The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, July 04, 1918, Page 4, Image 4
J>;:. ^Men, it's a case of going West for
us. We are oat of ammunition and
^?!& bombs, and the Boches have us in a
?:ft^ trap. They will bomb us out Our
bayonets are useless here. We will
have to go over and meet them, and
v, itfa a case of thirty to one. so send i
c|<'" every tfciust home, and die like the !
men of D company should. When J
V" the word, follow me, and up and !
1-bt them. Give them h 1 Lord, if
? ^ jme only had a machine gun, we could
t: jwtee them out! Here they come, get
p?' bendy, men."
| .;i ; Just as he finished speaking, the wet
come "pup-pup" of a machine gun In
their rear rang out,, and the front lln<
[of the onrush!ng Germans seemed te
jinelt away. They wavered, but one*
j again came rushing onward. Down
^ ! ureal their second line. The machine
g^ VJ-gttn was taking an awful toll of lives.
v Then again they tried to advance, but
|*fc: ..the machine gun mowed them down,
fDropping their rifles and bombs, they
j broke and fled in a wild rush back to
; 'their trench, amid the cheers of "D*
company. They were forming again
lor another attempt, when in the rear
U company came a mighty cheer,
if; ... The ammunition had arrived and with
It a battalion of Scotch to re-enforce
them. They were saved. The unknown I
B|Wr, machine gunner had come to the rescue
1' in the nick of time.
With the re-enforcements it was an
easy task to take the third German
Ife^llne. tV .
fek After, the attack was over, the capf|
tain and three of his noncommissioned
officers, wended their way back to the
^- 'position where the machine gun had
done its deadly work. He wanted to
thank the gunner in the name of D
^. company for his magnificent deed.
Ixney arnvea ai ine gun, ana an awxm
sight met their eyes. %
|.vljjjjpa had reached the front line
trench, after his company had left it A j
strange company was nimbly crawling j
'up the trench ladders. They were re-'
enforcements going over. They were
Scotties, and they made a magnificent r
sight in their brightly colored kilts and
bare knees.
r Jumping over the trench, Lloyd raced
Across "No Man's Land," unheeding the
rain of bullets, leaping over dark forms!
I oh the ground, some of which la^ still, J
while others called out to him as he
Speeded past v
| He came to the German front line,
but it was deserted, except for heaps
of dead and wounded?a grim tribute
to the work of his company, good old
X> company. Leaping trenches, and'
WB f8splng for breath, Lloyd could see
right ahead of him1 his company in a
[% ?' dead-ended sap of a communication
trench, and across the open, away in
front of them, a mass of Germans preparing
for a charge. Why didn't D
Anmnonv firo nn fhom? Whr wprp thPT
so strangely silent? What were they
waiting for? Then he knew?their am;
i inanition was exhausted.
SNc But what was that on his right? A
machine gun. Why didn't it open Art
$f:: and save them? \He would make that I
gun's crew do their duty. Rushing j
j over to the gun he saw why it had not
jopened fire. Scattered around its base
/ lay six still forms. They had brought
; their gun ta consolidate the captured
position, hut a German machine gum
? '*' had decreed they would never firm
again.
, Lloyd rushed to the gun and, grasping
the traversing handles, trained it
J : Pn the Germans. He pressed the thumb |
|if piece, but only a sharp click was the <
result The gun was unloaded. Then
: lie realized his helplessness. He did
& not know how to load the gun. Oh,
why hadn't he attended the machine*!
gun course in England? He'd been
*'offered the chance, but with a blush of !
shame he remembered that he had been i
;. , afraid. The nickname of the machine
gunners had frightened him. They,
w%re called the "Suicide club." Now,
^ < because of this fear, his company
would be destroyed, the men of D company
would have to die, because he,
r u Albert Lloyd, had been afraid of a
name. In his sharie be cried like a
baby. Anyway he could die with them
?r?ri Heine tn his hp Stumbled I
over the body of one of the gunners,
who emitted a faint moan. A gleam
'ot hope flashed through him. Perhaps
this man could tell htm how to load
the gun. Stooping over the body* he
gently shook it and the soldier opened
his eyes. Seeing Lloyd, he closed
them again and, in a faint voice, said:
"Get away, you blighter, leave me
alone. I don't want any coward around
me."
The words cut Iloyd like a knife,
but he was desperate. Taking the revolver
out of the h >lster of the dying
man he pressed the cold muzzle to the
soldier's head and replied:
"Yes, it is Llojl, the coward of
Company D, but s> help me God, If
you don't tell me he w to load that gun
HI put a bullet though your brain!"
A sunny smile cane over the counef
the dyir 2 and he said
T! Tilt' If
mow 5oii>ui
0 WENT * *
MfflYMY
E mmjmm fRAffCE?
i ?1917 by
Arthur art am
m a raint wmsper :
"Good old boy! I knew yob wouldn't
disgrace our company "
Lloyd interposed: "For God's sake,
if you want to save that company you
are so proud of, tell me how to load
that d d gun!"
