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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance, 1917-12-06, Page 6CANADA'S GENERALS .AT TFIE FRONT URGE CANADIANS AT HOME NOT TO DESERT OUR F!CHTING MEN, BUT TO SUPP'O 7' THEM WITH ADEQUATE REINFORCEMENTS MAJOR.GEN, PAVID WArSON, NlAJ,•o aN. SiR R. 1~. W. TURNgR, ,M.G. K.o.M.o. HOI$ LIN Your Boy is Calling Says "Ralph Connor" Fresh From the' Trenches llllajor" the Rev. C.W. Gordon Writes a Strong and Moving Appeal for Support for Union Government By Major, the Rev. C. W. Gordon (Ralph Connor.) ' . The rear"alaw.ays looks ragged.: It is farthest from the band, 'from the scenebf titeee"si "fthfiCtliFWee of action. Also itis . the place for'stragglers to walk, too wary to 'keep step. Many armies compose •a nation's war strength. Far up at the front is the fighting army; where'the guns roar and belch forth Heath, where the I1.E, shells batter "flat the lines of trenches, where bombs blow up dugouts, where the bayonets, coldly glitter- ing, strike terror to the shrinking foe, where ,the gallant knights " of .the eloudsAwhee1;a id ,dart:=like=avengiiig'angels over their foes;. 7.T.ro e. N. 'Tr W.; 44.4 rr -n llgq!T.9•»..7 ... fb7 9 RACI Or THE FIGHTING ARMY. Back of the fighting army is the army of transportation thronging the lines' of communication,. a slow winding mut : gz y serpent, curiously articulated with transport wagons and admin nition carts, motor lorries and G.H.Q. autos, shell -laden--- flask mules and au bulances, 'iva.ter.carts, and, laundry machines, ',repair trucks and medical .stores, hlg,vgnns nd.tnarching columns-, wit1 now and then --a tank, -a jryous loint in the writhing serpent, and all under the control of mounted men alert, patient, fierce, now wreathed in smiles, now with a sulphurous aura 'visible and palp•. able about their heads. The army, of direction, where the brass hath exude brain sweat and multitudes: of .subs and , orderlies pound the types till they • rattle like machine guns.er.roar.savage amenities• into telephone offices. The army .reconstruction, all the way from No Man's Land where the stretcher bearers and battalion M.O's. and chaplains struggle through mud and fire to save their wounded' comrades, all down the lute through 'battalion aid posts, advanced dressing stations, casualty clearing stations, hospital trains and base hos- pitals where, through clever -brains and quick fingers through ten. der hearts arid: smiting lip's the Christ "pity and the ,Christ love flows in healing streams about sore wounded. bodies and weary souls. THE ARIVIY or THE REAR, The army of administration of which let only reverend words be spoken, and other armies, but chiefly and lastly— The arnty of production, or the arrn r of the rear. Here, says General Joffre, echoed by Lloyd George, the war will be lost or won. For from this army all the other armies draw their suste- nance, their very life. Let this army fail and the war stops short, all is lost. The history of this war so far .relieves us of all fear as to the other armies. The fighting' array will riot quit so long as it live. Those armies that reach from the fighting line to the rear will not fail the fighting man, for they catch now. and again the sound of the guns, the gleam of bayonet, the flash of wings in the sky, arid theysee the.longline of stricken heroes borne to the rear. But this army of the rear. "Will they quit, think you?" asked *wounded French poilu anxiously of a newspaper man,. "The hien up there?" "Satre non, those down below." His anxiety is the only anxiety in the war. The army of the rear, the ragged army where, with the near guard, finest In temper of all. the fighting men, mingle the weak. the weary, the slacker, the fearful, a motley crew and hard to bear. Ah, that gallant rear guard, what glory is theirs, imperish- able I Theirs the sacrificial offering of their hearts' dearest treas- ure, the slow agony of separation and of waiting; theirs the sharp gasping stab of death winged front the battlefield; theirs the stern resolve to endure with faces serene always the ultimate demands. As that young girl in France to whorl ealne the colonel of herhus- band's regieriint with the news of his do'ath— 'TeII rate,°' saki she with white face and staring eyes while she clutched the colonel's arm, "tell me our France will be free? I will weep no tear." Wonderful France, wonderful soldiers of France, most wonderful of all the women of France who send their men away with a simile and des Tong hours that they may want neither guns, nor shells, emetiono. Ala uat, toe. ebltenno of this oetb,) a ,r41`�a �� y/�.ain,�;Rv ,4Cd^'yoi.-. .. . RN+^" f / IG r34: %i/.Yb .4.Y .r rr+r:�.ew.. ,�.y{y��r�.. i jyko�Y�y,�y��z^.