The Camden chronicle. (Camden, S.C.) 1888-1981, October 19, 1917, Image 9
"OVER THERE"
l'he Thrill and the Hell of the Trenches,
Described hu an American Boy
SERGEANT McCUNTOCK
Sergeant Alexander McCllntock of Lexlnnfon ir?
Arm Has Gripping Tale That fcveru American Will Km* * * M*nad,an
the Tacts? Unadorned. Wounded, a Distinguished i . Tf Us
He Wat; invalided Home. But Is OolnJ "C There"' ,Man'
For Uncle Sam and His Allies. An Inspiring intarJth? v P,flhl
Narrative. Full of the Spirit aud Atmosphere of tui, T^ofc SoUdl
No. 1
In T raining
fiU Sergeant Alexander McCllntock,
D G. M., 8 7th Overseas Batt.
Canadian Grco. Guards
Copyright, 1917, by the yell Syndicate. Inc.
FOREWORD.
Here is a literary product which is
at once an admirable example of the
force of simple realism in the descrip
tijn of things which are difficult of
ordinary comprehension, and a hand
book and guide for every prospective
soldier of our armies.
Sergeant McClintook has not writ
ten stones about the war. He has
written the war itself, reducing it,
one might almost say, to words I of one
syllable, yet bringing to the reader's
view, clearly and vividly, the various
aspects of the great struggle, hidden
to all except the man who is actually
o part of it. His contribution to the
history of the war must be classed as
one u hich shines with a new light.
It is fascinating in its simplicity, yet
thrilling in its convincing detail. It
leads one, uith evergrowing and com
pelling interest, frrvm a casual conver
sation in a hotel in Nero York through
scenes of strife and blood and thrill
ing conflict to the moment when the
king and queen of England came to
the bedside of a Kentucky youth in a
London hospital to thank him in the
name of their nation for his services
in the cause ichich we have now come
to recognize as that of world humanity.
Sergeant McClintock received the
Distinguished Conduct medal before
leaving England for home on leave.
He ts returning to accept a commis
sion in the Canadian overseas forces.
The stf/ry is told in McClintvck's own
unadorned icay.
I DON'T lay claim to being much of
it writer, and up till now I have
never felt the call to write any
thing a I "Hit my experiences with the
Canadian troops In Belgium and
Frau<v. because I have realized that
a rri-iit many other men srtw quite as
much its I did and could*beat me tell
ing iibdiit it. Of course I believed that
ray experience was worth relating, and
I thought that the matter published In
the newspapers by professional writ
ers sort of missed the essentials and
lacked the spirit of the "ditches" In a
good many ways In jsplte of Its excel
lent literary style, but I didn't see any
reason why it was up to me to make
an effort as a war historian until now.
Now there Is a reason, as I look at It.
I believe I can show the two or three
millions df my fellow countrymen who
will he "out there" before this war Is
over what they are going to be up
against and what they ought to pre
pare for personally and Individually.
That is as far as I am going to go in
the way of excuse, explanation or com
Impatient If nothing very Important
Heema to come off ?t first. I felt a lit
tle ennui myself ut the getaway. But
that was certainly one thing that didn't
annoy me later.
In the latter part of October, 1015, I
decided that the United States ought
to ho fighting along with England and
France on account of the way Belgium
had been treated, If for no other reason.
As there seemed to be a considerable
division of opinion on this point among
the people at home, I came to the con
clusion that any man who was free,
white and twenty-one and felt as I did
ought to go over and get Into It single
handed on the side where his convic
tions led him if there wasn't some par
ticular reason, why he couldn't. There
fore I said goodby to my parents and
friends In Lexington and started for
New York with the idea of sailing for
France and Joined the Foreign legion
of the French army.
Decides to Qo to Canada.
A couple of nights after I got to New
York I fell Into conversation In the
Knickerbocker bar with a chnp who
was In the re-enforcement company of
Princess Pat's regiment of the Cana
dian forces. After my talk with him
I decided to go up to' Canada and look
thinks over. I arrived at the Windsor
hotel, in Montreal, at 8 o'clock in the
morning a couple of days later, and at
10 o'clock that morning I was sworn
In as a private In the Canadian Grena
dier guards, Eighty-seventh overseas
battalion, Lieutenant Colonel F. 8.
