Pte. F. Bass, of the "A" Co., 1st Northants Regiment, and also of Wellingborough-road, Rushden, is now at home nursing an injured thigh. He is a very cheerful and pleasant soldier, and, when interviewed by our representative, was making the best of things in front of a glowing fire.

The story he had to tell was full of interest, although he informed us that he did not like to talk about all he had seen and been through.

"I received my wound," he said, "on the 14th of November. The Germans were about to make an attack and the method they employ is to first shell the position and then make an infantry rush. I was going to the firing line with some stretcher-bearers, when their guns found the range. Shells were coming in all directions, and one burst against us, wounding all six of us. Four, including myself, were taken to the hospital but the other two were able to keep on. It was shrapnel, and a piece of the shell itself caught me, smashing my left thigh. The next thing I remember after being hit was to find myself in bed in hospital.

"The refugees at Ypres were among the saddest sights I have seen. There were thousands of them, coming in all directions. It was piteous to see the children, and some of us gave them part of our food, consisting of bread and tinned meat. We cut it, up for them, and they were very pleased. You see, after a three days' spell in the trenches, enough food was dished out for the complete companies. Well, some of the poor chaps got wounded and killed, and so we had plenty of food to spare.

"Oh yes. I saw plenty of aeroplanes about, both German and ours. Seven or eight hovered above us for some time. I never saw a duel, but I often saw one of our aeroplanes chase away a German machine. I was very pleased with Princess Mary's Christmas Box, which came in very acceptable. At the commencement of the war lots of French children came round us for souvenir and seemed very pleased when they got one.

"The battles I went through were those of Mons, 23rd August, and onward; Marne, Sept. 10th and 11th; 35 days on the Aisne; and then at the Ypres fights. I was stationed at Pylkhan, a village about seven miles from Ypres. The weather I went through was fairly fine except that it rained from the 15th to the 17th of September.

"No, I have never actually seen an atrocity committed by the Germans, but I have clear proof that there were some. One day one of the chaps came up to me and said that he had just found the dead bodies of a woman and some children, and asked me to see them; but I did not care to go, as I had gone through enough horrors without that.

"I was present at the white flag business which you heard about. I was left-hand man and was firing up a road. Our Company lost a lot of men that day. I have been through one bayonet charge, and I don't like 'em. When you start charging you lose all sense of personal danger, and your one aim is to get at them. The Germans simply can't stand a bayonet scrap. What they do is to fire at you until the line of steel gets too close, and then they scoot as fast as they can. The Germans love to get behind you, if possible, and fire from the rear. Of course, it's not often they get the chance.

"The chief time of danger is when you are digging, and when you are coming in or going out of the trenches. Inside the trench a soldier is comparatively safe. As each fresh party occupies a trench they improve it in some way. Not much time is wasted, and all spare time is spent in making the trench more habitable.

"In the retirement from Mons we got within 16 kilometres from Paris. I do not believe our troops realised what great danger they were in, or that the Germans knew how small our force was. In those hard times we were fighting from before daylight to midnight. We were properly relieved for the first time on the Aisne, and enjoyed a few days' rest—under shell fire, of course. We did not see our guns when we were in action, for they were firing over our heads. The small guns were just behind us, very cleverly hidden, but the great guns were miles behind. On the Aisne we had no big guns, but the French, fortunately, had some."

Private Bass has spent three months in hospital, but is a long way from well yet.