Show POWER TO I 1 SLEEP LUST LOST TO BRITISH REGIMENT AFTER WEEKS OF FIGHTING london the english regiment that cannot sleep the men with nerves so BO racked by the struggle in t the Ar trenches artenches on the alane that they cannot bring themselves to go to bed la Is tho the grimmest grimmeit grim spectacle I 1 havo have met in this war I 1 spent a night and a day dar with these men and left them rather hysterical myself only a tow few ago wo we parted company and still it aeoma to me like a bad dream rom from which it is a hard to wake this regiment in ent to is made up tip almost entirely of 0 welshmen Welsh men and has one of the finest records it was visited and congratulated by F field eld marshal french it has been mentioned in off official leial dispatches pa aches for bravery and now it Is pay ing the price cool under fire tho the men did not begin to break until after the tenseness had passed so ion long g a as a they were under tinder fire they were cool and in command of themselves R dut but tho the position they held was so exposed to fire that the they r had biever LL a moments rest and after a month when they were ordered back they went to pieces I 1 hatt hail spent the night before within a m allo ile of them when I 1 turned south front from tho the alone after a night in the tren trenches chei I 1 took refuge at a farm on a rich that borders the river it Is a big establishment employing tie cozens zens or of men tit at ordinary times limes and tho the h house ouse itself Is built on oil a quadrangle by feet feel it was almost big enough to shelter a regiment english captain appears the owner and tits hla son aon aro are in the army and the only persons persona there are two old women an old man an and d a girt they took me in rave gave roe me a good dinner and wo we wore were sitting around an open fire when a bell on the great door to the courtyard rang we WB went out to find a tall english captain and six sergeants the captain explained that ho he had been sent ahead to find billets tor for tits his regiment which had been relieved relle vod by french troops ile ho spoke in it a rapid nervous way and the six sergeants boomed strangely Ild gety I 1 acted as interpreter and assured them that the farni carpi could shelter three compan companies lea and that a farm two kilometers farther on could take care of the rest leaving three sergeants the captain and the other three and I 1 went on to the ha other farm and art an caged for or billets there two sergeants remained Mal bained ried one returned n with us and took the road back into the lines to show tho the approaching regiment the way places place for SI six hundred all this time I 1 kept not leing now how nervous all these men wore were but it was not until I 1 went into the comfortable for table hall ot of tho the farm again that I 1 noticed how bad it was I 1 had arranged tor for them to go to bed but I 1 could abot OX indaco to do so the sergeants prepared places for men gmt all night they kept knocking about with lanterns there were beds for all they admitted they had not seen beds tor for six weeks and they a desire to got get into them tint but did not i i the tha captain wits was the worst example I 1 saw BV of a strong man going so completely to pieces lie stood 6 feet 3 inches and weighed about two hun arsta pounds in bones and sinew one 0 of the best types of englishmen I 1 kew by his type that he by habit and ws reserved but his tongue was vaa loosened and ho he talked for or hours houra I 1 was learning astonishing things but tried many times almea to get wm to go to bed out but he would not sven oven take off his shoes lie ile said ho be could sleep better in ar an armchair before the fire and in tho the end he never closed his eyes story of leader I 1 had not slept the night before and about two in the morning fell ell into a heavy sleep waking at nearly four boock ile ho was sitting wide eyed staring at the lire fire and smoking A few minutes later others camo came in the captain said sleep low how could we alt ting tense all night in the trenches knowing that the germans were less lees than one ona hundred yards away and wet wore watching every moment for an opportunity to overrun us even in thadas wo we had to lie just behind our trenches always alert sleeping halt bait an hour at a time waked by rifles on either side and aad knowing that the country was filled with spies telling we did worse than savages savage 1 1 I I am a soldier I 1 follow war as aa a prof profession easlon I 1 have haa fought in south africa and have been la in indian campaigns pal gris I 1 thought I 1 knew what war was but never have seen battles between savage tribes so eo alerce as tho the tight fight back thero there shrapnel la Is breaking around you all the time I 1 have seen shrapnel vo co thick that it did not seem scorn possible tor for any ono one to live through it but it seem to kill much but those ME big shells shell a coal boxes the boys that do damage it if they break near you you are gone now that lat the tha english are out of the trenches they are like uneasy old women I 1 tried to get them to go to bed but by dawn there were not more than fifty asleep they talked about the big sleep they were going to havo have the next night and kept talking about it until noon when a dispatch camo came ordering them to move on at nightfall then they agreed that it was too lato late to try to got get any sleep they seemed to welcome the night march |