The Lancaster news. (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, August 03, 1917, Image 6
m? - ??? 1 I 111 IT'
SERGEANT McCLm^OCK^ Trench)
* - 8 !
No. 5. Wounded
In Action.
By Serjeant Alexander McClintock.
D. C. M., S7tii Overseas Bat:.,
Canadian Grcn. Guards
Copyright. 1917, by th? Hell Syndicate,
Inc.
* ? *
Sergeant MeCltntoek, an American
boy of Lexington Kg., has seen service
4? France, xeas decorated for bravery,
wounded and invalided home. He is
telling his story, a thrilling one, and
th*i is the fifth article of the scries. In
the preceding oties he described how he
reached the front, fighting in Belgium,
and then the great preparations for the
Sotnme battle. In this installnu nt he
tells of conditions and describes first
hand the fighting in that greatest of all
battles.
OUR high command apparently
meant to make u sure tiling of
the general assault upon the Reglna
trench. In which we were to participate.
Three times the order to "go
over the top" was countermanded. The
assault was first planned for Oct. 19.
Then the date was changed to the 20th.
Finally, nt 12:10 noon of Oct. 21, we
went. It was the first general assault
we had taken part In. and we were In
" ^5^
It Seemed Almost Certain Death to
Start Ovar In Da>light.
a highly nervous state. I'll admit
that.
It seemed almost certain death to
atart over In hroud daylight, yet, as
It tutiied <?ut, the crossing of No Man's
Land was accomplished rather more
easily than In our night raids. Our
battalion was on the extreme right of
the line, and that added materially to
our difficulties, ilrst by compelling us
to advance through mud so deep that
some of our men sank to their hips In
It and. second, by giving us the hottest
little spot In Prance to hold later.
I was In charge of the second
"wave." or assault line. This Is called
the "mopping up" wave, because the
business of the men composing It is
thoroughly to bomb out a position
crossed by the tlrst wave, to capture
or kill all of the enemy remaining and
to put the trough In a condition to be
defended against a counterattack by
A.a otivno .kiwi tficonrlnrr
I HIT III U 31V|'3 Illuming
np parapets.
' Our artillery had given the Germans
audi a battering and the curtain fire
Which our puns dropped Just thirty to
forty yards ahead of us was so powerful
that we lost comparatively few
men going over -only those who were
knocked down by shells which the Germans
landed among us through our
barrage. They never caught us with
their machine gun sweeping until we
neared their trenches. Then a good
many of our nieu began to drop, but
jwe were In their front trench before
they could cut us up anywhere near
completely. Going over I was struck
by shell fragments on the hand and
leg, but the wounds were not severe
enough to stop me. In fact. I did not
know that I had been wounded until
I felt blood running Into my shoe.
Then I discovered the cut in my leg.
but saw that It was quite shallow and
that no artery of importance had been
damaged. Ho I went on.
I had the fnmlllnr feeling of nervousness
and physical shrinking and nausea
at the beginning of this fight, but by
the time we were halfway across No
Man's Land I had mv nerve back.
/ I
?
MERE"
Thrill and the Hell of
Trenches, Described
/ an American Boy.
,ant Alexander McClintock of LexKy.,
and the Canadian Army Has
g Tale That Every American Will
For He Tells the Facts?Unadorn'ounded,
a Distinguished Conduct
Man, He Was Invalided Home,
Inii" "Out Tli.r." A era i n tn Picht i
m ving *MVAV ?O-*- * O
icle Sam and His Allies. An InInteresting,
Personal Narrative,
the Spirit and Atmosphere of the
iS.
After *1 hud been lilt I remember feel
big relieved I bat I hadn't been hurt
euotiKh to keep nie from going on with
the men. I'm not trying to make myself
out a hero. I'm just trying to tell
you how an ordinary man's mind
works under the stress of fighting and
the danger of sudden death. There j
are some queer things in the psycliolo-,
gy of battle. For Instance, when we j
had got into the German trench and
were holding it against the most
vigorous counterattacks the thought
which was persistently uppermost In
my mind was that I had lost the address
of a girl in London along with
some papers which I had thrown away
Just before we started over and which
1 should certainly never l?e able to find
again.
Hold Begina Trench at La^
Tlie Ueglnu trench had been taken
and lost three times by the nrltlah.
