X PATRIOTISM OF THE POLICE FORCEA gallant Police Officer.On the first of November, 1914, during the firstbattle of Ypres, a member of the Hyde PoliceForce, Corporal Harry Howland, of the GrenadierGuards, was struck in the right leg with a pieceof shrapnel, his thigh bone being shattered.Howland, like his Police comrade, Wilkinson, hadbeen in the terrific fighting on the Marne and onthe Aisne. In fact, he had been in a great deal ofthe thickest fighting for about eight weeks beforebeing wounded. The wound put him permanently outof action. He was brought over to England, and formonths was under treatment, undergoing severaloperations, but, unfortunately, it was foundnecessary to amputate his right leg. Ultimatelythe gallant Corporal improved and on Wednesday,November 24th, 1915, over twelve months afterbeing wounded, he re-appeared in the town with acouple of crutches. Being unable to continueservice either as a soldier or a policeman,Corporal Howland's visit officially marked theseverance of his connection with the Hyde Force,which he joined in April, 1913. Prior to his visithe was offered a life appointment on the estate ofSir Philip Sasson, in the county of Kent, and hadalso been granted a fairly substantial pension. Afew prominent townspeople of Hyde subscribed agift of money as a wedding present to the Corporaland his bride, and he was also presented with alarge framed photograph of all the members of HydePolice Force, including himself, and about a dozenwho are at present serving with the colours, someof them being at the front when the year 1916arrived.Splendid loyalty of The Police ForceWe have already referred to the immediate callingup of two members of the Hyde Police Force,Constables Howland and Wilkinson, as ArmyReservists. On Monday, 9th November, 1914, eightmembers of the Force, having decided to enlist ina body were paraded before the Borough Magistratesin the new Court Room in Corporation Street.The eight members were :1. Acting Sergeant Smith, who had put in eightyears' police service, and who had two brothersserving with the colours.2. Constable Wood, no less than 14 years' policeservice, but in spite of this fact insisted ongoing.3. Constable Allen, three years' police service.4. Constable Lilley, who had five brothers gone.5. Constable Lambert, who in the words of theChief Constable, "thought his family ought to berepresented."6. Constable Dickenson, who was "in a similarposition."7. Constable Bradbury, who had two brothers gone.8. Constable Butler, who had one brother goneIt was intimated by Alderman Sherry Chairman ofthe Watch Committee, that the positions of the menin the Force would be kept open for them.Hyde Policeman's Stiring Story.We have already stated that among the HydeReservists to be called up at the beginning of thewar was Bombardier Wilkinson of the R.F.A., amember of the Hyde Police Force. Wilkinson was insome of the early severe fighting in Belgium andNorthern France, and his description of what hesaw, and of thrilling incidents in which hefigured, are worth recording in permanent form.His story was contained in two letters addressedto the Chief of Hyde Police Force, Mr. J. W.Danby. The first was dated October 10th, thesecond October 23rd, 1914. In the first,Bombardier Wilkinson told of advancing over groundthey had already fought on (presumably in theretreat from Marne) of seeing heaps of dead onevery side; of tables spread out in a garden, withbroken bottles and glasses littered about theground in confusion. Every house had been lootedby the Germans in their first onslaught, whenattempting to reach Paris, an attempt that failedjust at the moment it looked likely to succeed,when the Huns had got within a very few miles ofthe French capital. All the furniture, theBombardier stated had been thrown on the streets.The Germans were retreating so rapidly that theydid not have time to bury their dead, whose bodieswere lying in ditches by the roadside, the Frenchpeople burying them after the British Forces hadpassed through. "We came across some of the gravesof our men, one had a cross over the head, madeout of a biscuit box, and bearing these words,"Eight English Artillerymen buried here". Thegrave was nicely arranged, with fresh flowerswhich had been placed there by peasants". Thegallant Bombardier further related that theBritish had just taken a town which the Germanshad held for three days. "We were shelling it fora whole day, and covering the advance of theYorkshire Regiment, who, at eleven p.m, had theorder to take it at the point of the bayonet,which we did, without a great number ofcasualties. When we arrived in the town the peoplecried for joy, but the sight was terrible. All thewindows were smashed, and doors had been burstopen by shells. Dead and wounded were all over theplace. Only one part of town was damaged; theother part was left after the enemy had demanded avery heavy ransom, which they were obliged to pay.We had a very good half-day in the town. Thepeople give us jugs of beer, wine, biscuits,fruit, tobacco, and bread and butter in plenty."A Gruesome Discovery.In his second message dated October 23rd,Bombardier Wilkinson related how he and hiscomrades had had to stand to their guns underheavy rain of German missiles. What they dreadedmost, he said, were the Krupp guns. Only theprevious day the enemy located his Battery, andcommenced firing shells weighing 120lbs apiece.One of these shells, he observed, "creates a holelarge enough to hold a Maypole wagon." Sixtyshells were fired by the enemy, and one droppedonly yards from Wilkinson, who was covered withdirt and smoke, but was not hit by the pieces ofthe shell. On another day, while the Bombardierwas sitting in a ditch resting and enjoying asmoke, close by a horse with a nose-bag on, hequite unsuspectingly commenced to pull at somestraw under him, when he found his fingers on theface of a dead German. On further investigation,he discovered that the ditch was full of theenemy's dead.Bombardier Wilkinson, with the exception of one ortwo brief periods, has been in the zone of firesince Sir John French's original ExpeditionaryForce set foot on French and Belgian soil, and atthe end of 1915 he was still there.1