Latest / Letters from the American Ambulance in France / 005 - Part 4

Transcript

005 - Part 4 · Letters from the American Ambulance in France

0:00
Speaker 1: Part four of with the American Ambulance Field Service in France.
0:05
Speaker 1: Personal Letters of a Driver at the Front by Leslie Buswell.
0:09
Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Pont A Mousson,
0:15
Speaker 1: August fifteenth, nineteen fifteen. Yesterday was a red letter day
0:20
Speaker 1: for me. I was made so happy that I feared
0:23
Speaker 1: something bad must happen to counteract it. The American mail
0:27
Speaker 1: arrived twelve letters from H. S, J, H, C, B, C, S, S, S, E, T,
0:35
Speaker 1: et cetera, and my uncle and mother. I wonder whether
0:39
Speaker 1: you people out there in the sunshine of peace can
0:42
Speaker 1: realize what a ray of joy and encouragement the letters
0:45
Speaker 1: you are writing to us here bring. I got this
0:48
Speaker 1: packet about four o'clock, and, being on ext duty, took
0:52
Speaker 1: them up there to read. I sat in my car
0:55
Speaker 1: with the sun streaming down over us in that little
0:59
Speaker 1: village semi blue with soldiers, and started first to contemplate
1:03
Speaker 1: the writing and the dates on the envelopes. A battery
1:06
Speaker 1: of seventy fives were firing on my left, and we
1:10
Speaker 1: heard the shells whistling overhead, and after a few seconds
1:14
Speaker 1: the boom of the explosion on my right. Even the
1:17
Speaker 1: shell seemed to be singing with pleasure and excitement. Then
1:21
Speaker 1: I was brought back to actualities by the voice of
1:24
Speaker 1: a young French soldier of about twenty one, who stood
1:27
Speaker 1: beside me. You just have letters, yes, not even opened yet,
1:33
Speaker 1: all those you are to be married. Perhaps no, my friend.
1:37
Speaker 1: Surely it is your mother, then, who has written so often?
1:41
Speaker 1: Only this one is from her, I answered, and then
1:44
Speaker 1: a strange silence fell. I did not feel like speaking,
1:48
Speaker 1: for glancing up, I realized that he was still looking
1:51
Speaker 1: at that one letter in my hand. After a few moments,
1:55
Speaker 1: fumbling in his uniform, he pulled out a packet of
1:58
Speaker 1: earth stained letters. These were from my mother, but I
2:02
Speaker 1: can no longer look for them. She died last month.
2:06
Speaker 1: Perhaps it was that little incident that made me appreciate
2:09
Speaker 1: so tremendously these messages from home. But when I got
2:13
Speaker 1: into bed last night and lit a candle by my
2:16
Speaker 1: side to reread them all, and when my mother's turn came,
2:20
Speaker 1: I found the link with that boy and realized how
2:23
Speaker 1: much he has lost, and how he must treasure and
2:27
Speaker 1: find comfort in that little batch of memories in his pocket.
2:31
Speaker 1: They too, were probably full of anxiety for his welfare,
2:35
Speaker 1: full of encouragement and comfidence in his doing his duty
2:39
Speaker 1: as a true frenchwoman's son. And then my imagination wandered
2:43
Speaker 1: to another side, the letters from the front, the letters
2:47
Speaker 1: of assurance of counsel not to worry, and next perhaps
2:52
Speaker 1: the citation for gallantry, the pride and happiness of those
2:56
Speaker 1: at home. Finally that most dreaded letter, or the brief
3:00
Speaker 1: announcement in the list of those morteau champ d'onneur. Are
3:05
Speaker 1: we really living in the twentieth century after nineteen hundred
3:09
Speaker 1: years of teaching of supposed civilization and Christianity. The day
3:14
Speaker 1: before yesterday, after having made several trips with wounded, I
3:18
Speaker 1: had a pressing call to Aubert Saint Pierre. There the
3:22
Speaker 1: Germans were bombarding as usual, and it was unpleasant. A
3:26
Speaker 1: shell had landed near a kitchen, killing several and seriously
3:30
Speaker 1: wounding one soldier. He had a hole as big as
3:33
Speaker 1: your fist right through his back. There is a chance
3:37
Speaker 1: if you can get him to the operating room quickly.
