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Show c 0 MY FOURTEEN MONTHS AT THE FRONT An American Boy' Bap'.iam of Fir By WILLIAM J. ROBINSON ICopyrifbt, Little. Bromo ft C i 1, Sometimes tlie Uermana would pen-etrato pen-etrato our lines fur a fpw ynrds. uml then we would immediately "counter" before they tiiul n chance to strengthen their position. We lost an awful lot of men, but even though I don't know tho exact llirures 1 know I am safe In say-trip say-trip that the (ieriuuu losses were more than double what ours were We dispatch riders were certainly kept busy during this time. Our work was to lie tending by every minute of the day and night, and the moment we Were wanted to slitiK the dispatch ease over our shoulder and tret away forth head purler to the rear. The riding at Bight was terrible. The (irniiiiiis were abelllng all the toads hi the vicinity, and we hud to (in dashing alouy through the tnky blackness at breakneck pace. It was Impossible to aee more than a yard or two ahead, and so It wag u case of ride like the dickens and trust to luck. The road was covered with shell holes, and the first Intimation we would get of the fact was when we would feel the motorbike mo-torbike drop beneath us and feel our-aelves our-aelves shooting through the air Uka amateur skyrockets. We would pick ourselves up, drag the motorbike out of the hole aid. If It would still run, Jump on It and get away again. We certainly got some terrible spills, and there were a good many who got broken bones and a few who had their necks and backs broken. Imagination cannot conceive of our utter misery. Everywhere I looked at all bours of the day and night It was just nightmare. kloBt of the time we were kept too busy to sleep, and wo would be so tired we could hardly move. The constant din of the guns of all sizes and of the exploding shells was enough to drive nearly all of us Insane Perhaps this little Incident will allow what condition our nerves were In. A young fellow named Lewis and I had hummed together for the time being, and we rode the same route during the ' entire battle. One night be came down to headquarters just ahead of me, and, I assure you, we came through aomo mighty hot territory. I was In awful condition myself, but I think be was even worse. I handed my case In, and while I was waiting for orders I went out to the petrol stores to till up the tank on my bike. Lewis was talking to the officer in charge of the riders and was stand-in,; stand-in,; with his back to tho door. Another fellow came In carrying two empty petrol tins, and unintentionally, of course he dropped them Just behind Lewis. They made unite a racket, and, i Lining ao auddenly, Lewis Jumped over a table and fainted dead away. We were all in about the same condition, condi-tion, and it didn't take much to get a rlso out of us. Poor Lawta was killed the next ni, lit by falling into a shell bole. CHAPTER X. German Hate and Fear Canadian. AltOUT the lifili or sixth night of the battle the (Hermans broke through us ami advanced nearly a mile Into our territory. They held their gain about fourteen hours, when wo counterattacked and took It all buck again. Of course our advanced report center retired as t lit; (iermaiis advanced, advanc-ed, but I was down at the permanent headquarters at the time, ao I didn't get any of the excitement of the retirement re-tirement When we advanced again our road lay over ground that had been in Cer-man Cer-man hands during the few hours they held the ground. A dispatch rider was coming over this road Just as daylight dawned. Two wound.-,! Cermans lay on the side of the road, and as the rider passed ono of them called to him and asked for a drink of water. The rider slopped, turned around and went back, threw his water bottle to them and then turned turn-ed around and started on again. As the rider turned these two men both tiled on li mi. and one of the bullets t atruck part of his motorcycle. At the time this great battle was raging the bombardment of Ypres continued, con-tinued, and not only Ypres alone, hut all the surrounding villages and tho roads lcudlug from one to the other also. I said that at the beginning rff this battle our corps of dispatch riders numbered num-bered thirty one in all. At the end of the engagement tbree weeks later there were