Told in gallant deeds : $b A child's history of the warLowndes, Marie Belloc
History
Told in gallant deeds : $b A child's history of the war
Lowndes, Marie Belloc
World War, 1914-1918 -- Juvenile literature
The Prince of Wales started a great fund for helping people in distress.
At the time when I write these words he had collected the enormous sum
of nearly four millions. The Prince also joined the Grenadier Guards as
a subaltern and trained with great enthusiasm. To his bitter
disappointment Lord Kitchener did not consider him experienced enough to
go to the front yet awhile.
King George was unwearied in visiting his troops in camp, and the
wounded in hospital. This in addition to all the heavy daily work he had
to do with his Ministers.
Unlike the Kaiser, our King did not boast and rush about making silly
speeches. He just set to work and did his duty like the modest gentleman
that he is, and the example of coolness and courage that he showed was
an inspiration to the whole Empire.
Among all the people who helped on the outbreak of war, I do not think
any did better than the Boy Scouts.
They did excellent work, especially in guarding railways and bridges,
and about this I heard at the time an amusing story.
A man who was certainly old enough to know better resolved to play a
practical joke on some Boy Scouts who were guarding an important railway
bridge. Taking a little bag with him, he crept stealthily along the
line. Soon the Scouts challenged him, and then this foolish man
pretended to be a German! “Ach!” he cried, trying to imitate the German
accent, “Liddle boys, I vill blow up zis bridge.” Here the Scouts
interrupted him to such purpose that he had to spend a considerable time
in hospital! There, let us hope, he repented of his silly joke.
Many hundreds of Boy Scouts did regular coastguard duty in place of the
coastguards who were called away on active service. As the weather got
cold the Scouts found themselves in urgent need of warm clothing, and
Sir Robert Baden Powell, the Chief Scout, appealed for mittens,
comforters, stockings, and so on.
Here I may say that every boy and girl ought to help in making such
things. Your elders will tell you at any time what things are
particularly wanted for the soldiers and sailors exposed to wind and
rain and storm on land and sea.
An exciting story of a London boy who would not give his side away is
that of Freddy Ascher, aged sixteen. Freddy was at school near Peronne,
in Belgium, when the war broke out. One Sunday morning after church he
decided to cycle to Peronne to look for Germans, who were said to be
close by.
Just outside the town, two German soldiers on bicycles suddenly pounced
on him and took him into the German lines. There he was searched, and
from letters which he had from his parents, the German officers
discovered that he was English, and of course they began questioning him
as to where he had seen the English troops, and if any were near.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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