PAGE TWO I "Over the Top" J By An American Soldier Who Went ARTBDR GUY EMPEY Machine Gunner Serving In France U-'opj right, 11'17. by Arthur Un; Huipe;) CHAPTER XX. "Chats With Fritz." "We were swimming in money, from the receipts of our theatrical venture, and had forgotten nil about the war, when an order came through that our brigade would again take over their sector of the line. The day that these orders were Issued, our captain assembled the company nnd asked for volunteers to go to the Machine Gun school at St. Omar. I volunteered and wus accepted. 11 Sixteen men from our brigade left for the course In machine gunnery. 11 This course lasted two weeks and we j: rejoined our unit nnd were assigned to j the brigade machine gun company. It almost broke my heart to leave my 11 company mates. j1 The gun we used was the Vlckers, Light .303, water cooled. I was still a member of the Suicide 1 club, having jumped from the frying ' pan Into the fire. I was assigned to { section 1, gun No. 2, and the first time 1 fin" took position In the front-line ' trench. j ' During: the day our gun would he 1 dismounted on the Are step ready for Instnnt use. We shared u dugout with the Lewis Runners. At "stand to" we would mount our pun on the parapet and ro on watch beside It until "stand down" In the mornlnp. Then the Run would be dismounted and again placed In readiness on the fire step. We did eipht days In the front-line trench without anything unusual happening outside of the ordinary trench routine. On the night that we were to carry out." a bombing raid against the German lines was pulled off. This raiding party consisted of sixty company men, sixteen bombers, and four Lewis machine guns with their crews. The raid took the Roches by surprise and was a complete success, the party bringing back twenty-one prisoners. ( The Germans must hnve been awfully sore, because they turned loose a barrage of shrapnel, with a few "Minnies" and "whizz bangs" Intermixed. ! The shells were dropping into our front line like hailstones. To get even, we could hnve left the prisoners in the Are trench, in charge of the men on guard and let them click i Fritz's strnfelng but Tommy does not treat prisoners that way. Five of them were brought Into my dugout and turned over to me so that they would be safe from the German u,e' I ] In the candlelight, they looked very much shaken, nerves gone and chalky , faces, with the exception of one, a great l>ig fellow. lie looked very much ^ at ease. I liked him from the start. I got out the rum jar and gave each a nip and passed around some fags, the old reliable Woodbines. The other prisoners looked their gratitude, but the big fellow said in English, "Thank you, sir, the rum Is excellent and I appreciate it, also your kindness." He told me his name was Carl Schmidt, of the Sixty-sixth Ravarlun light infantry; that he had lived six years in New York (knew the city bet- , ter than I did), had been to Coney islnnd and many of our ball games. He was a regular fan. I couldn't make him ] 'believe that Hans Wagner wasn't the i best ball player in the world. From New York he had gone to London, where he worked as a waiter In t^ie Hotel Russell. Just before the war be went home to Germany to see his parents, the war came und lie was conscripted. He told me he was very sorry to llfMir thnt T nnfl/?n in tlx* Zeppoli.i raids. I could not con-! vince him otherwise, for hadn't he seen moving pictures in one of the German i cities of St. Paul's cathedral in ndns. I I changed the subject because he! was so stubborn In his belief. It was ( iny Intention to try and pump him for {information as to the methods of the German snipers, who had been causing us trouble in the last few da/8. I broached the subject and he shut up like a clam. After a few minutes he very innocently suid: "flermnn snipers get paid rewards for killing the English." I eagerly asked, "What are they?" He answered: "For killing or wounding an English prlvnte, the sniper gets one mark. For killing or wounding an English officer he gets five marks, hut If he kills n Ited Cap or English general, the sniper gets twenty-one days tied to the wheel of a limber us punishment for his careless- ! BOSS." I Then he paused, waiting for me to bite, I suppose. I bit all right and asked him why the | Buiycr wu? |iuiusiM>n ror Killing nn English general. With a smile he re- ' plied: "Well, yon see. If nil the English generals were killed, there would he no one left to make costly mistakes." 