Gurkhas and Sikhs: Indias Great Warriors | 102 Years Ago

102 years ago the newspaper "Odgen Standart" wrote about the qualities of Gurkha and Sikh warriors who fought loyal for the British Empire. The article gives a detailed overview on their fighting history, religion and behavior. From today's view I'm not shure if it was correct to say that these people were loyal to India. What do you think?

Perhaps never in the history of the British Empire has a situation been so vital to its integrity and so affecting: Its prestige been thrust upon the people of that country as that involved by the present war. For two centuries her commerce has surpassed that of any other nation, her flag has been seen in every port, her ships have been the carriers of the products of every land and her sons have inhabited the farthermost parts of the earth. Her colonies arclocated in every clime and every hemisphere, and her governmental policy has been felt everywhere. Her rule, on the whole, has been benevolent and beneficial so much so that a feeling of loyalty to the Home Country has steadfastly grown among the natives of India and other lands.

And today in her hour of need, when England's standing among the nations is threatened with humiliation, these native; are responding in large numbers and with great enthusiasm and genuine patriotism to the cry for help. India, a nation with entirely different racial Instincts and traditions, with a different culture, religion, civilization and governmental policy a nation one century ago the very antithesis of England is offering up her sons on the battlefields of Europe in England's defense as willingly and with equal self-sacrifice as the Mother Country herself.

Caste In The Army.

In Europe, as we know, every able bodied man, given food and arms, is a fighting man of some sort some better, some worse, but still as capable of bearing arms as any other of his nationality. But In India, where caste prevails, only a certain class of People may bear arms. The others, even if they have the requisite physical courage, may not become soldiers. The existence of this condition complicates the enlistment in India as it renders any form of a levy en masse impossible. The soldiers of India must come from the descendants of the ancient Aryan races who invaded India in prehistoric times, such as a Rajput and Brahman, who for practical purposes may be divided into two distinct classes one comprising the people of Hindustan and of the Punjab, and the other the races of Jats (from whom the Sikhs are descended) and the Gujars, the Pathans and the Moguls of India, the Pathan and Afghan of the frontier hills and the Gurkhas.

Gurkhas Win Battle In 1878.

The Sikhs and the Gurkhas are the best known fighting men. Men who have over and over again stood the test of loyalty to Great Britain. During the war of that nation against the Afghans there was a night assault on the Pelwar Kotal one night in December, 1878. This attack has become famous in history on account of the precipitous mountain which I was scaled during the night in order to command the road and make the attack. Lord-Roberts, who died during the early part of the war while "looking over the situation" in Franco, was in command at the time of this outbreak. His forces were made up of a regiment of Highlanders, a regiment of Gurkhas and two regiments of Punjab Infantry. It was a moonlight night and the enemy soon discovered Lord Roberts men.

The action came before dawn when the Gurk has suddenly sprang ahead of their Scotch comrades and swarmed over the Afghan entrenchment and bayoneted all who stood before them. Then they hurried to the second entrenchment with the same result, and the battle was won. They are much smaller in stature than the Sikhs yet the critics of European soldiery who have made a study of the Indian troops declare that the Gurkhas are equal to the best soldiers now with the Allies. They are absolutely fearless and are known as the world's finest Infantry. At present about twenty-five thousand of these men are with the allied armies, and several of their encounters with the Germans have been chronicled as splendid examples of personal bravery.

One of the English officers recently likened them to fighting bantam roosters, being far more agile than the large fighting cocks and as usual being frequently successful. Tho Gurkhas havo a habit of creeping along quietly and then making a suddon bayonet charge directly in front of tho enemy. The surprise generally upsets the discipline of the enemy and before order is restored tho Gurkhas get in their work with the bayonets. When In close quarters with the enemy they are fierce fighters and show little or no mercy.

Sikhs.