3:39
Speaker 1: I was told it was eighteen kilometers to the best surgeon.
3:44
Speaker 1: So off, dear old number ten, and I started on
3:48
Speaker 1: our rush for life to do toute and even the soldiers,
3:53
Speaker 1: realizing that I had a man's life in my care,
3:56
Speaker 1: made a clear way in the road ahead and through
3:59
Speaker 1: village after village without moving the throttle. We sped on
4:03
Speaker 1: and on, bump bump bump. What did it matter if
4:06
Speaker 1: I had to shake him about a little. He was unconscious,
4:10
Speaker 1: and every second counted. I hope I won't have a puncture.
4:14
Speaker 1: I found myself muttering from time to time. Finally I
4:17
Speaker 1: turned to the left, then another corner, and blowing my horn,
4:21
Speaker 1: I drew up at the tent. In a second, two
4:24
Speaker 1: broncadiers had the car unloaded. The surgeon in white was
4:29
Speaker 1: washing his hands, and thirty minutes from the time my
4:32
Speaker 1: charge was given into my care, he was lying on
4:35
Speaker 1: the operating table. He may live, said the surgeon. That
4:39
Speaker 1: was my reward. That is why I am happy even here,
4:43
Speaker 1: only for this reason. One sometimes saves lives and never
4:47
Speaker 1: intentionally kills. The other day I went up to the
4:51
Speaker 1: top of Mousson I e the hill the other side
4:54
Speaker 1: of the bridge. It is under another army division, and
4:58
Speaker 1: so we have to get special permission from the colonel.
5:01
Speaker 1: But as our section is treated so wonderfully, there is
5:03
Speaker 1: no difficulty in procuring it. We first stopped at the
5:07
Speaker 1: graveyard and tried to find poor Mignot's grave, But in
5:11
Speaker 1: that mess of debris, overturned sepulchers, upheaved tombstones, burst open coffins,
5:17
Speaker 1: sun bleached bones, and the hundred new made graves, we
5:21
Speaker 1: could not find it. We would have continued our search,
5:24
Speaker 1: but an officer told us not to stay any longer,
5:27
Speaker 1: as we were in easy view of the Germans and
5:30
Speaker 1: they might bombard at any moment. We started to go
5:34
Speaker 1: to the summit. Up the hill we climbed, and the
5:37
Speaker 1: little mountain side was all pitted with shell holes, some
5:40
Speaker 1: of them most discomfortingly new. At last we reached the
5:45
Speaker 1: top and began to look about a few minutes, after
5:48
Speaker 1: having asked a soldiers some questions, we found ourselves surrounded
5:53
Speaker 1: and rather roughly asked for our pass. We showed it
5:56
Speaker 1: with the colonel's signature, and then followed a hearty laugh
6:00
Speaker 1: when they had to confess they thought our foreign accent
6:03
Speaker 1: was Bosch. We asked in what direction Mets was, and there,
6:08
Speaker 1: just over the hill, to the right of a little tree,
6:10
Speaker 1: we stood facing it lay and like some glorious, dominating
6:15
Speaker 1: giant stood out the cathedral built by the French for
6:18
Speaker 1: the worship of God and teaching of Christianity, and now
6:23
Speaker 1: so kept by the Germans. The race which has set
6:26
Speaker 1: loose the scourge. If I could only be in the
6:29
Speaker 1: procession that marches in triumph to Mets, I must tell
6:33
Speaker 1: you just one more incident. The other evening, I was
6:36
Speaker 1: walking down the street when an excited shout made me stop,
6:40
Speaker 1: and I saw running toward me an old friend, one
6:43
Speaker 1: I knew when I was in London, now dressed in
6:45
Speaker 1: the blue of France. What on earth are you doing here?