1 I shut him up, he was getting too ' fresh for a prisoner. After a while he winked at me and I winked hark, then the escort came to take the prisoners 1 to the rear. I shook hands nnd wished him "The hest of luck and a safe Jour- ' ney to Blighty." I liked that prisoner, he was a fine r fellow, had an Iron Cross. Jpq, J ad vised "him to keep It out of sight, or 1 some Tommy would be sending It home ( to his girl iu IMighty as a souvenir. * One dark and rainy night while on guard we were looking over the top c from the fire step of our front-lino 1 trench, when we heard a noise Imine- f dlately In front of our barbed wire. 1 The sentry next to me challenged, * "Halt, who comes there?" and brought his ritle to the aim. Ills challenge was ' answered In Herman. A captain in the v next traverse climbed upon the saml- ' bagged parapet to Investigate?a brave c but foolhardy deed?"Crack" went a ^ bullet and he tumbled back Into the trench with a hole through his stomach t1 and died a few minutes later. A lance c corporal In the next platoon was so en- 0 ray I'd at the captain's death that he | chucked a Mills bomb In the direction n of the noise with the shouted warning li to us: "Puck your nappers, my lucky t lads." A sharp dynamite report, a flare C in front of us, and then silence. I We immediately sent up two star shells, and in their light could see two t dark forms lying on the ground close e to our wire. A sergennt and four r stretcher-bearers went out in front and o soon returned, carrying two limp bodies. Down in the dugout, in the r flickering light of three candles, we ti snw that they were *wo German ofll- 1 cers, one* a captain and the other an 1 "unteroftlzlcr," a rank one grade higher than a sergeant general, but below the o grade of lieutenant. u The captain's face had been almost a completely torn away by the bomb's t explosion. The unterofflzler was alive, n breathing with dltllculty. In a few minutes he opened his eyes and blinked in e the glare of the candles. v The pair had evidently been drink- v Ing heavily, for the alcohol fumes were w sickening and completely pervaded the v iugont. I turned away In disgust, " bating to see n man cross the Great Divide full of booze. c cme or our omeers could spenk Ger- a nan nnd he questioned the dying num. In a faint voice, interrupted by fro- fo juent hiccoughs, the unterolllzler told Sl His story. tl There had been n drinking bout hi imong the officers in one of the Ger- v nan dugouts, the main beverage being ? champagne. With a drunken leer he n nfor rued us tlmt champagne was plen- s] tiful on their side aivl that it did not ti 'ost them anything either. About seven ^ that night the conversation had turned to the "contemptible" English, nnd the, ,] -nptain had made a wager that lie ^ ivould hang his cap on the English | n barbed wire to show his contempt for the English sentries. The wager was " accepted. At eight o'clock the captain * ind he had crept out into No Man's } Land to carry out tills wager. They had gotten about halfway j \ icross when the drink took effect and I 3 the captain fell asleep. After about i two hours of vain attempts the unter- j E offizier had at last succeeded in wak- I >ng the captain, reminded him of ids i bet. and warned him that he would be 1 the laughing stock of the officers' mess j If he did not accomplish his object, bin < the captain was trembling all over and Insisted on returning to the German > lines. In the darkness they lost their ' j bearings and crawled toward the English ?t*.mithM Th?t. ??-- v 1 ? I ............ i t'limvu iiic iiariiiMi wire and were suddenly challenged by our sentry. Itcing too drunk to realize ! that the challenge was in English, the j captain refused to crawl back. Finally ! the untcrollizlcr convinced his superior that they were In front of the English wire. Realizing this too late, the captain drew his revolver and with a mut- j tcred curse fired blindly toward our j trench. His bullet no doubt killed our captain. Then the bomb came over and there " he was. dying?and a good Job too. we 1 thought. The captain dead? Well, his j men wouldn't weep at the news. j \ Without giving us any further lnfor- | t tr.a'.ion the tin: r eer I Intended to ffuzzlj*, Sort of | O o\ ?MSM??w?' ' " " ? THE LANCASTER 1 nibbed ft Into them, because they nil lo it, and now that It was my turn, 1 ;ook pains to get my own back. At nine I reported to the captuin, reviving my trnvel order and pass. He isked mc how much money I wanted o draw. I glibly answered, "Three imidred