�YI/�`�,��oy�.r "'� fi('` On the eve of anelection which will decide whether Canada m to continue her war effort at full pressure or gradually quit, loyal Canadians will give heed to this cry for help from ; he firing line. From the generals who command our glorious troops thc$e.. .esssages 'come. an a trumpet call: to duty.' €E'N SIR ARTIETC R.p-tIURRIE== W D . COMMANDER _..L CANADIAN ` A Y. "1 hope that, • appreciating what we do in the field" throughg a tin all V:, remain effort, they will do their utmostremain United in. Canada. News from there does not make pleasant -reading to men in. the- field -here. Orangemen andCatholic, .Anglo-Saxon and French-Canadian, Whig and Tory, fight side by side, and,;, dying, are laid side by side in the same grave,full satisfied to give their lives�`for'the tans ,they know to: be jusy They have given their blood freely to maintain. their nation's honor and now confidently expect' that the full fruits of their sacrifice -will not be prejudiced. It is an imperative and urgent necessity that steps be inirinediately taken to ensure :.that. sufficient drafts of officers and then are sent from. Canada to keep the corps at its. full strength. " ..:"My personal. conviction .e that, only solution to the. .oble of Canadian recruiting.:I .conacrip My experiencess. fn.France heave..shown r not as a.politician., Tut. as a soldier; the necessity'of ;eonscri tion ,- if we• de- sire to maintain at full $trerigth-our fighting divisio ' fa the end:" LIEUT.-GEM SIR RICHARD TURNER, \.C., "I wish as a soldier it was permitted to express fully my views. "on the presentCanadian cries. Do people in • Canada think ' 250 000 of their best blood fighting this world., war in defence of their country will tamely: sub it to any part of Canada saying, `We:• will not support you to our fullest:.extent i your efforts to beat the recreant Hun to his knees? Have the Canadian troops since the war started, ever stopped. 'to consider, or been daunted. b any numbers up against them?' The ans•wer is given on. man. be battled. fields in Belgium . and France. Canadians all must play the ameand be true to their salt." MAJOR -GENERAL H. BURSTAL. . "We can onlycar carry on the. war -to the bans of a final peace lia�'ilig.our battalions maintained to full strength. For this We entirely rely on Canada, We are convinced that. Canadians ' a;ns will never permit their battalions at the front to become Wozn out through lack of reinforcements, but will face the situation and take the .necc essay steps to provide them. For us all our thoughts are of Canada,. and after every victory, the Aone idea in all our minds is that Canada will again have reason to be proud of her sons at the front in Upholding her hono and liberty. So we have absolute faith that Canada will respond with the. ' - forcem.ents necessary to sustain us." prein MAJOR -GENERAL DAVID WATSON. "I state with positive certainty that a splendid state of determination and resolution exists in a greater degree than ever among every unit .f t .e . This i. . , rt `�' (7! h .�ra�l�di�'cl.xl, fore today.This resolve and belief is the ever .._ ` ...growing result: oi`,��>.tizn.a�tc knowledge that this terrible struggle into which we have entered has ever been and is now equally as important for the maintenance and development of our Dominion as it is for the vital, protection and safeguarding of e ., . �? � n� our xntelests and liberties. ii ingl r making all sacrifices required in. consummation of these objects, may we not securely rely on the unity and the practical assistance of our friends in Canada. f (continued ate t'a a T',n'e) MAJ.•GEN. H. a. 1311RSTA14, MAJOR -O N. 1.. ,f. 1.uPsE'rr 4,M«a.. eo Sttt3* nod front mat two eoture is of 'Brea! • ) 0.0r daily. rations that sothey, may win for France the• right to live free. • . BLOOD. IVIAIRKS .0N THE 'SHELLS.. $o too with the army of the rear in Old Britain, where nren long past age toil.lbxig hooters 'and where" Vioznen from the C listie and the 'farm, from -'the manor mansion house and the cottage, from the fishing village came forth` to work at the making of shells and guns, and all the engizieering'i f war that se their men might have a chance for their,lvies against their foe. trained to war and equipped to the last button with all that science could stitppJy. They tell how those first shells were' often marked with Blood from; the tender fingers=of women-iitittsed to `woirk, but tbf.worli- ers never slackened for that. • The army of the rear, wlsere are the invincible souls who shrink from no sacrifice that thei fighting line may be kept strong, and in good heart. In Glasgow, a widow with four sons fit for war sent away three with the Borderers. When the three had paid their full toll to freedom's cause, the fourth knew what he Must do but' feared for' his ;riother. To her he went at last and said, "Mother,1 yW must." , YYYatYv.