20 SEPTEMBER 1930, Page 21

Mr. Lowell Thomas, whose thrilling stories of exploit and adventure,

such as Raiders of the Deep and With Lawrence in Arabia, have secured him a large public, has now discovered another hero in Woodfill of the Regulars (Heinemann, les. (1(1.). This is " the biography of a common soldier" : common in that he has thirty-three years' service in the Regular Army, but uncommon in its quality of adventure. "If you want a little fun that will put a marcel wave in your whiskers and stand your hair on end, just devote your time to trailin' bear for a while": that is a random excerpt from Mr. Woodfill's recollections, which are of hunting and shooting and fishing as well as of war in China, the Philippines, Mexico, and France. "My Big Adventure" is the modest title of the chapter in which the narrator describes a single-handed exploit which won for Mr. Woodfill the Congressional Medal—the equiva- lent of our V.C.—and the whole story is told in such a pleasant, forthright way that the book is hard to put down.

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