The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, April 18, 1918, Page 3, Image 3
1 I ? ?
F SYNOPSIS.
i CHAPTER I?Fired by the news of the
(Sinking of the Lusitania by a German (
submarine, Arthur Guy Empey, an American,
leaves his office in Jersey City and
goes to England where he enlists in the
British army.
CHAPTER II?After a period of train- i
ing, Empey volunteers for immediate service
and soon finds himself in rest billets
'^somewhere in France," where he first
'makes the acquaintance of the ever-present
"cooties."
CHAPTER III?Empey attends his first
church services at the front while a German
Fokker circles over the congregation.
CHAPTER IV?Empey's command goes
Into the front-line trenches and is under
fire for the first time,
i CHAPTER V?Empey learns to adopt
' ? - - ??Tf irrtll
(tne motto OI ine iDTllSH lumiu;, u
;are going: to get it, you'll get it. so never
[worry." _
.* "CHXPTER VI?Back In rest billets, Em pey
gets his first experience as a mess
orderly.
j CHAPTER VTI?Empey learns how the
I British soldiers are fed.
I CHAPTER Vin?Back in the front-line j
r trench, Empey sees his first friend of the
'trenches "go West."
CHAPTER IX?Empey makes his first
| visit to a dugout in "Suicide Ditch."
CHAPTER X?Empey learns what conistitutes
a "day's work" in the front-line
(trArch.
r CHAPTER XI?Empey goes "over tne
[top" for the first time in a charge on the i
:German trenches and is wounded by a
' [bayonet thrust. ,
' CHAPTER XII?Empey joins the "sui- i
icide club" as the bombing squad is called. ;
{ CHAPTER XIII.
> " ? ?
My First Official Bath,
j j Right behind our rest billet was a
^llnrge creek about ten feet deep and
tfwenty feet across, and it was a habit
pof the company to avail themselves of
kn opportunity to take a swim and at
fthe same time thoroughly wash themlofllirno
mil 4-Vi n!. nndnmitooir tt-Vi fln r?r?
pctico auvi U1U1 UliUCl u 1TUVU vu I
their own. We were having a spell of
hot weather, and these baths to us
were a luxury. The Tommies would
splash around in the water and then
come out and sit in the sun and have
what they termed a "shirt hunt." At
first we tried to drown the "cooties,"
but they also seemed to enjoy the bath, j
One Sunday morning the whole sec- j
?>n was in the creek and we wdre havg
a gay time, when the sergeant ma-1
(ibr appeared on the scene. He came!
fto the edge of the creek and ordered:
rCome out of it Get your equipment
|on, 'drill order,' and fall in for bath
roarade. Look lively, my hearties. You
Slave only got fifteen minutes." A howl
lof indignation from the creek greeted
' [this order, but out wq^ came. Discipline
is discipline. Y> lined up in i
tfront of our billet with rifles and bayonets
(why you need rifles and bayoinets
to take a bath gets me), a full
quota of ammunition, and our tin hats.
Each man had a piece of soap and a
:'towel. After an eight-kilo march along
. a dbsty road, with an occasional shell
whistling overhead, we arrived at a .
little squat frame building upon the
'bank of a creek. Nailed over the door
tof this bnildincr was a laree sien which
read "Divisional Baths." In a wooden
Bhed in the rear we could hear a
jwheezy old engine pumping water.
We lined up in front of the baths,
soaked with perspiration, and piled
jpur rifles into stacks. A sergeant of
!the R. A. M. C. with a yellow band
around his left arm on which was
"S. P." (sanitary police) in black let- '
. |ters, took charge, ordering us to take
loff our equipment, unroll our puttees
Etd unlace boots. Then, starting from
e right of the line, he divided us
to squads of fifteen. I happened to
be in the first squad. I
We entered a small room, where we
were given five minutes to undress,
(then filed into the bathroom. In here
there were fifteen tubs (barrels sawed
in two) half full of water. Each tub
contained a piece of laundry soap. The
isergeant informed us that we had just
twelve minutes in which to take our
(baths. Soaping ourselves all over, we
[took turns in rubbing each other's
ibacks, then by means of a garden hose,
iwashed the soap off. The water was
lice cold, but felt fine.
