our Cherished Ones.” They +are carefully watched. We let them go on +doing bad work because it is much better to +keep a bad spy doing bad work than it is to +take him and perhaps have a spy who might +do good work sent in his place.</p> + +<p>“‘We would hate to lose our “cherished +spies.” We don’t intend to!</p> + +<p>“‘America has the job of the century. I +wouldn’t know where to tell her to begin. +Spies that were there and have left had plenty +of time to lay their plans before the unrestricted +submarine warfare began.</p> + +<p>“‘With 8,000,000 Germans in America, +what you have to find out is whether or not +a German has been denationalized, a process +that can only be gone through in Germany. +It is not enough to know that he has been +naturalized and that he claims to be a good +citizen to your country. The fact that he has +become a naturalized citizen does not free +him from the call to fight for his own land. +If he is denationalized as well as naturalized +you are then safe, but not before. In England +we had only a very small number who were +found to be denationalized, a fairly negligible +unit.</p> + +<p>“‘I should say that the rush by foreigners +immediately after the declaration of war in +America was not because before they had been +indifferent or hostile, but because they feared +to be called upon to fight for their own countries. +You will probably find that many of +the Germans had been denationalized and were +finishing up the process.’”</p> + + +<h3>AMERICA’S HIGH-CLASS SPIES</h3> + +<p>America had a monopoly of the so-called +high-class spies, according to this authority. +The average German spy was described as a +man who has one or more convictions hanging +over his head—an unsentenced criminal—and +these men were paid only about $250 a +month. The statement continues:</p> + +<p>“‘The last spy we caught was only a day or +so ago. We had been after him for some time +and he was traveling with a perfectly good +American passport.</p> + +<p>“‘The high-class spies with you are responsible +for the sabotage, for the strikes on the +docks and in the factories. They are pacifists, +anticonscriptionists. It is a situation terribly +serious for you. They are going to delay +what they can not prevent. Don’t flatter +yourselves that the important spies have been +driven out. If I had been a spy in America +and the warning had been given to me so +long in advance, I would have laid my lines +very well. Look out for those lines; you +may trip.</p> + +<p>“‘What should be done with a spy in America? +He should be shot as soon as his espionage +has been proved. No weakness should +be permitted because he has many affiliations +there.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_351" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_351.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">French Peasants Sent to the Front by Germans</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">In certain areas in France the German commanders feared that the inhabitants would give information to the French armies, and so moved all +the population either into concentration camps near the front or to points a long way in the rear of the lines. Here is shown a wagon train filled +with peasants who had been forced to leave their homes with only the few necessities these civilian heroes could carry.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“‘I was in Germany eight years ago. Everywhere +I was asked, “Are you ready to fight +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</span>America?” That was the pretty little German +game. Even then they were dying to rub +into us the fact that America was our enemy. +In the beginning, when the commercial party—Herr +Ballin and his clique—were in power, +they pretended a great affection for you. It +was contrary to their desire that the submarine +warfare became so terrible—not because they +hated its brutalities, don’t make any mistake +about that, but because they thought it a +diplomatic blunder. Then and now they have +a press which harps on the unfriendly feeling +that exists between you and us. That often +reiterated phrase that “America is fighting +Great Britain’s battles for her” was made in +Germany.</p> + +<p>“‘I’m not such a fool as to think that America +loved us in the past, but that she ever +hated us as the Germans have said and that +we have hated her as they still say in subtle, +indefinable ways in some of your papers, is +unbelievable by either of the parties concerned. +Nations have faults as do individuals. We’ve +made mistakes. We may have talked a little +too much about the <em>Shannon</em> and <em>Chesapeake</em> +and you too much about Bunker Hill and that +tea-party in Boston Harbor. Let’s have an +end to it—it all helps Germany too much. +Take away the text-books from your children +which teach them to hate us. If you try it, +the German school-teachers will try to keep +them, see if they don’t.</p> + +<p>“‘America ought to love us now if she has +not in the past, if national love is founded on +respect, as it should be. We can point to +ourselves with pride. We have given up in +this war the thing we most believed in—personal +freedom. We have made untold sacrifices +and we are ready to give up everything—everything. +Anything in your press that +makes you see these facts in a distorted way +is false, spy-work of the subtle, underground, +submarine mentality sort that the Germans +excel in.</p> + +<p>“‘Look out for it. It isn’t the work of the +“lovely lady spy” or that of the man with a +conviction suspended while he does their dirty +work that you are in danger from. It is just +where I have pointed out.</p> + +<p>“‘You asked me a while ago what England +would do in case Germany won. I will tell +you and you can draw from it the lesson of +spy—and other German effort.</p> + +<p>“‘If Germany should win, there won’t be +any one here when it happens to know anything +about it.’”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="EDITH_CAVELLS_BETRAYER">EDITH CAVELL’S BETRAYER</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Traitor of Belgium Posing as an Allied Soldier Served the Germans</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">The</span> basest of the spies in the German +Service of whom there is any account +probably was Gaston Quien, the betrayer of +Edith Cavell. He was a degraded moral type, +and had been convicted of various minor offenses +before the war, being a “bad citizen.” +He was at St. Quentin when the Germans arrived +there, and according to testimony he at +once placed himself on familiar terms with +them. He was nicknamed “Doublemetre” +(Two-yarder) because of his great stature. +The Germans saw that they could make use +of him, and proceeded to do so.</p> + +<p>The circumstances of his employment were +about as follows:</p> + +<p>In 1915 the German commanders in Northern +France and Belgium were angered at the +fact that hundreds of Belgian and Allied +soldiers hidden in various villages were eventually +smuggled through the lines into Holland +or France by an organization known to have +its headquarters in Brussels.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_353" style="max-width: 42.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_353.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">A Loan Poster</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Quien opportunely arrived in Brussels and +posed as an Allied aviator who had been +obliged to alight behind the German lines, +and, after burning his plane, had evaded capture. +Along with several French soldiers, he +was hidden for a time at the château of Prince +and Princess Crouy. There Louise Thuliez, +the school teacher decorated early in 1919 +with the Legion of Honor, secretly passed him +on to Brussels, by way of Mons. At Brussels +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</span>he was lodged for several days in Miss +Cavell’s nursery. Finally an engineer named +Capiau and Mme. Bodart accompanied him +and a group of Allied soldiers to the Dutch +frontier, where, by payment of $15 a head +to smugglers, they were conducted into Dutch +territory.</p> + +<p>Once at The Hague, Quien made no further +effort to get into France. Instead, he +returned to Brussels and betrayed to the +Germans the entire organization for helping +Allied soldiers out of Belgium.</p> + +<p>Miss Cavell was tried and executed soon +afterward. Miss Thuliez also was sentenced +to death, but pardoned. Princess Crouy, +Mme. Bodart and Capiau were sentenced to +twelve years at hard labor. An architect +named Bauco, also betrayed by Quien, was +shot at the same time Miss Cavell met her +fate. Quien continued in the employ of the +Germans in various capacities, finally establishing +himself in Interlaken, where he worked +with their most noted spies. After the armistice +he was arrested and tried for treason in a +Belgian court. He was found guilty, but was +not executed, pending an appeal.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="EDITH_CAVELL2">EDITH CAVELL</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent"><em>By</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">George Edward Woodberry</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">The world hath its own dead; great motions start</div> + <div class="verse indent2">In human breasts, and make for them a place</div> + <div class="verse indent2">In that hushed sanctuary of the race</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where every day men come, kneel, and depart.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Of them, O English nurse, henceforth thou art,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">A name to pray on, and to all a face</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Of household consecration; such His grace</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Whose universal dwelling is the heart.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">O gentle hands that soothed the soldier’s brow,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And knew no service save of Christ the Lord!</div> + <div class="verse indent4">Thy country now is all humanity!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">How like a flower thy womanhood doth show</div> + <div class="verse indent2">In the harsh scything of the German sword,</div> + <div class="verse indent4">And beautifies the world that saw it die!</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">By permission of <cite>Scribner’s Magazine</cite> and author.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_354fp" style="max-width: 46.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_354fp.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +Painting by Joseph Cummings Chase.<br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Corporal John R. O’Brien</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80"><em>Second Division, 23rd Infantry, Company K</em></p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">After his platoon commander had been severely wounded and his sergeant had been killed +on June 6, 1918, he assumed command, kept the men on the line, controlled their fire, and +by good advice and judgment conserved life.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_SPY_MILL">THE SPY MILL</h2> +</div> + +<h3>It Did Not Wait for Winds to Swing Its Arms for German Guidance</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">In</span> a book, recently published, called <cite>Espions, +Espionnage</cite>, one story has to do +with a windmill: “Celebrated along the +whole Aisne front, there existed at +Craonne a mill boldly designated, ‘Mill of the +Spy.’... The miller, devoted to the interests +of our enemies, had found the means of +informing them of the movements of our +troops by disposing the arms of the mill in +different positions.” The French has a beautifully +final sound—“the miller, devoted to +the interests of our enemies.” “But to tell the +truth, neither the miller himself nor the actual +information which he was able to impart, +made a great deal of difference in the fighting. +What it was, that made, or almost made, the +difference, I believe, has never been satisfactorily +ascertained. The miller at least was +not there, then. Of course he may have had +confederates, but if so, the destruction of the +mill was so sudden, so complete, that there +was left no trace of them.”</p> + +<p>The information given by the mill to the +Germans was almost entirely negligible, and +would have penetrated to them anyway +through the medium of the spies with which +both lines were always swarming. Of course, +at first, before they realized the agency of the +mill, the French were not a little troubled +and disconcerted by the amount of data the +Germans seemed to possess, and the speed with +which it was acquired. For instance, for a +while the Boches amused themselves with +knowingly greeting each regiment as it moved +up to take its turn in the front line trench. +There was a measure of clairvoyance implied +in the big white board with black lettering +that would go up on top of the German +barbed wire as surely as there was a change +of guard on the French side: “Bonjour, 77e!” +or the number of French trench casualties: +“Morts ——,” “Blessés ——.” And so it +went on day after day.</p> + +<p>A week of this, in dull, rainy weather, was +enough to set nerves on edge, but then they +caught the miller, whose execution put, it was +thought, the quietus on the mill. And upon +the morning of the 27th of November, they +moved forward stealthily to the surprise +attack.</p> + +<p>Then a poilu looked back. It was a miserable, +gray, shrouded morning, when the +shadow cast by any object is merely a blur +around that object—the whole a blot upon a +cloudy plain. The mill stood, a black, spectral +shape in the fog, on a slight eminence, +the most commanding point in the surrounding +country. As he looked, suddenly a long, +black arm fell, abruptly, while the corresponding +one, lighter in color, rose a foot or two. +Besides the troops, it was the only moving +thing in that breathless landscape. “Sacré-bleu!” +a poilu exclaimed. As one and another +began to gape behind them at his +sudden start of surprise, slowly the whole +motion was reversed. Light arm down, black +arm up. Nothing more occurred. The mill +was as motionless as they, though afterwards +some of them declared that they had been able +to see Tom Bene himself, hanging, with a +ghastly face, athwart the arms, as men are +sometimes hung to the spokes of a wheel. +Then, as a sound came from the German +trenches, as with one impulse, the men rushed—back +toward the mill, which they literally, +by means of fire and bombs, tore shred from +shred. Then they turned to meet the Germans, +who, warned by this extraordinary wigwagging, +by whatever agency or agencies, had +instituted a counter-attack. The French were +not driven, but they stood the attack in their +own trenches. “Afterwards, to those who had +been there to see, more vivid than the angels +at Mons, more vivid than the vision of the +Little Corporal, to those who thought they +saw it, was that gray morning, the foiled attack, +and this malevolent motion of a secret +intelligence in a dream landscape.”</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_356" style="max-width: 41.625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_356.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Century.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Belfry of the Cathedral at Ypres</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">No city had more bombardments than Ypres during the World War. The Germans used +heavy siege-guns which made great holes often 50 feet across and 30 feet deep. This picture +shows the effect of the great shells on the great cathedral of Ypres.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="ALOIS_THE_SILENT">ALOIS THE SILENT</h2> +</div> + +<h3>He Planned to End the War by Slaying Its Instigator and Failing—Died</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">One</span> of the hero-martyrs of Belgium was +Alois Van Keirsbilk, a well-to-do citizen +of Thielt, beloved of his townspeople, a man +of family, and a zealous patriot. He did what +he might to serve, and many, they say in +Thielt, were the services rendered. But +there came a day when the rumor went round +that the German Kaiser and his entourage +were to visit Thielt, and Van Keirsbilk suddenly +conceived a great project for the salvation +of Belgium, for the liberation of the world +from the nightmare of war. Egbert Hans +tells the story of Alois Van Keirsbilk and it +was first published in its completeness in the +<cite>New York Times</cite> of Sunday, June 22, 1919. +But a little abbreviated, it is here reproduced +as Hans told it:</p> + +<p>“Thielt was the headquarters of the Fourth +German Army and sheltered the Commander-in-Chief +with a staff of hundreds of officers. +Alois Van Keirsbilk was chief conductor on +the railway between Thielt and Bruges. Also +he was the chief of a secret organization which +had only one object—‘help to our boys and +death to the enemy.’ The organization was +in communication with the Belgian army +through spies who made regular trips into +Holland across the ‘cable of death,’ and many +a German plan originated at headquarters in +Thielt failed, thanks to the activity of Alois +and his men.</p> + +<p>“It was not long before Alois saw his +chance for a big stroke. The Kaiser was +coming to Thielt on the first of November. +A desperate attack was to be made against +the Belgian forces along the Yser and from +there on against Ypres and Dunkirk, and +Wilhelm II in person was to inspect the +preparations.</p> + +<p>“Kill the Kaiser and the war will be over, +was the firm conviction of Alois and his +friends, and they set to work. Alois acquired +all the information that his organization +could procure as to the movements and schedule +of the imperial visitor, and sent all the +details to his agents in the Belgian army, with +the request that airmen be sent at the opportune +moment ‘to kill the Kaiser!’</p> + +<p>“Only one of the three messengers who +were sent out reached the other side of the +electric cable, for at that time the guards +were doubled. But one was sufficient, and +when the first of November came Alois felt +confident that something would happen.</p> + + +<h3>“THE BEST LAID PLANS”</h3> + +<p>“The big dinner at which the Kaiser and +his staff were to gather around the table, and +for which all the best silver in town had been +requisitioned, was to begin at 2 o’clock. At +that moment anxious eyes watched the sky +toward the west. Would they come, the airmen +with their bombs to do the deed that +would finish the war? Would they be in +time?</p> + +<p>“At 2.15 there was a speck in the blue sky. +It grew bigger and bigger, and bigger, and +soon the watchers distinguished three flying +machines. In haste Alois communicated with +his friends. Barely had those who were +warned taken shelter when the first explosion +was heard. Then for a few minutes the +town of Thielt shuddered as bomb after bomb +exploded.</p> + +<p>“It was a well-managed raid and the daring +airmen escaped in safety, but it was all in +vain. There had been a sudden change in the +Kaiser’s schedule and the war lord had left +Thielt at 2 o’clock sharp. During the bombardment +his motor cars were speeding along +the road to Bruges and his life was safe.</p> + +<p>“But the commander of the Fourth German +Army raged in his private office at the +<i lang="de" xml:lang="de">kommandatur</i>. The secret of the visit had +plainly got out. The Kaiser, the idol of 70,000,000 +Germans, had barely escaped death. +The guilty had to be found and punished.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</span></p> + +<p>“A contra-spy system was organized at once +and large sums were promised for any bit +of information. Slowly but surely Alois was +drawn into the net woven by a most minute +and complete investigation. On Feb. 2 he +was summoned to the <i lang="de" xml:lang="de">kommandatur</i> and taken +prisoner. Already three of his coöperators +were there.</p> + +<p>“It was then that Alois Van Keirsbilk +showed the courage which won for him the +name of ‘the Silent Hero.’ He knew that one +word spoken lightly might betray the whole of +his organization, and his last word to his +friends who were still free had been, ‘Do not +let my absence or death scare you; but keep +up the work that we have been doing.’ After +his arrest nothing could induce him to speak +even a word. All devices, old and new, were +tried by the <i lang="de" xml:lang="de">kommandatur</i>—tortures as well +as promises, the menaces of a cruel death, and +the promise of life in luxury. It was all in +vain. Perhaps Alois thought of the many +lives he had in his hands. Anyway, he remained +silent.</p> + +<p>“He was condemned to death on Feb. 25, +and then the Germans created and applied as +devilish a scheme of mental torture for a human +being as could be devised. Alois had +two children, and a third was to be born +soon.</p> + +<p>“‘On the day that new life enters your +home your life will end unless you speak,’ said +the German inquisitor. Undoubtedly Alois +thought of his wife, who would be calling for +him that day more than ever. Perhaps he +thought of the new baby also. Nevertheless +he was still true to his name, ‘the Silent.’</p> + +<p>“On the 5th of April a little girl was born +in the Van Keirsbilk home. It might seem +unbelievable, but evidently the Germans had +waited for the event. On the same day they +sent official word to ‘Madame Van Keirsbilk’ +that if she desired to see her husband still +alive, she could see him that day at 3 o’clock +in the prison at Ghent. A merciful neighbor +nurse saw to it that the message did not reach +the mother, then nursing her day-old baby. +Instead the eldest girl, 10 years old, was sent +to the prison to see her father. Full of joy, +in her happy ignorance, she exclaimed:</p> + +<p>“‘Oh, father, you must come home with +me. We have a little sister, and mother wants +to show it to you. Come, father!’</p> + +<p>“But father could not come. He pressed +his little girl in his arms. He could not tell +her she would never see him again, for he +wanted to spare the mother, who had to live +for the children. Not a word did he say. +One kiss, and the big prison gate closed after +the child, while her father prepared himself +to die.</p> + + +<h3>FACED DEATH A HERO</h3> + +<p>“His end came next morning at half-past +five in the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">cour</i> of the prison. Four Belgians +were to fall that day. When Van Keirsbilk +arrived at the place of execution three were +already lying dead against the wall. For +some unknown reason he went to the muzzles +of twelve German rifles alone.</p> + +<p>“He refused to be blindfolded. ‘Let not a +German hand touch me in this solemn moment +when I die for my country. I have no +fear of your bullets,’ the Belgians heard that +he said, and erect he waited for the moment +when his agony would come to an end. A +few seconds later his body, with those of his +comrades in death, was thrown into the +ditch.</p> + +<p>“In the afternoon of the same day a German +soldier knocked at the door of the ‘Widow +Van Keirsbilk’ and delivered a parcel to the +devoted neighbor who was caring for the new +baby and its mother. The woman opened it, +and with horror found that it contained the +suit of clothes of the unhappy master of the +house. That was the German announcement +of his death.</p> + +<p>“Loving friends managed to keep the news +from the widow for several days, although the +continual absence of her husband plainly made +her fear. But one morning she was looking +through the window into the street, when +the church bells began to ring for a funeral +service. The people attending looked up at +her and nodded with sympathy. None told +her, but perhaps the unhappy woman read +the pity that was in the eyes of the passers-by. +Nobody knows, but suddenly a terrible look +of suspicion came into her eyes. She rushed +downstairs, where the neighbor nurse was preparing +the meal for the children, and, seizing +her by the arms, cried out:</p> + +<p>“‘Who is dead? For whom are the bells +ringing? Is it for Alois? Tell me, or I will +run out into the street and find out. I must +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</span>know where Alois is. I must know it if he +is dead.’ Then and there the sad news had +to be broken, and the widow of Alois began +a time of lonely misery only broken by the +struggle to keep her three children fed and +clothed.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_359" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_359.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Courtesy of Red Cross Magazine.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">A Long-Range Bombardment</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Italian artillery bombarding Austrian trenches on a distant mountain-side, preparatory to a general attack.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Egbert Hans concludes his story of Alois +the Silent:</p> + +<p>“To-day the Belgian flag flows again from +the tower of Thielt and the thrifty people of +Flanders are busy rebuilding their homes. +Many of the men are missing; some died on +the battlefield, others in prison, but all died +fighting for the small strip of land they called +their own, and those who remain cherish the +memory of their heroes. They will tell their +stories to their children and grandchildren, +thus adding another page to the glorious history +of Flanders, and among those stories will +be that of Alois Van Keirsbilk, who tried to +end the war by ending its instigator, and who +failed and died, silent.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="EYE_OF_THE_MORNING">EYE OF THE MORNING</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Popular Dutch Dancer Who Played the Rôle of German Spy +to Her Cost</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">A story</span> redolent of intrigue, adventure +and a kind of romance is that of +“Mata-Hari”—which is Japanese for “Eye-of-the +Morning,” and is the name by which a +Dutch dancer was known in the rendezvous +of the light world of the European capitals +before the war. Her real name is Marguerite +Gertrude Zelle McLeod, and in 1917 +her public and dashing career of art and adventure +came to an abrupt stop by her arrest, +trial, condemnation, and imprisonment, under +sentence of death, in the prison of St. Lazare, +Paris. She was condemned as a German spy, +the specific offense being the betrayal to the +Germans of the secret of the new, carefully +guarded war weapon, the Tank. Reams +have been written about this woman since her +arrest, but nothing probably that would have +anything like the interest for the public that +will attach to the “memoirs,” the writing of +which, reporters say, was her prison occupation.</p> + +<p>Among the stories published at the time was +one in the New York <cite>World</cite> in October, +1917, that presented what was known of her +connection with the leak of the tank secret. +The success of the tank depended largely on +the element of surprise when it was put into +the fighting front. Therefore the planning, +construction and shipment of tanks to the +Somme were conducted with the utmost possible +secrecy. Necessarily, however, a certain +number of persons in France and England +were in a position to know; but, as it took a +good many months to get the machines in +readiness and habituate a crew to their rolling, +pitching, sickening motion, the circle of +those who knew more or less about it increased, +and in some way not yet explained, +Mata-Hari learned something of the secret. +It is rumored that a member of the Chamber +of Deputies inadvertently gave her her first +information. The <cite>World</cite> said the rumor was +strengthened by the fact that Mata-Hari had +plenty of coal for her apartment during the +fuel famine that winter. That in itself is +proof enough to everybody of her intimacy +with some high official, as few people, short +of Deputies, had influence enough to obtain a +hundredweight of coal during the bitter +months of January, February, and March.</p> + +<p>“In any event, Mata-Hari learned vaguely +of tanks early in 1916, when the Krupp guns +of the Crown Prince were daily booming +nearer and nearer to Verdun in that terrific +struggle which was to mark the turning-point +of the war. Mata-Hari also learned that the +tanks were being constructed in England, and +would be shipped to France via certain ports—and +she got the names of the ports, too.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_361" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_361.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">Zeppelin <em>L-15</em> Sinking Off the Kentish Coast</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">The airship was brought down April 1, 1916, by British anti-aircraft guns.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Suddenly, Mata-Hari, then in Paris, decided +to return to Holland, her native land, +explaining to curious inquirers that she married +a Dutch army officer with a Scotch name +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</span>(McLeod) who had divorced her and that +she was going to arrange a settlement.</p> + + +<h3>SHE ACQUIRES A DRAGON</h3> + +<p>“The dancer proceeded to Rotterdam. Investigation +there has since proved that she had +no ‘communal rights property’ to settle with +any one, and further that Captain MacLeod +of the Dutch Army was known among his +fellow officers as pronouncedly pro-German.</p> + +<p>“Soon Mata-Hari returned to Paris. She +was seen at the Café de Paris and at Maxim’s, +and at Armenonville in the Bois with an +English officer who wore on the lapel of his +collar, as insignia denoting his branch of service, +a little twisted brass dragon. Months +later, when more of these badges were seen +on British officers passing through Paris, it +became known that the dragon was of the +official insignia denoting service with the +tanks.</p> + +<p>“Mata-Hari sported a new bauble soon after +taking up with the Englishman—a jeweled +replica of his gold insignia—her dragon had +real emeralds for eyes, and a carrot-shaped +ruby for a tongue darting from its opened +fangs.</p> + +<p>“In May, 1916, a little more than a month +before the Somme offensive opened and tanks +were first used, Mata-Hari appeared before +the police magistrate of her district and requested +a safe conduct to visit a certain port +in France. The reason she gave was that her +fiancé, an English officer, was seriously +wounded and in hospital there. He had sent +for her to come to see him. Perhaps they +would be married at his death-bed if he +could not recover, she volunteered, dabbing +at her eyes with a lace handkerchief. The +safe conduct was made out, and Mata-Hari +arrived at a certain French port almost simultaneously +with the first consignment of tanks +shipped over from England.”</p> + +<p>She spent the greater part of her time for +a week strolling about the town making frequent +excursions by night, and then just a +month before Foch and Haig began their +drive along the Somme she appeared again in +Paris.</p> + +<p>“The first thing she did was to apply for +a visé on her passport permitting her to go to +Spain. San Sebastian was the place she mentioned, +as she explained she wished to attend +the horse-races there. Her papers were +stamped and sealed and she left almost immediately +for the fashionable winter resort in the +south.</p> + +<p>“Madrid, Spain, and Nauen, Germany, are +in constant wireless communication. There +are other radio stations, privately owned, in +Spain which can flash messages to Germany, +according to Allied intelligence officers who +have investigated. And of course there are +innumerable German agents, spies, and propaganda +disseminators infesting the land of the +Dons.</p> + +<p>“Secret service reports disclose the fact that +Mata-Hari was seen much in company at +San Sebastian race-track with a man long +looked upon with suspicion by the French +government. He was a frequent caller upon +her at the hotel where she stopped, and it +was reported that he made many of the big +bets she placed on horses that did not materialize +as winners.</p> + + +<h3>AGAIN THE DEPUTY</h3> + +<p>“Soon Mata-Hari came back to Paris and +the apartment near the Bois de Boulogne. +And once more the limousine owned by the +individual whom rumor has branded a Deputy +began rolling up to her door twice a week +and sometimes oftener.</p> + +<p>“Then came the simultaneous Franco-British +offensive at the Somme. Tanks went into +action for the first time, and according to +General Haig’s official <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">communiqué</i> his +‘Land ships achieved satisfactory results.’”</p> + +<p>But, notwithstanding the “satisfactory results,” +several of the tanks were surprisingly +put out of action and the investigation of the +how and the wherefore revealed the fact that +they had been disabled by a peculiar, small-caliber +penetrating shell unlike anything +known before. They were fired by guns of a +special manufacture.</p> + +<p>Instantly it became evident that the enemy +had become aware of what was in store for +him and had constructed an “anti-tank” gun. +And when the booty in the captured German +positions was examined, the British found they +had several good specimens of Krupps’ newest +weapon. Several German officers of higher +rank taken prisoners confirmed suspicions by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</span> +explaining they had received description of +the tanks several weeks before, and had been +instructed how to combat them.</p> + +<p>Suspicion aroused, items of information, +curious circumstances in accountable movements, +bits of gossip were put together and +military law took charge of Mata-Hari.</p> + +<p>For some reason the finish of her memoirs +is not yet; but the fictionist, attempting to +forecast a sensation, has written this:</p> + +<p>“So Mata-Hari writes feverishly, and all +Paris waits eagerly!—except the one who +waits apprehensively—to see if she will name +the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">ami</i> who gave her the first inkling of the +tanks.</p> + +<p>“Pinned to the corsage of the Empire-cut +black silk dress which Mata-Hari wears in +her narrow cell in St. Lazare prison is a +curious gold brooch. It is shaped like a +twisted dragon, and its eyes are emeralds!”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="BETTER_WRECKER_THAN_SPY">BETTER WRECKER THAN SPY</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Scion of a Noble Prussian Family Who Failed to Deliver the Goods</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Though</span> he may not have been a conspicuous +success as a spy, Gustav Constantin +Alvo von Alvensleben had a very decided +record as a wrecker. Through his +directive genius many concerns, industrial and +financial, went to utter smash, involving the +loss of an unknown but huge number of millions +of dollars and causing a suicide or two. +In the brief span of years between 1904 and +1911 Alvo rose from the precarious state of +a hobo to the lofty plane of millionairedom. +That is a performance that requires some doing, +and indicates a mental aptitude for the +peculiar office of “playing your fellow man” +considerably above the ordinary.</p> + +<p>And Gustav, or, as he was more commonly +named, Alvo, played with no mean counters. +Among his clients was Kaiser Wilhelm himself, +who, through Alvo, invested two and a +half million dollars in British Columbia timber. +Other clients were the ex-Chancellor +Bethmann-Hollweg, Gen. von Mackensen, +the conqueror of Rumania; Emma von +Mumm, the champagne queen; Bertha Krupp, +the gun woman, and others of equal prominence +in Germany. The companies he organized +or coupled up with his enterprises—nearly +all of which collapsed when the shadow of war +blighted Alvo’s golden prospects—included the +Alvensleben Canadian Finance and General +Investment Company, the Standard Fish and +Fertilizer Co., the Vancouver Timber and +Trading Co., the Piercite Powder Co., the +German-Canadian Trust Co., etc. Also with +these went several of the Pacific Coast’s largest +financial and industrial concerns, including +the Bank of Vancouver, the Issaquah and +Superior Coal Mining Company of Seattle, +and the Dominion Trust Company, whose +failure following the alleged suicide of its +managing director, W. R. Arnold, was one +of the greatest scandals in the history of the +Dominion of Canada.</p> + +<p>Two private banks of Seattle closed their +doors as a result of their connection with the +I. and S. Coal Company, one of the projects +of the gambler-financier. The final liquidation +of his original real estate and financial +company in Vancouver disclosed liabilities of +over one and a half millions, with assets of +about $3,000, insufficient to satisfy the liquidator’s +fees.</p> + + +<h3>NOT A NONDESCRIPT</h3> + +<p>It is assumed that Alvo would have been +able to extricate himself from his difficulties +and avert the bankruptcy into which he was +forced but for the outbreak of war. The +fatality lay in the fact that all his investments +were in countries with which the +Kaiser was or was about to be at war.</p> + +<p>But to begin at the beginning, as we find +it in an issue of the <cite>Canadian Courier</cite> of +October, 1917, when Alvo’s career came to +a conclusion, temporarily at least, by his internment +as a spy.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_364" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_364.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>National Service.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Protecting French Works of Art</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">A scaffolding built around the statue of “Flore” at Versailles to protect it from enemy air raids.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>He was not a mere nondescript adventurer. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</span>He was the youngest son of Count Werner +Alvo von Alvensleben, erstwhile German Ambassador +to Russia, when Nicholas was Czar. +The young man had a taste for the livelier +side of life, gaily dissipated his allowance and +seemed to regard college life not so much as +an educational purpose as a convenience to the +sowing of wild oats. This was not at all to +the liking of Papa von Alvensleben and in an +hour of unsuppressed wrath and resentment he +cast the young man off and bade him shift for +himself. This was an unexpected climax to +his pleasure quest, and rather shocked Alvo. +He remembered that the Kaiser was an intimate +friend of his father’s, of the family indeed, +and it jarred his pride to be an outcast +from a circle of such distinction. He felt +under obligation to reëstablish himself in the +good graces of his father and the august personage +whom he had so often familiarly +<em>hoched</em>. So he set out to subdue some fraction +of the world to his service and credit. +He did not immediately find a field of action.</p> + +<p>It was in the rôle of a hobo that he drifted +into Western America and began casting about +for the horn of plenty from which he hoped +to shake substantial advantage. Two inches +above six feet in stature, two years under +forty years of age, he was typically Prussian, +stubborn, unreasonable, of violent temper. But +he was a good talker and not without imagination. +Behold him arrived in Seattle. The +<cite>Canadian Courier</cite> says:</p> + + +<h3>HOBO TO MILLIONAIRE</h3> + +<p>“He was practically dead broke. An employment +office extracted from him the usual +$2 fee—all he had—and sent him to a job in +a lumber-mill some distance from the city. +Alvo tramped many miles to the mill only +to be refused employment upon his ticket. +He could scarcely speak any English, but he +knew how to use his fists. Walking all the +way back to Seattle, he proceeded to beat up +the employment agent in thorough and picturesque +fashion. Afterward he secured temporary +rough work at various mills along +Puget Sound.</p> + +<p>“His first job in British Columbia was the +whitewashing of a salmon-cannery at the little +village of Ladner, near the mouth of the +Fraser River. His wardrobe included overalls +and a dozen dress-shirts—the latter relics +of his grander days—but he had no socks. +From wielding the whitewash-brush to hauling +the nets was the next step, and it was not +long before the Prussian Junker’s son was engaged +in partnership with a rough-neck fisherman +making nightly trips out into the Gulf +of Georgia, and doing his share in one of the +hardest and most dangerous callings in the +world, that of a deep-sea salmon-fisher.</p> + +<p>“In two months, with the money obtained +from his salmon fishing, he was enabled to +purchase an ancient mare and a light wagon. +Over night he blossomed out as a produce-dealer, +buying poultry and dairy products +from the farmers in the vicinity of Ladner. +These he brought to the city of Vancouver +and sold them from house to house in opposition +to the Chinamen. Business increased, +and the staid old Vancouver Club, a hoary +and the most exclusive institution, in which +only the most elect held membership, became +his best customer.</p> + +<p>“But Alvo did not stay long in the business; +but went up by leaps and bounds. Real-estate +clerk, then curb-broker, then large independent +dealer were some of his upward steps, +until two years after he had sold his last load +of produce to the Vancouver Club he was +himself a member.”</p> + +<p>There was one little incident of the club +life which pleasantly reminds us that Alvo +was not an upstart and therefore not a snob. +He was entertaining a German baron soon +after having become a member, and he noticed +that the waiter eyed him very curiously. Presently +divining the reason, Alvo suddenly +looked up at the waiter and said: “Yes, by +jingo, I’m the man who used to deliver +chickens at the back door. Now go on serving +dinner, and stop staring.”</p> + + +<h3>PLAYS THE GAME WELL</h3> + +<p>“When the real-estate boom struck Vancouver +in 1905,” continues the <cite>Courier</cite>, “Alvensleben +was quick to see the opportunities +in land. The old wild gambling spirit of his +youthful days was still strong upon him. He +was the man for the moment, reckless, willing +to take chances, and a born mixer. He +cabled relatives in Berlin, who had heard of +his early successes, and induced them to invest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</span> +large sums of money. His first investment +yielded enormous and quick profit, and thus +established his prestige in Germany, for he +promptly repaid the investors with a 1,000 +per cent. on their money. In the next three +years he made several visits to Germany, +brought men of royal blood to the Pacific +coast, and was given several audiences with +the Kaiser, whose accredited representative he +became. In all probability, at a very conservative +estimate, Alvensleben caused $20,000,000 +of German capital to be invested in +British Columbia and Washington State.</p> + +<p>“In 1908, after a very romantic courtship, +he married Edith Mary Westcott, a popular +Vancouver girl, daughter of one of the leading +society matrons. Following the marriage +the financier purchased the largest private estate +in Vancouver’s most select residential district, +Point Grey, where he erected a magnificent +home. His name, high foreign connections, +and expenditure on entertainment that +set a hitherto unknown high mark in the very +British city of Vancouver, quickly brought +him valuable social connections.</p> + +<p>“His business ventures broadened with +astounding rapidity, but most of his purchases +for himself and clients were made on ‘agreements,’ +with the expectations of making big +margins in the prevalent boom. A good salesman +himself, he was also the easiest mark +for wildcat schemes who ever came out of +Europe, owing to his gambling mania. Soon +his companies became loaded up with timberlands, +bought at inflated prices, wild lands, +doubtful mining leases, Alberta oil shares, and +other unproductive assets. Some of his +wealthy clients thrust upon him their useless +sons, whom he was forced to maintain in his +office at high salaries.</p> + + +<h3>SHY ON DIVIDENDS</h3> + +<p>“In 1912 the first trouble arose over dividends +not being forthcoming from his investments. +He was still strong in Berlin and +went there and raised fresh capital with +which he succeeded in placating some of his +investors. Then he was attacked in a Vancouver +German paper which charged him with +unscrupulous methods in handling foreign capital. +Copies of this were mailed to Berlin +to members of the Reichstag by the Vancouver +editors, and the matter was brought +up for discussion by that body. Alvo was +game. He sued the local paper and secured +judgment in a criminal action against the +editors. But the fat was in the fire as far +as his German clients were concerned, though +he managed to keep his affairs afloat.</p> + +<p>“In the early part of 1914 the financier’s +creditors, both in Europe and Canada, were +pressing him. He was tied up in such a mass +of deals, counter-deals, and trades of property +with Arnold and the Dominion Trust Company +that an army of auditors has never as +yet succeeded in untangling them. He owed +over $10,000 to one of Vancouver’s chartered +banks on some Victoria Island timber deals, +which he had anticipated selling to the British +Columbia government for a park reserve. +The Vancouver manager and a dozen of the +staff were dismissed through their connection +with this loan.”</p> + +<p>He doubtless had advance notice of the +outbreak of war, for he suddenly left Canada.</p> + +<p>Later interviewed by a New York paper +he said he could “best serve his country and +his clients by returning to the Pacific Coast,” +and from the outbreak of the war until his +arrest on the suspicion that he was implicated +in a plot to steal the plans of the Puget Sound +Navy Yard of Bremerton, he remained in +Seattle and other American Pacific Coast +cities.</p> + + +<h3>THE WIND-UP</h3> + +<p>“Rumors were afloat several times that he +had visited Vancouver in disguise. After one +of these reports appearing in the local papers, +Alvensleben wrote to a friend in Vancouver, +saying: ‘You can tell the good people of Vancouver +I have something better to do than +visit their city in the disguise of a Hindu or +any other of their numerous allies.’</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_367" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_367.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">Exhausted French Soldiers Resting in a Farmyard</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">A pile of straw was a welcome couch to men who had been for days in the trenches near the Yser. Men under artillery fire were often unable to +get any sleep for several days. Sometimes their nerves were so shattered that they were unable to sleep after they were relieved. Deafness from +the concussion of their own heavy artillery was also a frequent occurrence.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>“Alvensleben’s brother, Bodo, who was in +charge of the Victoria branch of the Alvensleben +Canadian Finance and General Investment +Company, left hurriedly a few days +before the outbreak of war to join his unit. +The wildest rumors were circulated as to the +spying operations of the brothers. It was +said that Bodo had been taken off a ship by +a British man-of-war, and when searched had +in his possession the plans of the Canadian +navy-yard at Esquimalt, and for this he was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</span>shot. Alvo denied the report, but whatever +happened to this escaping brother, British censorship +has never let out. Joachim von Alvensleben, +an elder brother, well known from +his various visits to Vancouver, was killed +early in the war.”