The Lancaster news. (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, April 05, 1918, Page PAGE TWO, Image 2
PAGE TWO
"Over the Top"
By An American Soldier
Who Went
ARTHUR GUY EMPEY
Mac/tint Gunner Serving in Franct
\ UJop.Tr.gbu iai:, by ArUiurOuy Miupor)
(Contluued From La*t Issue. >
CHAPTER XIII.
My First Official Bath.
Right behind our rest billet wai
large creek about ten feet deep i
twenty feet ucross. anil it was a hi
4>t the company to avail themselves
an opportunity to take a swim and
the same time thoroughly was|) tin
.selves and their underwear when
their own. We were having a spell
.hot weather, nnd these baths to
were a luxury- The Tommies wo
4Splash around In the water and tl
wcoine out and sit In the sun and hi
jwhnt they termed a "shirt hunt."
Jlrst we tried to drown the "cootU
but they also seemed to enjoy the bi
One Sunday morning the whole s
tlon was In the creek and we were h
dug a gay time, when the sergeant i
*Jor appeared on the scene. He en
to the edge of the creek and order
"Come out of It. Oct your equipm
on. 'drill order." and fall in for hi
parade. Look lively, my hearties. ^
have only got fifteen minutes." A hi
of Indignation from the creek gree
this order, but out we came. Ph
pline is discipline. We lined up
front of our billet with rifles ami b
onets (why you need rifles and ba
nets to take a bath gets me), a f
quota of ammunition, and our tin hi
Kach man had a piece of soap ant:
towel. After an eight-kllo march air
a dusty road, with an occasional sh
whistling overhead, we arrived at
little squat frame tmildlnj: upon I
bank of a creek. Mailed over the dc
f } 5
! V 11/a J
if! umi/i
* .
"** ' >* && ^ : ' %?
1^5. .^'iiii^^j^'-j \ ^T;ir.r:r
i
Throwing Hand Grenades.
of thl? huildlnp vra* a large sign whl
read "Divisional Baths." In a wood
shod in the roar wo could hoar
wheezy old engine pumping water.
We lined up in front of tho hat]
soaked with perspiration, and (til
our rifios into stacks. A sergeant
the H. A. M. with u yellow ha
Kiround his left arm on which w
**8. I'." (sanitary police) in hlack I
,ters, took charge. ordering us to ta
oft our equipment, unroll our putt*
und unluce hoots. Then, starting fr<
the right of the line, he divided
ilnto squads of fifteen. 1 happened
be In the first squad.
We entered a small room, where '
wore given live inlnntey to undre
"then filed into tlie bntliroom. In lu
A Bathroom at the Front.
there were fifteen fobs (barrela kbw
In two) half full of water. Each t
contained a piece of htnndry soap. T
wergennt Informed na that we had Jt
twelve mlnntea in which to take o
. *> v^vnmvT
^3U l.utl.s. Soaping ourselves ull over, i
took turns In rubbing each othei
backs, theu by means of a garden hos
washed the soap off. The water w
lee cold, but felt fine.
Pretty soon a bell rang and the w
ter was turned off. Some of the slow
ones were covered with soap, but t!
made no difference to the sorgeai
who chased us Into another roo
where we lined up In front of a liti
window, resembling the box office In
theater, and received dean underwe
and towels. From here we went In
the room where we had first undress*
! Ten minutes were allowed In which
get Into our "clabber."
My pair of drawers mine up to i
' chin anil the shirt barely reached i
R a diaphragm, but they were clean?
find at rangers on them, so 1 was sntisfh
'bit At the expiration of the time nll<
' of ted we were turned out and tiuish
ut our dressing on the grass,
cm- J When all of the company had hath
"n It was a ease of march back to bllle
1 That march was the most unoongenl
ns > one imagined, just cussing and bliti
u'^ | lug all the way. We were covered wl
on white dust and felt greasy from swei
nve The woolen underwear issued w
^ Itching like the mischief.
!S- After eating our dinner of ste
'tb. which had been kept U>r us?It w
;<>c* now four o'clock?we went into t
nv- ffp,,!; Hn,j flJMj another hath,
mi- y "Holy Joe" could have heard o
remurks about the divisional hat
'* ' | and army red tape he would ha
' th ! m,r "X-kednes*. Hut Toi
'' my Is only human after all.