only four of us left out of the original thirty one who stalled The Hermans failed to break us, and ao the kaiser kept Ills word regarding the city of Ypres. Day aftei day they bombarded tiie place, so that now there . la uot one single bouse left standing For some reason the (brmatis eontin J lied to shell the place from time to time, but they can't do any more damage than what they have already done. The end of the battle found us with our posltlou still Intact, and I don't think they will evei eome any nearer to break through the Hrltlsh line. After the battle I was, of course, relieved re-lieved of my Job as motorcycle dla-patch dla-patch rider and resumed my duty a orderly to headimartera. A great deal has been said of tho Canadians. Too nun h praise cannot be given them. The tlrst of the Canadian regiments to come into a lion was the Piincesa Patricias Canadian Light Infantry. This regiment wns In one of the divisions di-visions In our army corps, so 1 saw quite a bit of the men from time to time. They were a line body of men and were very hlghlj thought of by all the Kngllsb regiment! with whom they were associated Tbc.v were strong men ami needed strong leaders to keep them at their highest point of ellhleii-cy. ellhleii-cy. Such men as Colonel I'aripihar they adored, and there was nothing he could ask them to do that ffOvM remain re-main undone. It was Ins CWtOB to lead his men Into action currying nothing noth-ing but a walking stick, and little things like this mean a great deal to the men of a regiment. At the time the Canadians were brought Into action we bad some black troops on our extreme hit. The tier-mans tier-mans sent over gas, ami these Murk troops were forced to tetlre Supports Were (ailed for, and as ours was (lie nearest headquarters In the icinlty the call came to us. We had no spare troops available right on the spot, so the men of the headquarters unit orderlies, inosen gcrs, etc. -were tailed upon to go up and act as supports until reinforcements reinforce-ments could be brought up. We went up on the dead run and found that the black troops had retired, so we went Into the position Just in front of the Qtrma.ni. The Kaisers troops had advanced ad-vanced ibOUl two miles, but had stopped stop-ped at the last trench of our tlrst line of defense. There were M more trenches for four miles. The troops who had retired were ordered or-dered Into rest camp when we took the position over, ao we had to go In and hold until the Canadians came up. The Germans made no attempt to advance ad-vance any farther, and wo certainly were In no position to quarrel with them Just then. We waited there all night, und Just before dawn the Canadians Ca-nadians arrived. They didn't atop for anything and went right over the top of us and at the Cermans. We acted as siipi"Pi(s for them during this engagement, en-gagement, and it waa a treat to see the way they went after them. Trench after trench they took without with-out any letup. The Germans contested contest-ed every Inch of the ground, but nothing noth-ing could stop the Maple Leaf boys that morning. When the Germans waited wait-ed long enough for the fighting to come to close quarters ttie Canadians were right there with the cold steel, and when the Germans kept their distance those boys showed that they know which end of a rifle the bullet comes from. The Canadians had advanced about a mile in this way when the Germans brought up aome re enforcements and Immediately started to counterattack. They drove us back a few hundred yard, but we made a stand, and after the cere had worn off the German attack at-tack we commenced to advance again. This time there was no denying the Canadians, and they went right through until they had retaken all the ground that had been lost. They also recovered four guns which the Germans Ger-mans had captured. As nearly as I can tell. It was at this time that the reports begun to tly around that no prisoners were being taken. Tills Is uu extremely difficult m&tftotm i . ... Saff&, t. ... . . laVgf V- " ' "&&? aEftBBBaVaBBaKtaW j9tl & JSnPMBBBm a4HamBaBavV5eaBBWf I" ' jmt fcZriiix dSt 'Jag? "i imt - iafi m jSSfSSk 'BTuSBaH aV aralapanajM 1 P '' , , '" ' m Wa Had to Go In and Hold Until the Canadian! Cam Up. thing to speak of There Is no doubt that on certain occaaiona both