True Stories of the Great War, Volume 2 (of 6): Tales of Adventure--Heroic Deeds--Exploits Told by the Soldiers, Officers, Nurses, Diplomats, Eye Witnesses
History
True Stories of the Great War, Volume 2 (of 6): Tales of Adventure--Heroic Deeds--Exploits Told by the Soldiers, Officers, Nurses, Diplomats, Eye Witnesses
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
Less fortunate is the sequel of Rannou Colbert's adventure. He was a
bellringer at Quimper Cathedral before the war. Exempt from military
service, he joined the Colonial Infantry, a corps of paid professional
soldiers, entirely distinct from conscripts. Originally equivalent to
our marines, these regiments no longer serve aboard ship, but garrison
the overseas possessions of France. The company in which Colbert was
serving fought by the side of our Ghurkas at the Dardanelles. There
Private J. Threadgold, of the 7th Royal Fusiliers, made Colbert's
acquaintance. Our men exchanged some of their bully-beef ration with
the French against cigarettes, and Colbert understood enough English to
act as interpreter in many small international bargains. Colbert's name
is scratched on a silver match-box in Threadgold's possession.
On the night that Threadgold was wounded an attack had been made on our
trenches by the Turks. The enemy was beaten off. Early the next morning
a party of the Turks crawled between our sentries in the Indian lines
and slew two Ghurkas. Only one of the enemy was wounded, and he was
taken prisoner. From him it was learnt that the attacking party was
eighteen strong. That day the Ghurkas became tremendously excited. They
sharpened their curved knives and talked closely together. They were
plotting, and it was spread along the line from mouth to mouth that an
adventure was afoot. That same evening after sunset exactly eighteen
Ghurkas crept from the entrenchments, and they were joined by a man
from the French regiment of Colonial Infantry, Rannou Colbert. The
party wound their way through the scrub towards the Turkish trenches.
They were gone an hour; then, chattering and gesticulating in intense
joy, they all returned in safety except one man. They had killed
eighteen Turks. The one man missing was Rannou Colbert, who had been
taken prisoner.
No more was heard of Colbert until some months later, when a poignant
little history appeared in the _Matin_. It is unknown whether Colbert
escaped from the Turks, or whether he was an exchanged prisoner. During
his imprisonment he was, for some reason, not allowed to write home,
and as his name was not furnished by the Turkish authorities to the
French he was posted as missing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account