francs, sir;" he Just as glibly landed me one hundred. Reporting at brigade headquarters, vith i.iy puck weighing a ton, I waited, vlth forly others, for the adjutant to nspect us. After an hour's wait, he tame out; must have beeu sore because le wasn't going with us. The quartermaster sergeant Issued is two days' rations. In a little white anvas rution bug, which we tied to ur belts. Then two motor lorries cume along ml we piled In, laughing. Joking, and n me nest or spirits. We even loved * he Germans, we^rere feeling so hapfiy. )ur journey to seven days' bliss In Mighty had commenced. The ride In the lorry lasted about ?vo hours; by this time we were eovred with fine, white dust from the oad, but didn't mind, even If we were eurly choking. At the railroad station at F we eported to an officer, who had n white and around his arm, which read "It. \ O." (Royal Transportation Officer). ' ?o us this officer was Suntu Claus. The sergeant in charge showed him ! ur orders; he glanced through them nd said: "Make yourselves comfortble on the platform and don't leave; he train Is liable to be along In bve ilnutes?or five hours." I It came In five hours, a string of leven match boxes on big, high rheel8, drawn by a dinky little engine rlth the "con." These match boxes ere catile cars, on the sides of which ras painted the old familiar algn. Homines 40, Chevaux 8." I The It. T. O. stuck us all Into one ar. We didn't care; It was us good s s a Pullman to us. i ^ I ' Two duys we spen^ on that train, j umplng. stopping. Jerking ahead, and mnetlmes sliding back. At three stn- , Ions we stopped long enough to make tune tea, hut were unable to wash, so ' then we arrived nt B , where we I 'ere to embark for Blighty, we were j s black as Turcos and, with our un- j haven faces, we looked like a lot of ramps. Though tired out, we were kppy. I NVe had packed up, preparatory to etraining, when a 11. T. (). held up his and for us to stop where we were nd came over. This Is what he said: j ^ ^ ^ ^ ' Dead Bodies Everywhere. 'Roys, I'm sorry, hut orders have Just 1 icon received cancelling all leave. If1 f ou had been three hours earlier you e vould have gotten away. Just stay In > hat train, as it Is going hack. Rations 1 v'M he Issued to you for your return' c ourney to your respective stations, p ienstly rotten, I know." Then he left. I A dend silence resulted. Then men ti itarted to curse, threw their rltles on f he floor of the car; otheVs said noth- s ng, seemed to he stupefied, while some j tail the tears running down their v hecks. It was a hitter disappointment t o all. a How we hllnded at the engineer of hat train; It was all his fault (so we p easoned) ; why hadn't he speeded up a n Ittle or been on time, then we would v lave gotten off before the order ar- j 1 lved? Now it wus no Rllghty for us. t That return Journey was misery to j fi is; I just can't describe It. a When we got hack to rest billets, we v | ootid that oar brigade was In the 1 Tenches (another agreeable surprise) ' ind that an attack was contemplated. " Seventeen of the forty-one will never ? ?et another chance to go on leave; ' Jiey were killed in the attack. Just c ntnk If that train had been on time, . hose seventeen .vould still he alive. I hnte to tell you how " was kidded 8 y the hoys when I got hack, hut It was 8 :ood and plenty. 0 Our machine gun compnny took over * hetr T-.firt nf thn 1 i r,of .......... ..1 ....1. he night after I returned from my ' tear leave. At 3:30 the Allowing morning three * raves went over and captured the first * ind second German trenches. The nachlne gunners went over with the fl ourth wave to consolidate the cap- f tired line or "dig In," as Tommy calls t ? Crossing No Man's Land without * illcklng any casualties, we curne to he German trench and mounted our f runs on the parados of same. " 1 never saw such a mess In my life ?bunches of twisted barbed wire lying tbout, shell hol?s everywhere, trench til bashed In, parapets gone, and dead todies, why, that ditch was full of ' hem, theirs and ours. It was a_regu- . 