„; • :dye, laddie,'• .said •the . mother;• quietly "Weel, X ken. ye must. We ha'e given too much not to gib all; and sent away her last lad to the water. 80 ,AL$0 WITH t;AN l+ is As. with the home lands, so with the lends' over eas, so With' Canada.: Here also the ,arty. of the. rear. 'la#ers' that :the: , of Canada in the fighting line may want neither supplies nor men. But alas, the fight1ng41mis4nranyithousat dei', miles away. The whine of the ah il., the rattle of . the ntachItie, gam, the roar. of the high explosives never breaks the quiet by night or by day, and`--- men •, preoeenpied, with other. things forget .the. boys in the thud and rain fighting for their country far away. • That is, `some.. forget.. But some .cannot forget, for in Weir prayers -le -GA at. night When they seek rest," andby day in the pauses of their -Work, they. bearnpon-their hearts the lad who left; three years ago now,:and.,Avhom they.'ouldjain .see again, and. Might see if one, of.t , i hqg ,1ke ' .four.. of there still gone �to�his relief: r ,has ..For it is: true-=tbough'the lad in the fighting line, great gen-, • "erotis soul that he is, for Yong. refused to give the rumor cred- ence. rt is true that those four boys in his neighbor's family"back home in Canada refuse to come to his relief. They can give many perfectly. good reasons why..theyrefuse to go. But they have no need to declare the truth. To all the.countrr•;they are known to be -the craven -hearted slackers that they are. It may' be that some poor•-souled f ix,� sura , Ijecorne:wv ves.:to thein and bear them children to carry( their tial, .ndutlrezr,sftatne into succeed- ing generations, but When in song and story the great deed, done Flanders and in France, thrill men's hearts, their children will sit silent ;nerd ashamed amid' the a eering . crowds and .curse . in their hearts the• craves} slackers that begat therir: Yes, it is sadly, terribly, shamefully true tiaat with "those`heroic souls that com- pose the unsung but glorious army of therear mingle those others that are at once a nation's Weakness axis a nation's shame. ` CRYING'fr. NtEED FOR MEN. . THE ' When roffre of Washingtprt -i�vas .as' d, ."Howv i;an America hest help France?' he.made. answer like the .impact of a bullet: "Send us hien, France needs' hien,:send. thern quick. Food, grins, ships, yes, yes, but chiefly and quickly men. And in passionate oratory Viviani •echoed the. word,: Arthur. Balfour with quiet but intense :iteration pressed home .. the "truth-"Prancd .trust' have nienr.,,. So with the whole wve.sterii front against which Germany tins flung her seienced masses 'of war -bred men in vain. There is sore need. of men..there. The.,Erench line grows thin.The atm m of our empire, too, that phenomenon of the war, fighting on e fronts, grows .thin upon the western .front, The Canadian. line grows thin. As the kine moves ever forward, the litie ;grows ever thinner and more .thilt. 13.0 sea. is'otn of the war, Pray God, no worse rciay come from. her Italy, reeling from the stroke of the Hun War Club, ceases for somite rmiotiths to 1)6 capable of a great offensive. Hence:, with her released rnillioxis ttie enemy is preparing for the western front an overwhelming,• a siziashin blosw , - Oh, Canada, our boys are. on that front. Inevitable as the stiririse, that blow will -fall: What ,men can, do our alien will do. "Gritti, resolute, but with not unanxiotrshearts and with many a yearning .glance • toward their homeland for aid, they wait that stroke. :. . AN APPEAL TO MANHOOD. . Oh* then of Canada, wilt you, can you Unmoved, look on while that thin lineof Canadian 'heroes waits..the approach of those ;massed battalions long -trained and fully -equipped for thie fine attempt to hack ,through? 'They need you, these comrades of yours. For three years they have fought for you and your cause. They: wonder at your easy 'deliberation. The haunting fear gathers about their hearts that you have forgotten then. Pitiful Cir & help them against that`feai Your party? ,'Voter leader; Cod. forgive you, for Canada never will if for things like'tbcse you forsake those waiting Jabs. Referendutr0 ReferWhile with furious haste n tr enemy prepares' odestrttction -1W That waiting lines' 'Surely riot referendums now, Canada,_ but. reinforcements and quick to your waiting. sons. A thousand voices chatter reasons for delay but across the seas 'comes one voice clear and loud, brave but heart; pi+ rcing. `Vy. Fohour 'bcallsoy, acid hieCanada?is calli;ng for you: Quch l Go with all your haste, you may ba later ,. RAW C NNOR.