I Just mentioned "Holy Joe" or t
^ chaplain in an irreverent sort of wti
I but no offense was meant, ns the
. wore some very brave men amoi
lD them.
uvVf>_
There are so many instances of h
"nil rol<" deeds performed under fire In rt
|ts cning the wounded that it would tnl
I ' several books to chronicle them, but
huve to mention one instance p<
I formed by a chaplain. Captain Hall 1
a name, in tiie brigade on our left, h
cause It particularly appealed to m
r A chaplain Is not a fighting man; 1
is recognized as a noncomhntnix nt
n carries no arms. In a charge or tren<
) rflld f ho o n : - ?
a irrillig ??l lO
fldenee from rontnct with his rifle. r
volver. or bomb ho Ih carrying. Ho hi
j something to protect himself wit
.* ' j something with which ho can infll
I harm on the enemy?In other word
; !; he Is able to got his own back.
Put the chaplain Ik empty-hande
and Ik at the mercy of the enemy
jjjf he encounters them, so It Is iouhl
: brave for him to go over the top. undt
v lire, and bring In wounded. Also
? > chaplain is not required by the king
regulations to go over In a charge, hi
^ this one did. made three trips undt
$ the hottest kind of fire, each time r<
^ turning with a wounded man ??n h
r back. On the third trip he receive
$ a bullet through his left arm. but next
% reported the matter to the doctor unt
3 lute that night?Just spent his time a<
3? ministering to the wants of the wount
ed lying on stretchers.
Is I The chaplains of the British arm
are a fine, manly set of men. and ar
* greatly respected by Tommy.
CHAPTER XIV.
f'h Picks and Shovels.
cn i had not slept long before the ewee
n
vo.e < eif the sergeant informed thi
"No. i section hucj clicked for uaoth'
?(j blinking digging pjirty." I smiled
((f myself with deep satisfaction. 1 It:
n(j l>e? tt promoted from a ntere digger
,hg a member of the Suicide club, and w:
exempt from all fatigues. Then can
Ijp an awful shock. The sergeant look*
>es <)ver in my direction and said :
tin "Iton't you homh throwers think yc
?M are wearing top hats out here. 'Cor
to in" to orders you've been taken up <
the strength of this section, and wl
have to do your hit with the pick ar
ss shovel, same as the rest of us."
>re ; I put up a how l on my way to g<
I my shovel, but the only thing that r
?i suited was a loss of good humor e
my part.
We fe-ll in at eight o'clock, outsh
of our billets, a sort of mnsquerne
party. I was disguised as a contrite
laborer, had a pick and shovel, ar
^ about erne hundred empty sandbag
P The rest, nhont two hutielreel in a!
; were- equipped likewise: picks, shovel
*| sandhags, rifles nn<! ammunition.
Tlte juirty moved out in column <
h four- taking the- road leading to tl
j| tr- ne In-.. Several time s we hud
J f-trilig ' lit in the elite It to let h'tig e <
lifitTis of limber*. artillery and snpplh
get past.
The mnrching, under these cone!
sa
g t! >ns. was neeossnrlly slow. I'mm a
* rivnl mi the entrance to the cominur
cation trench, I looked at my illun
nnt'i) wrist watch?it was elevc
o'clock.
Before entering this trench, wen
was passed down the line, "no talkie
or smoking lead off in single file, co
cring party first."
This covering party consisted of '
men. armed with rifles, bayonet
bombs, and two Lewis machine gun
1 They Were to protect us and gum
against a surprise attack while di
ging in No Man's Land.
The communication trench wt
about half a mile long, a zigznggir
! ditch, eight feet deep and three fe<
wide.
Now and again, German shrnpn
would whistle overhead and burst I
our vicinity. We would crouch again
the earthen wulls while the shell fra
ments "slapped" the ground above u
Once Fritz turned loose with u in
chine gun, the bullets from whit
nh "cracked" through the air and klek?
hft up the dirt on the top. scattering snr
and pebbles, which, hitting our ate
u_f heliuets, aoundea like hailstones.
THE LANCASTER N
itp j Tpon arrival In the fire trench ?r
r's officer of the Itoyai Engineers gave ut
<e. our instructions and acted as guide,
as We were to dig an advanced trencfc
two hundred yurds froin the Germans
a- (the trenches at this point were sli
er hundred yards apart),
ds i Two winding lanes, five feet wide
nt. had heeu cot through our harbed wire
?u, iur r iuiii
tie ! these lines white tape had been laid
ie.
Trench Digging.
on the ground to the point where we
were to commence work. This in orn
dor that we would not get lost In the
* darkness. The proposed trench was
also laid out with tape.
' The covering party went out first.
