Stretcher Bearers at the Double - ElectricCanadian.com

"SUNNY FRANCE 83
It was shortly after this that Gilpin began to "work his
ticket," because of failing eyesight. Colonel Farmer had just
about decided to recommend Jack s discharge when one day the
near the
corporal-cook forgot himself. The colonel was standing
cookhouse when John pointed a murky finger skywards.
"Lor
!"
lummey exclaimed the excited cook, "them blawsted jerries is
to it that bloody bloke if ee eye-nt shawp!" Colonel
Powin armer looked in the direction Jack was pointing.
"Hit who?"
he asked, searching the sky. "Why
that eye-viator over there,"
pointed John. "Cawn t you see sir?"
im, But the colonel was
unable to see any planes overhead - - until he got his binoculars !
Even then he had some difficulty in locating the British plane
around which white shell-puffs were clustering, about two miles
up. Needless to add, perhaps, that Gilpin s bad break about his
eyesight didn t hasten his discharge. Jack, too, was about the only
one of us who was ever able to read the time by that sundial on
the south wall of the old La Clytte church. He had good eyesight,
too, when anyone tried to swipe food from his cookhouse.
Bob Tillotson was another laddybuck who didn t enjoy the
Christmas festivities. Bob was sick in hospital and had been put
on a diet, being allowed only a few ounces of liquid food each
day. To add insult to his illness, several bulky boxes of Christmas
cheer had arrived for him and were piled beside his stretcher, but
he was forbidden to open them. Whether the contemplation of
so many unopened boxes aggravated his condition we never
knew, but Bob grew steadily worse and heroic methods were
undertaken to bring him back to normal. One night Captain
Silcox ordered an enema for Bob - - and Roy Flynn and Jim
Henderson were nominated to perform the heroic deed. They
filled one of the schoolhouse fire-buckets with tepid water. Into
this they stirred about two pounds of soft soap. Henderson stood
on a pannier and held the frothing pail aloft while Flynn put the
business end of the tube where it
belonged. Poor Bob groaned in
frightened anticipation of the probable denouement, but the two
enthusiastic orderlies poured soapy fluid into him until he seemed
about to burst. It may have been just a coincidence, but at that
very moment the whole Ypres salient was aroused by a gas alarm.
Gongs clanged, bells rang, horns tooted and flappers flapped.
Fritz put over a defensive barrage and our infantrymen donned
their gas respirators. There was a breeze from the west blowing