1 NEWS, LANCASTER, S. C. ar morgue. Some were mangled liCT Ibly from our shell Are, while others were wholly or partly burled lu the nua, the result of shell explosions cavng In the walls of the trench. One lead German was lying on his back, ivlth a rlile sticking straight up In the ilr, the bayonet of which was burled Co the hilt in his chest. Across his feet ay a dead English soldier with a billet hole In his forehead. This Toninij mist have been killed Just as he rau lis bayonet through the German. Miles and equipment were scattered ibout, and occasionally a steel helmet could be seen sticking out of the mud, At one point, Just In the entrance to 1 communication trench, was a stretcher. On this stretcher a German was ying with a white bandage around his iuee, near to him lay one of the itrctcher-bearers, the red cross on his irm covered with mud and his helmet Itled with blood and bruins. Close by, sitting up against the wall of the rench, with head resting on his chest, ivas the other sfretcher-liearer. He leemed to he alive, the posture was so intural and easy; but when I got closer I could see a large, jagged hole n his temple. The three must hove >een killed by the same shell-burst. The dugouts were all smashed In and mocked about, big square-cut timbers ipllntered Into bits, walls caved In and mtrnnces choked. Tnmmv. 11ffpr tnlllnor o fInnrna o his sorrow thnt the hardest part of he work Is to hold It. In our case this proved to be so. The Qernian artillery and machine runs hnd us taped (ranged) for fair; t was worth your life to expose yourie)f an lnstunt. Don't think for a minute that the Jermnns were the only sufferers; we vere clicking casualties so fast that rou needed an adding ninchtne to keep rack of them. Did you ever see one of the steam hovels at work on the Panama canal? Veil, It would look like a hen scratchng alongside of a Tommy "digging In" vhlle under fire. You couldn't see daylght through the clouds of dirt from ds shovel. After losing three out of six men of tur crew we mnnaged to set up our nnchlne gun. One of the legs of the ripod was resting on the chest of a lalf-burled body. When the gun was Irlng, it gave the impression thnt the lody was breathing. This was caused >y the excessive vibration. Three or four feet down the trench, ilwilit (hron f rnni fho ? oot wns protruding from the earth. Ye knew It was a German by the black enther boot. One of our crew used hut foot to hang extra bandoliers ol imcnunltion on. This man always was i handy fellow; made use of little joints thut the ordlnnry person would jverlook. The Germans made three counterytacks, which we repulsed, but not vithout heavy loss on our side. The> ilso suffered severely from our shel iikI machine-gun lire. The ground wu potted with their dead and dying. The next day things were somewhat pileter, but not quiet enough to bury he dend. We lived, ate and slept In that trench vith rtie unburled dend for six days, t was awful to \v%U-h their faces be:ome swollen and discolored. Towards he last the stench was fierce. What got on my nerves tin- most was hat foot sticking out of the dirt. It iceined to me, at night. In the moonIght, to be trying to twist around, several times this Impression was so (trong that I went to It and grasped It n both hands, to see If I could feel a uovement. 1 told this to the man who hnd used t for a hatrack Just before I lay down or a little nap, us things were quiet, ind I needed u rest pretty badly. Yhen I woke up the foot was gone. Je had cut It off with our chain saw ?ut of the spare parts' hox. and hnd Mastered the stu o^er with mud. During the nexi two or three duys, icfore we were relieved, I missed that oot dreadfully; seemed as If I had uddenly lost a chum. I think the worst thing of all was to vatch the rats, at night, and some Imes Id the day, run over and play bout among the dead. Near our gun, right across the pura>et, could be seen the hotly of a Gernun lieutenant, the head and arms of vhich were hanging Into our trench. Che man who had cut off the foot used o sit and cnrry on a one-sided converatlon with this ofllcer, used to nrgue ind point out why Germany was In the prong. During ail of this monologue never heard him say anything out of he way?anything that would have lurt the officer's feelings had he been illve. He was square all right; vouldn't even take advantage of a lend mar. in an argument. To civilians this must seem dreadtil* bat out here one gets so used to iwful sights that It makes no Impresilon. In passing a butcher shop you Iffi rmt khnnlrml he oool?w? ? ^ - ..?v..? v? m VIH^ n urau IUI" cey hanging from a hook. Well, In 'ranee, a dead body la looked upon 'roro the same angle. But, nevertheless, vhen our alz days vera up. we were tickled to death to >e relieved. Our mnchlne gun company lost eventeen killed and thirty-one wound d In that little local affair of 'straightening the line," while the ither companies clicked It worse thun ve did. After the attack we went into reterve billets for six days, and on the leventh once aguln we were In rest fillets. CHAPTER XXII. 