6:49
Speaker 1: I asked. Tell me, how in the name of all
6:51
Speaker 1: that's possible did you get out to the front he replied,
6:55
Speaker 1: and then we set to and talk. He is a
6:58
Speaker 1: French artist who lived in London and entered the French
7:02
Speaker 1: army as the English would not have him. He, knowing
7:05
Speaker 1: I had not passed the military medical, could not get
7:09
Speaker 1: over the fact that I had arrived here. Notwithstanding, he
7:12
Speaker 1: dragged me to a group of his friends and we
7:14
Speaker 1: all had a happy half hour. Then the usual handshake
7:18
Speaker 1: and au revoir. As I turned away, he followed me.
7:22
Speaker 1: I go to Carton Reserve to night for some days.
7:26
Speaker 1: Probably I shall not return who. If I am a
7:29
Speaker 1: bit knocked out, you will know, and if I am killed,
7:32
Speaker 1: my people will know. It would be hard for my
7:35
Speaker 1: wife wondering whether I was seriously hurt or not. She
7:39
Speaker 1: is about to have a child. Supposing I am wounded.
7:42
Speaker 1: Will you post this letter? It only says that I
7:45
Speaker 1: am getting on well, am, but slightly wounded, and that
7:49
Speaker 1: she is not to worry. I add no comment to
7:52
Speaker 1: the story, but I do wish you could realize what
7:54
Speaker 1: trench life means to the infantry when they know they
7:58
Speaker 1: have to go to a hell like the cor On Reserve.
8:01
Speaker 1: I know what I feel like when I have to
8:03
Speaker 1: drive along a road being bombarded by the Germans. But
8:07
Speaker 1: that is only for five or six minutes. But think
8:10
Speaker 1: of five or six days with scarcely an hour's rest
8:13
Speaker 1: out of the twenty four No wonder we have to
8:16
Speaker 1: carry madmen to the hospital sometimes. August nineteenth, Poor old
8:22
Speaker 1: number ten has been ill, so I have had her
8:24
Speaker 1: engine down and cleaned it. Now she is running finely.
8:28
Speaker 1: There is an American station here who enlisted in the
8:31
Speaker 1: French Army. Poor boy, he is only twenty. We asked
8:35
Speaker 1: him to dinner. Why did you enlist? Well? I guess
8:38
Speaker 1: I wanted to see some action. Are you satisfied? Satisfied? Well,
8:43
Speaker 1: I came here to see life and movement. All I
8:46
Speaker 1: see in my ditch are worms, spiders, marmites and torpels.
8:50
Speaker 1: So you have changed your mind? No, I guess my
8:54
Speaker 1: mind is the same as when I enlisted. I wanted
8:57
Speaker 1: to see war. I still do. I haven't seen war.
9:00
Speaker 1: I have seen murder and cultivated systematic butchery. There has
9:05
Speaker 1: been a lot of permission for the soldiers here, and
9:08
Speaker 1: they are now returning after their eight days. The first
9:12
Speaker 1: eight days and twelve months the first time they have
9:15
Speaker 1: seen their wives and mothers for a year, and in
9:18
Speaker 1: many cases they have their first look at their own
9:20
Speaker 1: children born in their absence. One soldier I asked whether
9:25
Speaker 1: his wife was pleased to see him. Ah, he said,
9:28
Speaker 1: you should have seen her cry when I left. But
9:31
Speaker 1: when you arrived, I asked, she was pleased? Ah, mon, dieu,
9:35
Speaker 1: you should have seen her cry when I arrived. August
9:39
Speaker 1: twentieth today has been a villainous one. The French bombarded
9:44
Speaker 1: the German stores and set fire to some large storage space.
9:49
Speaker 1: We think petrol and stores. Perhaps the petrol they sprayed
9:53
Speaker 1: lighted into our trenches, and from twelve o'clock till now
9:56
Speaker 1: the whole sky has been black with smoke. Of course,
9:59
Speaker 1: the Germans made reprisals, and every little town around was bombarded.