side-have side-have refused U) take any piisoners, but I would not Care to place the re-ponsl biiit.v of the beginning of tbe praetlca in any one particular place. There la do doa)ut of tbe fuet that the Qermani hate and fear the Canadians A pecntlai thing happened soon after the Canadians so distinguished them selves a certain Knglish regiment received orders to lake some trenches at a given time The officers of this regtmonl had the men tlx their bayonets bayo-nets ami sth k them over the parapet of the trotted several minutes before the attack was to be made They did ao and kept clashing their bayonets one against another and muklng an awful row generally v hen the whistle blew a ouiig sub altera was the tlrst man over the para I pet, ami he yelled ut the top of hla voice "Come on. Canadians!" This got the Germane' goat, and our i t.-llows took three lilies of trench. . without loalng a man All of which foes to show that the Germans, while they may hate the Canadians, fear them also. There was considerable hand to hand tight lug on the dead ground between the two lines of trenches. A bomb landed In our trench and la there with the fuse spuitering Quick as a thought a big, burl. Welshman picked It up and threw It buck over the para-ret. para-ret. It hit a German officer right In the unall of the buck just as It exploded Of course It spread him all over the landscape. One of our officers turned to this big Welshman and shouted; "Man alle, do roe know what you've done? Why. jou doeervo the Victoria cross for that!" To whh ii the Welahman replied rather ourly: "Aye. sir, niebbo so Anyhow, id rather have the Victoria cross than one 0' thOtO w Odea tins!" Our bead p 'aiders wore still In Pope- rtngbe, and tbe German aeroplanes mntlnuod to vlell us eery mordlbg, V. bbbbbbhbw l . tV . re3M X Sk. b k BBT "Tt '' W -BE3 Sg" BB K g, ' ' a - ;.. No Sooner Had That Shell Landed Than the Civilians Commenced to Move. I as nasal Occaaiottail" tney would drop some bombs mid kill a few Chilians, Chil-ians, but the situation was not critical enough to cause us to move the headquarters. head-quarters. On Sutnrduy morning, April '24, I had taken my car down to the corps supply column to till up with trol when a shell came over and landed In the field just boeldo the column. It was the Bret shell we had had In Poperinghe, und. believe me, I didn't want to see Whether there were any more on the way. 1 had been detailed to go to lioiilogue, und I got blurted quickly. No sooner hud that shell landed than the civilian.-, commenced to move, it was the sunie old story-panic everywhere every-where among the women und children, and the road was choked with them. The second shell landed ubout ten minutes min-utes Inter, so I Judged they were only using one gun, and it wus a small one at thut. There wus nothing, therefore. to get excited about 1 picked up a priest and two old women und guve them a lilt as fur as Gussel, where they could get a train later In the day for Calais or Boulogne 1 reached Boulogna shortly short-ly after 10 o'clock, and at 1 o'clock I was 011 my way back When I arrived arriv-ed in Popelinghe everything seemed as qntel Bl usual, and I wus very much surptised, as I had expected tO timl shells pouring Into the place from ull directions It seems that the Cermans had run nn armored train through and had begun be-gun shelling the town from the train. our artillery went Into action right away, and instead of hitting the train Brat they shelled the tracks behind the train and tore the road ull up so that the train could not get bu k. Then they look (heir time und blew the train oil the map Sunday Doming the shells began to fall In the town agabt, and they were big ones this time twehe lie h. I heard later. We knew that it wus no armored train this lime, and we knew that we were in foi a hot time. I was ilc lulled wiih m. cur for the field cashier, w hlc.'i meant that If the older came to move I would have un officer, armed escort and all the money belonging to tbe beadquartera, amount log to 4O,000 All I had to do at the time wus to stand by and wait for or dels Tbef kept up the shell Ore all day, but ut night they quit. There were quite a few of our chape kiihsi aud many civilians too The chaplain of No 8 ceaualQ clear-lug clear-lug station bud taken ovei a building and stalled u loldlera' bone, It wee a place where a fellofl could go when he was olT duly, and there were hooka, magazines, cake, tea, etc , lo be had for the asking II waa hue thing. and It was always crowded, for the fellows enjoyed it Immensely This was the in I building to be hit, and it was full ol fl iws at Ibe time A twelve Inch shell crashed through the roof aud exploded 011 t he otul Bimii The building 1 at wl In of curd.