We took It that day and held it. We
| went into action with 1.B00 men of all
ranks and came out with 000.
| I have said that because we were on
j the extreme right of the line we had
the hottest little spot In France to
hold for awhile. You see, wo had to
institute a double defensive, as we i
had the Germans on our front and on
! our flank, the whole length of the
! trench to the right of us being still
held by the Germans. There we had
to form a "block," massing our bombers
behind a barricade which was only
fifteen yards from the barricade behind
which the Germans were fighting,
i Our flank and the German flnnk were
In contact as fiery as that of two live
wire ends. And meanwhile the Fritzes
' tried to rush us on our front with nine
separate counterattacks. Only one of
fi<e!C get up cluoe ro us. and we went
out and stopped that with the bayonet.
Behind our block barricade there was
the nearest approach to an actual fighting
hell that I had seen.
And yet a man who was In the niklst
of It from beginning to end came out
without a seratch. He was u tall chap
named Hunter. For twenty-four hours,
without Interruption, he threw German
"eggshell" bombs from a position at
the center of our barricade. Ho never
stopped except to light a cigarette or
yell for some one to bring him more
bombs from Fritz's captured storehouse.
He projected a regular eurtnin
of tire of his own. I've no doubt the
Germans reported he was a couple of
platoons, working In alternate reliefs.
He was awarded the I). M. for his
services in that tight, and, though, as
I said, he was unwounded, half the
men around him were killed, and his
nerves finished In such condition that
he had to be sent back to England.
The Big Blunder and What It Cost.
One of the great tragedies of the war
resulted from a bit of carelessness
when a couple of days later the effort
was made to extend our grip tieyond
the spot which we took In thnt first
tight. Plana had l?een made for the
Forty-fourth battalion of the Tenth
Canadian brigade to take by assault
the trench section extending to the
right from the point where we had es
tahilshed the "block" on our flank. The
hour for the attack had been fixed
Then headquarters sent out a counter
ma tiding order. Something wasn't
quite ready.
The orders were sent by runners, as
all confidential orders must be. Telephones
are of no avail any more, as
both our people and tue <?ormnns nave
an apparatus which needs only to be
attached to a inetal spike in the ground
to "|>lck up" every telephone message
within a radius of three miles. When
telephones are used for anything lm
poitant messages nre sent In code.
But for any vitally Important communication
which might cost serious
( losses. If misunderstood, old style runners
nre used. Just as they were In the
days when the Held telephone was un!
heard of. It Is the rule to dispatch two
j or three runners by different routes so
' that one at least will be certain to arrive.
In the case of the eountermnndj
lng of the order for the Fourty-fourth
i battalion to assault the German posl;
tlon on our flank some officer at headi
quarters thought that one messenger
{ to the lieutenant colonel commanding
: the Forty-fourth would be sufficient.
, The messenger was killed by a chance
i shot, and his message was undelivered.
; The Forty-fourth, In ignorance of the
change of plan, "went over." There
was no harrage fire to protect tbem,
| and their valiant effort was simply a
I wholesale suicide. Six hundred out of
J X00 men were on the ground In two
and a half minutes. The battalion was
i simply wiped out. Several officers
I were court martlaled as a result of
; tlds terrible blunder.
We had gone Into the German
trenches at n little after noon on Saturday.
On Sunday night at about 10
o'clock we were relieved. The relief
force had to come in overland, aud
they bad a good many casualties en
route. They found us as comfortable
as bugs in a rug except for the lnfeanal
and continuous bombing at our
flank barricade. The Germans bad
concluded that it was useless to try to
drive us out. About one-fourth of the
000 of us who were still on their feet
were holding the sentry posts, and the
remainder of the (JOU were hnving
banquets in the German dugouts, which
were stocked up like delicatessen shops
with suusages, tine canned foods, champagne
und beer. If we had only had
m f??\v linlii>4 with tin w?? c.nilii hava :
had a real purty.
I got so happily interested in the i
spread in our particular dugout that I
forgot about my wound until some one
reminded me that orders required me
to hunt up a dressing station and get j
an anti-tetanus injection. The Tom- i
inles like to take a German trench, be '
cuuse If the Fritzes have to move 1
quickly, as they usually do, we always
find sausage, beer and champagne, a
welcome change from bully beef. I
could never learn to like their bread,
however.