The Sikhs are of an entirely different type: tall, athletic and high spirited. They are model fighting men. It is hardly correct to speak of them as a distinct race, for they are really a religious sect which started as a persecuted set of reformers who finally became a powerful body embracing many of the Hindu tribes and the races of the Punjab. A Sikh is baptized into his sect, not born into it. No man is a Slkh until he has been baptized. Their faith is austere, demanding a most vigorous self sacrifice. But many of the young men prefer to grow up as ordinary Hindus, and lead a comparatively easy life, free from the arduous restrictions of any special religious creed or sect which fastens its exacting regimen upon so many of this caste ridden country.

After Great Britain's declaration of war many men applied for baptism as Sikhs, but only those whose life had been lived according to the simple tenets were accepted. No non-baptized man is admitted to the Sikh regiments of the Indian Army. Heretofore the military reputation of this sect, so far as the English are concerned, dates from the Indian Mutiny when the Sikhs flocked to the Union Jack. Since that time they have served England in Abyssinia, Afghanistan, Chitral and Africa. They bore the brunt of the British campaign in Somaliland, in one instance a detachment of two hundred falling to the last man sooner than surrender to overwhelming numbers. They are absolutely fearless and stand ready to die at any time to save their commander.

Saved Lord Roberts.

Lord Roberts used to tell a story which illustrated this particular trait. During one of his campaigns he found himself in a very dangerous position and before he could move he was struck in the hand by a bullet. He heard a cry of alarm behind him and turning saw that one of his Sikh orderlies had stretched himself to his full height with extended arms in order that he might stop with his own body any bullet that might do harm to his commander. There were six of these orderlies attached to Lord Roberts and he makes special comment on the faithful attention of these men. This is all the more remarkable from the fact that England had two wars with the Sikhs during the conquest of India. The first occurred in 1345 when an army of them composed of sixty thousand well drilled troops and more than one hundred guns invested the British garrison in Ferozepore.

There was a two days battle about this place in which although the Sikhs were worsted they gave the English a hand to hand fight long to be remembered. In 18-16 the English had another battle with the Sikhs. This was fought at Aliwal, and the men of India again showed remarkable fighting qualities. The final battle in Great Britain's first war with the Sikhs occurred on February 10th, 1846, at Sobraon, when the British Lancers charged the crack Sikh brigade. The latter threw down their rifles as not suiting their mettle and advanced sword and shield in hand after the manner of the ancient warriors. Many of the Sikhs rushed forth and singled out an Engllish man for special combat.

They were gradually forced back by the British and lost more than ten thousand killed, wounded and drowned in the Sutlej River. Even then they were not conquered, and they launched a second war, murdering two English envoys and raising an army of forty thousand men. The British, twenty-five thousand strong, met them on the famous field of Gujerat and won a complete victory. One by one the chiefs surrendered their swords, and the whole of the Punjab came under the British flag. Then came the miracle of loyalty for ever slnce that time not only has there not been the slightest sign of a rebellion but they have fought for England whenever she has called upon them to do so.

The Indian Army.

The Indian Army at present is composed of about two hundred thousand men. It is made up of Infantry cavalry and several mountain batteries. There is no Indian artillery. Each regiment has two classes of officers, British and native, and the line drawn between them is severely kept. Each class has its own mess, and the British officers however Junior in rank are in control. Of the native soldiers about thirty-five per cent aro Mohammedans, sixty-three per cent Hindus, two per cent Christians or Jews. Mohammedans and Hindus are rarely found in the name regiment and never in the same company. The service is voluntary and there is never a shortage of recruits, the bulk, of them being sons of men who served the British Raj in their day.

About one-third of the army is composed of "class" regiments. These are regiments in which all the men are of one race and religion. The best soldiers of India are supposed to be the Mohammedan. The men are allowed to live in the field the same as they do at home. They have their own peculiar ways of killing a sheep, which is their favorite meat. They do this by cutting the animal's throat with a knife so sharp that there is never any danger of failure on the first blow. They build mud ovens and cook their food in these queer perforated mud mounds. England has never meddled with the mode of living of her Indian soldiers except as to sanitation.

