A heavily-laden and slightly intoxicated Tommy, en route to France, entered the Tube at Oxford Circus. As the train started he lurched and trod heavily on the toes of a very distinguished "Brass Hat."
Grabbing hold of the strap, he leaned down apologetically and murmured: "_Sorry, Sergeant!_"--_Bert Thomas, Church Farm, Pinner, Middlesex._
We were prisoners in the infamous Fort Macdonald, near Lille, early in May 1917, rammed into the dungeons there for a sort of "levelling down process," i.e. starvation, brutal treatment, and general misery. After eleven days of it we were on our way, emaciated, silent, and miserable, to the working camps close behind the German lines, when a Cockney voice piped up:
"Nah then, boys, don't be down 'earted. They kin knock yer abaht and cut dahn yer rations, but, blimey, they won't _eat_ us--not nah!"--_G. F. Green, 14 Alma Square, St. John's Wood, N.W.8._
The following, written by a London Colonel, was hung up in one of our dug-outs:
"When one is a soldier, it is one of two things. One is either in a dangerous place, or a cushy one. If in the latter, there is no need to worry. If one is in a dangerous place, it is one of two things. One is wounded, or one is not. If one is not, there is no need to worry. If the former, it is either dangerous or slight. If slight, there is no need to worry, but if dangerous, it is one of two alternatives. One dies or recovers. If the latter, why worry? If you die you cannot. In these circumstances the real Tommy never worries."--_"Alwas," Windmill Road, Brentford, Middlesex._
As prisoners of war we were unloading railway sleepers from trucks when a shell dump blew up. German guards and British prisoners scattered in all directions. Some of the Germans were badly wounded and, as shells continued to explode, no attempt was made by their comrades to succour them.
Seeing the plight of the wounded, a Cockney lad called to some fellow-prisoners crouching on the ground, "We can't leave 'em to die like this. Who's coming with me?"
He and others raced across a number of rail tracks to the wounded men and carried them to cover.
For this act of bravery they were later commended by the then Kaiser.--_C. H. Porter (late East Surrey Regiment), 118 Fairlands Avenue, Thornton Heath, Surrey._