After a short wait, two scouts came
fi
back with information that the working
party was to follow and "carry on"
P* uitti u-..rb
In extended order, two yards apart,
we noiselessly crept across No Man's
r Laud. It was nervous work ; every
,a minute we expected a machine pun to
* open lire on us. Stray bullets "cracked"
11 around us. or a ricochet sanp over!F
head.
Arrivinp at the taped diapram of
' the trench, rifles slunp around our
shoulders, we lost no time in pettinp
I" to work. We dup us quietly as posI
siMe hut every now aiul then the nois?
of ji pick or shovel strikinp a stone
would send the cold shivers (lawn our
! hacks. Under our breaths we hcartll>
^ cursed the olTendinp Totntny.
At intervals a star shell would po uj
from the ( erumn lines and w? would
rep i in motionless until the plare of its
white llpht died out.
Win n the trench had reached a
t depth of two feet we felt safer, be
' cause it .vould afford us covor in oust
fit wo were discovered and fired nn.
l'r Tim digging had ?>< < n in progrest
'|j about two hours, who* suddenly h?dl
seemed to tireak loose in the form of
iimchine-gun and rifle tire.
(
We dropped down on our bellies in
j the shallow trench, bullets knocking
up the ground and snapping in the air.
Then shrapnel hutted In The music
j was hot and Tommy danced.
The covering party was having a
II rough time of it; they had no cover;
j Just had to take their medicine.
Word was passed down the line to
l beat it for our trenches. We needed no
^ urging; grabbing our tools arid stooping
low, we legged it across No Man's
Land. The covering party got away
. to a poor start but beat us in. They
must have had wings because we low)e
, . ,
ered the record.
((l ('anting and out of breath, we tumbled
into our front-line trench. I tore
II my bands getting through our wire,
hut. at the time, didn't notice it ; tnv
s.
Journey was too urgent.
rij When the roll was called we found
( that we had gotten it In ttie nose for
(Jfl casualties.
to
(j. Our artillery put n barrage on Frlfz*
|>s front-line and entumuuicatlon trenelies
ntnl their machine-gun and rifle tire
suddenly censed.
r. Upon the cessation of this fire.
,|. stretcher hearers went out to look for
,p killed and wounded. Next day we
10h rn t Lo * 4>1 '- ^ * * *
> .i ?>i iMir iiii'ii nuo neen
; killi'i! niul .'57 wounded. Five men were
-,j missing; lost in tlie darkness, they
must ha\e wandered over into the <!erv.
innri lines, where they were either
killed or captured.
Speaking of stretcher hearers and
? wounded, it is very hard for the avers
age civilian to comprehend the enor.(j
mous cost of taking cure of wounded
and the war in general, lie or she gets
] so accustomed to seeing billions of dob
JH I lnrs in print that the significance of
' the amount is passed over without
pt thought.
From an oflfleinl statement published
In one of the London papers, It is
' stated that It costs between six and
j seven thousand pounds ($.'10,000 to $.TV
s fHK?) to kill or wound a soldier. This
result was attnlned h?- taking the cost
u* of the war to date arid dividing It by
^ the killed and wounded.
It may sound heartless and Inhuman,
but It Is a fact, nevertheless, that from
a military atnnd|>olnt It Is better for a
man to be billed than wounded.
_ If a man Is killed he Is buried, and
EWS, LANCASTER S. C.
> ! the responsibility of the government
i ' ceases, excepting for the fact that his
people receive a pension. But If a man
i is wounded it takes throe men from
i the firing line, the wounded roun and
: two men to carry him to the rear to
the advanced first-aid post. Here he Is
, attended by a doctor, perhaps assisted
by two R. A. M. C. men. Then he Is
i put Into a motor ambulance, manned
I by a crew of two or three. At the field
hospital, where he ??*nemllv > on. !
_ ? ?' n^" " ""
j der an nupstlirtlc, either to have his
i wounds cleaned or to he operated on,
I he requires the services of ahout three
{ to five persons. From this point another
ambulance ride impresses more
| men in his service, and then at the am- ,
j hulance train, another corps of doc- j
tors. It. A. M. O. men. Red Cross nurses !
I arid the train's crew. From the train
i he enters the base hospital or casualty j
! clearing station, where a good-sized |
I corps of doctors, nurses, etc.. are kept j
busy. Another ambulance Journey is
n? \t In order?this time to the hospital j
ship. He crosses the channel, arrives j
in Blighty?more ambulances and per- j
haps a ride for five hours on an Kng- i
lisli Red Cross train with its crew of j
Red Cross workers, and at last he I
reaches the hospital. (Jenerally he i
stays from two to six months, or long- '
er. In this hospital. From here he is
sent to a convalescent home for six
weeks.