'unlahments and Machine-Qun Stunt*. _8oon after my nrrlval In France; In I -v? ??x. .. - * I fact, Tfoni my pnnsrmrm. I Tina roun< i ' that In the British army discipline i: 11 very strict. One has to be very care | ful In order to stay on the narrow patl > of government virtue. , I There ure about seven million way: i! of breaking the king's regulations; t< I j keep one you have to break another. .' The worst punishment Is death by i ' I firing squad, or "up against the wall,' 1 us Tommy calls It. i This Is for desertion, cowardice, rau tiny, giving Information to the enemj 1 looting, rape, robbing the dead, forclni ft flftftHTlinrfl o uimnslna Then conies the punishment of sixty i four days In the front-Une trench with | out relief. During this time you hnv< i to engage In all raids, working purtle i In No Man's Land, and every hazardou undertaking that comes along. If yoi i live througli the sixty-four days yoi are Indeed lucky. This punishment is awarded wher ! there is a doubt as to the willful gull of a man who has committed an of i; fence punishable by death, i! Then comes the famous field pur lshment No. 1. Tommy has nickname* It "crucifixion." It means tlmt fsmui Is spread-eagled on a Umber wheel | t\?o hours a day for twenty-one days During this time he only gets water 11 bully beef and biscuits for his chow You get "crucified" for repeated tnlno ! offenses. Next In order Is field punlshmen , No. 2. This Is confinement In the "clink,1 I without blankets, getting wuter, bull; beef and biscuits for rations and dolni all the dirty work that can be found This may be for twenty-four hours o: twenty days, according to the grnvlt; of the offense. Then comes "pack drill" or default era' parade. This consists of drilling mostly at the double, for two hour f?lt T> I *???.? lull \\(UI 1'illCUl. Xl'IIIUiy IIUII'I this, became It Is hard work. Some times he fills his pack with straw t< 1 lighten It, and sometimes he geti | caught. If he gets caught, he grousei at everything In general for twenty one days, from the vantage point of t ' limber wheel. Next comes "C. B." meaning "con fined to bnrrneks." This consists o staying In billets or barracks for twen ty-four hours to seven days. You uls< get an occasional defaulters' parade und dirty Jobs around the quarters. The sergennt major keeps what li known as the crime sheet. When t man commits nn offense, he b "crimed." that Is, his name, numhci i and offense Is entered on the crlnn sheet. Next day at 0 a. m. he goes t? the "orderly room" before the captain who either punishes him with "C. It.' or sends him before the O. C. (office: commanding battalion). The cnptali of the company cun only award "P. B.' Tommy many a time has thnnke< the king for making thut provision li his regulations. To gain the title of a "smart soldier,' Tommy has to keep clenr of the crlnv sheet, and you have to be darned smur to do It. I have been on It a few times, most ly for "Yankee Impudence." During our stay of two weeks li rest billets our.captain put us througl a course of machine-gun drills, trylnj out new stunts and theories. After parades were over, our guns crews got together and also tried on some theories of their own In reference to handling guns. These courses line notlllnir to do with tlio ndvMiiw>,? >,,n< .. i the war, consisted mostly of causlnj tricky Jams In the trun, and then tin rest of the crew would endeavor to lo cate as quickly as possible the caus< 1 of the stoppage. This amused then for a few days und then things came t< a standstill. One of the boys on my ;run clalmet that he could pluy a tune while tin gun was actually firing, and demon strated this fuct one day on the targei range. We were very enthusiastic anc decided to become musicians. After constant practice I hecanu quite expert In the tune entitled "A1 Conductors Have Big Feet." When I had mastered this tune, oui two weeks' rest came to an end, an of his lesson, would open up and trust ti to luck. By our calculations. It would I take at least a week to pull off the s stunt. ? If Frits refused to swallow our bait, I It would be Impossible to locate his a. special jjun, and that's the one we were * after, because they oil sound alike, a ! slow pup-pup-pup. i- Our prestige was hanging by a r. thread. In the battalion we hud to eng dure all kinds of Insults nnd fresh re| marks as to our ability In silencing - Fritz. Even to the battalion that Ger- M