From the News

Dated:

Pte. Welch, who is a Newmarket man, says that he is all that is left of the "Fighting Fourth. " "And I only fought under one colonel," said Pte. Welch, "That was Col. Birchall, and the bravest man that God ever put the breath of life into. Wounded three times before he fell, he went down begging the men to do their duty. And they did it. Fought like men---yes, like fiends, for they were fighting for a man they loved. Other divisions may have fallen down on the job, but the old "Fourth" fought while there was a man left to fight."

Eager to Go Back.

Pte. Welch wears a little strip of colours across his breat. It is only a small emblem, but he values it above everything else. It signifies that he was one of the men who did his share in the sand dunes of South Africa. Under a broiling hot sun and conditions vastly different to the present war, he contributed his might to the Empire's cause. "And if they can patch me up, I am going back again to the trenches, the war, muck, and mud of old Belgium or wherever they want to send me," said Welch.