</p> + +<p>The third and most brilliant of the brothers, +the gambler-financier Alvo, was arrested +at Portland and taken to Seattle, where he +was interned “till the end of the war.” Concerning +his subsequent proceedings there is no +important information; at all events his meteoric +career made a chapter of life which Vancouverites +will never tire of discussing.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="DELICATE_SCRUPLES">DELICATE SCRUPLES</h2> +</div> + +<h3>One of Von Papen’s Dynamiters More Conscientious than His Chief</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">“Porter,</span> boss?” The remark was an +entirely facetious one, but the brakeman +did not like to have his humor disregarded. +Therefore when he got home he +told his wife about the rum party he had met +in the cut above the Vanceboro railroad bridge—a +six-footer, carrying a suitcase. The brakeman +would have been rather more than disgruntled, +if Werner Horn had closed with his +offer—that is, he would have been, had he +known that the suitcase contained dynamite, +and that its owner was an <i lang="de" xml:lang="de">Oberleutnant</i> in the +German army. The man with the suitcase had +passed for a Swede in the hotel at Vanceboro, +and his appearance warranted it. But his +recent experience as manager of a coffee plantation +in Moka, Guatemala, had not effaced +the imprint of ten years in the service. He +marched out upon the bridge, the brakeman +having disappeared, as if he were taking a +town. He was going into the enemy’s territory +and fire his single shot. He was going +to blow up the bridge, over whose rails flowed +a tide of death to the Germans—cargoes of +guns and shells bound for St. John and Halifax.</p> + +<p>He would have preferred to join his regiment +and fight, but von Papen had been unable +to get him passage when he reported, at +the time of the outbreak of the war, and told +him that this affair was equally his duty. The +Kaiser’s agent had likewise informed him, to +soothe him, for Horn had refused to endanger +innocent human lives—that there were +no more passenger trains after eleven. It was +now nearly midnight. Suddenly a whistle +shrieked behind him, and in a moment the +glaring lights of an express train’s locomotive +shone upon him. Horn clutched with one +hand at a steel rod of the bridge, and swung +out over the river, holding the suitcase safe +behind him with the other. The train thundered +by, and left him to recover his footing +on the ice-coated bridge. Once more, this time +from the Canadian side, an express thundered +past, and again he went through the same +painful process.</p> + +<p>He might have blown up the bridge comfortably, +from the American side, but this he +had refused to do. America was a neutral +country. Germany was not at war with +America, therefore to blow up the American +side of the bridge was an outrage, a crime. +He struggled on, the biting wind in his face. +Past the middle now—a spy, liable to the +penalty of death.</p> + +<p>There was a fifty-minute fuse with his +dynamite, but when he saw that the passenger-trains +continued to run (von Papen’s schedules +must have been out-of-date), Horn decided +that what he was to do must be done +at once, before another train started across. +Feeling with his benumbed fingers in his +pocket for a knife, he cut off the fuse and with +it the long half-hour that was his chance of +escape from capture. A very slim chance, if +you like, through the Maine woods knee-deep +in snow, but still a chance.</p> + + +<h3>THE EXPLOSION</h3> + +<p>He fixed the dynamite against a girder of +the bridge above the Canadian bank of the +river, adjusted the explosive cap, and touched +his cigar to the end of the three-minute fuse. +Then he stumbled back across the gale-swept +icy bridge, and back into the hotel at Vanceboro, +just as the dynamite exploded with a +report that broke half the windows in the +town, and twisted rods and girders on the +bridge. Everybody in Vanceboro was aroused, +but Horn, after a futile attempt to rub his +hands and feet with snow, turned in and +went to sleep. He had seen all he wanted to +of dynamite. In a town turned out of doors +with excitement, sleeping was in itself an act +to arouse suspicion.</p> + +<p>People remembered the tall Swede who had +been hanging around Vanceboro for a couple +of days, and the suitcase which he had been +seen to hide in a wood-pile near the tracks. +After some delay, during which Horn slept +peacefully, the sheriff and a couple of Canadian +constables were got on the job, and they +took him at about noon in Teague’s Hotel. +He was wearing German colors on both +sleeves, for he had been told that they would +be regarded, were he caught, in the light of +a uniform. He offered little resistance, but +in telling his story, he interpolated an innocent +lie that caused the Canadian officials a +good deal of anxiety. He had not brought +the dynamite in his suitcase, he said, but had +carried the empty suitcase to the bridge, +where an Irishman from Canada, in response +to the pass-word “Tommy,” had given him +the dynamite. This detail he afterwards +cleared up, when asked to set his name to a +paper concluding, “I certify on my honor as +a German officer that the foregoing statements +are true.” He would not sign a lie and +set his name to it as the truth.</p> + +<p>“Too scrupulous for a spy,” one of the +newspapers called him, in the perplexities +awakened by this early manifestation of the +afterwards famous bomb-plot, “and too thickheaded +for an honest man.” Werner Horn +was extradited to Canada, and everybody +joined in congratulating the man, whoever +he might have been, who slept in the lower +berth the night Horn took an upper for +Vanceboro. It had developed during the trial +that the big German, to disencumber himself, +had chucked the suitcase under the lower +berth, against the shoes and the hot-water +pipes, then had climbed into the upper, to +sleep peacefully through the night as was his +wont. The evil effects of dynamite were comparatively +novel at that time, even to bomb-plotters.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="FRUSTRATED_DIABOLISM">FRUSTRATED DIABOLISM</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A Ruthless Tool of German Duplicity Fails Only Because He Trusted the +Wrong Man with His Secret</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">One</span> of the most nefarious of the schemes +formulated in Germany and financed by +the German government for operation in this +country in the period of our neutrality, and +of which von Papen was aware, was that +which one Robert Fay undertook to carry +out in 1915. This man had invented an infernal +machine, the purpose of which was to +blow up ships at sea to prevent the transportation +of munitions and food supplies from +this country to France and England. The +story was well told in the <cite>World’s Work</cite> after +Fay and his accomplices had been jailed.</p> + +<p>The device was a box containing forty +pounds of trinitrotoluol, to be fastened to the +rudder post of a vessel, and so geared to the +rudder itself that its oscillations would slowly +release the catch of a spring, which would +then drive home the firing pin and cause an +explosion that would instantly tear off the +whole stern of the ship, sinking it in midocean +in a few minutes. Experts in mechanics +and experts in explosives and experts in shipbuilding +all tested the machine, and all agreed +that it was perfect for the work which Fay +had planned that it should do.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_370" style="max-width: 48.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_370.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">The Hand-to-Hand Fight on Board the Destroyer <em>Broke</em></p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Fay had three of these machines completed, +he had others in course of construction, he +had bought and tested the explosive to go into +them, he had cruised New York harbor in a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</span>motor boat and proved by experience that he +could attach them undetected where he wished, +and he had the names and sailing dates of +the vessels that he meant to sink without a +trace. Only one little link that broke—and +the quick and thorough work of American +justice—robbed him of another Iron Cross besides +the one he wore.</p> + + +<h3>A PLOT HATCHED IN GERMANY</h3> + +<p>Fay and his device came straight from the +heart of the German Army, with the approval +and the money of his government behind him. +He, like Werner Horn, came originally from +Cologne; but they were very different men. +Where Horn was almost childishly simple, +Fay’s mind was subtle and quick to an extraordinary +degree. Where Horn had been humane +to the point of risking his life to save +others, Fay had spent months in a cold-blooded +solution of a complex problem in destruction +that he knew certainly involved a horrible +death for dozens, and more likely hundreds, +of helpless human beings. Horn refused to +swear to a lie even where the lie was a matter +of no great moment. Fay told at his trial a +story so ingenious that it would have done +credit to a novelist and would have been +wholly convincing if other evidence had not +disproved the substance of it. The truth of +the case runs like this:</p> + +<p>Fay was in Germany when the war broke +out and was sent to the Vosges Mountains in +the early days of the conflict. Soon men were +needed in the Champagne sector, and Fay was +transferred to that front. Here he saw some +of the bitterest fighting of the war, and here +he led a detachment of Germans in a surprise +attack on a trench full of Frenchmen in superior +force. His success in this dangerous +business won him an Iron Cross of the second +class. During these days the superiority of +the Allied artillery over the German caused +the Germans great distress, and they became +very bitter when they realized, from a study +of the shells that exploded around them, how +much of this superiority was due to the material +that came from the United States for +use by the French and British guns. Fay’s +ingenious mind formed a scheme to stop this +supply, and he put his plan before his superior +officers. The result was that, in a few weeks, +he left Germany, armed with passports and +$3,500 in American money, bound for the +United States on the steamer <em>Rotterdam</em>. He +reached New York on April 23, 1915.</p> + +<p>One of Fay’s qualifications for the task he +had set for himself was his familiarity with +the English language and with the United +States. He had come to America in 1902, +spending a few months on a farm in Manitoba +and then going on to Chicago, where he +had worked for several years for the J. I. +Case Machinery Company, makers of agricultural +implements. During these years, Fay +was taking an extended correspondence school +course in electrical and steam engineering, so +that altogether he had a good technical background +for the events of 1915. In 1906, he +went back to Germany.</p> + +<p>What he may have lacked in technical +equipment, Fay made up by the first connection +he made when he reached New York in +1915. The first man he looked up was Walter +Scholz, his brother-in-law, who had been +in this country for four years and who was +a civil engineer and had studied mechanical +engineering on the side. When Fay arrived, +Scholz had been out of a job in his own profession +and was working on a rich man’s estate +in Connecticut. Fay, armed with plenty +of money and his big idea, got Scholz to go +into the scheme with him, and the two were +soon living together in a boarding house at +28 Fourth Street, Weehawken, across the +river from uptown New York,</p> + + +<h3>A SHAM GARAGE</h3> + +<p>To conceal the true nature of their operations +they hired a small building on Main +Street and put a sign over the door announcing +themselves in business as “The Riverside +Garage.” They added verisimilitude to this +scheme by buying a second-hand car in bad +condition and dismantling it, scattering the +parts around the room so that it would look +as if they were engaged in making repairs. +Every once in a while they would shift these +parts about so as to alter the appearance of +the place. However, they did not accept any +business—whenever a man took the sign at its +face value and came in asking to have work +done, Fay or Scholz would take him to a +nearby saloon and buy him a few drinks and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</span> +pass him along by referring him to some other +garage in the neighborhood.</p> + +<p>The most of their time they spent about the +real business in hand. They took care to +have the windows of their room in the boarding +house heavily curtained to keep out prying +eyes, and here under a student lamp, they +spent hours over mechanical drawings which +were afterward produced in evidence at the +trial of their case. The mechanism that Fay +had conceived was carefully perfected on +paper, and then they confronted the task of +getting the machinery assembled. Some of the +parts were standard—that is, they could be +bought at any big hardware store. Others, +however, were peculiar to this device and had +to be made to order from the drawings. They +had the tanks made by a sheet metal worker +named Ignatz Schiering, at 344 West 42nd +Street, New York. Scholz went to him with +a drawing, telling him that it was for a gasoline +tank for a motor boat. Scholz made several +trips to the shop to supervise some of +the details of the construction and once to order +more tanks of a new size and shape.</p> + +<p>At the same time Scholz went to Bernard +McMillan, doing business under the name of +McMillan & Werner, 81 Center Street, New +York, to have him make a special kind of +wheels and gears for the internal mechanism +of the bomb, from sketches which Scholz supplied. +At odd times between June 10th and +October 20th McMillan was working on these +things and delivered the last of them to Scholz +just a few days before he was arrested.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile Fay was taking care of +the other necessary elements of his scheme. Besides +the mechanism of the bomb, he had to +become familiar with the shipping in the port +of New York, and he had to get the explosive +with which to charge the bomb. For the +former purpose he and Scholz bought a motor +boat—a 28-footer—and in this they cruised +about New York harbor at odd times, studying +the docks at which ships were being loaded +with supplies for the Allies and calculating the +best means and time for placing the bombs on +the rudder posts of these ships. Fay finally +determined by experience that between two +and three o’clock in the morning was the best +time. The watchmen on board the ships were +at that hour most likely to be asleep or the +night dark enough so that he could work in +safety. He made some actual experiments in +fastening the empty tanks to the rudder posts, +and found that it was perfectly feasible to do +so. His scheme was to fasten them just above +the water line on a ship while it was light, +so that when it was loaded they were submerged +and all possibility of detection was removed.</p> + + +<h3>THE ROAD TO BETRAYAL</h3> + +<p>The getting of explosives was, however, the +most difficult part of Fay’s undertaking. This +was true not only because he was here most +likely to arouse suspicion, but also because +of his relative lack of knowledge of the thing +he was dealing with. He did know enough, +however, to begin his search for explosives +in the least suspicious field, and it was only +as he became ambitious to produce a more +powerful effect that he came to grief.</p> + +<p>The material he decided to use at first +was chlorate of potash. This substance in +itself is so harmless that it is an ingredient of +tooth powders and is used commonly in other +ways. When, however, it is mixed with any +substance high in carbons, such as sugar, sulphur, +charcoal, or kerosene, it becomes an explosive +of considerable power. Fay set about +to get some of the chlorate.</p> + +<p>Fay’s fellow conspirators were Germans—some +of them German-Americans—and each +in his own way was doing the work of the +Kaiser in this country. Herbert Kienzle was +a dealer in clocks with a store on Park Place, +in New York. He had learned the business +in his father’s clock factory deep in the Black +Forest in Germany and had come to this country +years ago to go into the same business, +getting his start by acting as agent for his +father’s factory over here.</p> + +<p>One of the first things in Fay’s carefully +worked out plan was to locate a place to which +he could quietly retire when his work of destruction +should be done—a place where he +felt he could be safe from suspicion. After a +talk with Kienzle he decided that Lusk’s +Sanatorium, at Butler, N. J., would serve the +purpose. This sanatorium was run by Germans +and Kienzle was well known there. +Acting on a prearranged plan with Kienzle, +Fay went to Butler and was met at the station +by a man named Bronkhorst, who was in +charge of the grounds at the sanatorium.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</span> +They identified each other by prearranged +signals and Fay made various arrangements, +some of which are of importance later in the +story.</p> + +<p>Another friend of Kienzle’s was Max Breitung, +a young German employed by his uncle, +E. N. Breitung, who was in the shipping business +in New York. Breitung supplied Fay +with the information he needed regarding +munitions-laden ships which Fay should elect +to destroy.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_373" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_373.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +© <cite>Underwood and Underwood.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">German Prisoners Recaptured After an Escape from Fort McPherson</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Fay asked Kienzle how he could get some +chlorate of potash, and Kienzle asked his +young friend Breitung if he could help him +out. Breitung said he could, and went at +once to another German who was operating +in New York ostensibly as a broker in copper +under the name of Carl L. Oppegaard, though +his real name was Paul Siebs, and for the purpose +of this story he might as well be known +by that name. Siebs had also been in this +country in earlier days, and during his residence +in Chicago, from 1910 to 1913, he had +become acquainted with young Breitung. He, +too, had gone back to Germany before the +war, but soon after it began he had come back +to the United States under his false name, ostensibly +as an agent of an electrical concern in +Gothenburg, Sweden, for the purpose of buying +copper. He frankly admitted later that +this copper was intended for reëxport to Germany +to be used in the manufacture of munitions +of war. He did not have much success +in his enterprise and he was finally forced to +make a living from hand to mouth by small +business transactions of almost any kind. He +could not afford a separate office, so he rented +desk room in the office of the Whitehall Trading +Company, a small subsidiary of the Raymond-Hadley +Corporation. His desk was in +the same room with the manager of the company, +Carl L. Wettig.</p> + +<p>When Breitung asked Siebs to buy him +some chlorate of potash Siebs was delighted at +the opportunity to make some money and immediately +undertook the commission. He had +been instructed to get a small amount, perhaps +200 pounds. He needed money so badly, +however, that he was very glad to find that the +smallest kegs of the chlorate of potash were +112 pounds each, and he ordered three kegs. +He paid for them with money supplied by +Breitung and took a delivery slip for it. Ultimately +this delivery slip was presented by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</span> +Scholz, who appeared one day with a truck +and driver and took the chemical away.</p> + + +<h3>POTASH TOO WEAK</h3> + +<p>Fay and Scholz made some experiments +with the chlorate of potash and Fay decided +it was not strong enough to serve his purpose. +He then determined to try dynamite. +Again he wished to avoid suspicion and this +time, after consultation with Kienzle, he recalled +Bronkhorst down at the Lusk Sanatorium +in New Jersey. Bronkhorst, in his +work as superintendent of the grounds at the +sanatorium, was occasionally engaged in laying +water mains in the rocky soil there, and +for this purpose kept dynamite on hand. Fay +got a quantity of dynamite from him. Later, +however, he decided that he wanted a still +more powerful explosive.</p> + +<p>Again he applied to Kienzle, and this time +Kienzle got in touch with Siebs direct. By +prearrangement, Kienzle and Siebs met Fay +underneath the Manhattan end of the Brooklyn +Bridge, and there Siebs was introduced +to Fay. They walked around City Hall Park +together discussing the subject; and Fay, not +knowing the name of what he was after, tried +to make Siebs understand what explosive he +wanted by describing its properties. Siebs +finally realized that what Fay had in mind was +trinitrotoluol, one of the three highest explosives +known. Siebs finally undertook to get +some of it for him, but pointed out to him +the obvious difficulties of buying it in as small +quantities as he wanted. It was easy enough +to buy chlorate of potash because that was in +common commercial use for many purposes. +It was also easy to buy dynamite because that +also is used in all kinds of quantities and for +many purposes. But trinitrotoluol is too +powerful for any but military use, and it is +consequently handled only in large lots and +practically invariably is made to the order +of some government. However, Siebs had an +idea and proceeded to act on it, and without +any delay.</p> + +<p>He went back to the Whitehall Trading +Company, where he had desk room, and saw +his fellow occupant, Carl Wettig. Wettig +had been engaged in a small way in a brokerage +business in war supplies, and had even +taken a few small turns in the handling of +explosives. He agreed to do what he could +to fill the order.</p> + +<p>Carl Wettig was the weak link in Fay’s +chain of fortune. He did indeed secure the +high explosive that Fay wanted, and was in +other ways obliging. But he got the explosive +from a source that would have given Fay heart +failure if he had known of it, and he was +obliging for reasons that Fay lived to regret. +Siebs made his inquiry of Wettig on the 19th +of October. The small quantity of explosives +that he asked for aroused Wettig’s suspicions, +and as soon as he promised to get it he went +to the French Chamber of Commerce near +by and told them what he suspected and asked +to be put in touch with responsible police +authorities under whose direction he wished +to act in supplying the trinitrotoluol.</p> + +<p>From that moment Fay, Siebs, and Kienzle +were “waked up in the morning and put to +bed at night” by detectives from the police department +of New York City and operatives +of the Secret Service of the United States. +By arrangement with them Wettig obtained a +keg containing twenty-five pounds of trinitrotoluol, +and in the absence of Fay and Scholz +from their boarding house in Weehawken, he +delivered it personally to their room and left +it on their dresser. He told Siebs he had +delivered it and Siebs promptly set about collecting +his commission from Fay.</p> + + +<h3>TAKEN INTO CUSTODY</h3> + +<p>Siebs had some difficulty in doing this, because +Fay and Scholz, being unfamiliar with +the use of the explosive, were unable to explode +a sample of it and decided that it was no +good. They had come home in the evening +and found the keg on their dresser and had +opened it. Inside they found the explosive in +the form of loose white flakes. To keep it +more safely, they poured it out into several +small cloth bags. They then took a sample +of it and tried by every means they could +think of to explode it. They even laid some +of it on an anvil and broke two or three +hammers pounding on it, but could get no result. +They then told Siebs that the stuff he +had delivered was useless. Siebs repeated +their complaint to Wettig, and Wettig volunteered +to show them how it should be handled. +Accordingly, he joined them the following<span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</span> +day at their room in Weehawken and +went with them out into the woods behind +Fort Lee, taking along a small sample of the +powder in a paper bag. In the woods the +men picked up the top of a small tin can, +built a fire in the stump of a tree, and melted +some of the flake TNT in it. Before it +cooled, Wettig embedded in it a mercury +cap. When cooled after being melted, +TNT forms a solid mass resembling resin +in appearance, and is now more powerful because +more compact.