There is, however, little difficulty about this and the class of people from which the army comes are cleanly. They have the greatest admiration for their British officers, for they are fully aware that these officers are their superiors as leaders in military affairs. When it comes to obeying orders they are machines of terrific force as has been shown in many of the bayonet charges made by them. Not a single act of cowardice has been shown by the Indian troops, in fact, the officers in many instances have been compelled to discipline them for foolhardy and senseless bravery such as would mean certain death without any special results for the Allies.

Anxious To Capture The Kaiser.

When the Sikhs arrived in the Allies camp they asked to be shown pictures of the Kaiser declaring that they were determined to capture him. Up to the present time their efforts to take him prisoner or even to get a glimpse of the War Lord has proved futile. Apart from sending her men to fight for the honor of Great Britain, India has given liberally to tho war fund and to the Red Cross.

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The Trained War Dogs Of The French Army | 100 Years Ago

100 Years ago the newspaper "Celina Democrat" wrote about trained war dogs who had several important positions in the French Army.

For example they were used to save wounded soldiers or to inform about dangerous hidden enemies. Many of this examples and stories have been collected in this interesting article:

Trained animals of the French army discover the wounded and even capture German dogs as prisoners. Many of them have been given great military honors.
The dogs of the French army are a force to be reckoned with. They are a really necessary cog in the big army machine. They have distinguished themselves in Argonne, on the Somme, on the Yser, in the Vosges. They have contributed appreciably to divers local successes. They have saved the lives of thousands of soldiers by their Intelligence and devotion, by their courage and address. They have given their limbs, they have given their health, they have given their lives. They have been cited on the rosters of their companies, their battalions, their regiments.
They have been decorated. Their virtues have been celebrated by the cinema, by the newspapers and Illustrated magazines and by the novel. Festivals have been held for the benefit of their hospitals and convalescent homes. Their delegates were enthusiastically cheered at the Palace of the Trocadero by an audience of over 6.000 persons (Including many wounded soldiers from the military hospitals) on the occasion of the last annual meeting of the S. P. A. (Societe Protectrice des Animaux, corresponding to our S. I. C. A.). And a committee has been formed (at the Instigation of their two-footed comrades-in-arms) for the erection of a monument in their honor.

Saviors of the Wounded

At the moment of the mobilization, 150 dogs, specially trained to rescue the wounded, were put at the disposition of the sanitary department of the Army of the Societe Nationnae du Chien Sanitaire. After a short stay at Longchamp, they were sent to the front, where they conducted themselves, on the whole, exceedingly well. "Pic" was brought down by a German bullet in Argonne. "Toby," alias "Crapouillot," died from a shell wound received at Vie-sur-Tourbe. "Kaiser","Kronprinz" and "Francois-Joseph", names given in derision, because offancied resemblance to the sovereigns of the adversaries served zealously and fell upon the field of honor. In 1915, mainly on the Initiative of the S. P. A. and the Anti-Vivisection league, some three hundred more thoroughly trained dogs were turned over to the sanitary department, and now not hundreds but thousands are succoring the wounded between Nieuport and Alsace.

"Prince," a superb Alsatian wolf, the first dog to have his coat dyed in the interests of invisibility, and still in the service, saved five wounded men in a single day at Vauquois. "Pax," blind and paralyzed and "Invalided" in due form because of these Infirmities contracted in the service, has the rescue of more than two hundred wounded to his credit. On the other hand. "Cadet," efficient singly, but too Ill-tempered for team work, has developed a specialty altogether his own, that of "gathering in" the dogs of the enemy. When "Cadet" spies a Boche dog, he pounces upon him, masters him, grips him by the tar and brings him to the trench as prisoner.

The "sanitary dog" scours the battlefield in quest of the wounded. When he discovers a suffering soldier he falls back on the brancardier to whom he is attached and makes plain by his attitude that his services are needed. At the outset he was taught to fetch to the brancardier a kepi or a handkerchief. But the handkerchief of the soldier is very apt to be in a tightly-buttoned pocket and he may have lost his kepi. Furthermore the kepi has been replaced largely by the heavy helmet, and it is next to Impossible for a dog to remove the latter, when it is held on by a chin-strap, as it almost always is. So it has become customary to have the dog fetch any object whatever (pipe, handkerchief, helmet, briquet, tobacco pouch, car tridge box. bit of uniform), save a bandage, which he is taught to scrupulously respect.

