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TIlE ROYAL nWOUllDLAlID REX;IHENT
RF.MIllIf>cENCES OF THE GREAT liAR.
I § \IlIICH IT TOOK SUCH A PROHIIlEllT PART
mA: - By One Who 'Wa s Thl!re-1917.
No. 3A.J1.!llce Corporal John J . RY!!l~
We have much pleasure in presenting-the ralloving graphic description from
the pen
of La . Corp.L, John J. Ryan or St. John t e , vho was one of the very first
to answer- the call of arms 1n the cause of Liberty and Humanity, as 'Well as in
defence of Ki ng and countr-y,
Lance Corporal Ryan is one of 'those heroes made up
of that stern stuff " whi ch seeks the bubble reputation even at the cannonIS
mouth" , so beautifully described by the immortal Bard of Avon-William Shakespeare .
In the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, familiarly known as the " B'Iue Puttees" ,
Lance Corporal Ryan va s No . 33 of the First 500 , and a l t houg h he followed the
fortunes of th~ Regiment for over tw-o years, one would never suppose that a youth
of 17 years at: ag e would ha ve un dergone such terribl e expe r -fence s , an d at the (lame
time treat them as if they wer e affairs of e ver yda y lif e. Brave be has proven him -
s elf to be I
her-ode he undoubted ly is, because his commanding officers quickly
recognized these facts , i n proof of which he was promoted to t.he f i e l d of battle,
performed.
And yet. , 'When s pe a ki ng of t hos e historic event s, the most memorable i n
the history of the world, i t i s only by using t he gr -eat .est; caution and t aking him
off his gua r d that one
i s enable d t o elicit from him a reference 't o himself, an d
in t hat 'We admire his una aeumfng di spos i t i on and natural modesty, ' whj.ch are and
have always be en , ch aracteri stic of a br-ave man a nd a Br-Ltd sh Soldier,
which have
been t he means of pl anting the f lag of Gr oa t
nritain in every por t i on of the world
a nd mai ntai ning i t there no mat ter vhat. e nemy may endeavor t o pull it down. Th i s
i s only na tural, thi s l ove of danger- 00\1 advent ur-e i n our yo ung count r y men, ond
he , vi t.h his. coar-ade s in t his t.er-r db.le Horld War , have only I'o'l Lovcd up the hi story
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