</p> + +<p>However, before the experiment could be +concluded, one of the swarm of detectives who +had followed them into the woods stepped +on a dry twig, and when the men started at +its crackling, the detectives concluded they had +better make their arrests before the men might +get away; and so all were taken into custody. +A quick search of their boarding house, the +garage, a storage warehouse in which Fay had +stored some trunks, and the boathouse where +the motor boat was stored resulted in rounding +up the entire paraphernalia that had been +used in working out the whole plot. All the +people connected with every phase of it were +soon arrested.</p> + +<p>Out of the stories these men told upon examination +emerged not only the hideous perfection +of the bomb itself, but the direct hand +that the German government and its agents +in this country had in the scheme of putting +it to its fiendish purpose. First of all appeared +Fay’s admission that he had left Germany with +money and a passport supplied by a man in +the German Secret Service. Later, on the +witness stand, when Fay had had time enough +carefully to think out the most plausible story, +he attempted to get away from this admission +by claiming to have deserted from the German +Army. He said that he had been financed +in his exit from the German Empire by a +group of business men who had put up a lot +of money to back an automobile invention of +his, which he had worked on before the war +began. These men, so he claimed, were afraid +they would lose all their money if he should +happen to be killed before the invention was +perfected. This tale, ingenious though it was, +was too fantastic to be swallowed when taken +in connection with all the things found in +Fay’s possession when he was arrested. Beyond +all doubt his scheme to destroy ships +was studied and approved by his military superiors +in Germany before he left, and that +scheme alone was his errand to this country.</p> + + +<h3>EXPLAINED TOO MUCH</h3> + +<p>Far less ingenious and equally damning was +his attempt to explain away his relations with +von Papen. The sinister figure of the military +attaché of the German Embassy at Washington +leers from the background of all the +German plots; and this case was no exception. +It was known that Fay had had dealings with +von Papen in New York, and on the witness +stand he felt called upon to explain them in +a way that would clear the diplomatic service +of implication in his evil doings. He declared +that he had taken his invention to von Papen +and that von Papen had resolutely refused to +have anything to do with it. This would have +been well enough if Fay’s explanation had +stopped here.</p> + +<p>But Fay’s evil genius prompted him to make +his explanation more convincing by an elaboration +of the story, so he gave von Papen’s +reasons for refusal. These were not because +the Fay device was calculated to do murder +upon hundreds of helpless men, nor because +to have any part in the business was to play +the unneutral villain under the cloak of diplomatic +privilege. Not at all. At the first interview, +seeing only a rough sketch and hearing +only Fay’s description of preliminary experiments, +von Papen’s sole objection was:</p> + +<p>“Well, you might obtain an explosion once, +and the next ten apparatuses might fail.”</p> + +<p>To continue Fay’s explanation:</p> + +<p>“He casually asked me what the cost of it +would be and I told him in my estimation the +cost would not be more than $20 apiece. [$20 +apiece for the destruction of thirty lives and a +million-dollar ship and cargo!] As a matter +of fact in Germany I will be able to get these +things made for half that price. ‘If it is not +more than that,’ von Papen said, ‘you might +go ahead, but I cannot promise you anything +whatever.’”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_376" style="max-width: 46.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_376.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="right fs80"> +<cite>Courtesy of Leslie’s Weekly.</cite><br> +</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">The French Nation Celebrates</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">One of the most impressive features of the national holiday observances in Paris on July +14th, 1918, was the parade by Russian troops led by a giant color-bearer marching along the +Grand Boulevard amid the applause of enormous crowds. These were a portion of the army +sent by the Czar, to fight for the Allies in France. Persistent rumors that thousands of Russians +were landed in England to fight on the Western front proved a hoax.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>Fay then went back to his experiments and +when he felt that he had practically perfected +his device he called upon von Papen for the +second time. This time von Papen’s reply +was:</p> + +<p>“Well, this thing has been placed before our +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</span>experts and also we have gone into the political +condition of the whole suggestion. Now +in the first place our experts say this apparatus +is not at all seaworthy; but as regards political +conditions I am sorry to say we cannot +consider it and, therefore, we cannot consider +the proposition any further.”</p> + +<p>In other words, with no thought of the +moral turpitude of the scheme, with no +thought of the abuse of diplomatic freedom, +but only with thoughts of the practicability +of this device, and of the effect upon political +conditions of its use, von Papen had put the +question before technical men and before von +Bernstorff, and their decision had been adverse +solely on those considerations—first, that it +would not work, and second, that it would +arouse hostility in the United States. At no +stage, according to Fay’s best face upon the +matter, was any thought given to its character +as a hideous crime.</p> + + +<h3>PERFECTED DEVILRY</h3> + +<p>The device itself was studied independently +by two sets of military experts of the United +States government with these results:</p> + +<p>First, that it was mechanically perfect; second, +that it was practical under the conditions +of adjustment to a ship’s rudder which +Fay had devised; and third, that the charge +of trinitrotoluol for which the container was +designed, was nearly half the quantity which +is used on our own floating mines and which +is calculated upon explosion twenty feet from +a battleship to put it out of action, and upon +explosion in direct contact, absolutely to destroy +and sink the heaviest superdreadnought. +In other words, beyond all question the bomb +would have shattered the entire stern of any +ship to which it was attached, and would have +caused it to sink in a few minutes.</p> + +<p>A brief description of the contrivance reveals +the mechanical ingenuity and practical +efficiency of Fay’s bomb. A rod attached to +the rudder, at every swing the rudder gave, +turned up, by one notch, the first of the +beveled wheels within the bomb. After a +certain number of revolutions of that wheel, +it in turn gave one revolution to the next; +and so on through the series. The last wheel +was connected with the threaded cap around +the upper end of the square bolt, and made +this cap slowly unscrew, until at length the +bolt dropped clear of it and yielded to the +waiting pressure of the strong steel spring +above. This pressure drove it downward and +brought the sharp points at its lower end +down on the caps of the two rifle cartridges +fixed below it—like the blow of a rifle’s hammer. +The detonation from the explosion of +these cartridges would set off a small charge +of impregnated chlorate of potash, which in +turn would fire the small charge of the more +sluggish but stronger dynamite, and that in +turn would explode the still more sluggish but +tremendously more powerful trinitrotoluol.</p> + +<p>The whole operation, once the spring was +free, would take place in a flash; and instantly +its deadly work would be accomplished.</p> + + +<h3>WHAT FAY PICTURED</h3> + +<p>Picture the scene that Fay had in his mind +as he toiled his six laborious months upon this +dark invention. He saw himself, in imagination, +fixing his infernal box upon the rudder +post of a ship loading at a dock in New York +harbor. As the cargo weighed the ship down, +the box would disappear beneath the water. +At length the ship starts on its voyage, and, +as the rudder swings her into the stream, the +first beat in the slow, sure knell of death for +ship and crew is clicked out by its very turning. +Out upon the sea the shift of wind and +blow of wave require a constant correction +with the rudder to hold the true course forward. +At every swing the helmsman unconsciously +taps out another of the lurking beats +of death. Somewhere in midocean, perhaps +at black midnight, in a driving storm, the patient +mechanism hid below has turned the last +of its calculated revolutions. The neck piece +from the bolt slips loose, the spring drives +downward, there is a flash, a deafening explosion, +and five minutes later a few mangled +bodies and a chaos of floating wreckage are +all that is left above the water’s surface.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="HERES_TO_CONSTABLE_RITCHINGS">HERE’S TO CONSTABLE RITCHINGS</h2> +</div> + +<h3>It Is Probable that His Record is Unique in the Annals of War Since +Spartan Days</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Few</span> men have the modest estimate of duty +in relation to self that has given an unsought +celebrity to Arthur Ritchings of Cardiff, +Wales. If his conduct may be taken as +evidence of his philosophy of life, doing one’s +duty in the world confers no particular distinction +on the individual—the discharge of a +moral obligation establishing no title to swank, +swagger or puffed-upness. Possibly it is necessary +to be a Welshman to appreciate Ritchings’ +mental attitude, for it seems that the +people of Cardiff saw nothing abnormal or +eccentric in the behavior of their townsman, +regarding it quite as a matter of course. Indeed +it was a London paper that acquainted +the Cardiffians that they had in their midst +a hero deserving of especial respect. We get +the particulars from the same source.</p> + +<p>When Germany fell foul of Belgium, Arthur +Ritchings was a member of the Cardiff +Constabulary, in plain terms, a policeman. +As soon as England declared war in 1914, +Ritchings threw aside his truncheon, and other +police insignia, and enlisted in the Army as +a private. He served in that capacity for +three years, doing the job with thoroughness, +having an eye single to duty. Though unobtrusive +in all his doings, not in the least inclined +to celebrate in canticles of self-praise +his deeds in trench or field, he nevertheless +came to the notice of his superiors finally, +and in November, 1917, his bravery won him +promotion on the field. He was made second +lieutenant. But he went right ahead in his +normal way, yet, having once attracted their +attention, he could not keep out of the view +of his superiors, and so in February, 1918, +they called him up and gave him to understand +that in their opinion he measured up to a +captaincy. But Ritchings just went right on +being Ritchings, and so they made him a +major. Then they made him a lieutenant +colonel, and there is no conjecturing what +they would have had to do with him had the +war continued a little longer. As it was they +made him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, +pinned on his breast the Croix de Guerre with +palms, gave him the Military Cross, and did +what they could to persuade him that as he had +been a gallant and daring soldier so also had +he been an able and decisive officer. In the +meantime the Germans had done what they +could to further his interests by wounding him +on six different occasions.</p> + +<p>Now, the war having been fought and won, +his duty no longer commanding the wear of +khaki, Lieutenant Colonel Ritchings retired +from the Army and returned to his native +Cardiff. His townsmen welcomed him, congratulating +him that he had managed to escape +death for a further enjoyment of the +unemotional serenity of the sturdy Welsh +town. The Chairman of the Municipal +Bench publicly declared that he was glad to +see Ritchings back, and spoke approvingly of +the fact that his war record was a credit to +the town.</p> + + +<h3>HIS HOME HONORS</h3> + +<p>Then Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Ritchings—with +four years of active military service to +his credit and field rank worn at the front, +with a breast-load of decorations and the +proved ability to command over 3,000 fighting +men—stepped over to police headquarters, +took up his truncheon and resumed his familiar +duties as a common policeman in a mining +town, where the care of drunks and disorderlies +alone taxed his military genius.</p> + +<p>There the matter might have ended but for +the interests of a person who had no particular +business to come fussing around in Cardiff +affairs. This person happened to be one +of those ordinary mortals who hold the notion +that certain honors attached to heroism and +military achievement are not sufficiently<span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</span> +represented by mere medals and things, and +this person thought it in high degree outrageous +that a man who had lifted himself by +valor from private to lieutenant colonel +should be permitted to walk a beat and swing +a club as a means of serving the Crown. This +indignant person wrote a passionate letter to +the London <cite>Times</cite>, with the result that Cardiff +took a second view of the situation, and the +Watch Committee (a sort of police commissioner) +took the ex-lieutenant colonel off his +beat and gave him the lofty job of training +the police to the proper dignity of constabulary +service.</p> + +<p>This, however, did not entirely satisfy outside +admirers of Ritchings, honorable as it +might seem to Cardiffians, so the Lord Mayor +was pressed for information whether there was +any intention of appointing the distinguished +officer to a higher and more responsible position +on the force. That dignitary (and a +Lord Mayor truly esteems himself a dignitary +in England) went to the extent of admitting +that he thought that he might say +that all the members of the Watch Committee +were in sympathy with the idea, and that he +had no doubt that when the opportunity occurred +Colonel or Constable Ritchings would +be given a place better suited to his merits.</p> + +<p>And what said Ritchings concerning himself? +Why, merely this, that he “recognized +as every right-thinking man would that he had +a moral obligation to return to the Cardiff +police force for the reason that the ratepayers +had been contributing during his absence to +the support of his dependents at home.”</p> + +<p>Well, Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Ritchings, +here’s hats off to you!</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="WHAT_GILLES_BROUGHT_IN">WHAT GILLES BROUGHT IN</h2> +</div> + +<h3>Driving His Automobile over a Shell-Swept Road a French Lad Braved +Death to Deliver the Dead</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">It</span> was during the dreadful few days when +the Germans came closest to Paris, a +French writer tells us. Gilles Thurmand—sixteen +years old, whose mother kept the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Côte +d’Or</i>—had got hold of an old motor-car which +had been smashed up in the first days of the +rush to the front, had tinkered with it until +it ran again, and then had driven it out to +see what he could pick up. He went in the +direction of Givres, for he heard that there +were a good many wounded along the roads, +and the French were yielding. He had come +as far as a little coppice, where he slowed +down at the sight of a couple of French uniforms. +The Germans began suddenly to shell +the part of the road over which he had just +driven. He did not pay much attention to +this at the time, for he was so engrossed with +the French officers, of whom there were three +standing, and a fourth badly wounded. They +had been cut off from their regiment, and +were left in this little patch of wood either +to be killed by one of the enemy’s shells, or +to be taken prisoner. “Get in,” Gilles told +them, “and we’ll make a run for it. I’m game +if you are.” He was extremely proud of having +to do with so many officers at once, and +besides, he thought, it might be the means of +getting him admitted into the Army. Just +as they were lifting the wounded man onto +the floor of the vehicle, which was about the +size of a Ford limousine, Gilles’ sharp eyes +spied another blue coat through the trees at a +little distance away, and he ran over to the +man, who wore the uniform of a captain. He +was squatting over something in the denser +underbrush, and raised up hastily as Gilles +came toward him.</p> + +<p>“Let me get you out of this,” said Gilles, +“along with these others.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, come with us,” said Major Hervé, +the senior officer of the party, limping toward +them to find out the cause of the delay. The +strange officer responded rather thickly that +he couldn’t—that he had his duty to perform, +and would prefer to remain at his post. The +major, finding that arguing with him was +of no avail, commanded him rather shortly +to follow the rest, and when he still demurred, +ordered the other three to bring him. They<span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</span> +did so, gently enough, believing him to be +a little unbalanced by shell-fire. Then they +all climbed into the crazy vehicle, shut the +door, and Gilles, mounting to the front seat, +set out to drive them through a quarter of a +mile of fire and brimstone, which was as near +to hell as anything he had ever imagined.</p> + +<p>Shells whizzed past, and bullets hailed upon +the roof. Once or twice Gilles heard a faint +cry in the back of the motor, and he knew +some one was hit, but he bent doggedly to his +wheel, and didn’t once look round, for fear, +as he phrased it, that he would “lack courage +to go on again.” Though a bomb ripped +off the fender and nearly capsized the car, +Gilles himself was not touched, and presently +he drove into a silence as deafening as the +noise had been. It was the outskirts of a +camp, and there were a few simple little +everyday noises like the rattling of dishes and +the chopping of wood. But it was like the +cemetery of Père La Chaise to Gilles. He +could not hear a sound. Two or three Frenchmen +in khaki came running toward him as he +slid off the box and opened the rear door. +Three dead bodies tumbled out. The two +left inside were those of the last-found officer +and the badly wounded man. They, too, +were dead. How had they been killed? Not +by shell fire, certainly. Examination proved +that they had died by pistol shots. Gilles, +taken into custody, his teeth chattering with +fear, pointed out the officer who had forcibly +been made a member of their party. The man +was searched. There were found upon him +a spare telephone receiver and a map of the +district, together with other evidence proving +him a German spy. He had probably been +directing the German fire at the moment when +Gilles had so inopportunely come upon him. +His great reluctance to join the party was explained. +During their wild ride he had apparently +found time to put a bullet through +the head of each of his unsuspecting captors. +Whether one of them or he himself had caused +his own death, could not be discovered.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_380" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_380.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="center no-indent fs120">“Tell Her Not to Worry”</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Dear Father, guard our gallant men</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Within whose hearts is love enshrined,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And bring them safely home again</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To those they cannot leave behind!”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="right"> +Arthur Guiterman.<br> +</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_ROCK_OF_THE_MARNE">THE ROCK OF THE MARNE</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The Story of Col. U. G. McAlexander and the Heroic 38th Infantry, +Defender’s of the Surmelin Valley, the “Gateway to Paris”</h3> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80 wsp">By CAPTAIN J. W. WOOLRIDGE, U. S. Infantry</p> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">When</span> two divisions of German shock +troops pile up on a regiment of American +fighting men, one does not need to be gifted +in imagination to see war in all its ramifications +and vicissitudes.</p> + +<p>I admit that to those of us who participated +the picture as a whole is blurred by proximity +while spots are multicolored and accentuated +into sheets of concentrated lightning.</p> + +<p>The historian of the future will view the +battle from afar and do much better, particularly +as he will not be hampered by individual +facts. Therefore we shall tell you the story +and not the history of the 38th’s recent unpleasantness.</p> + +<p>The scene is laid in that erstwhile heavenly +little valley of the Surmelin which finds its +resting place on the banks of the River Marne. +The semi-mountainous ridges that flank this +little valley are wooded with what the French +call trees; they are tangled with shrubs and +second growths that make for ideal machine-gun +nests, as we shall see.</p> + +<p>Down in the bosom of the valley meanders +the Surmelin river, so called we presume because +the French do not know our word +“crick.” It is heavily foliaged creek; its +value we first recognized in its production of +trout through the agency of the festive “OF” +grenade tossed into its tiny pools.</p> + +<p>This valley is a series of golden wheat fields +and garden patches. Not fields as you know +them but as the French crofter laboriously +cultivates by hand to the limits of one man’s +activities—small, though profuse, spots of +shining cereal decorated resplendently with +carmine red poppies. * * * * *</p> + +<p>The maps show this valley to be the gateway +to Paris—that is, from the farthest point +of the second German drive to the Marne. +Would you call it the 38th’s good fortune to +be given this gateway to defend? Anyway, +the fates so decreed and we were rushed by +the fastest means possible from our training +billets, with French beds five feet high, at +Arc, Cour le Vecque, and Comprey, to stem +the tide and thereby block the way to Paris.</p> + +<p>The 38th had made some marches before +and has since, but none of us will forget +when we pulled into the woods back of St. +Eugene that last day of our trek. We had +revised the tables of field equipment on the +way so that when we got there we didn’t +bother to spread our blankets. We simply +laid down and hoped in a maudlin, disconnected +way one of the shells the Germans +welcomed us with would make a direct hit +and end it all.</p> + +<p>The Colonel was right there ahead of us. +Nobody ever knows how he does it but he is +always ahead of us and we have gotten used +to a confident feeling of knowing it’s all right +to go anywhere the Colonel is ahead. He +warned us about aeroplane observation and +gas shells and said, “Be ready for orders to +move up!”