10:04
Speaker 1: One shell which burst where nine persons were sitting dining,
10:08
Speaker 1: killed them all. The telephone bell rings two cars wanted
10:12
Speaker 1: at once for l August twenty third. About ten forty
10:16
Speaker 1: five this morning, a German aeroplane came over the town,
10:20
Speaker 1: not two hundred and fifty meters high. We could see
10:23
Speaker 1: the pilot, an observer, and the four Maltese crosses on
10:26
Speaker 1: the plains. It was one of the bravest acts I
10:29
Speaker 1: have seen. She was too low for the artillery to
10:32
Speaker 1: open up fire, so the soldiers fired at her with
10:35
Speaker 1: their rifles, and although it seemed as if she must
10:38
Speaker 1: have been hit, the pilot turned around and flew safely
10:41
Speaker 1: back to the German lines. This little incident leaves us
10:45
Speaker 1: with a very uneasy feeling, as we think no German
10:48
Speaker 1: would have taken such risk unless the mission had been
10:51
Speaker 1: very important. He must have seen everything he wanted to.
10:55
Speaker 1: Our cars are fairly conspicuous with their crosses on the
10:59
Speaker 1: top of the canvass. He dropped signals as he flew
11:02
Speaker 1: over our house. And we are wondering just what is
11:06
Speaker 1: to follow. And when August thirtieth the Germans not satisfied
11:11
Speaker 1: with the reprisals, they took on the twenty second for
11:14
Speaker 1: the burning by the French of stores and factory at
11:17
Speaker 1: Pannye again opened up on certain buildings of a neighboring town.
11:22
Speaker 1: On August twenty two. They sent over a hundred and
11:25
Speaker 1: fifty shells between two o'clock and seven, all large marmites
11:30
Speaker 1: two tens, two eighties, and I believe some larger. The
11:34
Speaker 1: damage done is considerable, but after such a bombardment it
11:38
Speaker 1: was marvelous that anything remained. Over thirty three shells fell
11:42
Speaker 1: in the road. It happened to be my day of repose,
11:46
Speaker 1: and I was asked if I would care to go
11:48
Speaker 1: to Nanci for the day. So at seven o'clock in
11:51
Speaker 1: the morning I appeared in full parade uniform, so to speak.
11:55
Speaker 1: And except that I hadn't the heart to shave off
11:58
Speaker 1: my temporary mustache, I am sure I must have cut
12:01
Speaker 1: quite a figure off. We went to Nanci and spent
12:05
Speaker 1: an interesting day looking all over that wonderful town Salisbury.
12:09
Speaker 1: As you know, has got the quadiguere, and we all
12:12
Speaker 1: felt very proud parading the street with him and his
12:16
Speaker 1: significant ribbon. While the two men with me went to
12:19
Speaker 1: have a hair cut, which I happened to feel no
12:22
Speaker 1: impulse to do. I stayed outside in the car. I
12:26
Speaker 1: noticed four Moroccans walking down the street and casually thought
12:30
Speaker 1: how picturesque their red fezes looked against their blue uniform, when,
12:35
Speaker 1: to my horror, they stopped by my car and started
12:38
Speaker 1: saluting and bowing and talking so ostentatiously that it took
12:43
Speaker 1: exactly thirty seconds for a large crowd of Nansi inhabitants
12:47
Speaker 1: to collect. The mere fact of being in town for
12:50
Speaker 1: the first time in twelve weeks was quite strange. But
12:53
Speaker 1: to find myself surrounded by a quantity of civilians and
12:57
Speaker 1: the center of attraction was, to say, the lead east
13:00
Speaker 1: most embarrassing. It was a hot day, and I felt
13:03
Speaker 1: the perspiration pouring down my back as I looked to
13:07
Speaker 1: right and left for a way of escape. But my
13:10
Speaker 1: trial was not over. Horrors. My hand was taken and
13:15
Speaker 1: all four soldiers solemnly bowed over it and kissed it.