Surprising Canine Versatility

The "sanitary dogs," having been first in the field, thanks to the antebellum preparedness efforts of the Soclete Nationnle du Chien Sanitaire, and having long been the most numerous, have naturally attracted the most attention; but all the four-footed pollus are not rescuers of the wounded, Latterly, a goodly number have been trained for functions which bring them into closer relations with the actual combatants than with the disabled, and a special canine military service has been organized by ministerial decree. Dogs now serve as sentinels, as scouts, as dispatch bearers, and as revictuallers.
They are taught to wait patiently in solitary spots; to pay no attention to the most deafening detonations; to wear a gas-mask; to growl (without barking) at the slightest suspicious approach; to move back nnd forth between widely separated points without being tempted by irrelevant appeals enroute or being disconcerted by the obliteration of landmarks due to the tramping or churning of the earth.

"I use only French dogs," says a dog-training specialist, "for a very simple reason that renders all other reasons, namely, that they are the best shepherd dogs of La Beauce and of the Pyrenees, enterprising and hardy, excellent pupils, on condition that you specialize them, that you demand of them only what they have to give, that you do not exact from them, as from the modern-style ladies' maid, housekeeping, piano-playing, sewing, ironing, and the giving of English lessons.
The efficiency of the war dog depends upon two things, obedience and scent. Do not expect from the best dog miracles of well-nigh human intuition. If you do, you will be deceived. Refuse to believe that a war dog will learn to send telephone messages by growling before a telephone (as has been reported and even printed), or that he will run to ring the alarm bell at the approach of asphyxiating gas."

Four-Footed Sentinels

"Fidele," a big yellow mastiff, who mounted guard regularly before the porthole of a trench on the Yser, was shot in the head. He was evacuated to a dog hospital. The surgeons succeeded to extracting the bullet (which his master now wears as a charm on his watch-chain), and, after a proper period of convalescence, he joyously resumed his service at the front. "Lion" sentinel with the th regiment of Colonial infantry, signalled the proximity of a strong German patrol whose mission it was to capture a post some two hundred yards in advance of the French lines. His alarm permitted the opening of a deadly infantry and artillery fire which repulsed and decimated the patrol. Several prisoners were taken, who declared that they would certainly have succeeded in their enterprise had it not been for the warning given by the dog.

The Official Bulletin of July 19, 1910, contained this sentence: "An attack directed by the enemy upon our out posts in the region of Raschendael (Belgium) was checked by our fire." The failure of this raid was due to a dog named "Fox." He was placed upon the roll of honor of his regiment with this mention: "Fox, Serie F4, matricule 221 of the Kennel A, foiled an attempt of the Germans to raid our first-line trenches. Profiting by a dark night and a gale of wind, the enemy had succeeded in upproachlng our barbed-wire barriers without being seen or heard by the sentinels. The dog Fox of the Nineteenth company of the -th regiment of Infantry, who was mounting guard at the extremity of the trench, alarmed the post twice and permitted us to receive the enemy with a shower of grenades. Thanks to Fox's alarm, the surprise resulted in a complete fiasco." "Loustic" had no sooner familiarized himself with the trenches of the Infantry than he made a discover of the first Importance. While on watch duty with his master he suddenly obliqued to the right and gave unmistakable signs of perturbation.

"There's something over yonder," said the master to his comrades. "Nonsense! Your pup's dreaming." "But I tell you that If none of our men are over there at the right, there are Boches there." The dog is led in the opposite direction to test him. He runs back to his point of observation and continues to manifest the same disquieting symptoms. "It may be that he smells a Boche outpost," observed his master. The men, Impressed at last, communicate the observation to the officer in command. "X-- says that his dog 'Loustic' has discovered a Boche outpost." "The one we are after?" "Yes." "That would be extraordinary indeed." The captain is skeptical; nevertheless he orders several rockets to be setoff. And there, sure enough, in the direction the dog so obstinately indicated, pop up the heads of three superb Bodies, who fancied themselves secure against discovery. That passes me," murmured the captain. "In 20O minutes this cur has discovered a post we have been hunting two months for."