</p> + +<p>Our position was taken without delay on +the south bank of the Marne, which is about +fifty yards wide and which at that time separated +us from the enemy. The Colonel gave +orders directly opposite to the “live and let +live” principle. “Don’t let anything alive +show itself on the other side except those you +go over and get for information!”</p> + +<p>So we gave them some lessons in rifle fire.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>With the French opposite them the Germans +had an insulting and cocky way of +strolling about their business in plain view +at a few hundred yards. The French custom +of running themselves ragged trying to +hit the enemy with a hand grenade did not +appeal to us, so we became, in the German<span class="pagenum" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</span> +opinion, disgustingly belligerent with our +rifles.</p> + +<p>Their movements soon after our advent became +surreptitious and reptilian. So at night +we paddled over in various nondescript flotillas, +dug them out of their holes or chased +their patrols around a bit—and sometimes +got chased back again somewhat the worse +for wear. They sprinkled us with H. E.’s +and gas and we likewise sprinkled them. It +was a great game and we thrived on it.</p> + +<p>One dark night a patrol of theirs came +over right at the point of a sentry post of +ours. As they reached for the bank with a +boat-hook a Yank accommodatingly took hold +and pulled them in. He said, “Come on over, +Fritz. We are waiting for you,” and our +men proceeded to pacify one boat load of misdirected +Huns.</p> + +<p>That sort of thing was our daily, or rather +nightly, ration, until prisoners and intelligence +officers began to tell a new story. The Boche +were preparing for another grand offensive +and this time their objective was Paris with +no stops.</p> + +<p>The French on our right were generous +with their warnings and made feverish arrangements +for something or other—we +thought at the time it was for battle. Aeroplanes +and scouts verified this rumor and it +looked like business. So the whole thing so +far as our sector was concerned—the Gateway +to Paris, the Valley of the Surmelin—was +put up to the Colonel, U. G. McAlexander, +who at once proceeded to make hay while +the making was good.</p> + +<p>“Rowe, you hold the front line with two +companies of your battalion, don’t you?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir, with two companies in their immediate +support,” answered Major Rowe, +commander of the 2nd Battalion.</p> + +<p>“Very well,” said the Colonel. “Thicken +the lines by moving one company up. This +will give you three company fronts on our +sector and your remaining company will entrench +themselves in echelon formation, so,” +indicating on map with pencil marks the exact +position he wished them in. “They will +act in close support on the extreme right and +also as a right flank rearguard. The weak +point on this line is on our right. I don’t +believe the French will hold and I shall arrange +my regiment to meet that contingency.”</p> + +<p>This was a direct statement as usual; no +equivocation in the Colonel’s remarks. But +we were all greatly surprised, as everybody +else had complete confidence in the gallantry +of the French division on our right. It +was our first introduction to the depth of the +man in his preparation for battle. But +for his judgment on their instability this +would be a requiem, not a story.</p> + +<p>The regiment was arranged on advanced +and original principles of “formation in +depth.” The 2nd Battalion, Major Rowe, +as above; then the 1st Battalion, Major Keeley, +and the 3rd, Major Lough. The Colonel +looked us over individually and collectively, +took a rifle to a point near the river in broad +daylight, sniped a while as though to challenge +the enemy, and said, “Let ’em come.”</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>The evening of July 14th (1918) came +with a darkness you could feel. French crickets +cricked in a language we could not understand. +Night birds winged their uncertain +way in pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. +Frogs croaked and walked—not hopped—after +the manner of no other frogs on +earth. The Y.M.C.A.—God bless them!—sent +chocolates and cigarettes down to the +men in the very front lines. The rolling +kitchens steamed up in preparation of the +boys’ one hot meal per day to be delivered by +carrying parties to the front. Company commanders +made the usual night reconnaissance +of their positions, chatted with the lieutenants +and again learned that a plebiscite of the men +would produce a reiteration of the Colonel’s +“Let ’em come.”</p> + +<p>Our artillery lugged over the usual intermittent +harrassing fire, but the murmuring +pines and whispering hemlocks went A.W.O.L.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +so far as looking out for the Germans +was concerned. For all the noise they made +you could hear your eyelashes meet. Their +quiet finally became ominous and there was +a general stiffening of our cerebral vertebra.</p> + +<p>At exactly 12 o’clock it happened.</p> + +<p>All the demons of hell and its ally, Germany, +were unleashed in a fierce uproar that +transcended all bombardments of the past.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</span> +It thundered and rained shells, H.E.’s shrapnel +and gas. They swept our sector as with +a giant scythe, and as far back as their guns +would reach.</p> + +<p>For hours that seemed weeks we huddled +in our tiny splinter proofs or open slit trenches +in the horrible confusion of it all, but we lovingly +patted our, as yet, cold steel and +awaited the second shock we knew would +come—the shock of bodies, material bodies +that we could see, feel and fight—something +tangible, so that we could release our mad +lust to kill this great snake that was slowly +coiling around us, this furious beast that was +volcanically tearing at our vitals.</p> + +<p>God, what hallucinations under a pounding +like that!</p> + +<p>Yes, we wanted them to come. We wanted +anything to come that we could see, feel, and +fight. We wanted to fight, I tell you. Not +to lie there on the rocking ground with hell +crashing and the devils snatching at our guts, +our eyes, our lungs.</p> + +<p>What was that in our lungs?</p> + +<p>Yes, Damn them, Gas!</p> + +<p>They are not satisfied to drench us at long +distances with all the steel they can crowd +into space but the dirty, ghoulish, primeval +Hun racks his warped and tortured brain for +a method more becoming the slime and filth +of his rotten being.</p> + +<p>Well, so be it. We fight him back with +his weapons, so on with the gas masks, it’s +only a bluff. He can’t come himself in his +poison—and he’s coming, he’s coming! It +became a song in our hearts—“He’s Coming! +He’s Coming!”</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>We began to brighten perceptibly. Instead +of the earth rocking it became the gentle +tossing of a languorous, moonlit sea. We +leaned our heads in genuine affection against +the dirt sides of our little slit trench and +began to marvel at its motherly shelter. How +they could churn up the whole world and +never drop one in! Of course they could +not drop one in. They had no brain, the +swine.</p> + +<p>If a chemist could run them through a +Pasteur filter, he would get a trace of intellectual +process about the mental grade of the +Pithecanthropus erectus!</p> + +<p>That’s it. He is shooting away his fireworks +in the vain hope of something. Wonder +what it is. Anyway, he shot it away +for eight hours on our support and reserve +lines, but at about 4 o’clock on the morning +of the 15th he lifted his general bombardment +on the front line and started a rolling +barrage, one hundred meters in three minutes.</p> + +<p>Behind it, almost hugging it, they came!</p> + +<p>God, weren’t we glad to see the grayness +of them!</p> + +<p>This was more like. Something we could +see, feel and fight. And when we say they +came we mean two divisions of them.</p> + +<p>“When two divisions of German shock +troops pile up on a regiment of American +fighting men”—Do you remember what we +told you!</p> + +<p>Well! they piled up, at first with excellent +formation and a distribution of machine guns, +as bumble bees distribute themselves after +the small boy wallops their nest with his +handful of switches—all over everywhere.</p> + +<p>On the river bank where they came in +crowds, boats, and pontoon bridges, it was +eye to eye, tooth to tooth, and hand-to-hand. +It was a strange silence after the barrage had +passed. The tack-tack-tack of machine guns, +mounted and firing from boats as they came, +and the clash of steel as the bayonets met +sounded like a death stillness compared to it.</p> + +<p>The lines on the river were fought out +completely. The barrage had not reached the +railway bank and reënforcements could not +be sent to them. They paid the supreme +price, but the action delayed the enemy advance +so that the organizations in depth could +unlimber and meet the advance with the result +as stated above—this is a story, not a requiem.</p> + +<p>Their barrage got away from them, an unpardonable +crime in military science but humanly +pardonable when one learns they +thought it impossible to be met and fought +on the river bank.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>Our line of resistance was the Metz-Paris +Railway. The embankment is some nine feet +high with tiny slit trenches on the forward +edge but not sufficiently forward to be on the +military crest. When the Boche started their +advance across the wheat fields intervening, +some five hundred yards, this embankment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</span> +became a living thing and American Springfields +began to laugh in their faces.</p> + +<p>That wasn’t fair. They had been assured +with all German sangfroid that there would +be no resistance after their barrage. But +those were shock troops brought from afar +with orders. “To Paris. No Stop-overs.”</p> + +<p>Though their brains became loose-leaf +ledgers with no index and the Kaiser became +a more ghastly figure, they were fighters. I +should say, professional soldiers. So they +came on. We admit they looked like the +whole German army and we had to wonder +if the little old Springfield would keep on +laughing. We had been warned of a big +offensive, but we did not know the Boche +thought our front was like a city park, free +for all.</p> + +<p>The Springfield did keep on laughing and +after covering about half the distance they +were transferred from a soldiers’ maneuver +column into a German military omelet. However, +their machine guns had infiltrated +through the high wheat and covered our front +as flies cover spilled molasses.</p> + +<p>The rest hit the ground and continued +their advance in a more becoming manner, like +a mole. They wriggled themselves, many of +them to the very foot of the railway embankment, +where they were safe from our fire for +the above mentioned reason. They rested, +then charged the crest, were hurled back; +rested, threw stick grenades and charged +some more, but never successfully, until the +splendid heroes of that line joined their comrades +of the river bank, joined them on that +long journey to that land which knows no +war.</p> + +<p>Then came the supporting troops from their +immediate rear in a charge to which history +will never do justice. They couldn’t come +before, as there is only room for a certain +number to fight on the forward edge. To +the Germans on the embankment the Kaiser +must have taken on a more material aspect; +they saw visions of Paris, but visions only, +which disappeared like mist in the sunshine.</p> + +<p>It was not sunshine that hit them. No. +It was an earthquake. San Francisco one +April morning of 1906 had nothing on that +shock which must have been felt back in the +Reichstag. Bayonets, rifle butts, fists and +teeth. Our boys in khaki were overwhelmed +by numbers in gray.</p> + +<p>But the McAlexander spirit; that is God-given +and Heaven-sent!</p> + +<p>The Colonel had said, “Let ’em come.” +Well, here they are, and God, the joy of it +all!</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>Did you ever turn yourself loose in a mad +passion that knew no limit? Were you ever +blinded by blood and lust to kill and let yourself +go in a crowd where you could feel their +bodies crumble and sink to the depths below +you, then brace yourself on them, and destroy, +destroy, destroy!</p> + +<p>I hope not, but we did—and what do numbers +amount to against spirit? In San Francisco +the earthquake subsided and we were +left to contemplate and ponder. There was +no subsiding of these seismic demons of +Colonel Ulysses Grant McAlexander, once +they had their orders. We were to hold that +railroad. Did we hold it, Go down there +and count the German graves. Six hundred +before one company alone. Ask the prisoners, +pens of them, why they didn’t fulfil their +mission. They don’t know just what happened, +but whatever it was, it was awful, +colossal.</p> + +<p>Sir, they did not even take the first line +of resistance of the 38th. An officer, later +captured, stated that only twelve of the 6th +Grenadiers, the Kaiser’s favorite Prussian +shock troops, returned to their side of the +Marne.</p> + +<p>Yes, back they went, and they stood not +upon the manner of their going, although I +will say their machine guns covered their +retreat to the limit of their ability. Without +their usual “nest” arrangement they were +comparatively easy picking for us. For instance, +during the retreat Corporal Newell +with his squad augmented by two men went +down into the field and captured five guns, +killing or capturing their crews.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>During the heat of battle one lone private +crawled down the embankment through the +wheat to the flank of a machine-gun crew who +were too busy on their front to know where +his shots were coming from. He picked off +seven Germans and dragged the gun back<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</span> +with him. These incidents are not typical, +but they serve to illustrate the many, many +remarkable individual feats of heroism of the +38th, under the stress of battle.</p> + +<p>No grander man lived than Lieutenant +Kenneth P. Murray, killed in a flank attack +which started in a line from the railway to +the church in Mézy, drove in one hundred +and eighty-five prisoners, but from which only +three returned, the company commander and +two privates. Lieutenant Mercer M. Phillips +died on the railway with a blood-dripping +bayonet on the rifle in his hands. Lieutenant +David C. Calkins, whose troops blocked the +enemy’s progress at the river edge until the +barrage passed and those in his support could +get into action, made the supreme sacrifice.</p> + +<p>Many, many other splendid souls, born +leaders of brave men, joined the great majority +with a smile on their lips and pistols +empty.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant Colonel Frank H. Adams, that +great soldier with a lion’s heart, and yet who +led his command by an irresistible personal +magnetism, by precept and example and never +an unkind word—that big, handsome, he-fighter +won the Distinguished Service Cross +by standing in the way of a whole regiment, +not one that he had any direct connection +with, but one nearby that was practically +routed by the shock the 38th stood and fought +back. He brought comparative order out of +chaos and succeeded in getting them in a +support position.</p> + +<p>We could mention hundreds of great deeds +by great men on that day, but this is a story +of the 38th, not of the indomitable spirits +that go to make it up, or we would never +reach the end.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>At 10 o’clock, on the 15th, our front was +fairly cleared and we were beginning to feel +that it was a great day, when something else +happened. Can you, who were not with us, +imagine how a prohibitionist feels on a yachting +party? Completely surrounded by hell +and damnation and can’t get off.</p> + +<p>The enemy had penetrated to our left like +the boll weevil through a Southerner’s cotton +patch and fortified himself with minenwerfers, +machine guns and barbed wire. They +did not penetrate to our right. No, they +simply walked over and wondered how much +of a hike it was to Paris. We were then +aware of the reason for “Feverish preparations +on the part of the French on our right.”</p> + +<p>Do you remember what we told you? We +thought it was to fight, but evidently no such +idea ever marred the sweet thoughts of the +131st. Say what you please, make any defense +you like. They weren’t there. And +that’s the business we have in hand just now. +They weren’t there. Whence they came or +whither they went we know not. A. W. O. +L. most likely, but that is neither here nor +there.</p> + +<p>On the morning of July 15, 1918, when +Colonel McAlexander was hurling battalion +after battalion of the 38th into the Surmelin +valley, the Gateway to Paris, and out-fighting, +out-maneuvering, out-generaling the +Kaiser’s favorites, there were no friendly +troops on our right where they had been on +the evening of the 14th.</p> + +<p>However, thank God for a real soldier’s instinct. +The Colonel had anticipated and was +prepared to meet a right flank attack. Good +old Captain Reid was there to meet them +when they tried to consolidate their line +through our regiment. He met them first +with rifle fire, then with the bayonet, and +finally with butts. He fought them all over +the ridge and down on every side except our +side. He never let them set foot on our sector +of the Marne and though it cost him +nearly his entire command he was there when +fresher troops could get to him for relief.</p> + +<p>On the left we repulsed a heavy rear attack +and a light flank attack with a handful +of the most exhausted troops in France—old +“G” company reduced to fifty-two men +from two hundred and fifty-one—taking up +new positions and fighting off ten to one is +a picture that will ever live in the memory +of the 38th.</p> + +<p>Major Rowe made desperate efforts to reinforce, +but the Boche, just at that place, +had us under direct fire of Austrian 88’s, +German 77’s, and one pounders. You know +what direct fire means. Effective forces can’t +be sent against it, that’s all.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>So, for three days we fought on our flanks, +for three days the German high command +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</span>gave us all they had in their desperation to +open the gateway. The Colonel received an +order. “Fall back if you think best.”</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_386" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_386.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">“THE DAY IS DONE.”</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">After a long, hard day, the voice of the bugle was a welcome sound to the ears of the tired soldiers.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p>He answered, “Is it up to my decision?”</p> + +<p>The answer: “Yes.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel’s answer: “Then I hold my +lines!”</p> + +<p>God, what a world of torture and yet solace +in that answer! What a world of pain and +joy! We were shot to ribbons, cut to small +sections, unfed, and oh, so tired; but the drive +would never have stopped once they consolidated +their lines through the 38th.</p> + +<p>It was Paris for them and a terrible defeat +for us if we withdrew and gave them +the little Surmelin valley. The Colonel had +been studying the attack orders taken from +captured German officers and knew as no one +else knew what it meant to fall back.</p> + +<p>He was there for a soldier’s purpose and +did a soldier’s duty. He paid an awful price, +made sacrifices of officers and men that tore +his heart to pieces. But he held the Gateway +to Paris and not only that, drove them +back across the Marne and <em>followed them +across</em>.</p> + +<p>Believe it or not, it was an absolute physical +impossibility, but we went right on after them +and fought them again at Jaulgonne—still +nobody on our right, mind you—where for +several days and several nights it steadily +rained and where for the same length of time +we hammered them with shot and bayonet +until they fell back with such impetus that +our next big battle was at Fismes on the +River Vesle.</p> + +<p>One soldier was heard to remark: “I +don’t see any more prisoners coming in. I +wonder what can be the matter?”</p> + +<p>Second soldier: “Didn’t you hear the +Colonel say he had all the information he +needed?”</p> + +<p>There are not many of us left of the old +38th. There has been considerable talk in +French circles about “Regiment d’elite,” “unconquerable +tenacity,” and the like. Yes, our +flag is to be decorated with the Croix de +Guerre and it is generally recognized in high +French command that “McAlexander’s defense +was peculiarly American in conception, +plan and execution.” You see we have been +under French command and our deeds have +not been recounted at home. All the glory +goes to the High Command.</p> + +<p>Things like this though, we keep close to +our hearts:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> +<p class="right"> +27 July, 1918.</p> +<p class="no-indent"> +General Order I.<br> +<span style="padding-left: 2em">(From the Field.)</span><br> +To the Officers and Men of the<br> +<span style="padding-left: 6em">38th U. S. Infantry.</span><br> +</p> + +<p>The Colonel commanding the regiment wishes +to praise you for the heroic manner in which +you took your baptism of fire on July 15, 1918, +upon the banks of the Marne. No regiment in +the history of our nation has ever shown a finer +spirit or performed a greater deed.</p> + +<p>Let us cherish within our hearts the memory +of our fallen comrades. Salute them! Then +forward!</p> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">McAlexander.</span><br> +</p> +</div> + +<p>And look at this for an official report and +try to remember if in all history such a feat +was ever before accomplished:</p> + +<div class="blockquot fs90"> +<p class="right"> +<span style="padding-right: 1em">Headquarters, 38th U. S. Infantry.</span><br> +A. P. O. 740, France, 8 August, 1918.</p> +<p class="no-indent"> +From: Commanding Officer, 38th U. S. Infantry.<br> +To: The Adjutant General, U. S. Army.<br> +<span style="padding-left: 4em">(Through Military Channels.)</span><br> +Subject: Capture of Prisoners from Three German Divisions.<br> +</p> + +<p>1. In the second battle of the Marne, July +15-23, 1918, the 38th U. S. Infantry was attacked +on the south bank of the Marne, July 15-18, by +two German divisions, and it captured prisoners +from each of their regiments, namely:</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdl bl bt"></td> +<td class="tdl">6th Grenadier Guards</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">10th Division</td> +<td class="tdl bl"></td> +<td class="tdl">47th Infantry</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdl bl bb"></td> +<td class="tdl">398th Infantry</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr" style="height:10px"></td> +<td class="tdl"></td> +<td class="tdl"></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdl bl bt"></td> +<td class="tdl">5th Grenadier Guards</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">36th Division</td> +<td class="tdl bl"></td> +<td class="tdl">128th Infantry</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdl bl bb"></td> +<td class="tdl">175th Infantry</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>2. On July 22, 1918, this regiment attacked the +10th Division Landwehr on the north bank of +Marne and captured prisoners from its three +regiments, namely:</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdl bl bt"></td> +<td class="tdl">372nd Infantry</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">10th Division Landwehr</td> +<td class="tdl bl"></td> +<td class="tdl">377th Infantry</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdl bl bb"></td> +<td class="tdl">378th Infantry</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>3. It is believed that the capture of prisoners +from nine enemy regiments during nine days +of battle constitutes a record justifying a report +to the War Department.