13:19
Speaker 1: I did not know what to do, being anxious not
13:22
Speaker 1: to offend them, nor to add to the amusement of
13:25
Speaker 1: the onlooking civilians. I thanked them in the name of
13:28
Speaker 1: America for the honor they were paying her, and brought
13:32
Speaker 1: down on my unsuspecting hand a renewal of the embrace. Suddenly, joy,
13:38
Speaker 1: what was that? An Irish voice? Sure a young man
13:42
Speaker 1: at an uncomfortable soil yard this minute, and an old
13:46
Speaker 1: fellow emerged from the multitude to bristling with the hope
13:49
Speaker 1: of a brawl. However, he calmly joined forces with me,
13:53
Speaker 1: and we presently left the crowd with as much dignity
13:56
Speaker 1: as was possible under the circumstances. From him, I heard
14:00
Speaker 1: all about the war, and as much, if not more,
14:03
Speaker 1: about Ireland as we sat in a public house across
14:06
Speaker 1: the street. So ended an awkward encounter. Well. We left
14:11
Speaker 1: Nancie about five thirty. I had bought cakes and various
14:15
Speaker 1: luxuries for the boys, and when we arrived just outside
14:19
Speaker 1: r about six thirty, we saw to our surprise the
14:22
Speaker 1: effects of the bombardments on buildings and the road. Uncertain
14:27
Speaker 1: whether to take a chance or not, we drove nearer
14:29
Speaker 1: and were still hesitating when a shell burst a hundred
14:33
Speaker 1: yards down the road and decided us. Not being on duty,
14:37
Speaker 1: we had no reason to go to pont A Mousson,
14:39
Speaker 1: so turning around, we went to dinner at Toul. After
14:43
Speaker 1: a good meal, we started home, and arriving at my
14:46
Speaker 1: room at eleven thirty, I was relieved to hear that
14:49
Speaker 1: no one had been injured. Several big e claus, however,
14:53
Speaker 1: had fallen in our garden, and two of our cars
14:56
Speaker 1: had very narrow escapes. A strange thing to me was
15:00
Speaker 1: the sense of dissatisfaction, of subconscious restlessness I felt while
15:06
Speaker 1: in Nancy. It was the first time for twelve weeks
15:09
Speaker 1: I had been in a civilized town where everything was
15:13
Speaker 1: going on as usual. It all seemed so artificial, so
15:18
Speaker 1: futile and aimless. As our car tooted home, I turned
15:22
Speaker 1: around and exclaimed, oh Lord, how glad I am to
15:25
Speaker 1: get back again to our dear old, peaceful bit of country,
15:29
Speaker 1: rather irish, but quite sincere. The other day I had
15:33
Speaker 1: two hours off duty and mc connell and I went
15:36
Speaker 1: for a walk along the Moselle. We saw several soldiers
15:39
Speaker 1: bathing and decided it would be a good idea to do. Likewise,
15:43
Speaker 1: it was a gloriously hot day, so the fact that
15:46
Speaker 1: we had no towels was unimportant, I confess. I became
15:50
Speaker 1: Anglais to the extent of insisting on walking along the
15:53
Speaker 1: bank until we got away from everyone and could bathe alone.