II by wounds he is unfitted for fur- J
tlier service, he is discharged, given a
pension, or committed to a soldiers' i
home for the rest of his life?and still
the expense piles up. When you realize
that all the ambulances, trains and
ships. not to mention the man power.
used in transporting a woniKlci] man,
could bo used for supplies, ammunition
and re-enforcements for the troops at
the front, it will not appear strange j
that from a strictly military stand- I
point, a dead man is sometimes better I
than a live one (if wounded).
Not long after the first digging party,
our general decided, after a careful
tour of inspection of the communication
trenches, upon "an ideal spot," as
lie termed it, for a machine-gun emplacement
; took his map. made a dot
on it, and as lie was wont, wrote "dig '
here," and the next night we dug.
There were twenty In tne party, myself
included. Armed with picks,
shovels and empty sandbags we arrived
at the "Ideal spot" and started
digging. The moon was very bright.
Km ?? win inn care as we were well
out of sight of the German Hues.
We had gotten about three feet
down, when the fellow next to me. after
a mighty stroke with his pick. let go
of the handle, and pinched his nose j
with his thumb and forefinger, at the!
same time letting out the explosion. I
"Gott strafe me pink. I'm bloody well
gassed, not 'alf I ain't." I qnirklyj
turned in his direction with an inquir-1
ing look, at the same instant reaching
for my gas bag. I soon found out what j
was ailing him. One whiff was enough '
and I lost no time in also pinching my ,
nose. The stench was awful. Th? rest
of the digging party dropped their j
picks imd shovels antl beat it for the
weather side of that solitary pick. The
officer came over and inquired why the
work had suddenly censed, holding our
noses, we simply pointed in the direction
of the smell. lie went over to the
pick, immediately clapped his hand
over his nose, made an "about turn" j
tind came back, .lust then our captain
came along and investigated, but
after abc.it a minute said we had bet-j
ter carry on with the digging, tlwit lie
did not see why we should have 1
stopped as the odor was very faint. '
I but If necessary he would ullow us our
| gas helmets while digging. He would
! stay and see the thing through, hut he
had to report hack to brigade head- ,
quarters immediately. We wished that
we were captains and also had ti date
j at brigade headquarters. With our gus
, helmets on we again attacked that hole
and uncovered the decomposed body of
a German; the pick was sticking In his
chest. One of the men fainted. I was
that one. t'pon this our lieutenant
halted proceedings and sent word hack '
to headquarters and word came hack
that after we filled In the hole we could
knock off for the night. This was welcome
tidings to us, because?
Next day the general changed the
; dot on his map and another einplnce;
merit was completed the following
I night.
The odor from the dug-up. decotn- '
posed human body has an effect which
is hard to describe. It llrst produces
a nauseating feeling, which, especially.
| after eating, causes vomiting. This re- |
licves VOU temiMirnrllv !. %? -
weakening sensation follows, which
leaves you limp as a dishrag. Tour i
spirits arc at their lowest ebb and you |
fool a sort of hopelessness and a mini
dosiro to osoapo It all, to pot to the l
open fields and tho porfutno of the flow- .
ors In Blighty. There Is a sharp, 1
prioklinp sensation In the nostrils,
which rominds one of breathing coul 1
pas throuph a radiator In the floor, arid j
you want to sneeze, but ennnot. This ,
was the effeet on me, surmounted by a I
vague horror of the awfulness of the i
thing and an ever-recurring reflection
that, perhaps I, sooner or later, would t
1 be In such a state and be brought to
| light by the blow of a pick in the hands
of some Tommy on a digging party.
Several times I have experienced this
I odor, hut never could get used to It ;
i the enervating sensation was always
I present. It made me hate war ami
I wonder why such things were counte,
nanced hy civilization, and all the spice
' and glory of the conflict would dlsap,
pear, leaving the grim reality. But
I after leaving the spot and (tiling your
J lungs with deep breaths of pure, fresh
! air, you forget and once aguin want to
' be "up and at them."
CHAPTER XV.
Listening Post.
It war rIx tn the inorulng when v
arrived at our rent billeta, and we we
uliowed to aleep until noon; that 1
If we wunted to go without our brea
fast. For sixteen days we remnlm
Entrance to a Dugout.