</p> + +<p>4. Identification of twenty-one separate and +distinct regimental and other units were secured +from enemy positions in front of this regiment.</p> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">U. G. McAlexander</span>,<br> +Colonel, 38th U. S. Infantry.<br> +</p> +</div> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</span></p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3><span class="fs130 bold">FOOTNOTES:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> Military abbreviation for “absent without +leave.”</p> + +</div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="AMERICAS_HIGHEST_WAR_HONOR">AMERICA’S HIGHEST WAR HONOR</h2> +</div> + +<h3>The 78 Soldiers Who Won the Congressional Medal of Honor for an +Act of Supreme Courage</h3> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">England’s</span> most coveted reward for +heroism in battle is the Victoria Cross. +France gives her <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Médaille Militaire</i>; Germany, +her Iron Cross.</p> + +<p>There has been little need of war medals +in the United States, but with the entrance +of this country into the war Congress established +its medal of honor—called by its full +title, The Congressional Medal of Honor.</p> + +<p>This decoration is given only to those who +achieve an act of supreme courage, or, as +“General Orders” have it, to those who in +action “have fought with conspicuous gallantry +and intrepidity above and beyond the +call of duty.”</p> + +<p>Seventy-eight of the 1,200,000 men in the +A. E. F. received these awards. Fifty-seven +of this number were enlisted men, twenty-one +were officers. Nineteen awards were posthumous. +For every 15,400 soldiers who were +in action one received the Congressional +Medal.</p> + +<p>The best showing was made by the 30th +Division, the National Guard organization of +the Carolinas and Tennessee. Second honors +go to the 89th Division, which is the selective +draft unit of Western Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, +Colorado, South Dakota, and New +Mexico. The third largest is the 33rd or +National Guard Division of Illinois. Fourth +honors go to the famous 2nd Division of +Regulars, which includes the Marines, while +fifth place is shared by the two New York +divisions, the 27th and 77th. The list follows:</p> + + +<h3>1ST DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Colyer, Wilbur E., Sergeant</em>, Co. A, 1st Engineers, +1st Division, Ozone Park, L. I.—Verdun, +France, Oct. 9, 1918. Volunteering with two other +soldiers to locate machine-gun nests, Sergeant +Colyer advanced on the hostile positions to a +point where he was half surrounded by the nests, +which were in ambush. He killed the gunner of +one gun with a captured German grenade and +then turned this gun on the other nests, silencing +all of them before he returned to his platoon. He +was later killed in action.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Ellis, Michael B., Sergeant</em>, Co. C, 28th Infantry, +1st Division, East St. Louis, Ill.—Exermont, +France, Oct. 5, 1918. During the entire day’s +engagement he operated far in advance of the +first wave of his company, voluntarily undertaking +most dangerous missions and single-handed attacking +and reducing machine-gun nests. Flanking +one emplacement, he killed two of the enemy +with rifle fire and captured seventeen others. Later +he single-handed advanced under heavy fire and +captured twenty-seven prisoners, including two +officers and six machine guns, which had been +holding up the advance of the company. The +captured officers indicated the locations of four +other machine guns, and he in turn captured +these, together with their crews, at all times +showing marked heroism and fearlessness.</p> + + +<h3>2ND DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Bart, Frank J., Private</em>, Co. C, 9th Infantry, 2nd +Division, Newark, N. J.—Médéah Farm, France, +Oct. 3, 1918. Private Bart, being on duty as a +company runner, when the advance was held up +by machine-gun fire voluntarily picked up an +automatic rifle, ran out ahead of the line, and +silenced a hostile machine-gun nest, killing the +German gunners. The advance then continued, +and, when it was again hindered shortly afterward +by another machine-gun nest, this courageous +soldier repeated his bold exploit by putting +the second machine gun out of action.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Cukela, Louis, First Lieutenant</em>, 5th Regiment +Marines, 2nd Division, Minneapolis, Minn.—Villers-Cotterets, +France, July 18, 1918. When his +company, advancing through a wood, met with +strong resistance from an enemy strong point, +Lieutenant Cukela (then Sergeant) crawled out +from the flank and made his way toward the +German lines in the face of heavy fire, disregarding +the warnings of his comrades. He succeeded +in getting behind the enemy position and rushed +a machine-gun emplacement, killing or driving +off the crew with his bayonet. With German hand +grenades he then bombed out the remaining portion +of the strong point, capturing four men and +two damaged machine guns.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Hoffman, Charles F., Gunnery Sergeant</em>, 5th +Regiment Marines, Second Division, Brooklyn, N. +Y.—Château-Thierry, France, June 6, 1918. Immediately +after the company to which he belonged +had reached its objective on Hill 142, several +hostile counter-attacks were launched against the +line before the new position had been consolidated. +Sergeant Hoffman was attempting to organize a +position on the north slope of the hill when he +saw twelve of the enemy, armed with five light +machine guns, crawling toward his group. Giving +the alarm, he rushed the hostile detachment, +bayoneted the two leaders, and forced the others +to flee, abandoning their guns. His quick action, +initiative, and courage drove the enemy from a +position from which they could have swept the +hill with machine-gun fire and forced the withdrawal +of our troops.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Kocak, Matej, Sergeant</em>, Co. C, 5th Regiment +Marines, 2nd Division, Albany, N. Y.—Soissons, +France, July 18, 1918. When the advance of his +battalion was checked by a hidden machine-gun +nest he went forward alone, unprotected by covering +fire from his own men, and worked in +between the German position in the face of fire +from an enemy covering detachment. Locating +the machine-gun nest, he rushed it, and with +his bayonet drove off the crew. Shortly after +this he organized twenty-five French colonial +soldiers who had become separated from their +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</span>company, and led them in attacking another machine-gun +nest, which was also put out of action.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_389" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_389.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">American Troops on Parade in Paris on July 4, 1919</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Immediately after the ceremonies incident to the naming of the “Avenue du President Wilson.”</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Kelly, John Joseph, Private</em>, 6th Regiment +Marines, 2nd Division, Chicago, Ill.—Blanc Mont +Ridge, France, Oct. 3, 1918. Private Kelly ran +through our own barrage 100 yards in advance +of the front line, and attacked an enemy machine-gun +nest, killing the gunner with a grenade, +shooting another member of the crew with his +pistol, and returned through the barrage with +eight prisoners.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Van Iersal, Louis, Sergeant</em>, Co. M, 9th Infantry, +2nd Division, Newark, N. Y.—Mouzon, +France, Nov. 9, 1918. While a member of the +reconnoissance patrol sent out at night to ascertain +the condition of a damaged bridge, Sergeant +Van Iersal volunteered to lead a party across the +bridge in the face of heavy machine-gun and rifle +fire from a range of only 75 yards. Crawling +alone along the débris of the ruined bridge, he +came upon a trap, which gave away and precipitated +him into the water. In spite of the swift +current, he succeeded in swimming across the +stream, and found a lodging place among the +timbers on the opposite bank. Disregarding the +enemy fire, he made a careful investigation of +the hostile position by which the bridge was +defended and then returned to the other bank +of the river, reporting this valuable information +to the battalion commander.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Pruitt, John H., Corporal</em>, 78th Co., 6th Regiment +of Marines, 2nd Division, Phoenix, Ariz.—Blanc +Mont Ridge, France, Oct. 3, 1918. Corporal +Pruitt single-handed attacked two machine guns, +capturing them and killing two of the enemy. He +then captured forty prisoners in a dugout near +by. This gallant soldier was killed soon afterward +by shell fire while he was sniping at the +enemy.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_390" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_390.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">Made in France</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">American locomotive builders assembling an engine in shops behind the battle lines.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<h3>3RD DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Barkley, John L., Private, first class</em>, Company +K, 4th Infantry, 3rd Division, Blairstown, Mo.—Cunel, +France, Oct. 7, 1918. Private Barkley, +who was stationed in an observation post half a +kilometer from the German line, on his own +initiative repaired a captured enemy machine gun +and mounted it in a disabled French tank near +his post. Shortly afterward, when the enemy +launched a counter-attack against our forces, +Private Barkley got into the tank, waited under +the hostile barrage until the enemy line was +abreast of him, and then opened fire, completely +breaking up the counter-attack and killing and +wounding a large number of the enemy. Five +minutes later an enemy 77-millimeter gun opened +fire on the tank point blank. One shell struck +the driver wheel of the tank, but this soldier, +nevertheless, remained in the tank; and after the +barrage ceased broke up a second enemy counter-attack, +thereby enabling our forces to gain and +hold Hill 253.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Hays, George Price, First Lieutenant</em>, 10th +Field Artillery, 3rd Division, Okarchee, Okla.—Grèves +Farm, France, July 14-15, 1918. At the +very outset of the unprecedented artillery bombardment +by the enemy of July 14-15, 1918, his +line of communication was destroyed beyond repair. +Despite the hazard attached to the mission +of runner, he immediately set out to establish +contact with the neighboring post of command; +and, further established liaison with two French +batteries, visiting their position so frequently that +he was mainly responsible for the accurate fire +therefrom. While thus engaged, seven horses +were shot under him and he was severely wounded. +His activity, under most severe fire was an +important factor in checking the advance of the +enemy.</p> + + +<h3>5TH DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Allworth, Edward S., Captain</em>, 60th Infantry, +5th Division, Crawford, Wash.—Cléry-le-Petit, +France, Nov. 5, 1918. While his company was +crossing the Meuse River and Canal at a bridgehead +opposite Cléry-le-Petit, the bridge over the +canal was destroyed by shell fire and Captain +Allworth’s command became separated, part of +it being on the east bank of the canal and the +remainder on the west bank. Seeing his advance +units making slow headway up the steep slope +ahead, this officer mounted the canal bank and +called for his men to follow. Plunging in, he +swam across the canal under fire from the enemy, +followed by his men. Inspiring his men by his +example of gallantry, he led them up the slope, +joining his hard-pressed platoons in front. By +his personal leadership he forced the enemy back +for more than a kilometer, overcoming machine-gun +nests and capturing a hundred prisoners, +whose number exceeded that of the men in his +command. The exceptional courage and leadership +displayed by Captain Allworth made possible +the reëstablishment of a bridgehead over the +canal and the successful advance of other troops.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Woodfill, Samuel, First Lieutenant</em>, 60th Infantry, +5th Division, Fort Thomas, Ky.—Cunel, +France, Oct. 12, 1918. While he was leading his +company against the enemy his line came under +heavy machine-gun fire, which threatened to hold +up the advance. Followed by two soldiers at +25 yards, this officer went out ahead of his first +line toward a machine-gun nest and worked his +way around its flank, leaving the two soldiers in +front. When he got within 10 yards of the gun +it ceased firing, and four of the enemy appeared, +three of whom were shot by Lieutenant Woodfill. +The fourth, an officer, rushed at Lieutenant +Woodfill, who attempted to club the officer with +his rifle. After a hand-to-hand struggle, Lieutenant +Woodfill killed the officer with his pistol. +His company thereupon continued to advance +until shortly afterward another machine-gun nest +was encountered. Calling his men to follow, +Lieutenant Woodfill rushed ahead of his line in +the face of heavy fire from the nest; and when +several of the enemy appeared above the nest he +shot them, capturing three other members of the +crew and silencing the gun. A few minutes later +this officer for the third time demonstrated conspicuous +daring by charging another machine-gun +position, killing five men in one machine-gun pit +with his rifle. He then drew his revolver and +started to jump into the pit, when two other +gunners only a few yards away turned their gun +on him. Failing to kill them with his revolver, +he grabbed a pick lying near by and killed both +of them. Inspired by the exceptional courage +displayed by this officer, his men pressed on to +their objective under severe shell and machine-gun +fire.</p> + + +<h3>26TH DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Dilboy, George, Private, first class</em>, Co. H, 103rd +Infantry, 26th Division, Boston, Mass.—Belleau, +France, July 18, 1918. After his platoon had +gained its objective along a railroad embankment, +Private Dilboy, accompanying his platoon +leader to reconnoiter the ground beyond, was +suddenly fired upon by an enemy machine gun +from 100 yards. From a standing position on +the railroad track, fully exposed to view, he +opened fire at once, but, failing to silence the +gun, rushed forward with his bayonet fixed +through a wheat field toward the gun emplacement, +falling within twenty-five yards of the gun +with his right leg nearly severed above the knee +and with several bullet holes in his body. With +undaunted courage he continued to fire into the +emplacement from a prone position, killing two +of the enemy and dispersing the rest of the crew.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Perkins, Michael J., Private, first class</em>, Company +D, 101st Infantry, 26th Division, Boston, +Mass.—Belieu Bois, France, Oct. 27, 1918. He, +voluntarily and alone, crawled to a German “pillbox” +machine-gun emplacement, from which +grenades were being thrown at his platoon. +Awaiting his opportunity, when the door was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</span> +again opened and another grenade thrown, he +threw a bomb inside, bursting the door open; +and then, drawing his trench knife, rushed into +the emplacement. In a hand-to-hand struggle he +killed or wounded several of the occupants and +captured about twenty-five prisoners, at the same +time silencing seven machine guns.</p> + + +<h3>27TH DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Eggers, Alan Louis, Sergeant</em>, M. G. Company, +107th Infantry, 27th Division, Summit, N. J.—Le +Catelet, France, Sept. 29, 1918. Becoming separated +from their platoon by a smoke barrage, +Sergeant Eggers, Sergeant John C. Latham, and +Corporal Thomas E. O’Shea took cover in a +shell hole well within the enemy’s lines. Upon +hearing a call for help from an American tank +which had become disabled 30 yards from them, +the three soldiers left their shelter and started +toward the tank under heavy fire from German +machine guns and trench mortars. In crossing +the fire-swept area Corporal O’Shea was mortally +wounded; but his companions, undeterred, proceeded +to the tank, rescued a wounded officer, +and assisted two wounded soldiers to cover in a +sap of a nearby trench. Sergeant Eggers and Sergeant +Latham then returned to the tank in the +face of the violent fire, dismounted a Hotchkiss +gun, and took it back to where the wounded men +were, keeping off the enemy all day by effective +use of the gun, and later bringing it, with the +wounded men, back to our lines under cover of +darkness.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp85" id="i_b_392" style="max-width: 54.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_392.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">Two Officers of the United States Army Aviation Section, Lieutenant Morrow +and Lieutenant Holliday, making a flight in a Burgess Tractor.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Gaffney, Frank, Private, first class</em>, 108th Infantry, +27th Division, Lockport, N. Y.—Ronssoy, +France, Sept. 29, 1918. Private Gaffney, an automatic +rifleman, pushed forward alone with his +gun, after all the other members of his squad had +been killed, discovered several Germans placing +a heavy machine gun in position. He killed the +crew, captured the gun, bombed several dugouts, +and, after killing four more of the enemy with +his pistol, held the position until reinforcement +came up, when eighty prisoners were captured.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Latham, John Cridland, Sergeant</em>, M. G. Co., +107th Infantry, 27th Division, Westmoreland, +England.—Le Catelet, France, Sept. 29, 1918. Becoming +separated from their platoon by a smoke +barrage, Sergeant Latham, Sergeant Alan L. Eggers, +and Corporal Thomas E. O’Shea took cover +in a shell hole well within the enemy’s lines. +Upon hearing a call for help from an American +tank, which had become disabled thirty yards +from them, the three soldiers left their shelter +and started toward the tank under heavy fire +from German machine guns and trench mortars. +In crossing the fire-swept area Corporal O’Shea +was mortally wounded, but his companions, undeterred, +proceeded to the tank, rescued a +wounded officer, and assisted two wounded soldiers +to cover in the sap of a nearby trench. +Sergeant Latham and Sergeant Eggers then returned +to the tank, in the face of the violent fire, +dismounted a Hotchkiss gun, and took it back +to where the wounded men were, keeping off the +enemy all day by effective use of the gun and +later bringing it, with the wounded men, back to +our lines under cover of darkness.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Luke, Frank, Jr., Lieutenant</em>, 27th Aero Squadron, +Phoenix, Ariz.—Murvaux, France, Sept. 29, +1918. After having previously destroyed a number +of enemy aircraft within seventeen days, he +voluntarily started on a patrol after German observation +balloons. Though pursued by eight +German planes, which were protecting the enemy +balloon line, he unhesitatingly attacked and shot +down in flames three German balloons, being +himself under heavy fire from ground batteries +and the hostile planes. Severely wounded, he +descended to within fifty meters of the ground; +and flying at this low altitude near the town of +Murvaux, opened fire upon enemy troops, killing +six and wounding as many more. Forced to +make a landing and surrounded on all sides by +the enemy, who called upon him to surrender, +he drew his automatic pistol and defended himself +gallantly until he fell dead from a wound +in the chest.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>O’Shea, Thomas E., Corporal</em>, M. G. Co., 107th +Infantry, 27th Division, Summit, N. J.—Le +Catelet, France, Sept. 29, 1918. Becoming separated +from their platoon by a smoke barrage. +Corporal O’Shea, with two other soldiers, took +cover in a shell hole well within the enemy’s +lines. Upon hearing a call for help from an +American tank, which had become disabled thirty +yards from them, the three soldiers left their +shelter and started toward the tank under heavy +fire from German machine guns and trench mortars. +In crossing the fire-swept area Corporal +O’Shea was mortally wounded and died of his +wounds shortly afterward.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Waalker, Reider, Sergeant</em>, Co. A, 105th Infantry, +27th Division, Noretrand, Norway.—Ronssoy, +France, Sept. 27, 1918. In the face of +heavy artillery and machine-gun fire, he crawled +forward in a burning British tank in which some +of the crew were imprisoned, and succeeded in +rescuing two men. Although the tank was then +burning fiercely and contained ammunition which +was likely to explode at any time, this soldier +immediately returned to the tank, and, entering +it, made a search for the other occupants, remaining +until he satisfied himself that there were +no more living men in the tank.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Turner, William S., First Lieutenant</em>, 105th +Infantry, 27th Division, Dorchester, Mass.—Ronssoy, +France, Sept. 27th, 1918. He led a small +group of men to the attack, under terrific artillery +and machine-gun fire, after they had become +separated from the rest of the company +in the darkness. Single-handed he rushed an +enemy machine gun which had suddenly opened +fire on his group and killed the crew with his +pistol. He then pressed forward to another machine-gun +post, 25 yards away, and had killed +one gunner himself by the time the remainder +of his detachment arrived and put the gun out +of action. With the utmost bravery he continued +to lead his men over three lines of hostile +trenches, cleaning up each one as they advanced, +regardless of the fact that he had been wounded +three times, and killed several of the enemy in +hand-to-hand encounters. After his pistol ammunition +was exhausted, this gallant officer seized +the rifle of a dead soldier, bayoneted several +members of a machine-gun crew, and shot the +others. Upon reaching the fourth-line trench, +which was his objective, Lieutenant Turner captured +it with the nine men remaining in his group, +and resisted a hostile counter-attack until he was +finally surrounded and killed.</p> + + +<h3>28TH DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Mestrovitch, James I, Sergeant</em>, Co. C, 111th +Infantry, 28th Division, Fresno, Cal.—Fismette, +France, Aug. 10, 1918. Seeing his company commander +lying wounded thirty yards in front of +the line after his company had withdrawn to a +sheltered position behind a stone wall, Sergeant +Mestrovitch voluntarily left cover and crawled +through heavy machine-gun and shell-fire to +where the officer lay. He took the officer upon +his back and crawled back to a place of safety, +where he administered first-aid treatment, his +exceptional heroism saving the officer’s life.</p> +<br> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_394" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_394.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">“Listening In”</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">An American Signal Battalion outpost “listening in” on a suspicious wire somewhere in France. Complete telephone units +including women operators went over with the American troops.