15:58
Speaker 1: At last we found a quiet corner and started to undress,
16:01
Speaker 1: but we had been noticed, say Lais American, and before
16:06
Speaker 1: we could realize it, some soldiers were hurriedly preparing to
16:10
Speaker 1: swim in the moselle with us, so our bath became
16:13
Speaker 1: a real party. I only tell this little incident to
16:16
Speaker 1: show again how ready the soldiers always are to join
16:19
Speaker 1: and talk to members of our little section. September fourth,
16:24
Speaker 1: A sad thing happened the other day to a friend
16:27
Speaker 1: of mine, a Poillieu, who had been helping me to
16:30
Speaker 1: get specimens of perfect empty German shells, those which have
16:35
Speaker 1: arrived but not exploded. The fellow was an expert at
16:39
Speaker 1: dismounting them, a very dangerous task, and when he had
16:42
Speaker 1: entirely emptied them, used to bring them to me. I
16:46
Speaker 1: had many a long talk with him, and he got
16:48
Speaker 1: quite fond of American tobacco. Poillieuse don't usually care for
16:53
Speaker 1: English tobacco. He used to like to tell me about
16:57
Speaker 1: his girl and how happy they were together before the war,
17:01
Speaker 1: and how the day peace was declared he was going
17:04
Speaker 1: to marry her. Lately I had noticed he looked depressed,
17:08
Speaker 1: and one day I found out the reason. I was
17:11
Speaker 1: in his little cellar, sitting on a block of wood,
17:14
Speaker 1: talking of America and he of France. When the postman
17:18
Speaker 1: came to the door. He looked at my friend, who
17:21
Speaker 1: had become alert, and shaking his head, said pass encore
17:25
Speaker 1: and murmuring salut to me, continued his walk with his
17:29
Speaker 1: precious letters from home. My friend became very white and
17:34
Speaker 1: presently confessed to me that he had had no letters
17:37
Speaker 1: for six weeks forty two days. That seems a terribly
17:41
Speaker 1: long time out here, you know. A Few days after
17:44
Speaker 1: I saw him again and asked if he had heard
17:46
Speaker 1: from his girl. He said no, very sullenly. But later,
17:51
Speaker 1: over a glass of beer, he mentioned that his father
17:54
Speaker 1: had written to say his girl had been misbehaving herself.
17:58
Speaker 1: The poor fellow seemed stunned with the news. After vainly
18:01
Speaker 1: trying to cheer him up, I went back to dinner.
18:04
Speaker 1: The next morning I did not see him, being on
18:07
Speaker 1: monteville A duty, but the following morning I was at headquarters.
18:11
Speaker 1: When an urgent call came for an ambulance. My car
18:15
Speaker 1: happened to be just going, so I took the trip.
18:18
Speaker 1: Where was the house, I asked, Just over there where
18:21
Speaker 1: the man is waving. It was the house of my friend.
18:25
Speaker 1: Need I end the story. A broken man who had
18:28
Speaker 1: worked valiantly for twelve months under hellish conditions to defend
18:32
Speaker 1: his country had shot himself. We lifted him on to
18:37
Speaker 1: a stretcher. Then, feeling pretty badly, and with the doctor's
18:40
Speaker 1: urgent warning against loss of time ringing in my ears,
18:45
Speaker 1: we number ten and I sped away to b They
18:48
Speaker 1: took him out of my car, read the little pink fish,
18:52
Speaker 1: which is attached to every wounded soldier and filled in
18:55
Speaker 1: by the doctor who has dressed him in the first
18:58
Speaker 1: post secure, and then exchanged glances. I knew those glances
19:03
Speaker 1: not only meant that life was nearly extinct, but that
19:06
Speaker 1: it did not much matter whether he recovered or not,
19:09
Speaker 1: as he would get six years imprisonment if he got
19:12
Speaker 1: well for attempted suicide, and that sentence in war time
19:17
Speaker 1: means constant first line trench work. I followed him into
19:21
Speaker 1: the operating room, where he opened his eyes, and I
19:24
Speaker 1: think he recognized me. His lips moved, but I don't know.
19:28
Speaker 1: The other night came a hurry call to Clais Bois
19:31
Speaker 1: for a poor fellow who had kept his grenade too
19:34
Speaker 1: long and was very badly shattered. Just a chance if
19:37
Speaker 1: he get him to the hospital, quickly, said the doctor.
