HOW A FIGHTING KENTUCKIAN WON THE THANKS OF BRITAIN’S KING BY ALEXANDER McCLINTOCK, D. C. M. Late Sergeant, 87th Battalion, Canadian Grenadier Guards Now member of U. S. A. Reserve Corps NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO MY MOTHER MAUDE JOHNSON McCLINTOCK CONTENTS BEST O’ LUCK BEST O’ LUCK...

I don’t lay claim to being much of a writer, and up ’till now I never felt the call to write anything about my experiences with the Canadian troops in Belgium and France, because I realized that a great many other men had seen quite as much as I, and could beat me telling about it. Of course, I believed that my experience was worth relating, and I thought that the matter published in the newspapers by professional writers sort of missed the essentials and lacked the spirit of the “ditches” in a

When we took our position in the front line trenches in Belgium, we relieved the Twenty-sixth Canadian Battalion. The Twenty-sixth belonged to the Second division, and had seen real service during the battle of Hooge and in what is now termed the third battle of Ypres, which occurred in June, 1916. The organization was made up almost exclusively of French Canadians from Quebec, and it was as fine a fighting force as we had shown the Fritzes, despite the fact that men of their race, as developmen

As we climbed out of the shelter of our trenches for my first—and, perhaps, my last, I thought—adventure in “No Man’s Land,” the word was passed: “Over the top and give ’em hell!” That is the British Tommies’ battle cry as they charge the enemy and it has often sounded up and down those long lines in western France as the British, Canadian, and Australian soldiers go out to the fight and the death. We were divided into six parties of ten men, each party having separate duties to perform. We crou

A few days after the bombing raid, which ended so disastrously for us, our battalion was relieved from duty on the front line, and the tip we got was that we were to go down to the big show then taking place on the Somme. Our relief was a division of Australians. You see, the sector which we had held in Belgium was a sort of preparatory school for the regular fighting over in France. It wasn’t long before we got into what you might call the Big League contest but, in the meanwhile, we had a litt

Our high command apparently meant to make a sure thing of the general assault upon the Regina trench, in which we were to participate. Twice the order to “go over the top” was countermanded. The assault was first planned for October 19th. Then the date was changed to the 20th. Finally, at 12:00 noon, of October 21st, we went. It was the first general assault we had taken part in, and we were in a highly nervous state. I’ll admit that. It seemed almost certain death to start over in broad dayligh

I was taken from Poizers to Albert in a Ford ambulance, or, as the Tommies would say, a “tin Lizzie.” The man who drove this vehicle would make a good chauffeur for an adding machine. Apparently, he was counting the bumps in the road for he didn’t miss one of them. However, the trip was only a matter of seven miles, and I was in fair condition when they lifted me out and carried me to an operating table in the field dressing station. A chaplain came along and murmured a little prayer in my ear.