Melghten commanding. They were just
getting under way, making soldiers out
of the troops I enlisted with, and dis
cipline was quite lax.
They at once gave me a week's leave
to come down to New York and settle
up some personal affairs, and I over
stayed it five days. All that my com
pany commander said to me wtien I
got back was that I seemed to have
picked up Canadian habit*; very quick
ly. At a review one day in our train
ing camp I heard a major say:
"Boys, for God's sake don't call me
Harry or spit in the ranks. Here comes
the general !"
We found out eventually that there
was a reason for the slackness of dis
cipline. The trouble was that men
would enlist to get $1.10 a day with
out working for it and would desert
as soon as any one made It unpleasant
for them. Our officers knew what they
were about. Conditions changed in
stantly we went on shipboard. Disci
pline tightened up on us like a tie rope
on a colt.
We trained In a sort of casual, easy
way In Canada from Nov. 4 to the fol
lowing April. We had a good deal of
trouble keeping our battalion up to
strength, and I was sent out several
times with other "noncoms" on a re
cruiting detail. While we were in the
training camp at St. John's I made the
acquaintance of a young Canadian who
became my "pal." He was Campbell
McFarlapd. nephew of George McFar
land, the actor, who is f*o well known
on the American musical stage. He
was a sergeant. When I first knew
him he was one of the most delightful
and amusing young fellows you could
Imagine.
' B?y?, for God's Sake Don't Call Ms
Harry. Here Comes the Qenerall"
* r'\
?eQt, call it what yon wlllr The reft
"* my story is a simple relation of
*ac's and occurrences in the order in
*hloh tln-y came to my notice atid hap
T^nnj to i,),? may st%rt off a little
*i?m-ty Hn(| jerkily, jofft a? we did. not
knowing what was coming to us. V?
to add that it got quite hot enough
xult mo later several times. There
'f>re. as eff0rt is going to be to
Crrry y< ?i right aloir with me In this
*"'? nnt of mj experiences, _j|on*t be
The war changed him entirely. He
became extremely quiet and seemed to
be borne down with the sense of the
terrible things which he saw. He nev
er lost the good fellowship which was
Inherent In him and was always ready
to do anything to oblige me, but he
formed the habit of sitting, alone and
silent, for hours at a time. Just think
ing. It seemed as if he had a premoni
tion about himself, though he never
showed fear and never spoke of the
dangers we were going into, as the
other fellows did. He wns killed in
the Somme action In which I was
wounded.
I also had beep made a sergeant on
account of the fact that I had been
at school In the Virginia Military in
stitute ? that is, I was an acting ser
geant It was explained to me that
my appointment would have - to be
confirmed In England and then recon
firmed after three months' service in
France. Under the regulations of the
Canadian forces a noncommissioned
officer, after final confirmation in his
grade, can be reduced to the ranks
only by a general courtmartlal, though
he can escape a courtmartlal, when
confirmed with charges, by reverting
to the ranks at his own request.
Forty-two hundred of us sailed for
England on the Errlpress of Britain,
sister ship to the Empress of Ireland,
which was sunk in the St. Lawrence
river. The steamer wns, of course,
very crowded and uncomfortable, and
the eight-day trip across was most un
pleasant. We had tripe to eat until
we wer? sick of the sight of it. A
sergeant reported one morning, "Eight
men and twenty-two breakfast* ab
sent.** There were two other troop
ships In our convoy, the Baltic and the
lietagama. . > "*** '?>!> cruiser escorted
VBVutnf \}llerf off the coast
of Ireland. Then each ship picked up
h destroyer which had come out to
meet her. At ttmt time a notice wiin
posted iu the pursers ofllco informing
us that we were iu tho war isone ami
that tht* ship would not stop for any
thing. even !'???* a man overboard. That
day a soldier fell otY the Motagama
with $7<H) la his pocket, and the ship
never even hesitated. They left him
where he hmUuo chance In the world
to spend lils money,
"Make a Break!"
Through my training In tho V. M.
I., 1 was able to read semaphore sig
nals, and 1 caught the message from
the destroyer which escorted us. li
read :
"Knelt ship for herself now. Make a
break !"
We heat the other steamers of our
convoy eight hours In getting to the j
dock In Liverpool, and, according to \
what seemed to he the regular system
of our operations at that time we .
were the last to disembark.