As if reciting a lesson in school, the
soldier replied in a weak, singsong
voice: "Insert tag end of belt in feed
block, with left hand pull belt left
front. Pull crank handle back on rollan
lof an nnrt rpneflt motion. Gun is
**? *vv Ovi r ?
now loaded. To fire, raise automatic
safety latch, and press thumbpiece.
Gun is now firing. If gun stops, ascertain
position of crank handle?n
But Lloyd waited for no more. With
wild joy at his heart, he took a belt
from one of the ammunition boxes lying
beside the gun, and followed the
dying man's instructions. Then he
pressed the thumbpiece and a burst of
fire rewarded his efforts. The gun
was working.
Training it on the Germans he shouted
for joy as their front rank went
down.
Traversing the gun back and forth
along the mass of Germans, he saw
them break and run back to the cover
of their trench, leaving their dead and
wounded behind. He had saved his
company, he, Lloyd, the coward, had
"done his bit" Releasing the thumk
pVfce, he looked at the wateh on his
wrist He was still alive at "3:38LW
Ting!"?a bullet sang through the
air, and Lloyd fell forward across the
gun. A thin trickle of blood ran down
his face from a little, black round hole
In his forehead. j
w m w
"The sentence of the court had been
"duly carried out"
The captain slowly raised the limp
form drooping over the gun and, wiping
the blood from the white face, recognized
it as Lloyd, the coward of D
company. Reverently covering the face
with his handkerchief he turned to his
"noncoms" and, in a voice husky with
emotidns, addressed them:
"Boys, ifs Lloyd, the deserter. He
has redeemed himself, died the death
yt a hero?died that his mates might
live."
That afternoon a solemn procession
wended its way toward the cemetery.
In the front a stretcher was carried by
two sergeants. Across the stretcher
the Union Jack was carefully spread.
Behind the stretcher came a captain
and forty-three men, all that were left
of D company.
Arriving at the cemetery, they halted
In front of an open grave. All about
them wooden crosses were broken and1
trampled into the ground.
A grizzled old sergeant, noting this
destruction, muttered under his
breath: "Curse the cowardly blighter
who wrecked those crosses! If I could
Only get these two hands around his
neck his trip West would be short"
The corpse on the stretcher seemed
to move, or it might have been the
wind blowing the folds of the Union
Jack.
CHAPTER XXV.
Preparing for the Big Push.
Rejoining Atwell after the execution
I had a hard time trying to keep my
secret from him. I think I must have
lost at least ten pounds worrying over
the affair.
Beginning at seven in the evening it
was our duty to patrol all communication
and front-line trenches, making
note of unusual occurrences, and arresting
anyone who should, to us, appear
to be acting in a suspicious manner.
We slept during the day.
Behind the lines there was great activity,
supplies and ammunition pouring
in, and long columns of troops constantly
passing. We were preparing
for the big offensive, the forerunner
of the battle of the Somme or "Big
Push."
The never-ending stream of men,
supplies, ammunition and guns pouring
into the front lines made a mighty
spectacle, one that cannot be described.
It has to be witnessed with
your own eyes to appreciate its vastness.
At our Dart of the line the influx of
supplies never ended. It looked like
a huge snake slowly crawling forward,
never a hitch or break, a wonderful
tribute to the system and efficiency of
Great Britain's "contemptible little
army" of five millions of men.
Huge fifteen-inch guns snaked along,
foot by foot, by powerful steam tracttors.
Then a long line of "four point
five" batteries, each gun drawn by six
horses, then a couple of "nine point
two" howitzers pulled by immense
caterpillar engines.
When one of these caterpillars would
pass me with its mighty monster in
tow, a flush of pride would mount to
toy face, because I could plainly read
on the name plate, "Made in U. S. A."
and I would remember that if I wore a
name plate it would also read, "From
the U. S. A." Then I would stoD to.
/
\
tnmK now tnin ana straggly tnat
mighty stream would* be if all the i
"Made in U. S. A." parts of it were
withdrawn.
Then would come hundreds of limbers
and "G. S." wagons drawn by
sleek, well-fed mules, ridden by sleek, !
well-fed men, ever smiling, although
grimy with sweat and covered with the
fine, white dust of the marvelously
Well-made French roads.
What a discouraging report the Ger-,
man airmen must have taken back to J
their division commanders, and this,
stream is slowly but surely getting big- j
ger and bigger every day, and the pace
is always the sane. No slower, no :
faster, but ever onward, ever forward, j
Three weeks before the big push of j
July 1?as the battle of the Somme has j
been called?started, exact duplicates
of the German trenches were dugI
about thirty kilos behind our lines.
The layout of the trenches was taken :
from airplane photographs submitted j
by the Royal flying corps. The trench- 1
es were correct to the foot; they j
showed dugouts, saps, barbed wire de- j
fenses and danger spots.
