[_The following paragraphs are from a letter written to the family of
William Barber by his Section leader, Lovering Hill._]
... William was wounded on the night of the 27th of June while bringing
back wounded from the _poste de secours_.
It was a dangerous road, and seeing some shelling on the road ahead of
him, he had stopped to await its cessation. He was about to start up
again when a shell fell a few feet away, many small fragments of which
struck him, one large one striking him a glancing blow on the side.
He ran back a few yards and was picked up by one of his comrades who
brought him to the dressing-station at Verdun, where I was at the time.
There his wounds were dressed; one of them proved to be serious.
I got in touch at once with the _Médecin divisionnaire_, who is the
chief of the _Service de Santé_ of our Division, who immediately took
charge of the case and personally accompanied your son in the ambulance
which brought him to Vadelaincourt--the nearest surgical ambulance,
twenty-five kilometers back. There he awakened a very well-known
Parisian physician and surgeon, Dr. Lucas Championière, who operated at
once.
As soon as I could leave my work, at six o'clock the next morning,
accompanied by our French lieutenant, I went to Vadelaincourt to see
William, who was just coming to from the anæsthetic. The doctor told
me it was serious because the fragment had cut into the peritoneum,
but without injuring the intestine--the danger being in the chances
of peritonitis setting in; that he could tell me in forty-eight hours
whether there would be the danger of this complication. On your son's
insistence, and on my own judgment, I decided not to cause you needless
anguish by cabling until his case should have been judged. On the third
day I was told he was out of danger, so I advised William to cable you,
and I cabled his brother myself.
One of his other wounds consisted in a small splinter that lodged in
his lung, but this was not considered by the doctor to be the cause of
any concern, the only wound which might have dangerous consequences
being the abdominal one.
[Illustration: A CORNER OF VERDUN, JULY, 1916]
The Section was moved away shortly after, so that July 1st was the
last day on which I saw him, but I have telephoned for news daily, and
have been always told he was doing well.
Before closing I wish to tell you how courageous he has been
throughout, not only after he was wounded, when he showed the most
splendid pluck, but before, when he was doing really dangerous work
with enthusiasm and coolness. The French authorities have recognized
this in awarding him the _Médaille Militaire_, the highest medal for
military valor in France.
[Illustration]