Four-Footed Scouts

In a northern sector, between the French and German trendies, fully 200 yards from the former and not more than 20 yards from the latter, was a farmhouse which was suspected concealing machine guns and an observation post, despite the fact that no signs of life were visible. The poilus in one of the French trenches lay their heads together: "It's absolutely necessary to know what there is in that house." "You're right. But It's no easy matter. We shall surely be shot If we go near it." "But if it is empty?" "That would be a lark. We'll find out. We'll take Tapillon' along with us." And one dark night four men, accompanied by Papillon, set forth. They advanced by bound?, with infinite precaution, making ten-minute halts between the bounds and unrolling a telephone wire as they progressed. When they were close to the house, they halted for three-quarters of an hour, in order to give Papillon time to familiarize himself with the premises and to reconnoiter them thoroughly.


He displayed no signs of agitution save when he was turned toward the trenches of the enemy. The house was certainly empty. The party entered and made a thorough inspection. They returned under Papillon's guidance several times, making daylight observations which rendered possible a successful attack. And Papillon was cited on the roll of honor of the battalion. In the spy-infected Vosges the scouting dogs have been particularly useful in detecting the civilian traitors who are In the habit of observing the movements of the troops from behind the forest trees. The scout "Nestor," besides rendering numerous services of this sort in the region, also distinguished himself particularly at Bandkopf by fulling back upon a patrol, in advance of which he was reconnoitering and announcing in unmistakable language a totally unsuspected menace of the enemy.

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Red Cross Ships Have Been Targets For German U-Boats | 99 Years Ago

In July 11, 1918 the US Newspaper "Western Kansas World" complained detailed about german war ships who attacked and torpedoed red cross ships without warning. The first world war was not over yet and still many people lost their lifes on both sides. Of course, today some parts of this article can be seen as propaganda. But for me its still an interesting view into another time. and if you are interested in history this may be also something for you. Here is the full text:

WARRING on the RED CROSS

Recently we have had another record of German barbarity in the torpedoing of the hospital ship Rewa, made dramatic because the missile of destruction struck her where the red cross of mercy was painted on her side, as If it were a bull's-eye for just such murderous shots. I was speaking to a merchant ship captain about It and asked him why he had given up the command of a certain British hospital ship, a berth which to my landsman's eyes had seemed to be the easiest on the sea today in spite of instances like the Kewa. He didn't look at me as he answered. He looked far out through his cabin port at the tower of the Wool-worth building.

He finally told me that in spite of the danger it was easier on him to take a merchant ship or a transport through the war zone than to have his heart torn asunder by the suffering of humanity he had seen on hospital ships; men gassed and writhing in agony; men wounded or mutilated out of sheer deviltry. Frightfulness waste of manhood because the kaiser wanted to dominated the world that's what he saw on a hos pital ship; and when his ship of mercy, like the Kewa, was torpedoed without warning and he managed to beach her before she sank he simply went to pieces, as have many hospital ship commanders before him.

Every hospital ship sunk means that the allies must replace It with a ship which has been carrying food and munitions. That is Germany's game. Finding her submarine warfare was not succeeding as she had hoped, she lessens the tonnage of her enemies by fouler means still and covers up her dastardly motives by officially saying:

"The German government can no longer suffer that the British government should forward troops and munitions to the main theater of war undercover of the Red Cross, and it therefore declares that from now on no enemy hospital ship will be allowed in the sea zone comprised between a line drawn from Flamborough Head to Terschelling on the one hand and Ushant and Land's End on the other. If In this sea zone after the expiry of the stated time any enemy hospital ship is encountered It will be considered as a vessel of war and it will be attacked without further ceremony."

And knowing full well that no allied hospital ships were carrying either troops, munitions or anything which they shouldn't in their garb of mercy, Germany has lessened tonnage by sinking the hospital ship Britannic (50,000 tons), Asturias (11.400 tons), Gloucester Castle (7.999 tons), Donegal (1,997 tons), Salta (7,284 tons), Lanfranc (6,275 tons), Dover Castle (860 tons), Kewa (7,267 tons), Glenart Castle (9,000 tons), Llandovey Castle (10.000 tons), and others amounting to over 200,000 tons.