Battalions that were to go over in i
the first waves were sent back for j
three days to study these trenches, engage
in practice attacks and have night
maneuvers. Each nian was required to
make a map of the trenches and familiarize
himself with the names and
location of the parts his battalion was
to attack. I
In the American army noncommissioned
officers are put through a course
of map making or road sketching, and
during my six years' service in the
United States cavalry I had plenty of
practice in this work, therefore mapping
these trenches was a compara[
tlvely easy task for me. Each man
had to submit his map to the company
commander to be passed upon, and I
was lucky enough to have mine selected
as being sufficiently authentic to use
in the attack.
. No photographs or maps are allowed
to leave France, but in this case it appealed
to me as a valuable souvenir of
the great war and I managed to smuggle
it through. At this time it carries
no military importance as the British
lines, I am happy to say, have since
been advanced beyond this point, 80
in having it in my possession I am not
breaking any regulation or cautions
of the British army, v
The whole attack, was rehearsed
^ mKabmhuI nnHl TtTO hoarHlv AtlTflprf
(Uiva icuctuocu uuui t? v umuvu^ v<~>~w {
the one who had conceived the idea.
The trenches were named according
to a system which made it very simple
for Tommy to find, even in the dark,
any point in the German lines.
These imitation trenches, or trench
models, were well guarded from obseiv
vation by numerous allied planes
which constantly circled above them.
No German airplane could approach
within observation distance. A restricted
area was maintained and no
civilian was allowed within three
miles, so we felt sure that we had a
great surprise in store for Fritz.
When we took over the front line
we received ah awful shock. The
Germans displayed, signboards over
the top of their trench showing the
names that we had called their
trenches. The signs read '"Fair,"
Tact," "Fate," and "Fancy," and so
ob, according to the code name* on
our map. Then to rub it in, they
hoisted some more signs which read,
"Come on, we are ready, stupid English."
It is still a mystery to me how they
obtained this knowledge. There had
been no raids or prisoners taken, so
If mrraf hovo Hoon tho Wfirk ftf ST) I Pi!
in our own lines. v
Three or four days before the big
push we tried to shatter Fritz's nerves
by feint attacks, and partially succeeded
as the official reports of July
1 show., ?
Although we were constantly bombarding
their lines day and night, still
we fooled the Germans several times.
This was accomplished by throwing
an intense barrage into his lines?
then using smoke shells we would put
ffcheig
fajaj i refreshing
I delightful,
j||| With no had
1|1 after effect.
a curiam or wnite sitiose across no
Man's Land, completely obstructing
his view of our trenches, and ;
would raise our curtain of fire |
as If in an actual attack. All |
down our trenches the men would
shout and cheer, and Fritz would turn
loose with machine-gun, rifle, and
shrapnel fire, thinking we were coming
over.
After three or four of these dummy
attacks his nerves must have been
near the breaking point
On June 24, 1916, at 9:40 in the
morning our guns opened up, and hell
was let loose. The din was terrific, a
constant boom-boom-boom in your ear.
At night the sky was a red glare.
Our bombardment had lasted about
two hours when Fritz started replying.
Although we were sending over
ten shells to his one, our casualties
were heavy. There was a constant
stream of stretchers coming out of the
communication trenches and burial
parties were a common sight
In the dugouts the noise of the guns
almost hurt. You had the same sensation
as when riding on the subway you
enter the tube under the river going
to Brooklyn?a sort of pressure on the
ear drums, and the ground constantly
trembling.
The roads behind the trenches were
very dangerous because Boche shrapnel
was constantly bursting over them.
We avoided these dangerous spots by
crossing through open fields.
The destruction in the German lines
was awful and I really felt sorry for
them because I realized how they must :
be clicking it
From our front-line trench, every
now and again, we could hear sharp
whistle blasts in the German trenches.
These blasts were the signals for
stretcher bearers, and meant the
wounding or killing of some German in
the service of his fatherland.
* ? t- -1 . A -1- Xi ^ ^H IX
Atwen ana i naa a cougn ume 01 n,
patrolling the different trenches at
night, but after awhile got used to it
My old outfit the machine gun company,
was stationed in huge elephant
dugouts about four hundred yards behind
the front-line trench?they were
in reserve. Occasionally I would stop
in their dugout and have a confab with
my former mates. Although we tried
to be jolly, still, there was a lurking
feeling of impending disaster. Each
man was wondering, if, after the
slogan, "Over the top with the best of
luck," had been sounded, would he still
be alive or would he be lying "somewhere
in France." In an old dilapidated
house, the walls of which were scarred
with machine-gun bullets, No. 3 section
of the machine gun company had
its quarters. The company's cooks prepared
the meals in this billet On the
fifth evening of the bombardment a
German eight-inch shell registered a
direct hit on the billet and wiped out
ten men who were asleep In the suppos-jdly
bomb-proof cellar. They were
burled the next (Jay and I attended the
funeral
(To be continued next week)
Dr. THOMAS BLACK, JR~
DENTAL SURGEON.
Graduate Dental Department University
of Maryland. Member S. C.
State Dental Association.
Office opposite new post office and
over office of H. M. Graham. Office
hours, 8:30 a. m. to 5:30 p. m.
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