he eventually
was sent to the hospital at the base and nursed there. Capt. Boyd states
that he saw a letter which she wrote, unsolicited, to her former
comrades, telling them that they should not believe the lies which their
commissars told them, and that the Allies were fighting for the good of
Russia.

At daybreak the following day, five gun boats appeared around the bend
of the river, just out of range of our three inch artillery, and all day
long their ten long ranged guns pounded away at our positions, crashing
great explosives upon our blockhouse, which guarded the bridge
connecting the upper and middle village, while in the forests
surrounding this position the Bolo infantry were lying in wait awaiting
for a direct hit upon this strong point in order that they could rush
the bridge and overwhelm us. Time after time exploding shells threw huge
mounds of earth and debris into the loop holes of this blockhouse and
all but demolished it.

Here Sergeant Wallace performed a particularly brave act. The blockhouse
of which he was in command was near a large straw pile. A shell hit near
the straw and threw it in front of the loop holes. Wallace went out
under machine gun fire from close range, about seventy-five yards, and
under heavy shelling, and removed the straw. The same thing happened a
little later, and this time he was severely wounded. He was awarded the
Distinguished Conduct Medal by the British. Private Bell was in this
blockhouse when it was hit and all the occupants killed or badly
wounded. Bell was badly gashed in the face, but stuck with his Lewis gun
until dark when he could be relieved, being the only one in the
shattered blockhouse which held the bridge across the small stream
separating us from the Bolos.

For three days the gun boats pounded away and all night long there was
the rattle and crack of the machine guns. No one slept. The little
garrison was fast becoming exhausted. Men were hollow-eyed from
weariness and so utterly tired that they were indifferent to the
shrieking shells and all else. At this point of the siege, it was
decided that our only salvation was a counter attack. In the forests
near the upper village were a number of log huts, which the natives had
used for charcoal kilns, but which had been converted by the enemy into
observation posts and storehouses for machine guns and ammunition. His
troops were lying in and about the woods surrounding these buildings. We
decided to surpr