Germany has already begun paving the way to lessen American tonnage by sinking our hospital ships whenever we get any. On May 1, 1918, she officially notified the world that "American aviators are crossing to Europe as members of the Red Cross on hospital ships. This misuse of the Red Cross appears from documentary evidence found on American aviators who have been shot down. An American brought down in the region of the army of General von Hutier carried a pass which referred to him as a member of the American ambulance for France.

"Prisoners openly admit that it is the general practice for aviators to enter American ambulance service for their passage to Europe and to cross on hospital ships. After they are landed in France they immediately transfer to the automobile corps and then into the air service. "The captured aviator referred to had, however, transferred directly from the ambulance service into the air service.
Except for the naval hospital ship Solace and hospital yacht Surf attached to our fleet, and two Ward liners being converted into the hospital ships Comfort and Mercy, solely for the use of the navy and at this writing not yet in service, the United States has had no hospital ships at all. Consequently it would be impossible for American aviators to cross on such ships as Germany states they have. The aviators which Germany refers to as having crossed to France for Red Cross work crossed at their own expense on regular passenger ships before we entered the war and were driving neutral ambulances.

When we entered the war, naturally they weren't going to return to the United States to enlist when they could enlist In their country's military forces in France and get at punishing the Hun earlier than the fellows at home. These captured American aviators Germany speaks about apparently had on them certificates of service they had rendered while driving American neutral ambulances. As usual, Germany has distorted the truth. In this instance she simply wishes to give a semblance of excuse for the attempts she is going to make to lessen the number of ships available to transport our boys overseas, because every hospital ship sunk has to be replaced with some ship in military or civil Service.

The first hospital ship the Huns sank was the Portugal, flying the Russian flag. She was anchored off Rizek, a Black sea port, when at about eight o'clock on the morning of March 17, 1916, a periscope was seen approaching. The Portugal had no wounded on board simply her hospital staff, which included many nuns and her full crew. The Russian government had notified the central powers that the Portugal was a hospital ship and had obtained from them a recognition of her status. She was properly marked under the ruling of both the Hague and Geneva conventions.

Of course, nobody thought for one instant that the submarine would attack the Portugal, and there was no panic until, when about 200 feet away, the submarine fired a torpedo which missed its mark. Then the beast circled arom.d the anchored ship of mercy and fired a second torpedo at close range. The second missile struck the Portugal in the engine room. There was a terrific explosion within her and the hu'i broke in two. The loss of life on the Portugal was 21 nuns, who were acting as nurses; 24 others of the Red Cross staff, as well as 21 of the Russian crew and 19 of the French, totaling 85, all of whom were ruthlessly murdered without any reason whatso ever. The next torpedoing of note was that of the new White Starliner Britannic, the largest British ship afloat and one which the Germans wished to remove from competing with their ships. The Britannic was sunk In the Egean sea, and that but 50 lives were lost out of the 1,100 wounded and large crew she had aboard is remarkable, considering she went down in 53 minutes.

A German newspaper, the Kieler Zeitung, was the first to admit publicly that a torpedo and not a mine had caused the disaster, and further stated: "The Britannic was transporting fresh troops for our enemies. If she had not been doing so our submarine would never, of course, have torpedoed November 24, 1916, shortly after the Britannic was sunk, the British admiralty published a complete list of all persons on board. There were no troops. Germany continued her propaganda to dull the mind of the world as to her real Intent In sinking hospital ships by asserting that she had conclusive proof that in several instances enemy hospital ships had often been misused for the transport of troops and munitions. Under the principles of the Geneva convention governing maritime war belligerents have the right to stop and search hospital ships. Germany never utilized this right. Evidently It was easier to sink the ship outright and trust the world to believe the Imperial German word.