In rest billets. roads. drlllln
and other fatigues, and then back in
the front-line trench.
Nothing happened thnt night. hut tl
next afternoon I found out thnt
bomber Is general utility tnun In u sc
tlon.
About five o'clock In the afterno<
our lieutenant came down the treni
and stopping in front of a bunch of i
on the tire step, with u broad grin t
his face, asked:
"Who Is going to volunteer for liste
Ing post tonight? 1 need two men."
It Is needless to say no one volu
teered, because it is anything but
cushy Job. 1 began to feel uncoinfoi
able as 1 knew it was getting aroui
for my turn. Sure enough, with uuoth
grin, tie said:
"Empey, you and Wheeler are dti
po come down Into my dugout for 1
structions at six o'clock."
Just as he left and was going aroui
a traverse, Fxitz turned loose with
machine gun and the bullets ripped tl
sandbags right over his head. It ga
me great pleasure to see him du<
against the parapet. He was getting
taste of what we would get later o
In front.
Then, of course. It begun to rain,
know It was the forerunner of a ml
erahle night for us. Every time I In
to go out in front, it just natural
rained. Old Jupiter Pluvius must ha
had it in for me.
At six we reported for instructiot
They were simple and easy. Ail \
had to do was to erawl out into ?
Man's Land, lie on our bellies with o
ears to the ground and listen for tl
tap, tap of the German engineers
suppers who might ho tunneling und
No Man's I.and to establish a tnic
head beneath our trench.
Of course, in our orders we were to
not to he captured by German patrt
or recc.noltoring parties. Lots
breath is wasted on the western frc
giving sillv cautions.
As soon as it was dark. Wheeler an
I crawled to our post which was abot
halfway between the linen. It wn
ruining bucketfuls, the ground was
sea of sticky mud and dung to us Ilk
glue.
We took turns in listening with nti
ears to the ground. I would listen fr
twenty minutes while Wheeler woul
be on the qui vlve for German patrols
We each wore a wristwateh. and b<
lieve me, neither one of us did ov<
twenty minutes. The rain soaked i
to the skin and our ears were full <
mud.
Kvery few minutes a bullet woul
crack overhead or a machine gun woul
traverse buck and forth.
Then all firing suddenly ceased,
whispered to Wheeler, "Keep your ej
skinned, mate; most likely Fritz hi
a patrol out?that's why the Hocln
have stopped firing."
We were each armed with a rifle an
bayonet and three Mills bombs to I
used for defense only.
I had my ear to the ground. All <
a sudden I heard faint, dull thud
In a low but excited voice 1 whisper*
to Wheeler, "I think they are minin
listen."
He put his ear to the ground an
In an unsteady voice spoke Into in
ear:
"Yank, that's a patrol and it's heat
Ing our way. For God's sake ket
still."
I was as still as a mouse and wi
scared stiff.
Hardly breathing and with eyes Ir;
Ing to pierce the Inky blackness, ?
waited, I won Id have given u thoi
sand pounds to have been safely I
my dugout.
Then we plainly heard footsteps nn
our hearts stood still.
A dark form suddenly loomed up I
front of ine; It looked as big as tt
Wool worth building. I could her
the blood rushing through my velr
and It sounded aa loud as Nlagar
falls.
Forms seemed to emerge from tti
darkness. There were seven of thei
In all. I tried to wish them away.
neVer wished harder In my life. The
muttered a few worda In Qennun an
t #*
FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1918.
IbeTted Into "the TdacfenessT T didn't
tatop wishing either. ,
All of a sudden we heard a stumble,
r#i a muddy splash, and a muttered "Donre
ner und Blltzen." One of the Bochea
. had tumbled Into a shell hole. Neither
of us laughed. At that time?It didn't
I strike us as funny. A
About twenty minutes after the Oer?
mans had disappeared something from
the rear grabbed me by the foot. I
nearly fainted with fright. Then a
welcome whisper In a cockney accent,
f "I s'y. myte, we've come to relieve '
J you."
J Wheeler and I crawled back to our
trench; we looked like wet hens and
felt worse. After n swig of rum we
were soon fast asleep on the fire step
In our wet clothes.
The next morning I was as stilT as a
poker and every joint ached like a
had tooth, hut 1 was still alive, so it
did not matter.
t
CHAPTER XVI.
Battery D 238.
The day after this 1 received the
glad tidings that I would occupy the
t. machine gunners' dughut right near
the advanced artillery observation
post. This dugout was a roomy affair,
dry as tinder, and real cots in it.