After this tight 1 was sent, with
other slightly wounded men, for a
week's rest at the casualty station at i
Contay. I rejoined my buttaliou at
the end of the week. From Oct. ill to
Nov. 18 we were In and out of the
front trenches several times for dutj
tours of forty-eight hours each, but
were in no important action. At 0:10
on the uiorulng of Nov. 18, a bitter
cold day, we "went over" to take
the |>eslre and also the Desire support
trenches. These were the names given
these trenches. We started from the
left of our old position, and our udvance
was between Thiepval ami
Potleres, opposite CJraiulecourt.
There was the usual urtlllery preparatlou
and careful orguulzatlou for
the attack. I was again in charge of
the "mopping up" wave, numbering
2O0 men and consisting mostly of
bombers. It may seem strange to you
that a noncommissioned officer should
hnve so important an assignment, but
sometimes In this war privates have
been In charge of companies uutulierlng
250 men, and I know of a case
where a lance corporal was temporarily
In command of an entire buttal'on.
It happened on this day that, while 1
was In charge of the second wave, I
am nut go over wuu mem. ai me insi
moment I nig given a special duty by
Major John Ix>wls, formerly managing
editor of the Montreal Star and
one of the bravest soldiers I ever
knew, as well as the best beloved man
In our battulion.
The Troublesome Machine Gun.
"McCllntock." said he, "I don't wish
to send you to any special hazard, and,
so far as that goes, we're all going to
get more or less of ? dusting, but I
want to put that machine gun which
has been giving us so much trouble
out of action."
I knew very well the machine gun
he meunt. It was In a concrete emplacement,
wailed and roofed, and the
devils In charge of It seemed to be descendants
of William Tell nnd the
prophet Isaiah. They always knew
what was coming uiwt) had their gun
accurately trained on it liefore it caine.
"If you are willing," said Major
I^wls, "I wish you to select twentytlve
from the company and go ufter
that gun the minute the order comes
to advance. Use your own judgment
about the men nnd the plan f<>r tuking
the gun position. Will you go?"
"I sure will," 1 answered. "I'll go
and pick out the men right away. I
think we can make those fellows shut
up shop over there."
"Hood boy!" he said. "You'll try, all
right."
I started away. He called me hack.
"This Is going to lie n bit hot, Me<'Unlock,"
lie said, taking my hund.
"I wish you luck, old fellow?you and
I he rest of them." In the trenches
they always wish you the best of luck
when they hand you a particularly
tough Job.
1 thanked him and wished him the
same. I never saw him again. He
was killed In action within twu'hours
"Thia ia going to bo a bit hot. MoClintook."
after our con vernation. Both he and
my pal Marfarlane were ahot down
dead that morning.
Whon they called for volunteers to
so with rnt* in riiachanre of Mulnr I aw.
Is' order the entire company responded.
I picked out twenty-flve men, twelve
bayonet men and thirteen. bombers.
They agreed to my plan, which was
, to get within twenty-flve yards of the
gun emplacement before attacking, to
place no dependence on rifle fire, but
i to bomb them out and take the position
with the bayonet. We followed
that plan and took the emplacement
quicker than we had exj>ected to Jo,
1 but there were only two of us left
when we got there? Private Godsall,
No. 177,003, and myself. All the rest
of the twenty-flve were dead'or down.
The emplacement was held by eleven
Germans. Two only were left stand- .
ing when we got in.
When we saw the gun had been silenced
and the crew disabled (todsall
and I worked round to the right about
ten yards from the shell hole where
we had sheltered ourselves while !
throwing bombs into the emplacement
and scaled the German purupct. We
rushed the gun position. The officer
who had beeu -in charge was standing
with his back to us, tiring with his revolver
down the trench at our men
who were coming over at another j
point. I reached hlni before Godsall
and bayoneted him. The other German
who hud survived our bombing
threw up hit* hands and mouthed the i
Teutonic slogan of surriXHler?"Mercy,
kamerad!" My bayonet had broken
ofT in the encounter with the German
officer, so I picked up a German rifle
with a bayonet llxed, and Godsall and
I worked on down the trench.