The majority of our fellows had nov
er been in Kngland before, and they
looked on our travels at that time us
u tine lark. Everybody cheered and I
laughed when they dusted off one of J
those little toy trains and brought it !
up to take us away In It. After we
were aboard of It we proceeded at the
dlj&zy rate of about four miles an hour,
aud our regular company humorist ?
no company complete without one ? ;
suggested that they were afraid, if
they went any faster, they might run ,
off the island before they could stop.
We were taken to Rramshott camp, in
Hampshire, twelve miles from the ?
JAldershot school of command. The
.next day we were given "king's leave" :
? eight days, with free transportation I
.anywhere In the British Isles. It is ?
? the invariable custom to give this sort ?
of leuve to all colonial troops lmmedi- :
.ately upon their arrival In Kngland.
However, In our case Ireland was bar- '
red. Just at that time Ireland was no
place for a newly arrived Canadian
looking for sport.
After that they really began to make
soldiers of us. We thought our train- j
Ing in Canada had amounted to some
thing. We found out that we nilght I
as well have been playing croquet. ;
[
After That They Really Began to Make
Soldiers of Ua. *
We learned more the first week of our
notual training in England than we
did from November to April in Cana
da. I make this statement without
fear that any officer or man of the
Canadian forces alive today will dls
? agree with me, and I submit it for the
.thoughtful consideration of the gen
tlemen who believe that our ov%n
armies can be prepared for service
here at home* ? ? ?
In this war every man has got to be
a specialist. He's got to know one
thing better than anybody else except
those who have had Intensive Instruc
tion In the same branch. And, besides
that, he's got to have effective general
knowledge of all the specialties In
which his fellow soldiers have been
particularly trained. I can Illustrate
this. Immediately upon our return
from first leave In England we were
divided Into sections for training In
eight specialties. They were : Bombing,
sniping, scouting, machine gun fight
ing, signaling, trench mortar operation,
bayonet fighting and stretcher bearing.
I was selected tor special training In
bombing, p rob, ably because I was sup
posed, as an American and a baseball
player, to be expert In throwing. With
the other men picked for trailing in
the same specialty, I was sent to Al
dershot, and there for three weeks,
twelve hours a dajf, I threw bombs,
studied bombs, read about bombs, took
bombs to pieces to see what made
them tick and put them together again
and did practically everything else
that you could do with a bomb, except
eat i(v
Then I was ordered back along with
the other men Who had gained this
Intimate acquaintance with the entire
bomb family, and we were put to work
teaching the entire battalion all that
we had learned. When we were not
teaching we were under instruction
ourselves by the men who had taken
special tralnftig fn other branches.
Also at certain periods of the day w?
had physical training and rifle prac
tice. ~fjp.ta the time of oar arrival in
England Intensive trailing had been
merely a fine phrase with as. Daring
oar stay there It was a definite and
overpowering fact. Day and night we
trained, and day and night It rained.
At 9 o'clock we would fall Into our
banks In bats which held from a half
to a whole platoon -frog thirty to aftx*
>
0 men? .mid drop Into exhausted sleep,
only to turn out at ft a. in. to give a
guddeu and exact Imitation of whyt
we would do to the Germans If the/
sneaked up on us before breakfast In
six Inches of mud. Toward the last,
when we thought we had been driven
to tin- limit, they told us thai we were
to lm\ea period of real. Intensive train
ing to harden us tor actual lighting.
They sent us four Imperial drill ser
geants from the British grenadier
guards, the senior foot regiment of tho
UriiKti army and the one with which
we were affiliated.
It would he quite unavailing for me
to attempt to describe those drill ser
geants. The ltrltlsh drill sergeant l?
an Institution which can be understood
only through personal and close con
tact and Is about as cordial as loose
electricity. If be think? a major gen
eral Is wrong he'll tell him so on tho
spot In the most emphatic way. but
without ever violating a single sacred
tradition of the service. The sergeants
who took us In charge to put on the
real polish to our training had all seen
from twenty to twenty-live years of
service. They had all been through
the battles of Mons and tho Maine,
and they had all been wounded. They
were perfect examples of a type. One
of them ordered all of our commission
ed officers, from the colonel down, to
turn out for rltle drill one day and put
them through the manual of arms
while the soldiers of the battalion stood
around looking on.