-, The marvelous pari nf ii n:i that, altboi -i. 1 have heeu fully loo con In till re at Ihe lime, mil a alngh .-, .1- killed few Borne sci atcbea i otliei minor in Juries ai id one had his arm hioken but tbeee were tin 1 nlj u fi urn this shell I lost all mj luriiiM the hoiuhai dim ull ' iu kit bag In (he lull of a -1 utile, au.l a Ihell came through and laid the build lug to the ground. All day Monday the shelling con-tlnnisl, con-tlnnisl, and still no orders came for ns to move. Things weie beginning to took serious now, and we wondered how 11111.I1 longer we would have to siiik It out. It was the most un-d I Ifactory duty one could Imagine. There we were doing absolutely noth- i big and the Cermans throwing shell i Bfter shell into us. We had no -ha nee to hit buck, and there was nothing except ex-cept to I tend by and take our chances hen the order did come lo move the Bi isbler was the last 00a to be nod- 1 bul cen t boUgh we were the last to get tbe older we were the flr-d ones out, aud I was happy lo say good b J to thai 1 hue. We went about six kilo. 1 . down the road and took o er temporary In adqu.irters In a little village vil-lage li wns Joel after we moved down to tbla rllla el hat I y.n the only acrat b 1 during the whole campaign I w .1 on the Dlckebnech read with a atalT ( 1 id we had been flatting S01 ip 1 . 1 hat WON PHI of action at Ihe lime. While we Were there the Germnna started abrlltng, and we da elded it would he better for us ir we. moved to a luallhier locality, The colonel 11:1. sitiin:; In Ihe lonneau of the car, while I, of course, was In the drlv log scut. As We swung out Into the main road we beard a shell coming, and outoniiit-Iciillv outoniiit-Iciillv I J vjl OH more speed. The shell hurt rigid on the side Of the nod One plei e of It Hew 1 hroiigh Ihe bottom Of the cur and tore the fool board right from under lite colonel's feel. It didn't bother h:m the least bit. lie simply swung his I'ecl right tip M to the seat 11ml ad vi -cd me lo crowd oil a little more speed. Another little piece of the ebeU graced grac-ed inv right leg Just above the knee. It was u mere scratch, but It scared me us nothing ever has since, and I guess I thought my whole leg was gone. The same shell that Came so close to na caught another poor fellow and Wounded Dim In the buck In twenty-nine twenty-nine different places, and with all this he walked u quarter of a mile to a dressing slutlon. CHAPTER XI. Preferred Firing Line to Hospital. SOON after this I reported sick for the Bret time since 1 had been In the I "-1 1 1 1 -1 1 urmy. I bad u growth in my throat, ami they sent me to a hospltul in Armentierea. There they removed the growth und put me to ted on a stretcher. I was In tho hospital only three days, and during my Btay there the Cermans shelled the town the entire time. I felt awfully sorry for the poor fellows there who were helpless und didn't know ut what moment a shell might come through aud wipe them off the fa' e of the earth. 1 stood It for three days, and when 1 saw that I hey bad made no move to discharge lue from hospital I asked 1 he orderly hi my ward when 1 would be likely to get out. "Oh," he said, "you won't bo out of here for a week yet!" "Won't IV" 1 Baked. "Well, you Just go down to the other end of the ward and turn your back for a few moments und see vvhelher 1 will get out or uot!' lie said he couldn't do a thing like thut, but the next time he was down (here I simply got up und walked out In these hospitals so near the tiling line there are uo such things us beds, and one simpl.v lies on u stretcher with his clothes all on. When 1 rem lied the gale of the hospital hos-pital 1 found a policemen on duty there, but 1 simply said the magic woid "Duty" and walked right bj ulm. I got a lift on a motor lorrv for fourteen four-teen miles. Mul I walked the other eight buck to camp. When I returned and reported