Harry Butters, R.F.A., "An American Citizen"
by Henry Augustus Butters (9781458827418)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: COLONEL WINSTON CHURCHILL'S LETTER From the Observer, London, September 10, 1916. A MEETING AT THE FRONT "The death in action of this young American gentleman is a blow to the many friends he had made for himself in the British Army. I met him quite by chance in his observation post near Ploeg- steert and was charmed by his extraordinary fund of wit and gaiety. His conversation was delightful, full at once of fun and good sense and continually lighted by original reflections and captivating Americanisms. A whole table could sit and listen to him with the utmost interest and pleasure. He was a great 'character, ' and had he lived to enjoy his bright worldly prospects he could not have failed to make his mark. "He was a very good soldier and competent artillery officer, very well thought of by his comrades and trusted by his superiors. He had seen much service in the front line, including the battle of Loos, and came through unscathed until in May last a bouquet of 5.9 shells destroyed his observation post and stunned him with shell shock and concussion. Leave was pressed upon him, but he could only be induced to take a few days' rest. In little more than a week he was back at thefront disdainful as ever of the continual threats of death. And thus quite simply he met his fate. 'No, sir, I have taken no oath of allegiance, but I'm just as loyal.' "I venture to put these few lines on paper not because his sacrifice and story differ from those of so many others in these hard days, but because, coming of his own free will, with no national call or obligation, a stranger from across the ocean, to fight and die in our ranks, he had it in his power to pay a tribute to our cause of exceptional value. He did not come all the way from San Francisco only out of affection for the a...

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