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IN THE LINE OF BATTLE


 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
 |                                                                    |
 |                     _UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_                     |
 |                                                                    |
 |                    Soldiers’ Stories of the War                    |
 |                                                                    |
 |                       Edited by WALTER WOOD                        |
 |                                                                    |
 |         With 20 full-page Illustrations by A. C. MICHAEL.          |
 |                                                                    |
 |                _Second Edition. Crown 8vo, 6s. net_                |
 |                                                                    |
 |                                                                    |
 |   “Unchallengeably the best war budget of its kind that we have    |
 |                       had.”--_The Referee._                        |
 |                                                                    |
 |     “A collection of absolutely authentic accounts by privates     |
 |     and non-commissioned officers.... In the language in which     |
 |    these fighters couch their experiences and opinions we see a    |
 |   great simplicity and directness of observation and recital, so   |
 |  admirable that _one page of such writing is worth all the folios  |
 |  of the war experts and correspondents_, not to say romancers and  |
 |                   publicists.”--_The Athenæum._                    |
 |                                                                    |
 |     “It is a stimulating and hopeful record, full of the real      |
 |  atmosphere of the war, and Mr. Wood has done a serviceable thing  |
 |               in producing it.”--_Daily Chronicle._                |
 |                                                                    |
 |    “The human side, the naked horror and simple glory of actual    |
 | conflict, is what Mr. Wood’s soldiers are concerned with, and the  |
 | stories they tell give a clearer picture of this side of war than  |
 |       can be found in any other form.”--_Pall Mall Gazette._       |
 |                                                                    |
 | “All Mr. Wood’s papers make us feel, if that is possible, prouder  |
 |        of the British sailor and soldier.”--_Evening News._        |
 |                                                                    |
 |  “A very real and deeply affecting book, and the editor has done   |
 |   a valuable work in collecting these poignant, odd, whimsical,    |
 |        terrible stories together.”--_Westminster Gazette._         |
 |                                                                    |
 |  “No man who boasts a heart, least of all any man of young limbs,  |
 |   will read these soldiers’ simple stories without a quickening    |
 |    of the pulse. They are at once a great stimulus and a great     |
 |                   memorial.”--_Daily Telegraph._                   |
 |                                                                    |
 |      “It is a noble tribute to the unassuming heroism of the       |
 |     British soldier, and brings one close to the realities of      |
 |                        war.”--_Spectator._                         |
 |                                                                    |
 |   “This is a collection of absolutely authentic stories narrated   |
 |  by non-commissioned officers and privates who have taken part in  |
 |  the present war, and who relate their experiences.”--_War Office  |
 |                              Times._                               |
 |                                                                    |
 |   “Mr. Wood has done his work uncommonly well; his book is alive   |
 |    with interest, and has the permanent value that must always     |
 |         belong to such first-hand testimony.”--_Bookman._          |
 |                                                                    |
 |                                                                    |
 |                    LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LTD.                    |
 |                                                                    |
 |                                                                    |
 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+


[Illustration:
  [_Frontispiece._

“SEVERAL VILLAGES... HAVE BEEN DESTROYED IN THE INTERESTS OF OUR
DEFENCE.... MY HEART BLEEDS WHEN... I THINK OF THE NUMBER OF INNOCENT
PERSONS WHO HAVE LOST THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GOODS.”--THE KAISER, IN A
TELEGRAM TO PRESIDENT WILSON.]


IN THE LINE OF BATTLE

Soldiers’ Stories of the War

Edited by

WALTER WOOD

Author of
“Men of the North Sea,” “Survivors’ Tales of Great Events,”
“North Sea Fishers and Fighters,” etc

Illustrated from Official Photographs







London
Chapman & Hall, Ltd.
1916

Printed in Great Britain by
Richard Clay & Sons, Limited,
Brunswick St., Stamford St., S.E.,
and Bungay Suffolk.




INTRODUCTION


The narratives in this volume, which is a companion to my _Soldiers’
Stories of the War_, are told on exactly the same lines as those which
were adopted for that collection. There was a personal interview to
get the teller’s own tale; then the writing, the object being to act
as the soldier’s other self; and finally the submission to him of the
typescript, so that he could revise and become responsible for the
completed work.

In dealing with these records I have tried to be a faithful interpreter
or reproducer of a tale that has been told to me. I have invited a
man to tell his story as it came into his mind, and to look upon me
simply as a means of putting it into concrete and coherent form, and
as a medium between himself and the reader. The greatest difficulty
that had to be overcome was a narrator’s reluctance to speak of his own
achievements, though he never failed to wax enthusiastic when telling
of the doings of his comrades. Nothing has left a deeper impression
on my mind than the generous praise which a gunner, say, has bestowed
upon the infantry, and the blessings that the infantry have invoked
upon the gunners. Never in any of Great Britain’s wars has there been
such an exhibition of universal esprit de corps as we have witnessed in
this stupendous conflict between civilisation and freedom and cultured
barbarism and tyranny.

Nothing could have been more encouraging to me as compiler and
editor of these true tales than the generous praise that was given to
the companion volume. I am grateful to all my critics, who, without
exception, so far as I know, welcomed and accepted the work for what it
professed to be--an honest contribution on behalf of soldiers to the
history of the war.

I set out to do a certain thing--to act as pilot to members of a
wondrous band who found themselves in unknown waters, and I succeeded
past my utmost expectations. I am proud to think that any act of mine
has put on record the doings of patriotic men who have fought so
nobly for their country; and thankful to feel that I have been the
means of getting for his relatives and friends and all the rest of us
the experiences of more than one fine fellow who since I saw him has
answered the roll-call for the last time.

  WALTER WOOD.




CONTENTS


  CHAPTER I
                                                            PAGE

  HOW TROOPER POTTS WON THE V.C. ON BURNT HILL                 1

  TROOPER FREDERICK WILLIAM OWEN POTTS, 1/1st Berkshire
  Yeomanry (T.F.).


  CHAPTER II

  A PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY                                16

  CORPORAL OLIVER H. BLAZE, 1st Battalion Scots Guards.


  CHAPTER III

  GASSED NEAR HILL 60                                         33

  LANCE-CORPORAL R. G. SIMMINS, 8th Battalion Canadian
  Infantry, 90th Winnipeg Rifles.


  CHAPTER IV

  A LINESMAN IN GALLIPOLI                                     43

  PRIVATE JOHN FRANK GRAY, 5th Battalion Wiltshire
  Regiment.


  CHAPTER V

  AN ANZAC’S ADVENTURES                                       62

  TROOPER RUPERT HENDERSON, 6th Australian Light
  Horse.


  CHAPTER VI

  ”IMPERISHABLE GLORY” FOR THE KENSINGTONS                    80

  ----, 13th (Kensington) Battalion London Regiment.


  CHAPTER VII

  TEN MONTHS IN THE FIGHTING-LINE                             94

  PRIVATE FREDERICK WOODS, 1st Battalion Royal Irish
  Fusiliers.


  CHAPTER VIII

  A GUNNER AT THE DARDANELLES                                114

 