"Gentlemen," suld he very politely
In the midst of the drill, "when I see
you handle your rifles I foel like fall
ing on my knees and thanking God
that we've got a navy."
A Call for Volunteer#.
On June 2, after tho third battle of
Ypres, while McFarland and I were
sitting wearily on our bunks during
a strange hour in the afternoon when
nobody had thought of anything for
us to do, a soldier came In with a
message from headquarters which put
a sudden stop to the discussion we
were having about 4the possibility of
getting leave to go up to London. Ihe
message was that the First, Second
and Third divisions of the Canadians
had lost 40 per cent of their men In the
third tight at Ypres and thnt 800 volun
teers were wanted from each of our
battalions to fill up the gaps.
"Forty per cent," said McFarland,
getting up quickly. "My God, think of
It I Well, I'm off to tell 'em I'll go."
I told him I was with him, and we
started for headquarters, expecting to
be received with applause and pointed
out as heroic examples. We couldn't
oven get up to give In our names. The
whole battalion had gone up ahead of
us. They heard about It first. That
was the spirit of the Canadians. It
was about this time that a story went
round concerning an English colonel
who had boon called upon to furnish
volunteers from his outfit to replace
casualties. He backed Ills regiment up
against a barrack wall and said:
"Now, all who don't want to volun
teer step three paces to the rear."
In our battalion sergeants and even
officers offered to go as privates. Mc
Farland and I were not accepted; our
volunteers went at once, and we were
re-enforced up to strength by drafts
from the Fifth Canadian division,
which was then forming in England.
In July, when we were being kept
on the rifle ranges most of the time,
all leave was stopped, and we were
ordered to hold ourselves in readiness
,to go overseas. In the latter part of
the month we started. We sailed from
: Southampton to Havre on a big trans
iport, escorted all the way by destroy
,ers. As we landed we got our first
sight of the harvest of war. A big hos
pital on the quay was filled with
? wounded men. We had twenty-four
'hours ip what they called a "rest
camp." We slept on cobblestones In
'shacks which were so utterly comfort
less- that It would be an Insult to a
Kentucky thoroughbred to call them
stables. Then we were on the way to
'the Belgian town of Poperlnghe, which
is 150 miles from Havre and was at
that time the rail head of the Ypres
salient. We made the trip In box cars
which were marked In French, "Eight
horses or forty men," and we had to
draw, straws to decide who should He
down.
In the Front Trenches.
We got into Poperinghe at 7 a. m.,
and the scouts had led us into the
front trenches at 2 the next morning.
Our position was to the left of St. Eloi
arid was known as "the island," be
cause it had no support on either flank.
On the left were the Yser canal and
the bluff which forqis Its bank. On
the rlpht were 300 j&rds of battered
downjfitenches, which had been rebuilt
twice and blown In again each time
by the German guns. For some rea
son, which I -never quite understood,
the Germans were able to drop what
seemed a tolerably large proportion of
the output of the Krupp works on this
particular spot whenever they wanted
to. Our high command had concluded
that It was untenable, and so we, on
one side of it and the British, on the
other, had to Jus* keep It scouted and
protect our separate flanks. Another
name they had for that position was
the "bird cage." That was because
the first fellows who moved into It
made themselves nice and comfy and
put up wire nettings to prevent any
one from tossing bombs in on them.
Thus, when the Germans stirred up
the spot with an accurate shower of
"whi* bangs" and "coal boxes," the
same being thirteen pounders and six
Inch shells, that wire netting presented
a. spectacle of utter .Inadequacy which
?hasnt been equaled In tills war.
They called the position which we
were assigned to defend "the grave
yard of Canada." That was because
at the fearful losses of the Canadians
here In the second battle of Ypres,
firom April 21 to Jane 1, 1916, when
tr?o first hun nttaek In the world's his
tory was launched t>y the (jornuins,
ii ml, although tho French on the loft
and tho iii in.- ii on the 1 1 r 1 1 1 it'll Imek.
die Canadians stayed where tiny ?vero
put.
Hlght hero I can mention something
whleh will Klve you an Idea \nIi> de
scriptions of this war don't describe It.