19:40
Speaker 1: How many times I have felt quite elated at this injunction,
19:44
Speaker 1: and literally flown to the Belleville hospital, But in this
19:48
Speaker 1: instance I had that horrible sense of hopelessness. It was
19:51
Speaker 1: dark and quite impossible to make Belville. Under an hour
19:55
Speaker 1: and a quarter. The poor fellow died before I could
19:58
Speaker 1: get there. To day, I took all the carbon out
20:01
Speaker 1: of the car and put in a new commutator. A
20:04
Speaker 1: quiet and lonely day, I feel homesick. The German offensive,
20:09
Speaker 1: which I thought might take place yesterday, did not. The
20:13
Speaker 1: French got news of the fact and of the hour
20:15
Speaker 1: that they proposed to attack, and five minutes beforehand the
20:19
Speaker 1: seventy fives opened up, and catching many of the Germans
20:23
Speaker 1: already in their first line of trenches, so demoralized them
20:27
Speaker 1: as to wholly disrupt their intention. We had only about
20:30
Speaker 1: ten wounded, but goodness knows how many they lost. September
20:35
Speaker 1: sixth I forgot to mention a very important event in
20:38
Speaker 1: the history of the section. After the Bleneaux attack, Walter
20:42
Speaker 1: and I went to see the damage done. We found
20:45
Speaker 1: the havoc was pretty bad. We were talking to some
20:48
Speaker 1: men who had actually been in a room where a
20:50
Speaker 1: shell exploded and had not even been wounded, when a
20:54
Speaker 1: soldier joined us and, speaking in good English, asked if
20:58
Speaker 1: we would like to have some English papers. Although we
21:01
Speaker 1: felt pretty sure they wouldn't contain very recent news, we
21:05
Speaker 1: had to show an eager appreciation and asked him if
21:08
Speaker 1: he would go and fetch them. We followed him to
21:11
Speaker 1: his lodging. He presently emerged with a large parcel of
21:14
Speaker 1: quite old papers and began chatting with us. London was mentioned,
21:19
Speaker 1: and we soon discovered that he had been chef for
21:22
Speaker 1: some friends of mine, and had, after leaving them, become
21:25
Speaker 1: chef to Lord Fisher. I think I told you that
21:28
Speaker 1: our chef was an undertaker before the war, and his
21:31
Speaker 1: cooking was such that we wonder he did not achieve
21:34
Speaker 1: a lot of patrons in our section. When we got
21:37
Speaker 1: back to the bureau, we decided to ask the Governor
21:40
Speaker 1: of pont Aine, Mousson to allow us to have Cossin,
21:44
Speaker 1: for that was his name as our chef, and of
21:47
Speaker 1: course our request was immediately exceeded to so now we
21:50
Speaker 1: are having Boo de luxe and the Singe, as they
21:54
Speaker 1: called the American ten to meet. We have to eat.
21:57
Speaker 1: Every other meal was quite delicious as a curry. Last night,
22:02
Speaker 1: September eighth. I hope I have not missed to day's mail.
