Show had CL wrong idea 11 life C IA I A was rul ruined ned war wa wall inventor tasted H height of success and depth of failure ToV toronto onto out ont in nn an obscure buck back woodi village north 1101 tl of here thou there the other oilier da lay it a wall ninn who within ahe short pace or of it few months traveled trine ltd the long road from the lie height of r rile MIL ile vess to the depth of nil all because an well idea wont went wrong bronz the in in w nas ii murray morrn ca farmer and mentor who lio had hilti one big chance while a captain of infantry in HIP expedition force and vent ent to it premature kric grave alth with tile curses of 3 of dying canadian soll solI leis lers i ginging in ili ills cars for liuni v compton vv wil the oriel of china wall that dous which wit uia i designed to sa save iho lives of sold soldiers lers but which a trap in ili which holcli many litin liim hsih were ue killed comptois comptons Coin Com battalion was ani doing duty in the ypres cypres in ili the spring 01 of 1910 front I 1 rom the ramparts ti in kypres ypres caty to the front line the soldiers were exposed to it a withering shell and ingeline in gun fire while going to and front from the tile iho distance was us sonin what more inore than a mile but ration and working parties as well voll na as battalions batta Hons going into or coming coining out of the ho line suffered terribly the troops had the choice of tn ti 0 routes tile one up rod road which was vai a veritable and the other through Jl lehek lebek village ll lae I 1 most moot of them thop ho the tatter latter route for it tic ac sordid cora d slight protection chinese wall recalled while leading ills company in and out of the line compton became horr borr rifled at tile the number cumbe of casualties find ills lils Inventive lin anthe brain some aleth od if f reducing the loss of life suddenly he fie was confronted with a mental picture of the great wall of china which elili h for centuries ila lind kept out on en aniles of the yellow men compton will was practical ill enough to realize that time prevented presented the erection of a wall which would corre spond with the original lie ile submitted lihi hl 3 rough idea to hla his colo colonal olon nul rl who approved it and ami sent it to brigade headquarters from there it went to division dlf slon and then corps head quarters quarter item hero it was turned over to the commanding officer of the engl racers ricers whose approval hastened habte ned cou con st truc ruction tion julit lit after night for many ii weeks delry working parties hied filled sandbars sandbags sand bugs bags which were pounded into the form of bricks and laid end to end to form it great wall weeks of ceaseless activity saw the task completed without interruption front from the enemy casualties much reduced the wall stood for weeks the nd ad mi ration of every soldier who found protection behind its friendly shadow sli adow casualties were reduced to a niini mini and compton was shoNi showered ered with honors lie ile was mentioned in dispatches wid it decorated 1 I with the military cross conic omo the 2nd and of june that fateful lay day when the german hilgh hl th coi command imand concentrated everything on oil a terrific drive which was calculated to drive a wedge in the british lines nud and ope M up a route to the channel ports the bombardment was the wort wont t experienced by uny tiny troops tip to that i period trenches were obliterated vien men killed by hundreds while wave after wave of german infantry was thrown into the attack in ili nil an endeavor to bri break au the lie canadian line telegraph communication with tile the rear was impossible sallile tind and several runners were killed before word could be relayed back to cypres ypres to send re rc inesita 1 germans dombard bombard wall battalion after battalion was I 1 liap tr ried up tip front from rest camps in motor lorries dumped off on in cypres ypres an and t alion lion started up tho the line As ari soon its as german observation balloons and platies planes observed troops being concentrated in tile rear they signaled the german artillery wid the barrage was turned on tile the china wall Thou thousands Rands of men inen had congregated behind this wall awaiting darkness before being thrown into the breach in ive five minutes tile bombardment reduced lie wall to a mass of twisted and torn sand baga and practically every man behind it had been or wounded in spite of this grent great disaster tile tho front line troops hold held on grimly for FOP t two days and nights they withstood lie incomparable inferno before fresh troops rell relieved eved them hut but the way t to the alie sen sea had biad been blocked alro ironically cally compton was ana command ing gnp n company of reserves which ch had taken refuse refuge behind his creation when tile ernina er ninn bombardment began bega by another strange twist of rate lie was ono one of the few mon men who were permitted to escape escalo being killed or wounded escapes without wounds A merciful command relieved compton ton of lils his duties and ills ilia namo name was posted on the casualty list na as wounded sonic some of lita own men who saw him going out of tile line for the last time said lie did not show a scratch but ills nerve was broken and ills great plan had crit crashed shed lie ile was mu mustered out of the army and sent back to canada ile he wont went back to ills farm but ills his neighbors saw a mighty change ills eyes were wild and vacant and lie he kept mumbling to himself they know the reason till ho died |