I These cots had been made by the
> j II. E.'s who had previously occupied 1
J ; the dugout. I was the first to enter
i , and promptly made a signboard with
J I my name and number on it and susI
| ponded It from the foot of the most
I comfortable cot therein. S
I In the trenches it is always "first
P : come, first served." and this Is lived
?1 "After the drive to I'arls was turned
at ariieh warfare started. Our
general grubbed n map. drew a pencl1
d ncriisx It. and salil. *1 >lir here.' Ther
t he went hack to his tea, and Tommy
H armed himself with a pick and shovel
and started digging. He's been dlgglng
ever since.
"Of course we day those trenches at
night. hut It was hot work, what with
>r the rltle and machine-nun tire. The
(j stretcher hearers worked hurder than
the diggers.
"Those trenches, hloomin' ditches, I
' call them, were nightmares. They were
onlv about five feet deep, and yon used
- to get the backache from bending
' j down. It wasn't exactly safe to stand
upright, either, because as soon as
( 1 your napper showed over the toj? a
" i num.# tiA.,1.1 i ? ?- --
....... . i>1 iniivt* mi it, or pise come
I so rinse It would make your hair stand.
"We used to fill sandbags and stick
them on top of the parapet to make It
,s higher, hut no use; they would he
"s there ahnut an hour and then Fritz
would turn loose and blow them to
j hits. My neck used to he sore from
,e - ducking shells and bullets.
^ ' "Where my battery was stationed n
j hasty trench had been dug, which
. ! the hoys nicknamed 'Suicide ditch.'
, and. believe me, Yank, this was the
original 'Suicide ditch.' All the others
, are imitations,
id
)y "When a fellow went Into that
trench It was an even gamble that he
,, would come out on a stretcher. At one
ll*
,p time a Scotch battalion held It, and
when they heard tl.e betting was even j
money that they'd come out on ,
stretchers, they grabbed all the lads I
in sight. I.Ike a lot of bally Idiots, severnl
of the battery men fell for their
game, and put up real money. The
Jocks' suffered a lot of casualties, and
the prospects looked bright for the
battery men to collect somp easy
l( | money. So when the battalion wn? ~
I lleved the gamblera lined up. Several
" 'Jocks' pot their money for emerging
safety. but the ones who clicked It
,r weren't there to pny. The nrtllleryls
men had never thought It out that
? wny. Those Scottles were hound to
he sure winners, no matter how the
ie wind blew. So take a tip from me,
m never bet with a Scuttle, 'cause you'll
lose money. \
y
(To be Continued.)
- up to by all.
Two It. F. A. men (Royal Field artillery)
from the nearby observation
R. post were allowed the privilege of
1? . stopping in this dugout when off duty.
One of these men, Rombardler Wlli
son by name, who belonged to Bat"
tery I> 2.18. seemed to take a liking
to me. and I returned this feeling.
! In two days' time we were pretty
>n chummy, and he told me how his battery
in the early days of the war had
put over a stunt on Old Pepper, and
m . had gotten away with It.
I will endenver to give the story as
n* i far as memory will permit In his own
words:
n* "I came out with the first expedln
ttonar.v force, and. like all the rest,
"b thought we would have the enemy
licked in Jig time, and he able to eat
l-r i Christmas dinner at home. Well, so
[ far. I have eaten two Christmas dinie
ners In the trenches, and am liable to
n" j eat two more, the way things are
I pointing. That Is. if Fritz don't drop
a 'whizz-bang' on me. and send me to
a Blighty. Sometimes I wish I would
'14> get hit. because It's no great picnic
ve | out here, and twenty-two months of It
j makes you fed up.
" "It's fairly rushy now compared to
u* what It used to he. although I admit
this trench is a trifle rough. Now,
1 j we fiend ovrr Ave she lls to their one.
IS" | Wo are potting our own hark, hut in
u' j the rarly days It was different. Then
>y I you had to tnke rvrrythlnp without
vt j reply. In fart, we would get twenty
I shells in return for every one we sent
,s- over. Fritz seemed to enjoy it. hut H
l'e we Pritlsli didn't : we were the snfs*?
I ferers. Just one casualty after anl,r
| other. Sometimes whole platoons
| would disappear, especially when a
or '.Tack Johnson' plunked into their
t>r middle. It got so had that a fellow
lt>" | when writing home, wouldn't ask for
] any cigarettes to tie sent out. because
tie was afraid he wouldn't he there tr
its , <i -