</p> +</figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + +<h3>29TH DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Costin, Henry G., Private</em>, Co. H, 115th Infantry, +29th Division, Cape Charles, Va.—Bois +de Consenvoye, France, Oct. 8, 1918. When the +advance of his platoon had been held up by +machine-gun fire and a request was made for +an automatic-rifle team to charge the nest, Private +Costin was the first to volunteer. Advancing +with his team under terrific fire of enemy artillery, +machine guns, and trench mortars, he continued +after all his comrades had become casualties, +and he himself had been seriously wounded. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</span>He operated his rifle until he collapsed. His +act resulted in the capture of about 100 prisoners +and several machine guns. He succumbed from +the effects of his wounds shortly after the accomplishment +of his heroic deed.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Gregory, Earl D., Sergeant</em>, H. Q. Co., 116th +Infantry, 29th Division, Chase City, Va.—Boise +de Consenvoye, north of Verdun, France, Oct. 8, +1918. With the remark, “I will get them,” Sergeant +Gregory seized a rifle and a trench-mortar +shell which he used as a hand grenade, left his +detachment of the trench-mortar platoon, and, +advancing ahead of the infantry, captured a machine +gun and three of the enemy. Advancing +still further from the machine-gun nest, he captured +a 7.5-centimeter mountain howitzer, and, +entering a dugout in the immediate vicinity, single-handed +captured nineteen of the enemy.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Regan, Patrick, Second Lieutenant</em>, 115th Infantry, +29th Division, Los Angeles, Cal.—Bois de +Consenvoye, France, Oct. 8, 1918. While leading +his platoon against a strong enemy machine-gun +nest which had held up the advance of two +companies, Lieut. Regan divided his men into +three groups, sending one group to either flank, +and he himself attacking with an automatic-rifle +team from the front. Two of the team were +killed outright, while Lieut. Regan and the third +man were seriously wounded, the latter unable +to advance. Although severely wounded, Lieut. +Regan dashed with empty pistol into the machine-gun +nest, capturing thirty Austrian gunners +and four machine guns. This gallant deed permitted +the companies to advance, avoiding a +terrific enemy fire. Despite his wounds, he continued +to lead his platoon forward until ordered +to the rear by his commanding officer.</p> + + +<h3>30TH DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Adkinson, Joseph B., Sergeant</em>, Co. C, 119th +Infantry, 30th Division, Atoka, Tenn.—Bellicourt, +France, Sept. 29, 1918. When murderous machine-gun +fire at a range of fifty yards had made +it impossible for his platoon to advance, and had +caused the platoon to take cover, Sergeant Adkinson +alone, with the greatest intrepidity, rushed +across the fifty yards of open ground directly +into the face of the hostile machine gun, kicked +the gun from the parapet into the enemy trench, +and at the point of the bayonet captured the +three men manning the gun. The gallantry and +quick decision of this soldier enabled the platoon +to resume its advance.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Blackwell, Robert L., Private</em>, 119th Infantry, +30th Division, Hurdles Mills, N. C.—Saint Souplet, +France, Oct. 11, 1918. When his platoon +was almost surrounded by the enemy and his +platoon commander asked for volunteers to carry +a message calling for reinforcements, Private +Blackwell volunteered for this mission, well +knowing the extreme danger connected with it. +In attempting to get through the heavy shell and +machine-gun fire this gallant soldier was killed.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Dozier, James C., First Lieutenant</em>, Co. G, 118th +Infantry, 30th Division, Rock Hill, S. C.—Montbrehain, +France, Oct. 8, 1918. In command of +two platoons, Lieutenant Dozier was painfully +wounded in the shoulder early in the attack, but +he continued to lead his men, displaying the highest +bravery and skill. When his command was +held up by heavy machine-gun fire he disposed +his men in the best cover available, and with a +soldier continued forward to attack a machine-gun +nest. Creeping up to the position in the +face of intense fire, he killed the entire crew with +hand grenades and his pistol; and a little +later captured a number of Germans who had +taken refuge in a dugout nearby.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Foster, Gary Evans, Sergeant</em>, Co. F, 118th +Infantry, 30th Division, Inman, S. C.—Montbrehain, +France, Oct. 8, 1918. When his company +was held up by violent machine-gun fire +from a sunken road Sergeant Foster, with an +officer, went forward to attack the hostile machine-gun +nests. The officer was wounded, but +Sergeant Foster continued on alone in the face +of heavy fire and by effective use of hand grenades +and his pistol killed several of the enemy +and captured eighteen.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Hall, Thomas Lee, Sergeant</em>, Co. G, 118th Infantry, +30th Division, Fort Hill, S. C.—Montbrehain, +France, Oct. 8, 1918. Having overcome +two machine-gun nests under his skillful leadership, +Sergeant Hall’s platoon was stopped 800 +yards from its final objective by machine-gun fire +of particular intensity. Ordering his men to +take cover in a sunken road, he advanced alone +on the enemy machine-gun post and killed five +members of the crew with his bayonet and +thereby made possible the further advance of the +line. While attacking another machine-gun nest +later in the day this gallant soldier was mortally +wounded.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Heriot, James D., Corporal</em>, Co. I, 118th Infantry, +30th Division, Providence, S. C.—Vaux-Andigny, +France, Oct. 12, 1918. Corporal Heriot, +with four other soldiers, organized a combat +group and attacked an enemy machine-gun nest +which had been inflicting heavy casualties on his +company. In the advance two of his men were +killed, and because of the heavy fire from all +sides the remaining two sought shelter. Unmindful +of the hazard attached to his mission, +Corporal Heriot, with fixed bayonet, alone +charged the machine gun, making his way through +the fire for a distance of thirty yards and forcing +the enemy to surrender. During his exploit he +received several wounds in the arm, and later in +the same day, while charging another nest, he +was killed.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Hilton, Richmond H., Sergeant</em>, Co. H, 118th +Infantry, 30th Division, Westville, S. C.—Brancourt, +France, Oct. 11, 1918. While Sergeant +Hilton’s company was advancing through the village +of Brancourt it was held up by intense<span class="pagenum" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</span> +enfilading fire from a machine gun. Discovering +that this fire came from a machine-gun nest +among shell holes at the edge of the town, Sergeant +Hilton, accompanied by a few other soldiers +but well in advance of them, pressed on +toward this position, firing with his rifle until his +ammunition was exhausted, and then with his +pistol killing six of the enemy and capturing ten. +In the course of this daring exploit he received +a wound from a bursting shell, which resulted +in the loss of his arm.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Karnes, James E., Sergeant</em>, Co. D, 117th Infantry, +30th Division, Knoxville, Tenn.—Estrées, +France, Oct. 8, 1918. During an advance his +company was held up by a machine gun which +was enfilading the line. Accompanied by another +soldier, he advanced against this position +and succeeded in reducing the nest by killing +three and capturing seven of the enemy and their +guns.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Lemert, Milo, First Sergeant</em>, Co. H, 119th +Infantry, 30th Division, Grossville, Tenn.—Bellicourt, +France, Sept. 29, 1918. Seeing that the +left flank of his company was held up, he located +the enemy machine-gun emplacement which +had been causing heavy casualties. In the face +of heavy fire he rushed it single-handed, killing +the entire crew with grenades. Continuing along +the enemy trench in advance of the company, he +reached another emplacement which he also +charged, silencing the gun with grenades. A +third machine-gun emplacement opened upon him +from the left, and, with similar skill and bravery, +he destroyed this also. Later, in company with +another sergeant, he attacked a fourth machine-gun +nest, being killed as he reached the parapet +of the emplacement. His courageous action in +destroying in turn four enemy machine-gun nests +prevented many casualties among his company +and very materially aided in achieving the objective.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Talley, Edward R., Sergeant</em>, Co. L, 117th Infantry, +30th Division, Russellville, Tenn.—Ponchaux, +France, Oct. 7, 1918. Undeterred by seeing +several comrades killed in attempting to put +a hostile machine-gun nest out of action, Sergeant +Talley attacked the position single-handed. +Armed only with a rifle, he rushed the nest in +the face of intense enemy fire, killed or wounded +at least six of the crew, and silenced the gun. +When the enemy attempted to bring forward +another gun and ammunition, he drove them back +by effective fire from his rifle.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Villepigue, John C., Corporal</em>, Co. M, 118th +Infantry, 30th Division, Camden, S. C.—Vaux-Andigny, +France, Oct. 15, 1918. Having been +sent out with two other soldiers to scout through +the village of Vaux-Andigny, he met with strong +resistance from enemy machine-gun fire, which +killed one of his men and wounded the other. +Continuing forward without aid, 500 yards in +advance of his platoon and in the face of enemy +machine-gun and artillery fire, he encountered +four of the enemy in a dugout, whom he attacked +and killed with a hand grenade. Crawling +forward to a point 150 yards in advance of +his first encounter, he rushed a machine-gun nest, +killing four and capturing six of the enemy and +taking two light machine guns. After being +joined by his platoon he was severely wounded +in the arm.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Ward, Calvin, Private</em>, Co. D, 117th Infantry, +30th Division, Morristown, Tenn.—Estrées, +France, Oct. 8, 1918. During an advance Private +Ward’s company was held up by a machine gun, +which was enfilading the line. Accompanied by +a non-commissioned officer, he advanced against +this post and succeeded in reducing the nest by +killing three and capturing seven of the enemy +and their guns.</p> + + +<h3>31ST DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Slack, Clayton K., Private</em>, Co. E, 124th Infantry, +31st Division, Lampson, Wis.—Consenvoye, +France, Oct. 8, 1918. Observing German +soldiers under cover fifty yards away on the left +flank, Private Slack, upon his own initiative, +rushed them with his rifle, and, single-handed, +captured ten prisoners and two heavy-type machine +guns, thus saving his company and neighboring +organizations from heavy casualties.</p> + + +<h3>33RD DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Allex, Jake, Corporal</em>, Co. H, 131st Infantry, +33rd Division, Chicago.—At Chipilly Ridge, +France, Aug. 9, 1918. At a critical point in the +action, when all the officers with his platoon +had become casualties, Corporal Allex took command +of the platoon and led it forward until the +advance was stopped by fire from a machine-gun +nest. He then advanced alone for about thirty +yards in the face of intense fire and attacked the +nest. With his bayonet he killed five of the +enemy, and when it was broken used the butt +end of his rifle, capturing fifteen prisoners.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Anderson, Johannes S., Sergeant</em>, Co. B, 132d +Infantry, 33rd Division, Chicago, Ill.—Consenvoye, +France, Oct. 8, 1918. While his company +was being held up by intense artillery and machine-gun +fire, Sergeant Anderson, without aid, +voluntarily left the company and worked his way +to the rear of the nest that was offering the +most stubborn resistance. His advance was made +through an open area and under constant hostile +fire; but the mission was successfully accomplished, +and he not only silenced the gun and +captured it, but also brought back with him +twenty-three prisoners.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Gumpertz, Sydney G., First Sergeant</em>, Co. E, +132nd Infantry, 33rd Division, New York City.—Bois +de Forges, France, Sept. 26, 1918. When +the advancing line was held up by machine-gun +fire, Sergeant Gumpertz left the platoon of which +he was in command, and started with two other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</span> +soldiers through a heavy barrage toward the +machine-gun nest. His two companions soon became +casualties from bursting shell, but Sergeant +Gumpertz continued on alone in the face +of direct fire from the machine gun, jumped into +the nest and silenced the gun, capturing nine of +the crew.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Hill, Ralyn, Corporal</em>, Co. H, 129th Infantry, +33rd Division, Oregon, Ill.—Dannevoux, France, +Oct. 7, 1918. Seeing a French aeroplane fall out +of control on the enemy side of the Meuse River +with its pilot injured, Corporal Hill voluntarily +dashed across the footbridge to the side of the +wounded man, and, taking him on his back, +started back to his lines. During the entire +exploit he was subjected to murderous fire of +enemy machine guns and artillery, but he successfully +accomplished his mission and brought +his man to a place of safety, a distance of several +hundred yards.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Loman, Berger, Private</em>, Co. H, 132nd Infantry, +33rd Division, Chicago.—Consenvoye, France, Oct. +9, 1918. When his company had reached a point +within 100 yards of its objective, to which it +was advancing under terrific machine-gun fire, +Private Loman, voluntarily and unaided, made +his way forward, after all others had taken +shelter from the direct fire of an enemy machine +gun. He crawled to a flank position of the gun, +and, after killing or capturing the entire crew, +turned the machine gun on the retreating enemy.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Mallon, George H., Captain</em>, 132nd Infantry, +33rd Division, Kansas City, Mo.—Bois de Forges, +France, Sept. 26, 1918. Becoming separated from +the balance of his company because of a fog, +Captain Mallon, with nine soldiers, pushed forward +and attacked nine active hostile machine +guns, capturing all of them without the loss of +a man. Continuing on through the woods, he +led his men in attacking a battery of four 155-millimeter +howitzers, which were in action, rushing +the position and capturing the battery and +its crew. In this encounter Captain Mallon personally +attacked one of the enemy with his fists. +Later, when the party came upon two more machine +guns, this officer sent men to the flanks +while he rushed forward directly in the face +of the fire and silenced the guns, being the first +one of the party to reach the nest. The exceptional +gallantry and determination displayed +by Captain Mallon resulted in the capture of +100 prisoners, eleven machine guns, four 155-millimeter +howitzers, and one anti-aircraft gun.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Pope, Thomas A., Corporal</em>, Co. E, 131st Infantry, +33rd Division, Chicago.—Hamel, France, +July 4, 1918. His company was advancing behind +the tanks when it was halted by hostile machine-gun +fire. Going forward alone, he rushed a +machine-gun nest, killed several of the crew with +his bayonet, and, standing astride of his gun, +held off the others until reinforcements arrived +and captured them.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Sandlin, Willie, Private</em>, Co. A, 132nd Infantry, +33rd Division, Hayden, Ky.—Bois de Forges, +France, Sept. 26, 1918. He showed conspicuous +gallantry in action by advancing alone directly +on a machine-gun nest which was holding up +the line with its fire. He killed the crew with +a grenade and enabled the line to advance. Later +in the day he attacked alone and put out of +action two other machine-gun nests, setting a +splendid example of bravery and coolness to his +comrades.</p> + + +<h3>35TH DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Skinker, Alexander R., Captain</em>, 138th Infantry, +35th Division, St. Louis, Mo.—Cheppy, France, +Sept. 26, 1918. Unwilling to sacrifice his men +when his company was held up by terrific machine-gun +fire from iron “pill boxes” in the +Hindenburg line, Captain Skinker personally led +an automatic rifleman and a carrier in an attack +on the machine guns. The carrier was killed +instantly, but Captain Skinker seized the ammunition +and continued through an opening in +the barbed wire, feeding the automatic rifle until +he, too, was killed.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Wold, Nels, Private</em>, Co. I, 138th Infantry, 35th +Division, McIntosh, Minn.—Cheppy, France, +Sept. 26, 1918. He rendered most gallant service +in aiding the advance of his company, which had +been held up by machine-gun nests, advancing +with one other soldier and silencing the guns, +bringing with him upon his return eleven prisoners. +Later the same day he jumped from a +trench and rescued a comrade who was about +to be shot by a German officer, killing the officer +during the exploit. His actions were entirely +voluntary, and it was while attempting to rush +a fifth machine-gun nest that he was killed. The +advance of his company was mainly due to his +great courage and devotion to duty.</p> + + +<h3>36TH DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Sampler, Samuel H., Sergeant</em>, Co. M, 142nd +Infantry, 36th Division, Mangum, Okla.—St. +Etienne, France, Oct. 8, 1918. His company having +suffered severe casualties during an advance +under machine-gun fire, was finally stopped. +Sergeant Sampler, then a Corporal, detected the +position of the enemy machine guns on an elevation. +Armed with German hand grenades, +which he had picked up, he left the line and +rushed forward in the face of heavy fire until +he was near the hostile nest, where he grenaded +the position. His third grenade landed among +the enemy, killing two, silencing the machine +guns and causing the surrender of twenty-eight +Germans, whom he sent to the rear as prisoners. +As a result of his act the company was immediately +enabled to resume the advance.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Turner, Harold L., Corporal</em>, Co. F, 142nd Infantry, +36th Division, Seminole, Okla.—St. +Etienne, France, Oct. 8, 1918. After his platoon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</span> +had started the attack, Corporal Turner assisted +in organizing a platoon consisting of the battalion +scouts, runners, and a detachment of the +Signal Corps. As second in command of this +platoon, he fearlessly led them forward through +heavy enemy fire, continually encouraging the +men. Later he encountered deadly machine-gun +fire which reduced the strength of his command +to but four men, and these were obliged to take +shelter. The enemy machine-gun emplacement, +twenty-five yards distant, kept up a continual fire +from four machine guns. After the fire had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</span>shifted momentarily, Corporal Turner rushed +forward with fixed bayonet and charged the +position alone, capturing the strong point, with +a complement of fifty Germans and four machine +guns. His remarkable display of courage and +fearlessness was instrumental in destroying the +strong point, the fire from which had blocked +the advance of his company.</p> +<br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_b_398" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b_398.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center no-indent fs120">American Troops at the Double-Quick</p> + +<p class="center no-indent fs80">This picture shows our boys charging on snow-covered ground.</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<br> + + +<h3>42ND DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Manning, Sidney E., Corporal</em>, Co. C, 167th +Infantry, 42nd Division, Flomaton, Ala.—Breuvannes, +France, July 28, 1918. When his platoon +commander and platoon sergeant had both become +casualties soon after the beginning of an +assault on strongly fortified heights overlooking +the Ourcq River, Corporal Manning took command +of his platoon, which was near the center +of the attacking line. Though himself severely +wounded, he led forward the thirty-five men remaining +in the platoon, and finally succeeded in +gaining a foothold on enemy position, during +which time he had received more wounds, and +all but seven of his men had fallen. Directing +the consolidation of the position, he held off a +large body of the enemy only fifty yards away +by fire from his automatic rifle. He declined +to take cover until the line had been entirely +consolidated with the line of the platoon on the +flank, when he dragged himself to shelter, suffering +from nine wounds in all parts of the body.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Neibaur, Thomas C., Private</em>, Co. M, 167th +Infantry, 42nd Division, Sumner City, Idaho.—Landers, +St. Georges, France, Oct. 16, 1918. On +the afternoon of Oct. 16, 1918, when the Côte de +Chatillon had just been gained after bitter fighting +and the summit of that strong bulwark in +the Kriemhilde Stellung was being organized, +Private Neibaur was sent out on patrol with +his automatic-rifle squad to enfilade enemy machine-gun +nests. As he gained the ridge he set +up his automatic rifle and was directly thereafter +wounded in both legs by fire from a hostile +machine gun on his flank. The advance wave of +the enemy troops counter-attacking had about +gained the ridge; and, although practically cut +off and surrounded, the remainder of his detachment +being killed or wounded, this gallant soldier +kept his automatic rifle in operation to such +effect that by his own efforts and by fire from +the skirmish line of his company, at least 100 +yards in his rear, the attack was checked. The +enemy wave being halted and lying prone, four +of the enemy attacked Private Neibaur at close +quarters. These he killed. He then moved along +among the enemy lying on the ground about +him. In the midst of the fire from his own lines, +and by coolness and gallantry, he captured eleven +prisoners at the point of his pistol, and, although +painfully wounded, brought them back +to our lines. The counter-attack in full force +was arrested, to a large extent, by the single +efforts of this soldier, whose heroic exploits took +place against the sky line in full view of his +entire battalion.</p> + + +<h3>77TH DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Kaufman, Benjamin, First Sergeant</em>, Co. K, +308th Infantry, 77th Division, Brooklyn, N. Y.—Forest +d’Argonne, France, Oct. 4, 1918. He took +out a patrol for the purpose of attacking an +enemy machine gun which had checked the advance +of his company. Before reaching the gun +he became separated from his patrol, and a machine-gun +bullet shattered his right arm. Without +hesitation he advanced on the gun alone, +throwing grenades with his left hand and charging +with an empty pistol, taking one prisoner and +scattering the crew, bringing the gun and prisoner +back to the first-aid station.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>McMurtry, George G., Captain</em>, 308th Infantry, +77th Division, New York City.