Pretty soon a bell rang and the wa.
>ter was turned off. Some of the slower
iones were covered with soap, but this
>made no difference to the sergeant,;
who chased us into another room, i
fwhere we lined up in front of a little
window, resembling the box office in a
jtheater, and received clean underwear
jand towels. From here we went into
Ithe room where we had first undressed.
I Ten minutes were allowed in which to
{get into our "clabber."
My pair of drawers came up to my
chin and the shirt barely reached my
'diaphragm, but they were clean?no
^strangers on them, so I was satisfied.
At the expiration of the time allot- j
Ited we were turned out and finished
four dressing on the grass.
When all of the company had bathed j
- fit was a case of march back to billets, j
'That march was the most uncongenial \
lone imagined, just cussing and blindling
all the way. We were covered with
;white dust and felt greasy from sweat
(The woolen underwear issued was
(itching like the mischief.
After eating our dinner of stew,
rwhich had been kept for us?it was
mow four o'clock?we went into the
I
mt if
. <c>
mm sousm
o WEST * *
lDfflYUlPEY
Z GUNHER,JERVING IN fRANCE?
" ?1917 BY
ARTHUR GUY gflPEY
crees ana naa another bath.
If "Holy Joe" could have heard our
remarks about the divisional baths
and army red tape he would have
fainted at our wickedness. But Tommy
is only human after all.
I just mentioned "Holy Joe" or the
chaplain in an irreverent sort of way,
but no offense was meant, as there
were some very brave men among
them.
There are so many instances of heroic
deeds performed under fire in rescuing
the wounded that it would take
several books to chronicle them, but I
have to mention one instance performed
by a chaplain. Captain Hall bv
&jEJKgj3jag?BM
A Bathroom at the Front.
name, in tne brigade on our left, because
it particularly appealed to me.
A chaplain is not a fighting man; he
is recognized as a noncombatant and
carries no arms. In a charge or trench
raid the soldier gets a feeling of confidence
from contact with his rifle, revolver,
or bomb he is carrying. He has
something to protect himself with,
something with which he can inflict
harm on the enemy?In other words,
he is able to get , his own back.
Bnt the chaplain is empty-handed,
and is at the mercy of the enemy if
he encounters them, so it is doubly
brave for him to go over the top, uuder
fire, and bring in wounded. Also a
chaplain is not required by the king's
regulations to go over in a charge, but
this one did, made three trips under
the hottest kind of fire, each time returning
with a wounded man on his
back. On the third trip he received
a bullet through his left arm, but never
reported the matter to the doctor until
late that night?just spent his time administering
to the wants of the wound:
ed lying on stretchers.
The chaplains of the British army
are a fine, manly set of mem and ejre
greatly respected by Tommy.
CHAPTER XIV.
~ I
Picks and Shovels.
I had not slept long before the sweet
voice of the sergeant informed that
"No. 1 section had clicked for another
blinking digging party." I smiled to
myself with deep satisfaction. I had
been promoted from a mere digger to
a member of the Suicide club, and was
exempt from all fatigues. Then came
an awful shock. The sergeant looked
over in my direction and said:
"Don't you bomb throwers think you
are wearing top hats out here. 'Cordin'
to orders you've been taken up on
the strength of this section, and will
have to do your bit with the pick and
shovel, same as the rest of us."
I put up a howl on my way to get
my shovel, but the only thing that resulted
was a loss of good humor on
my part.
We fell in at eight o'clock, outside
of our billets, a sort of masquerade
party. I was disguised as a common
laborer, had a pick and shovel, and
ohnnt /->na Vinnrlrnrl amntp cnnHhfl crt;
C* L/V U t VUV/ 11UUU1 VU vui|/ kj j
The rest, about two hundred in all,
were equipped likewise: picks, shovels,
sandbags, rifles and ammunition.
The party moved out in column of
fours, taking the road leading to the
trenches. Several times we had to
string out in the ditch to let long columns
of limbers, artillery and supplies
get past.
The marching, under these conditions,
was necessarily slow. Upon arrival
at the entrance to the communication
trench, I looked at my illumi/
natea wrist watcn?it was eleven
o'clock.