22:06
Speaker 1: I may have done so, as I hear our letters
22:08
Speaker 1: are kept for some time before being forwarded. In case
22:12
Speaker 1: I have, it will be September twenty seventh or so
22:15
Speaker 1: before you get this, and I shall perhaps have started
22:18
Speaker 1: home on leave. And though as the time approaches for
22:21
Speaker 1: me to go, I doubt more and more whether I
22:24
Speaker 1: can actually break away. The only possibility of real contentment
22:29
Speaker 1: now for any one who cares for France or England
22:32
Speaker 1: is to stay until their just cause is victorious, or
22:36
Speaker 1: as in many a case, alas until the call to
22:39
Speaker 1: eternal peace. Every soldier is dreading the winter here and
22:43
Speaker 1: secretly fosters the almost hopeless wish and belief that there
22:48
Speaker 1: will be no winter campaign. However, as day passes day,
22:52
Speaker 1: and all preparations for one go forward to completion the French,
22:57
Speaker 1: with their wonderful pluck and determination, will resigned themselves to
23:01
Speaker 1: the inevitable. The other day a Poillieu, who was standing
23:06
Speaker 1: as usual with eight or nine others around my car
23:09
Speaker 1: at X, suddenly expressed this compensating thought, Well, it may
23:13
Speaker 1: be hard for us French this side of Europe, but
23:16
Speaker 1: what a time the Bosches will have in Russia. And
23:19
Speaker 1: the idea quite cheered up the little party. Yesterday I
23:23
Speaker 1: had a sudden call to fetch three badly wounded. One
23:27
Speaker 1: of them was in great pain from a wound in
23:29
Speaker 1: the back, and the slightest jostle or bump I knew
23:32
Speaker 1: would cause him great agony. The doctor, pointing to one
23:36
Speaker 1: of the other two, said you must get him to
23:38
Speaker 1: the operating room as quickly as you can. But I answered,
23:42
Speaker 1: I dare not go fast. This poor chap is in
23:45
Speaker 1: such condition. The doctor shrugged his shoulders, but the man
23:49
Speaker 1: who was suffering had heard, go as fast as you can,
23:52
Speaker 1: my friend, it won't kill me. I did so, and
23:55
Speaker 1: the bumps were bad. The poor fellow could not help
23:58
Speaker 1: uttering cries from time to time. Before I arrived at Bellville,
24:03
Speaker 1: the cries had ceased as the great pain had made
24:06
Speaker 1: him unconscious. The badly wounded man was dead. Se La Guere,
24:11
Speaker 1: said the doctor to whom I told the story, and
24:13
Speaker 1: I left him washing his hands for the operation. I
24:17
Speaker 1: have just heard an amusing fragment. A German prisoner lately
24:21
Speaker 1: taken was seated in the telephone office at Monteville waiting
24:26
Speaker 1: to be transported. He had stamped on his uniform buttons
24:29
Speaker 1: and iron cross, and the French were asking him why
24:32
Speaker 1: he wore it. He explained that it was the right
24:35
Speaker 1: of a section who had earned the iron cross to
24:38
Speaker 1: do so. The Frenchman started chaffing him he could understand
24:43
Speaker 1: and speak French, and a jocular remark not particularly complimentary
24:47
Speaker 1: to the Kaiser was cut short by the prisoner, who,
24:50
Speaker 1: nervously looking around the room, said, in an awed whisper, Oh,
24:55
Speaker 1: if the Kaiser should hear of your talking this way,
24:58
Speaker 1: my god. The other day I paid a visit to
25:01
Speaker 1: the hospital at l and found all the wounded, only
25:05
Speaker 1: very serious cases, stay here, quite happy and buoyant. And
25:09
Speaker 1: the men who had been evacuated in my car never
25:12
Speaker 1: failed to remind me and thank me. One young fellow
25:16
Speaker 1: about my own age had had his left leg amputated
25:20
Speaker 1: I sat by his bed and chatted with him, and
25:23
Speaker 1: he told me of his wife, a year and a
25:25
Speaker 1: half married, and of his child, whom he had not
25:28
Speaker 1: yet seen. He was so very eager that somehow the
25:32
Speaker 1: pity of it made me turn aside for a second
25:34
Speaker 1: and look out of the window. Quick of perception, out
25:38
Speaker 1: went his hand to mine. Oh, she will understand, comrade,
25:42
Speaker 1: he said, smiling, She will love me just the same.
25:45
Speaker 1: She is a frenchwoman. How can one help caring for
25:48
Speaker 1: France and French people. They have such keen appreciation of
25:53
Speaker 1: the value of sympathy and gratitude. Here in the midst
25:56
Speaker 1: of torturing death, they at least are cheerful, and, having
26:00
Speaker 1: put aside the barrier of selfishness, are wholly simple and
26:04
Speaker 1: direct in their human relations. The fact that on every
26:08
Speaker 1: side there is daily evidence of this attitude, in spite
26:12
Speaker 1: of so bitter and costly a struggle, is high proof
26:15
Speaker 1: of the fineness of their civilization, and of Part four.