—Forest d’Argonne, +France, Oct. 2-8, 1918. Captain McMurtry +commanded a battalion which was cut off +and surrounded by the enemy; and, although +wounded in the knee by shrapnel on Oct. 4th and +suffering great pain, he continued throughout +the entire period to encourage his officers and +men with a resistless optimism that contributed +largely toward preventing panic and disorder +among the troops who, without food, were cut +off from communication with our lines. On Oct. +4th, during a heavy barrage, he personally directed +and supervised the moving of the wounded +to shelter before himself seeking shelter. On +Oct. 6th, he was again wounded in the shoulder +by a German grenade, but continued personally +to organize and direct the defense against the +German attack on the position until the attack +was defeated. He continued to direct and command +his troops, refusing relief, and after assistance +arrived personally led his men out of +the position before permitting himself to be +taken to the hospital on Oct. 8th. During this +period the successful defense of the position was +due largely to his efforts.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Miles, L. Wardlaw, Captain</em>, 308th Infantry, +77th Division, Princeton, N. J.—Révillon, France, +Sept. 14, 1918. Captain Miles volunteered to +lead his company in a hazardous attack on a +commanding trench position near the Aisne +Canal, which other troops had previously attempted +to take without success. His company +immediately met with intense machine-gun fire, +against which it had no artillery assistance, but +Captain Miles preceded the first wave and assisted +in cutting a passage through the enemy’s +wire entanglements. In so doing he was wounded +five times by machine-gun bullets, both legs +and one arm being fractured, whereupon he +ordered himself placed on a stretcher and had +himself carried forward to the enemy trench in +order that he might encourage and direct his +company, which by this time had suffered numerous +casualties. Under the inspiration of this +officer’s indomitable spirit his men held the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</span> +hostile position and consolidated the front line +after an action lasting two hours, at the conclusion +of which Captain Miles was carried to +the aid station against his will.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Peck, Archie A., Private</em>, Co. A, 307th Infantry, +77th Division, Hornell, N. Y.—Forest d’Argonne, +France, Oct. 6, 1918. While engaged with two +other soldiers on patrol duty he and his comrades +were subjected to the direct fire of an enemy +machine gun, at which time both his companions +were wounded. Returning to his company, he +obtained another soldier to accompany him to +assist in bringing in the wounded men. His +assistant was killed in the exploit, but he continued +on, twice returning, and safely bringing +in both men, being under terrific machine-gun +fire during the entire journey.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Smith, Frederick E., Lieutenant Colonel</em>, 308th +Infantry, 77th Division, Portland, Ore.—Binarville, +France, Sept. 28, 1918. When communication +from the forward regimental post of command +to the battalion leading the advance had +been interrupted temporarily by the infiltration +of small parties of the enemy armed with machine +guns, Lieut. Col. Smith personally led a +party of two other officers and ten soldiers, and +went forward to re-establish runner posts and +carry ammunition to the front line. The guide +became confused and the party strayed to the +left flank beyond the outposts of supporting +troops, suddenly coming under fire from a group +of enemy machine guns only fifty yards away. +Shouting to the other members of his party to +take cover, this officer, in disregard of his own +danger, drew his pistol and opened fire on the +German gun crew. About this time he fell, severely +wounded in the side; but, regaining his +footing, he continued to fire on the enemy until +most of the men in his party were out of danger. +Refusing first-aid treatment, he then made his +way in plain view of the enemy to a hand +grenade dump and returned under continued +heavy machine-gun fire for the purpose of making +another attack on the enemy emplacements. +As he was attempting to ascertain the exact +location of the nearest nest, he again fell, mortally +wounded.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Whittlesey, Charles W., Lieutenant Colonel</em>, +308th Infantry, 77th Division, Pittsfield, Mass.—Binarville, +in the Forest d’ Argonne, France, +Oct. 2-7, 1918. Although cut off for five days +from the remainder of his division, Major Whittlesey +maintained his position which he had +reached under orders received for an advance; +and held his command, consisting originally of +463 officers and men of the 308th Infantry and +of Company K of the 307th Infantry together, +in the face of superior numbers of the enemy +during the five days. Major Whittlesey and his +command were thus cut off, and no rations or +other supplies reached him, in spite of determined +efforts which were made by his division. +On the fourth day Major Whittlesey received +from the enemy a written proposition to surrender, +which he treated with contempt, although +he was at that time out of rations and had suffered +a loss of about 50 percent. in killed and +wounded of his command and was surrounded +by the enemy.</p> + + +<h3>78TH DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Sawelson, William, Sergeant</em>, Co. —, 312th +Infantry, 78th Division, Harrison, N. J.—Grandpré, +France, Oct. 26, 1918. Hearing a wounded +man in a shell hole some distance away calling +for water, Sergeant Sawelson, upon his own +initiative, left shelter and crawled through heavy +machine-gun fire to where the man lay, giving +him what water he had in his canteen. He then +went back to his own shell hole, obtained more +water and was returning to the wounded man +when he was killed by a machine-gun bullet.</p> + + +<h3>82ND DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Pike, Emory J., Lieutenant Colonel</em>, Division +Machine Gun Officer, 82nd Division, Des Moines, +Iowa.—Vandières, France, Sept. 15, 1918. Having +gone forward to reconnoiter new machine-gun +positions, Colonel Pike offered his assistance +in reorganizing advance infantry units, which +had become disorganized during a heavy artillery +shelling. He succeeded in locating only about +twenty men, but with these he advanced; and +when later joined by several infantry platoons +rendered inestimable service in establishing outposts, +encouraging all by his cheeriness, in spite +of the extreme danger of the situation. When +a shell had wounded one of the men in the outpost, +Colonel Pike immediately went to his aid +and was severely wounded himself when another +shell burst in the same place. While waiting +to be brought to the rear, Colonel Pike continued +in command, still retaining his jovial manner +of encouragement, directing the reorganization +until the position could be held. The entire +operation was carried on under terrific bombardment; +and the example of courage and devotion +to duty, as set by Colonel Pike, established the +highest standard of morale and confidence to all +under his charge. The wounds he received were +the cause of his death.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>York, Alvin C., Sergeant</em>, Co. G, 328th Infantry, +82nd Division, Pall Mall, Tenn.—Châtel-Chéhéry, +France, Oct. 8, 1918. After his platoon had suffered +heavy casualties and three other non-commissioned +officers had become casualties, Corporal +York assumed command. Fearlessly leading +seven men, he charged, with great daring, a +machine-gun nest which was pouring deadly and +incessant fire upon his platoon. In this heroic +feat the machine-gun nest was taken, together +with four officers and 128 men and several guns.</p> + + +<h3>89TH DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Barger, Charles D., Private, first class</em>, Co. L, +354th Infantry, 89th Division, Stotts City, Mo.—Bois<span class="pagenum" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</span> +de Bantheville, France, Oct. 31, 1918. Learning +that two daylight patrols had been caught out +in No Man’s Land and were unable to return, +Private Barger and another stretcher bearer, upon +their own initiative, made two trips 500 yards +beyond our lines, under constant machine-gun fire, +and rescued two wounded officers.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Barkeley, David B., Private</em>, Co. A, 356 Infantry, +89th Division, San Antonio, Texas.—Pouilly, +France, Nov. 9, 1918. When information +was desired as to the enemy’s position on +the opposite side of the River Meuse, Private +Barkeley, with another soldier, volunteered without +hesitation and swam the river to reconnoiter +the exact location. He succeeded in reaching the +opposite bank, despite the evident determination +of the enemy to prevent a crossing. Having obtained +his information, he again entered the water +for his return, but before his goal was reached +he was seized with cramps and drowned.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Chiles, Marcellus H., Captain</em>, 356th Infantry, +89th Division, Denver, Col.—Le Champy-Bas, +France, Nov. 3, 1918. When his battalion, of +which he had just taken command, was halted +by machine-gun fire from the front and left flank +he picked up the rifle of a dead soldier and, +calling on his men to follow, led the advance +across a stream, waist deep, in the face of the +machine-gun fire. Upon reaching the opposite +bank this gallant officer was seriously wounded +in the abdomen by a sniper; but before permitting +himself to be evacuated he made complete arrangements +for turning over his command to +the next senior officer; and under the inspiration +of his fearless leadership his battalion reached +its objective. Captain Chiles died shortly after +reaching the hospital.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Forrest, Arthur J., Sergeant</em>, Co. D, 354th Infantry, +89th Division, Hannibal, Mo.—Rémonville, +France, Nov. 1, 1918. When the advance of his +company was stopped by bursts of fire from a +nest of six enemy machine guns, he worked his +way single-handed without being discovered to +a point within fifty yards of the machine-gun +nest. Charging, single-handed, he drove out the +enemy in disorder, thereby protecting the advance +platoon from annihilating fire, and permitting the +resumption of the advance of his company.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Funk, Jesse N., Private, first class</em>, 354th Infantry, +89th Division, Calnan, Col.—Bois de +Bantheville, France, Oct. 31, 1918. Learning that +two daylight patrols had been caught out in No +Man’s Land and were unable to return, Private +Funk and another stretcher bearer, upon their +own initiative, made two trips 500 yards beyond +our lines, under constant machine-gun fire, and +rescued two wounded officers.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Furlong, Richard A., First Lieutenant</em>, 353rd Infantry, +89th Division, Detroit, Mich.—Bantheville, +France, Nov. 1, 1918. Immediately after the +opening of the attack in the Bois de Bantheville, +when his company was held up by severe machine-gun +fire from the front, which killed his +company commander and several soldiers, Lieutenant +Furlong moved out in advance of the line +with great courage and coolness, crossing an +open space several hundred yards wide. Taking +up a position behind the line of machine guns, +he closed in on them, one at a time, killing a +number of the enemy with his rifle, putting four +machine-gun nests out of action, and driving +twenty German prisoners into our lines.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Hatler, M. Waldo, Sergeant</em>, Co. B, 356th Infantry, +89th Division, Neosho, Mo.—Pouilly, +France, Nov. 8, 1918. When volunteers were +called for to secure information as to the enemy’s +position on the opposite bank of the Meuse River, +Sergeant Hatler was the first to offer his services +for this dangerous mission. Swimming across +the river, he succeeded in reaching the German +lines after another soldier who had started with +him had been seized with cramps and drowned +in midstream. Alone he carefully and courageously +reconnoitered the enemy’s positions, which +were held in force, and again successfully swam +the river, bringing back information of great +value.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Johnston, Harold I., Sergeant</em>, Co. A, 356th Infantry, +89th Division, Denver, Col.—Pouilly, +France, Nov. 9, 1918. When information was desired +as to the enemy’s position on the opposite +side of the River Meuse, Sergeant Johnston, with +another soldier, volunteered without hesitation +and swam the river to reconnoiter the exact +location of the enemy. He succeeded in reaching +the opposite bank, despite the evident determination +of the enemy to prevent a crossing. +Having obtained his information, he again entered +the water for his return. This was accomplished +after a severe struggle, which so exhausted +him that he had to be assisted from the +water, after which he rendered his report of the +exploit.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Wickersham, J. Hunter, Second Lieutenant</em>, +353rd Infantry, 89th Division, Denver, Col.—Limey, +France, Sept. 12, 1918. Advancing with +his platoon during the St. Mihiel offensive, he +was severely wounded in four places by the +bursting of a high-explosive shell. Before receiving +any aid for himself he dressed the wounds +of his orderly who was wounded at the same time. +Then, although weakened by the loss of blood, +he ordered and accompanied the further advance +of his platoon. His right hand and arm being +disabled by wounds, he continued to fire his revolver +with his left hand, until, exhausted by +loss of blood, he fell and died from his wounds +before aid could be administered.</p> + + +<h3>91ST DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Katz, Philip C., Sergeant</em>, Co. C, 363rd Infantry, +91st Division, San Francisco, Cal.—Eclis-fontaine, +France, Sept. 26, 1918. After his company<span class="pagenum" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</span> +had withdrawn for a distance of 200 yards +on a line with the units on its flanks, Sergeant +Katz learned that one of his comrades had been +left wounded in an exposed position at the point +from which the withdrawal had taken place. +Voluntarily crossing an area swept by heavy machine-gun +fire, he advanced to where the wounded +soldier lay and carried him to a place of safety.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Miller, Oscar F., Major</em>, 361st Infantry, 91st Division, +Los Angeles, Cal.—Gesnes, France, Sept. +28, 1918. After two days of intense physical and +mental strain, during which Major Miller had +led his battalion in the front line of the advance +through the forest of Argonne, the enemy was +met in a prepared position south of Gesnes. +Though almost exhausted, he energetically reorganized +his battalion and ordered an attack. +Upon reaching open ground, the advancing line +began to waver in the face of machine-gun fire +from the front and flanks, and direct artillery +fire. Personally leading his command group +forward between his front line companies, Major +Miller inspired his men by his personal courage; +and they again pressed on toward the hostile +position. As this officer led the renewed attack +he was shot in the right leg, but he nevertheless +staggered forward at the head of his command. +Soon afterward he was again shot in the right +arm, but he continued the charge, personally +cheering his troops on through the heavy machine-gun +fire. Just before the objective was +reached he received a wound in the abdomen +which forced him to the ground, but he continued +to urge his men on, telling them to push +on to the next ridge and leave him where he +lay. He died from his wounds a few days later.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Seibert, Lloyd M., Sergeant</em>, Co. F., 364th Infantry, +91st Division, Salinas, Cal.—Epinonville, +France, Sept. 26, 1918. Suffering from illness, +Sergeant Seibert remained with his platoon and +led his men with the highest courage and leadership +under heavy shell and machine-gun fire. +With two other soldiers he charged a machine-gun +emplacement in advance of their company, +he himself killing one of the enemy with a shotgun +and captured two others. In this encounter +he was wounded, but he nevertheless continued +in action; and when a withdrawal was ordered +he returned with the last unit, assisting a wounded +comrade. Later in the evening he volunteered +and carried in wounded until he fainted from +exhaustion.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>West, Chester H., First Sergeant</em>, Co. D, 363rd +Infantry, 91st Division, Idaho, Falls, Idaho.—Bois +de Cheppy, France, Sept. 26, 1918. While +making his way through a thick fog with his +automatic-rifle section, his advance was halted +by direct and unusual machine-gun fire from +two guns. Without aid he at once dashed through +the fire, and attacking the nest killed two of the +gunners, one of whom was an officer. This +prompt and decisive hand-to-hand encounter on +his part enabled his company to advance further +without the loss of a man.</p> + + +<h3>93RD DIVISION</h3> + +<p><em>Robb, George S., First Lieutenant</em>, 369th Infantry, +93rd Division, Saline, Kan.—Séchault, +France, Sept 29-30, 1918. While leading his +platoon in the assault on Séchault, Lieutenant +Robb was severely wounded by machine-gun fire; +but rather than go to the rear for proper treatment +he remained with his platoon until ordered +to the dressing station by his commanding officer. +Returning within forty-five minutes, he remained +on duty throughout the entire night, inspecting +his lines and establishing outposts. Early the +next morning he was again wounded, once again +displaying his remarkable devotion to duty by +remaining in command of his platoon. Later the +same day a bursting shell added two more +wounds, the same shell killing his commanding +officer and two officers of his company. He +then assumed command of the company and organized +its position in the trenches. Displaying +wonderful courage and tenacity at the critical +times, he was the only officer of his battalion +who advanced beyond the town; and by clearing +machine-gun and sniping posts, contributed largely +to the aid of his battalion in holding their +objective. His example of bravery and fortitude +and his eagerness to continue with his mission +despite severe wounds set before the enlisted +men of his command a most wonderful standard +of morale and self-sacrifice.</p> + + +<h3>TANK CORPS</h3> + +<p><em>Call, Donald M., Second Lieutenant</em>, Tank Corps, +Larchmont, N. Y.—Varennes, France, Sept. 26, +1918. During an operation against enemy machine-gun +nests west of Varennes, Lieutenant +Call, then Corporal, was in a tank with an officer, +when half of the turret was knocked off by a +direct artillery hit. Choked by gas from the +high-explosive shell, he left the tank and took +cover in a shell hole thirty yards away. Seeing +that the officer did not follow, and thinking that +he might be alive, Corporal Call returned to +the tank under intense machine-gun and shell +fire and carried the officer over a mile under +machine-gun and sniper fire to safety.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p><em>Roberts, Garold W., Corporal</em>, Tank Corps, +San Francisco, Cal.—Montrebeau Woods, France, +Oct. 4, 1918. Corporal Roberts, a tank driver, +was moving his tank into a clump of bushes to +afford protection to another tank which had +become disabled. The tank slid into a shell hole +ten feet deep and filled with water, and was +immediately submerged. Knowing that only one +of the two men in the tank could escape, Corporal +Roberts said to the gunner, “Well, only +one of us can get out, and out you go.” Whereupon +he pushed his companion through the back +door of the tank and was himself drowned.</p> +<br> + + +<div class="transnote"> +<h2 class="bold fs120">Transcriber’s Notes</h2> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">pg 37 Changed:</td> +<td class="tdl">They let go their ammuntion belts</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">to:</td> +<td class="tdl">They let go their ammunition belts</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">pg 50 Changed:</td> +<td class="tdl">Colonel Montgomery commandered General O’Ryan’s racing car</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">to:</td> +<td class="tdl">Colonel Montgomery commandeered General O’Ryan’s racing car</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">pg 64 Changed:</td> +<td class="tdl">generally understod among us brothers</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">to:</td> +<td class="tdl">generally understood among us brothers</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">pg 75 Changed:</td> +<td class="tdl">The comandming officer of the 32nd</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">to:</td> +<td class="tdl">The commanding officer of the 32nd</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">pg 78 Changed:</td> +<td class="tdl">into the French capital were greeted with enthsuiasm</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">to:</td> +<td class="tdl">into the French capital were greeted with enthusiasm</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">pg 82 Changed:</td> +<td class="tdl">Had is done what had been intended</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">to:</td> +<td class="tdl">Had it done what had been intended</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">pg 106 Changed:</td> +<td class="tdl">a fierce bombardment from the enemy’s adtillery</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">to:</td> +<td class="tdl">a fierce bombardment from the enemy’s artillery</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">pg 127 Changed:</td> +<td class="tdl">I could not restrtain myself any longer</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">to:</td> +<td class="tdl">I could not restrain myself any longer</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">pg 277 Changed:</td> +<td class="tdl">picked up 156 offcers and men</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">to:</td> +<td class="tdl">picked up 156 officers and men</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">pg 309 Changed:</td> +<td class="tdl">Involntarily, without the smallest intention of quitting</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">to:</td> +<td class="tdl">Involuntarily, without the smallest intention of quitting</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">pg 345 Changed:</td> +<td class="tdl">(an offishoot of the National German-American Alliance)</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">to:</td> +<td class="tdl">(an offshoot of the National German-American Alliance)</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">pg 383 Changed:</td> +<td class="tdl">awaited the second shock we knew would some</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">to:</td> +<td class="tdl">awaited the second shock we knew would come</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">pg 390 Changed:</td> +<td class="tdl">further established liason with two French batteries</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">to:</td> +<td class="tdl">further established liaison with two French batteries</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75487 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/75487-h/images/cover.jpg b/75487-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..42c1d2c --- /dev/null +++ b/75487-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/75487-h/images/i_a_frontispiece.jpg b/75487-h/images/i_a_frontispiece.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fa3691b --- /dev/null +++ b/75487-h/images/i_a_frontispiece.jpg diff --git a/75487-h/images/i_a_half-title.jpg b/75487-h/images/i_a_half-title.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e29b14a --- /dev/null +++ b/75487-h/images/i_a_half-title.jpg diff --git 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