The German who had sun-endered
stood with his hnnds held high above
his head, waiting for us to tell him
what to do. lie never took his eyes
off of us even to look at his officer, lying
at his foot. As we moved down
r
' * I
I Tumbled In on Top of the Four.
i
the trench he followed us. still holding
his hands up mul repeating, "Mercy,
kamerad!" At the next trench angle !
we took five more prisoners, and as
Godsall had been slightly wounded In I
the arm I turned the captives over to ,
him and ordered him to take them to :
the rear. Just then the men of our I
mu-nnri n ;vc car.it? er the parapet j
like a lot of hurdlers. In five minutes
we had taken the rest of the Germans
In the trench section prisoners, had re
versed the tire steps and had turned ]
their own machine gun against those
of their retreating companies that we
could catch sight of.
As we could do nothing more here.
1 ga*e orders to advance utid re-enforce
the front line. Our wav led
across a Meld furrowed with shell holes
and ai*>tted with burstIng shells. Not
a man hesitated. We were winning.
That was all we knew or eared to
know. We wanted to make It a certainty
for our fellows who had gone
ahead. As we were proceeding toward
the (lemma reserve trench 1 saw four
of our men, apparently unwounded, lying
In a shell hole. I stopped to ask
them what they were doing there. As
I spoke I he d my (Jennan rltle and
bayonet at the itositlon of "guard," the
tip of the bayonet advanced, about
shoulder high. I didn't get their answer,
for before they could reply I
felt a sensation as if some one hud
thrown a lump qf hard clay and struck
ine on the hip, and forthwith I tumbled
In on top of the four, almost
plunging my bayonet Into one of them. I
a private named Williams.
McClintock Badly Wounded.
"Well, now you know what's the
matter with us," said Williams. "We
didn't fall In, but we crawled In."
They had all lieeu slightly wounded.
I had twenty-two pieces of shrapnel
and some shell fragments Imliedded In
my left leg between the hip and the
knee. I followed the usual custom of
the soldier who has "got It." The first
thing I did was to light a "fag" (cigarette),
and the next thing was to Investigate
and determine If I was In
danger of bleeding to death. There
wasn't much doubt about that. Arterial
blood was spurting from two of
the wounds, which were revealed
when the other men In the hole helped
me to out ofT my breeches. With their
aid 1 managed to stop the hemorrhage
by Improvising tourniquets with rag"
and bayonets. One I placed as high
up as possible on the thigh and the
fiitiAP Ilia# liulnn- tlin knee Then We
all smoked another "fair" and lay there
listening to the big shells going over
and the shrapnel bursting near us. It
was quite a concert too. We discussed
what we ought to do, and dually I
said:
"Here, you fellows can walk, and 1
can't. Furthermore, you're not able to
carry ine because you've got about all
any of you can do to navigate alone.
It doesn't look as If It's going to he
any better here very soon. You all
proceed to the rear, and If you can get
some one to come after me I'll be
obliged to ycfu."
They accepted the proposition because
It was good advice, and, besides,
It was orders. 1 was their superior
officer. And what happened right
after that confirmed me forever in my
early, Kentucky bred conviction that
there Is a great deal In luck. They
couldn't have traveled more than fifty
yards from the shell hole when the
shriek of a high ex lusp.e seemed t?
come right down out of the sky lntc
* __ _ _______
toy ears, and the detouation which Instantly
followed shook the slanting
sides of the shell hole until dirt hi little
dusty rivulets caine trickling down
upon me. Wounded as I was, I dragged
myself up to the edge of the hole.
There was no trace anywhere of the
four men who hud Just left me. They
have uever been heard of since. Their
bodies were never found. The big
shell must have fallen right amoug
them and simply blown them to bits.
It was about a quarter to 7 In the '
morning when I was hit. I lay In the
shell hole until 2 In the afternoon, suffering
more from thirst and cold and
hnni/or Hum fnim tuiln I nnlv lioiuul
the Germans wouldn't drive our men !
back over me. At 2 o'clock a batch of '
sixty prisoners canie along under escort.
Tliey were being taken t?> the
rear under Ore. The artillery boni
barduient was . still pructically uudl- !
mlnished. I asked for four of the |
prisoners und made one of them get <
out his rubber ground sheet, carried
around his waist. They responded
willingly and seemed most ready to
help me. 1 had a revolver (empty* nnd
some bombs In my pockets, but I had
no need to threaten them. They half
dragged me toward the rear.