I>urlnj{ the first gun attack the (Cana
dians, i-hokliiK to death unit falling
over eaeli oilier in a tight against a
new and unlu'ard of terror In warfare,
found a way tho Lord only knows
who first discovered It and how he
happened to do It- to stay through a
As Dawn Broke We Made Out a Big
Painted Sign Above the German
Front Trench.
gas cloud and come out alive. It Isn't
pretty to think of, and It's like many
other things in this war which you
can't even tell of In print, because the
simple description would violate the
nice ethics about reading matter for
the public eye which have grown up ip
long years of peace and traditional de
cency. But this thing which you can't
describe meant Just the difference be
tween life and death to many of the
Canadians that first day of the gas.
Official orders now tell every soldier
what he is to do with his handker*
chief or a piece of his shirt If he Is
caught in a gas attack without his
mask.
The nearest I can come In print to
tolling you what the soldier Is ordered
to do In tills emergency Is to remind
you that ammonia fumes oppose chlo
rine gas as a neutralizing agent and
that Certain emanations of the body
throw off ammonia fumes.
Now that I've told you how we got
from the Knickerbocker bar and other
places to a situation which was Just
350 yards from the intrenched front)
of the German army in Belgium I (
might as well add a couple of details i
about things which straightway put
fear of God Into our hearts. At day
break one of our Fourteenth platoon
men, standlug on the firing step, push
ed hack hlK tronch hehuct and remark
ed that he thought it wan about time
for coffee. He didn't get any. A Oor
man sharpshooter, tiring the tlrxt time
thdi iluy. K?it hltu under the rim of Ills
helmet, it lid Ills career wHtli the funa
diuu forces was over right there. Ami
then, ns the dawn hroke, we made out
a ( ? i k pa luted sign ra^'d ahove the
(ieriiinii I'lniit trench. W rend:
WELCOME,
EIGHTY SEVENTH CANADIANS
We wore u new battalion. We hud
boon les# than seventy-two hours on
tho Continent of Europe, and t !?*? CJer
inttns were not supposed to know any
tiling t hit t whs going on behind our
11 n oh !
Wo learned afterward that concealed
telephones In tho houses of the Bel
gian burgomasters of tho villages of
Dlnklebusch and licnnlnghelst, near
our position, khvo communication with
the Gorman headquarters opposite us.
One of the duties of a dotal! of our
men noon after that wa? to stand these
two burgomasters up against a wall
and shoot them.
In concluding this flrnt article I want
to say frankly that any man who
claims he Is not afraid when for tho
first time he goes Into that hell of lire
on the western front Is a liar, and I'll
tell lil 111 so to his face. Later we be
came impervious, but thut flrst day
I prayed, and 1 would have bent tlpwn
and prayed only my knees shook so.
Tho five remaining articles in this
remarkable series will appear one each
week. They are as follows:
No. 2 ? The Bomb Raid.
The great preparations and rehearsing
for this attack. Volunteers for the Job
taken behind the line whero tho German
trenches are exactly reproduced. The
days of preparation. Heretofore unwrit
ten detail of modern trench raids. This
article concludes with the men going out
to their Job.
No. 3 ? "Over the Top and Qlvo 'Em
Hell/'
The English Tommy's battle cry as he
breaks from his trench. The bomb raid
and what happened. Of sixty that start
ed forty-six failed to return because the
Germans had prepared and mined the
trench. Graphlo description of Sergeant
McClihtock'a terrible experience.
No. 4 ? Shifted to the 8omme.
Sergeant McClintock takes part in the
greatest of all battles and tells of the
hell of it. "The front in Belgium was
really a rest sector in comparison with
it," he says. The extensive preparations
or the allies for open warfare afterward
abandoned because of the failure of ex
pected developments.
No. fc-^-Wounded In Action.
This article describes the terrible flght,
the dead and dying, the loss of a pal and
the final falling of McClintock in No
.Man's l>and. 8imply told, It 1h one of the
most remarkable descriptions of a. battle
by a participant ever put together.
No. 6 ? Decorated For Bravery; Horn?
and Uncle Sam.
This concluding article of the Beries re
lates In detail how England cares for the
wounded. How tho king and queen came
to the bed of an. American boy and dec
orated him In a iLondon hospital for gal
lantry. Interesting. Intimate and amus
ing Incidents told by and of the wounded
Tommies. Trying to fight for Uncle 8am.
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WILL BUY AT MARKET PRICE
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CAMDEN, S. G.
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