myself my-self they asked DM for my dlBCbergO sheet, but I said 1 hud lost it. so there was nothing I hey could do about It. In the spring Of 1018 the l.aiser paid a visit to the German trenchi a, 1 guess he came very quietly, for the first wo knew of it was when the Germans in the I rem lies opposite us raised a big board above their parapet, on which was printed something like this: TIIE EMPEROR WAS UtRI YIJ3TEH- DAV. MAI) YOU ONLY KNOWN! TIIK UMil.lSII WERE EVER BU)WI Our chaps printed a board which went them one better. It said: TIIK KINO HAS BEEN lli:i:i: TWICE. TOMORROW THE PRESIDENT m PRANCE COME8 WE AHK NOT AFRAID Tu TELL YOU NOW FI'.IT.. YOU AUK HARMLEMI To carry the Joke to the end. somebody some-body dug up a silk but from somewhere, some-where, and about 1 o'clock all the fel-ows fel-ows began to cheer. Thej stuck the nit on the end of u Itick and carried It along the Udell so ihut t could be ceil That ha I vv as absolutely riddled With ' uiiets. but they carried it clear to the end of tbe trench, und then they threw both bat and slick over the paiapet. su that Ihe ih 1 mans COUld see how Ihev had been fooled And how our fellows howled ' The Uermana were so mad 1 think ihev would i.ave done us rlolence bad ihev bad the opportunlt) a liuii) tullIB like that means u lot to Ihe hoys III Ihe liei,. h, is ulld II is tbe lUl "I of cniivi all D toi day and days afterw ail l.ttiei v. e began to nave more trouble Willi iplei We caught bumhes of 1 hem but there alwav (1 em. d to be more a bou 1 Occasionally tb re would be a Belgian among them but foi tbe most pun lii.-v were Uermana. und we could mi underajand it We caught them in all t;ui-os Put for the grea'er I art the) seemed to fancy I. Ids as le uit; hPi.v e tllspli i"ii In Hie fime of the thing huh la ridiculous for who can Imitate ihe Scotch accent eo aa te get by In the Hrltlsh lines? In ono week we caught fourteen Oer-mans Oer-mans who were wearing tho kilt, and they all seemed very much surprised that they should have been captured while posing us Scotchmen. To put a stop to Mils sp ng It was decided t dote all roads for a period of twenty four hours. All men were warned that ft out H o'clock on such and such a night until w o'clock the following night they were not lo leave their milts without the special pass piWtded for these twenty-four luuirs. Sent lies were placed 'Jixt vanN apart on ull the roads in the davtlme and 100 yards at niht. All tbeee prepa: atlons were made very quietly and the greatest great-est stsTiey preserved. I was detailed with my car to patrol certain roads during the twenty-four bours, and, of Course, all the other roads were patrolled pa-trolled too. We had orders tO slop every ev-ery one We met, and If they w ere not provided with the special pass We were to take them prisoners regardless of what uniform they were wealing. It looi,. si like tiresome work, but It proved prov-ed to be rather eelllng. I started inu lay route promptly at i O'clock, and you may be sine I was all 011 isle tO make a copture. My car was ll.vitu; the flag of the army corps beadquartera, so 1 was not both erisl by the sentries stopping me. I Went over the route the lust time without with-out meeting a soul who wasn't quite all right. I wai much dlaappotntod, for I thought 1 would be picking up Rpii-s wholesale. On the second trip I began to think that I was going to have about the same luck as 1 did on tho tlrst, for everything seemed very quiet and peaceful. I came to the village of llereele mid turned into tho road which leads to Watou, aud, as I said, I was beginning begin-ning to tie sick of my Job. There waa rather a sharp curve In this road, and aa 1 turned It 1 saw by the light of my electric headlights two men stand, lug In the middle of the road. The minute they caught sight of my car they started out across a Held as hard aa they could go. I yelled at them and Jammed on my brakes. They didn't atop, so 1 pulled my revolver und sent a couplo of persuaders per-suaders after them. That brought them to a halt all right, aud they started start-ed jelling "Pilend!" at the top of their voices. I twisted the searchlight on my ear around until the light shone full on them, ami then I called to them to keep their bauds In the air and come buck on the road They didn't seem very anxious about It, but I assured them ir they didn't I would 1111 them full of holes. 