Carried to the Rear.
It was u trip which wus not without ,
incident. Every now and then we I
would hour the shriek of an upproachlng
"coal box," nnd then my prisoner ;
stretcher bearers and 1 would tumble hi
one Indiscriminate group Into the nearest
shell hole. If we did thut once we
did It a half dozen times. After each
dive the four would patiently reorganize
and arrange the improvised stretcher
again, and we would preeeed. Following
every tumble, however, I would
have to tighten my tourniquets, and.
despite ull I could do, the hemorrhage
from my wound continued to tlow so
profuse*/ that 1 was beginning to feel
very dizzy and weak, tin the way in
( slghtinl our regimental dressing station
und signed to my four hearers to
carry me toward It. I couldn't talk
German. The station was In an old
German dugout. Major Glhluy was at
the door. He laughed when he saw I
me with my own special amhulaie o |
detail.
"Well, what do you want?" he asked.
"Most of all." I said. "I think I want
a drink of rum."
He produced It for me instantly.
"Now," said he, "my advice to you Is
to keep on traveling. You've got u flue
special detail there t*> look after you.
Make 'em carry yon to I'ozleres. It's j
only flve miles, and you'll make It all |
right. I've got tills place loaded lip
full, uo stretcher bcuters, no assistants,
no adequate supply of bandages and
medicines und a lot of very i>os en-cs. :
If you want to get out of here In n '
week Just keep right on going now."
As wo continued townrd^the rear we |
were the targets for n numlier of humorous
remarks from men coming up
to go Into the light.
"Give my regards to llllghty, you j
lucky lieggar.'' was the most frequent I
saying.
"1111' me." said one cockney Tommy, |
"there goes one o' th* Canadians with '
mi escort from the kaiser."
Another man stopped and asked
uixiut my wound.
"Ccx d work," he said. "I'd like to !
liave a nice clean one lilio that myself."
I noticed one of the prisoners grinning
at some remark and asked him if
he understood English. lie hadn't h|k>
ken to me, though he had shown the
greatest readiness t?> help ine.
"Certainly I understand English," he
replied, speaking the language perfect
ly. "I used to he a waiter at the
Knickerbocker hotel in New York."
That sounded like a voice from home,
and I wanted to hug him. I didn't.
However, I can say for him he must
have l>een a good waiter. He gave me
good service.
Of the last stage* of my trip to Poslerea
I cannot tell anything, for 1 ar '
rived unconscious from loss of blood
The last I rememl?er was that the former
waiter, evidently seeing that I
was going out, asked me to direct him
> how to reach the tleid hospital station
at Pozleres and whom to ask for when
he got there. 1 came back to con
sctousness in u clean hospital cot the
next morning.
1 realized as I luy on that cot 1 was
out of the modern hell for a time, and
my mind drifted back over the days
Just passed. Wounded men, grim reminders,
were all about me, many of
them worse off than I was. I had seen
all kinds of bravery?British officers
climbing calmly over the top with a
monocle in their eyes and a cane in
their hand* into almost certain death,
like a man getting Into a tub of water
where he knew he would get wet.
"Come on; let's go!" they would
| drawl. My respects to them.
I And ulso to the enemy. The German
officers tight to the last. Few aurrender.
My hat off to them. And the
dead brave Major Lewis and poor
Macfarlane, my done comrades. And
only the other day I read Lance Cor
I poral Glass, the man I carried in after
our first bombing raid in Belgium, bad
been killed In action In France. I saw
it In a Montreal pai>er.
They vaccinated me for everything
1 while with the army?everything ex
cept against being ahot If a man
could Invent an antitoxin for thatwell.
he would be a hero.
The sixth article of this remarkable
personal narrative will appear soon
I It Is entitled?
No. 6.?Decorated For Bravoryi Homo
and Uncle 8am
This concluding article of the series relate*
In detail how England rarea for the
wounded. How the king and queen came
! to the bed of an American hoy and dec>
orated him In n London hospital for gal,
lantry. Interesting. Intimate and tmuiIng
Incidents told by and of the wounded
' Tommies. Trying to fight for Uncle Bam.
Sl'XDAY SCHOOL WORKERS
OF COUNTY TO MEET
\
Great (lathering Will Take Flare at
Heath Springs Aug. ? ami 10.