The big Asturias, commanded by Captain Laws, known to many Americans who traveled to Bermuda, had her first experience with a U-boat on February 1, 1915. She was the star hospital ship of the fleet, for at that time neither the Britannic nor Aquitania was doing hospital work. Only the prompt action of the second officer In turning the ship as he saw the torpedo saved her and the scores of wounded she had on board. Having made one miss at the Asturias, the Germans kept at It till they finally got her. The British admiralty announced the following: "The British hospital ship Asturias, while steaming with all navigating lights end with all the proper distinguishing Red Cross signs brilliantly illuminated, was torpedoed without warning on the this hospital ship is Included in the list of achievements claimed by U-boats as reported in the Ger man wireless press message yesterday."

The Asturias didn't sink, although 43 died in the tragedy. Including two women, and 89 were Injured. The torpedo rendered her helpless, as her rudder had been carried away. Captain Laws drove the sinking ship for shoal water. As she was off the rocky shore of Cornwall, if he did succeed in beaching her the chances of saving the ship would be slight. All Captain Laws thought of was to get her somewhere where she wouldn't sink and where her wounded had been removed.

As luck would have it, the Asturias took matters Into her own hands and in the darkness missed a reef, rounded a headland and brought up on one of the few sandy beaches to be found along the Cornwall shore line. After three years in command of her, several times a week crossing the Channel and running the risk of mines, as well as seeing the agony of human beings he transported, Captain 'Laws, like many other hospital ship skippers, collapsed. He's made several attempts to go to sea again, but his nerve is gone. The nation responsible for the murder of Nurse Cavell "accepted the Asturias Incident with composure, if not with satisfaction. For the Germans stated blandly "It would, moreover, be remarkable that the English In the case of the Asturias should have abstained from the customary procedure of using hospitai ships for the transport of troops and munitions."

The Asturias was returning from France. That Is a sufficient answer to Germany. Ten days later the Gloucester Castle was tor pedoed without warning in midchannel. All the wounded were successfully removed from the ship and the casualties were five medical officers, nine nursing sisters and 38 Royal Army Medical corps men. On April 11 the Berlin official wireless again cynically published a notification that the Gloucester Castle was torpedoed by a U-boat, thus removing any possible doubt in the matter. Then on April 17 the hospital shins Donegal and Lanfranc were sunk by U-boats. The British admiralty announced "The Donegal carried slightly wounded cases, all British. Of these 29 men, as well as 12 of the crew, are missing and presumed drowned. The Lanfranc, in addition to 234 wounded British officers and men, carried 167 wounded German prisoners, a medical personnel of 52 and a crew of 123. Of these the following are missing and presumed drowned:

Two wounded British officers, Eleven wounded British, other ranks, One R. A. M. C staff, Five crew, Two wounded German officers, Thirteen wounded German, other ranks."One hundred and fifty-two wounded German prisoners were rescued by British patrol boats at the Imminent risk of being themselves torpedoed. And then on the 26th of February they sank the Glenart Castle, bound from France to England. Yes, she carried troops, but they lay in white cots within the Glenart Castle's white sides. Nice chap, Fritz, for he'd agreed to respect hospital ships if they carried a Spanish officer to guarantee their Red Cross mission. The Glenart had her Spaniard and he too was nearly drowned in the catastrophe. One pleasing thing about the tragedy was that it gave an American destroyer, at the risk of being herself torpedoed, a chance to do a rescue work which makes the blood run faster in one's veins.


The sea was vile and the destroyer couldn't launch a boat. Tet as she passed men clinging to wreckage men too weak to catch the life-lines thrown to them American seamen Jumped overboard into icy water, swam to the poor devils and held them up till they could be rescued. Mr. Daniels. I'm glad to say. has fittingly rewarded such gallantry. And shortly after the Glenart Castle the big Uandovey Castle, on mercy bent, was torpedoed. She also carried a Spanish officer. I have a letter from an officer on the hospital ship Araguaya which has been transferred from passenger and food service to the work of mercy to replace lost hospital ships, and he tells me his ship is most particular about living up to the Geneva convention No nurses are carried except those who make the round trip between England and Canada. For 11 Canadian nurses worked their passage home Germany might say they were troops.

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