1 certainly cer-tainly fell fierce enough to do it. They 1 nine up on to the road, and 1 made them stand one on each aide of the tar Then I noticed that one of them hud on u pair of Ocrmun soldiers' boots, and I lieu I knew that I hud a ti -h for sure. I got out aud searched them, but they were unarmed. What was worrying mo wus the fact that In taking them back one of them would have to sit behind me In the car. I took off my aparc tires and put them In the buck of the car, and with the sirups I bound one fellow'a feet and hands I piled him Into the ton-neau ton-neau and made the other alt in front with me. I assured him If he made a single move I didn't like I would pump him full of lead P. 1). Q. In tills way I took them Into camp without accident They were shot aa spies two days later. Our haul for the twenty four hours was thlrty-ouo spies, and every one of them was a (ierman. One of the most terrible things I ever witnessed was the destruction of Ihe chateau at BoOge, The chateau was In a very peculiar poaltlott, being oil the deud ground between our trenches trench-es ami the Hermans Sometimes we would bold It and sometimes they would, ami it offered great ebanooa to both for sniping. Siiuiet lines we held iart of It, and I hey would bold the other part. Then thero wus some great hand to hand lighting. Our fellows In one room would he digging holes through the wall to (iot at Uermana In the next. It was so close to our trenches that we did uot dare to Hhcll It, and the same thing applied to the Ccrmuna. It wus decided to mine the thing and blow It olT the face of the earth. I think the (icrmuns had decided the name thing, and It was simply a case of who would get their iiiluea laid first We got the Jump on tluin, and when everything was ready our boys enticed Ihe Qetmana into it, and then the work Of destruction starhsl. 1 was silting on horseback behind some staff ol'ieers. We were about half a mile from IliB place, but we had our eurs stuffed with cotton tO prevent the explosion from Injuring our bearing. When the mines were set off we suw a sight such as one Obaorvaa only once In a lifetime. 'Ihe earth trembled, a low, growling rumble enauod, then a mighty ciash. a tut the air was lilled wttb smoke, dame, brlcka, dust, thing hod lea, heads, leu's and arms Our fel lows lei OUl a mighty cheer iimi 1 barged barg-ed across the crater formed by tbe explosion. ex-plosion. The Germane seemed stunned hv the awful sight they had witnessed, mid we took several llm-s of trenches from them with very little trouble ihe - on the (ierman aide wore terrible, terri-ble, and we lost heavily ourselves. The chateau at Uooge will always be re neinherod by tboae who saw It. Hla tnajestj the king paid but armies a visit iii the fall, und as I bad never een King George I was mucb inter-a inter-a ted 1 bad aeen the king of Belgl um and alao President Polncara of France, but up to tins time 1 bad never nev-er seen the king for whom I was Bgbt lug We were warned the dav before, ami ever one bad to be hrlgbl and 'I llllnil roi the hlg event I'he l.lng up in a the royal -tai.i.rd on 11 and rou tuav lie ami that car waa given the right of way H over evei.v thing. Two dispatch ridere ggggV had dashed along the road ahead of gH the cur, Clearing the way so that noth- g lug should delay the royal paity. t H was one of a large detail of mounted g men who in ted as escort to his maj- gfm When he left the car he mounted the lieinillful horse that was waiting fur gffffW him. and, escorted by the guard, he r.ale out to the reviewing stand. IP, H made h speech to the who vv, 1 H fonmd up on tie. parade, and he thank- ed them lor their loyalty and devotion to England In her (line of need. a I could only hear u lew words of H his address, as 1 was st.illoneil quite B a distance away from him. As he (In- g islied the BpOOCfa he sanite.l. The fel- lows tbNW their hats Into the air ami H let out a When this happened everj lure on the ground, H Including my stood right up on his hind legs and lea. lied lor the blue H skies H The king WOO thrown In some way H ami sustained Injuries that were rather H serious. Thu incident acted as it H tamper 10 the aatbualaam, ami the king's visit ended miuh dlllerentl 1 H ti'o be continued.) H |