The following is the program of
Lancaster County Interdenominational
Sunday School Convention to
be held ut Heath Springs Methodist
church on August 9th and 10t%,
1917:
Convention Key-Word "Service."
F'rst Day, Thursday, First Sessloffe10
a. m.?Song service.
10:10?Brief Bible Message and
Prayer by Rev. J. B. Weldon.
10:20?The Convention Keyword
"Service," John W. Hamel.
10:40?Thoroughly Furnished for
Service, R. D. Webb, gpneral secretary.
11:10?The Teacher a Part of a
Great Movement, Mrs. S. P. Moore,
field secretary.
11:40?Brief Reports of the
Year's Work by John T. Green, county
president; W. 11. Millen, county
secretary and treasurer; Miss Lilliu
Usher, elementary superintendent;
Dr. W. C. McDowell, secondary superintendent;
Mrs. T. Y. Williams,
adult superintendent; Mrs. T. A.
Dabney, missionary superintendent.
12:00?Appointment of Committees,
Enrollment of Delegates.
Adjourn for dinner.
First Day, Second Session.
1:45?Song and Prayer Service by
Rev. J. P. Tucker.
2:00?Reports of District Presidents.
District No. 1. W. C. Ellis.
District No. 2, Max Brlttain.
District No. 3, S. E. Dalles.
District No. ?, A. C. Rowell.
2:20?Securing Home Co-operation
by Robt. T. Beaty.
2:50?Program of Service for the
Adult Class. Discussion and Conference,
led by R. D. Webb.
3:30?The Elementary Program
by Mrs. S. P. Moore.
4:00?Adjournment.
First Day, Third Session.
8:00?Song and Prayer Service by
Rev| Samuel Long.
8:15?The Commissioned Teacher
by R. D. Webb.
8:45?What Hast Thou Done? by
Mrs. S. P. Moore.
9:15?Adjournment.
Second Day, Friday, First Session.
10:00 a. m.?Song and Prayer Service
by Rev. T. W. DeVane.
10:15?The Needs of the Rura?
School by R. C. Ratchford.
10:45?The Challenge of the Teen
Age by Mrs. S. P. Moore.
11:15?Service for All and by All
by It. D. Webb.
12:10?Adjournment for dlnnc^
Second Day, Friday, Second Session.
1:4454?Song and Prayer Service
by Rev. R. M. DuBose.
2:00?Report of Nominating Committee.
2:10?Work in the Juniors by
Mrs. S. P. Moore.
2:35?The Spiritual Goal of the
Sunday School by Mrs. Reed Williams.
3:05?Question Box, conducted by
R. D. Webb.
3:40?Fixing Time and Place of
Next Meeting.
3:50?Final Adjournment.
JOHN T. GREEN,
Pres. Lancaster Co. S. S. Ass.
RAPE FOR FAIAj GRAZING.
Clemson College. Auk. 2.?Farmera
who expect to raise fall litters of
piKs should plan to sow rape for
grazing. If sown about September 1
it should be ready for grazing In
about f>0 days. Rape does best on
r'ch soils. From four to five pounds
of seed will be required per acre.
Sowing in the drill usually gives the
best results especially If the land
Is not very rich. The rows should be
from 18 to .10 inches wide. It is always
best to plant a large enough
area so that the hogs can be put first
on one part and then on the other.
The Georgia Experiment Station estimates
the cost of growing an acre
of rape at from $5.00 to $8.00 per
acre for seed, planting, care fertilizers.
and rent of the land, while the
crop when used for hog grnzing was
worth $20.00 to $25.00 per acre.
The Beauty Secret.
Ladies desire that irresitftible
charm?a good
wP 4/;,1 complexion. Of course
y they do not wish others
figVA to know; a beautifier
//fifffejl has been used so they
f y buy a bottle of
Magnolia Balni
UQUID FACE POWDER
ltd ? according to limpl* direction*. ImprnrtffW
ment i* noticed at one*. Soothing, cooling aom
refreshing. Haala Sunburn, atopa Tan.
Pink. WhlU. Rot-Red. ,
75c. al Draggbti */ by mall direct J
Sample (either color) for 2c. Stamp. A
Lyon Mfg. Co., 40 South Fifth St., Brooklyn. N.Y.
~"TJ