Before entering this trench, word
was passed down the line, "no talking
or smoking, lead off in single file, covering
party first."
This covering party consisted of 30
men, armed with rifles, bayonets,
bombs, and two Lewis machine guns.
They were to protect us and guard
against a surprise attack while digging
in No Man's Land.
The communication trench was
about half a mile long, a zigzagging
ditch, eight feet deep and three feet
wide.
Now and again, German shrapnel
would whistle overhead and burst in
-our vicinity. We would crouch against
the earthen walls while the shell fragments
"slanped" the ground above us.
^ 1. 3 1 ~ A
unce rrnz lurneu loose wilu a machine
gun, the bullets from which
"cracked" through the air and kicked
up the dirt on the top, scattering sand
and pebbles, which, hitting our steel
helmets, sounded like hailstones.
Upon arrival in the fire trench an
officer of the Royal Engineers gave us
our instructions and acted as guide.
We were to dig an advanced trench
two hundred yards from the Germans
(the trenches at this point were six
hundred yards apart).
Two winding lanes, five feet wide,
had been cut through our barbed wire,
for the passage of the diggers. From
these lines white tape had been laid
on the ground to the point where we
were to commence work. This in order
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
back with information that the working
party was to follow and "carry on"
with their work.
In extended order, two yards apart,
we noiselessly crept across No Man's
Land. It was nervous work; every
minute we expected a machine gun to
open fire on us. Stray bullets "cracked"
around us, or a ricochet sang overhead.
Arriving at the taped diagram of
the trench, rifles slung around our
shoulders, we lost no time in getting
to work. We dug as quietly as possible
but every now and then the noise
of a pick or shovel striking a stone
would send the cold shivers down our
backs. Under our breaths we heartily
cursed the offending Tommy.
At intervals a star shell would go up
from the German lines and we would
remain motionless until the glare of its
white light died out.
When the trench had reached a
depth of two feet we felt safer, because
it would afford us coter in case
we were discovered and fired on.
The digging had been in progress
about two hours, when suddenly hell
seemed to break loose in the form of
machine-gun and rifle fire.
We dropped down on our bellies in
the shallow trendh, bullets knocking
up the ground and snapping in the aif.
Then shrapnel butted in. The mu?ic
was hot and Tommy danced.
The covering party was having a
rough time of it; they had no cover;
just had to take their medicine.
rvo ooa/1 ^Atrm flin linn 4a
* t vi ix if oo paoocu uv rr u tuu uug w
beat it for our trenches. We needed no
urging; grabbing our tools and 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 lowered
the record.
Panting and out of breath, we tumbled
into our front-line trench. I tore
my hands getting through our wire,
Hla?H|lj|^
HNf^nHnn;:';:;:;^ UK
i,iyy,iya *** Trench
Digging.
Dut, at tne time, didn't notice it; my
journey was too urgent.
When the roll was called we found
that we had gotten it in'the nose for
63 casualties.
Our artillery put a barrage on Fritz'
front-line and communication trenches
and their machine-gun and rifle fire
suddenly ceased.
Upon the cessation of this fire,
stretcher bearers went out to look for
killed and wounded. Next day we i
learned that 21 of our men had been
killed and 37 wounded. Five men were
missing; lost in the darkness, they
(Continued on page 7, column 1.)
CITATION NOTICE.
Tlie State of South Carolina, County
of Bamberg?By J. J. Brabham
Jr., Probate Judge.
Whereas, Minnie Dunbar made suit
to me to grant her letters of administration
of the estate and effects
of William Williams.
These are, therefore, to cite and
admonish all and singular the kindred
and creditors of the said William
Williams that they be and appear
before me in the court of probate
to be held at Bamberg on April 27th
next, after publication hereof, at 11
o'clock in the forenoon, to show
cause, if any they have, why the said
Administration should not he erant
ed.
Given under my hand this 9th day
of April, Anno Domini 1918.
J. J. BRABHAM, JR.,
Judge of Probate.
NOTICE OF SALE.
By order of the Judge of Probate
I will sell at public sale at my home
on April the 20th at 11 o'clock, the
personal property of M. A. Inabinett,
deceased, consisting of one bed room
set and furniture.
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i t Graduate Dental Department Uni:
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