Strange Tales from the African Bush by Wessels Hannes

Author:Wessels, Hannes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Safari Press
Published: 2007-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

LEW GAMES

Old man Jack Games was born in 1887 in Wheeling, West Virginia, and was sent to a military school on the Ohio River at the age of eleven. Soon thereafter he absconded and meandered through the country, ending up in Laramie, Wyoming, where he became a first-class cowboy. Hearing of the Mexican Civil War, Jack and a friend made their way south to enter the fray. First they joined the Mexican government troops under General Carranza but then, in the best mercenary tradition, deserted Carranza on hearing of a better deal with Pancho Villa and the rebels.

That move proved a near tragic mistake, for they were captured by loyalist troops in a skirmish near Sonora, hustled off to a town called Ojinaga, and sentenced to death. On the day destined for execution by firing squad, Villa’s men rescued Jack in a gunfight, whereupon a detachment of the U.S. Cavalry took him into custody and spirited him back to El Paso—but not to freedom. With various charges hanging over his head, he was given the choice of joining the Texas Rangers or going to jail. He opted for the Rangers and entered the ranks of that formidable body of men.

Soon, however, patrolling the Rio Grande began to bore him, and he decided it was time for a change. Going absent without leave, he headed west, hoping to find his way to Hawaii. En route he met an old wrangler friend in San Francisco who owned a bar. Having overindulged, he found himself in a fight with a patron over a woman. When his adversary took an ice pick to him, he reached for a steel pipe and killed the man.

Although only in his early twenties, he found himself in jail again. While there, news reached him of a major war raging in countries the names of which made no sense to him. “France” and “Belgium” might have sounded like names on another planet, but if they were fighting, Jack was interested. He quickly determined that if there was a war, he wanted to be in on it.

He broke out and fled to Canada. The United States had become hostile territory for him, and the chance of recapture and a lengthier sentence hung heavily over him. More importantly, the country was still neutral. In Canada he applied to join the Canadian 72nd Seaforth Highlanders and was accepted for infantry training in Vancouver. When he saw his first kilt, the fighting cowboy assumed they were being funny, but after completing training and a transatlantic crossing on a cramped troopship, Jack found himself in one of the bloodiest battles in history.

During the war in France, Jack Games, in the space of little over two years, was wounded thirteen times, having been on the receiving end of bayonets, bullets, shrapnel, and gas. He emerged as one of the most highly decorated soldiers to serve with the Allies in World War I. Unable to carry on because of his injuries, however, his front line service was terminated, and he was shipped back to Canada for further surgery.

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