Medicine, Military; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, Canadian
"_Tres bien, monsieur_," replied the sergeant
in his quick, sharp tones, and turning to a
stretcher squad, said, "Remove the officer." It
was quickly done, the colonel staring in angry
astonishment, the sergeant coolly continuing
his work while the officer awaited the coming
of another ambulance. In my opinion this act
of an N.C.O. was worthy of a V.C.
Major Peters.--This officer somehow
impressed me as being without any semblance of
nervousness under any conditions. He was
always an interesting study. If a shell burst in
our neighborhood, close enough to make most
of us "duck," Pete would go on serenely as
if on church parade. Rather slow thinking,
he was sure in judgment. He never made
haste to give his thoughts tongue, "nor any
unproportioned thought his act." He had a
quiet, dry humor, and generous, kindly nature.
He was invariably late on parade, and
probably improperly dressed. I have met him on
one occasion wandering aimlessly across an
area looking for his company, which he had
somehow mislaid. If the orderly room gave
out an order for some return to be made by
company commanders by 8 a.m., his was never
in before 10, and then only after he had been
reminded of the order. After the Battle of
Arras he forgot altogether to put in his
recommendations for bravery on the part of any of
his men, though by a rush movement he
succeeded in getting them in on time.
But with all these faults he had the respect,
trust and confidence of everyone. He had
won the M.C. twice for coolness and bravery
in action. If the holding of the front line was
a particularly risky proposition at any time,
he would probably be the man in charge of the
task. He was never found wanting when cool,
courageous action was needed, and all knew
it. Many are the good tales told of him in his
early front line days. By night he would
quietly wander off over the parapet by
himself, and an hour or so later would come
strolling back, after having had a good look into the
German lines, and perhaps into some of their
dugouts. In his slow voice he would give any
valuable information, not wasting any words
in doing it. On one of these trips, as he
stepped back over the parapet he was met by a
senior officer who, knowing his junior's
characteristics, said,--
"Well, Pete, what have you found out this time?"
Pete sat himself down on the firing step of
the trench and gave him all the information
that he had. Suddenly the senior noticed that
a pool of blood was collecting where Major
Peters sat.
"Are you wounded?" he cried.
"Well, yes," Peters answered slowly, "guess
they got me that time," and he rose and strolled
carelessly along to the R.A.P. where his
wounds were found to be serious enough to put
him out of action for a few weeks. The
Germans had thrown a bomb at him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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