l- man gun was a sore spot, e i Next day, Ffltz opened up as usual, s I let him Are away for a while and s then hutted In with my "pup-pup-pup11 , pup-pup-pup." I kept this up quite a i while, used two belts of ammunition. I Fritz had stopped firing to listen. Then 8 he started in; sure enough, he had t fallen for our gnme, his gun was trying to imitate mine, hut, at first he made a horrible mess of that tune. Again 1 butted In with n few bars and stopped. <1 Then he tried to copy what I had a played. He was a good sport ail right, ' : because his bullets were galng awtty ' over our heads, must have been firing ' Into the air. I commenced to feel friendly towurd'hlm. r This duet went on for five days. Fritz was a good pupil and learned * rapidly. In fact, got better than his teacher. I commenced to feel Jealous. ^ When he had completely mastered the f tune, he started sweeping the road < ngaln and we clicked it worse than 1. ! DV0P Hilt V? n o I .... iwl Kin /Inn * V. ... n .... wt uv oi^ucu mo uraia nunuui by doing so, because my friendship turned to hate. Every time he flred he played that tune and we danced. The boy? In the battalion gave us the "Ha! Ha 1" They weren't In on our little framenp. The originator of the ruse and the other two gunners had Fritz's location taped to the minute; they mounted their two guns, and also gave me the range. The neat afternoon was set for the grand finale. Our three guns, with different elevations, had their fire so arranged, that, opening up together, their bullets would suddenly drop on Fritz nice a hailstorm. About three the next day, Fritz started "pup-pupping" that tune. I blew a sharp blast on a whistle, It was the signal agreed upon; we turned loose and Fritz's gun suddenly stopped In the middle of a bar. We had cooked his goose, and our ruse had worked. After firing two helts ench, to make sure of our Job, we hurriedly dismounted our guns and took cover In the dugout. We knew what to expect soon. We didn't have to wait long, three salvos of j "whizz-bangs" came over from Fritz's I artillery, a further confirmation that we had sent that musical tnhchlne-gun or on his Westward-bound Journey. That gun never bothered us again. We were the heroes of the hftttallon, our captain congratulated us, said It was a neat piece of work, und, consequently, we were all puffed up over the stunt. mi. * ? j lu-rt- ure several ways tommy uses 1 to disguise the location of his machine 1 gun and get his range. Some of the ? most commonly used stunts ure as follows : At nlgl>t, when he mounts his gun t over the top of his trench and wants B to get the range of Fritz's trench he ' adopts the method of what he terms t "getting the sparks." This consists of t firing hursts from his gun until the Y s bullets hit the German barbed wire. He can tell when they are cutting the * wire, because a bullet when It hits a i wire throws out a blue electric spark. y Machine-gun tire Is very damaging to wire and causes many a wiring party 1 to go out at night when It Is quiet to s repulr the dnmnge. To disguise the flare of his gun at 1 night when firing, Tommy uses what Is ' called a flare protector. This Is a stovepipe arrangement which fits over the * barrel casing of the gun and screens ' the sparks from the right and left, but not from the front. So Tommy, always f resourceful, adopts this scheme: About I three feet or less In front of the gun he \ : y:i\ / ! \ / I \ : / I \ |?S too voi iooydj juhcuw OiCHTluir Showing How Fritz Is Fooled. 0 i drives two Rtakes Into the ground, > abou? five feet npnrt. Across tbeso stokes he Rtretches a curtain made out ? of empty snndhngs ripped open. II? RonkM this curtain In water and Area , through it. The water prevents It catching Are and effectively screens i the flare of the tiring sv.o from th? t enemy. , sound Is a vnltinhTe asset m locating t a machine gun. hut Tommy surmounts , this ohstacle by placing two machine , guns about one hundred to one hun, dred and flftv vanis ti? _ null f on the right to cover with Its tire the _ sector of the left gun mitl the gun on the left to cover that of the right ^ gun. This makes their fire cross; they > are fired simultaneously. Ky this method It sounds like one gun firing and gives the Germans the 4L 1 Impression that the gun Is firing from j a jtolnt midway between the guns j which are actually firing, und they acj cordlngly shell that particular spot. _ The machine gunners chuckle and say, . "Fritz. is a brainy boy, not 'ulf he t ain't" (To be Continued.) j \ t