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i ??y ! CHAPTER XXVI. ~ J A!! Quiet (?) on the Western Front At brigade headquarters I happened to overhear a conversation between our G. O. C. (general officer commanding) and the divisional commander. From this conversation I learned that we were to bombard the* German lines for eight days, and on the first of July the *blg push" was to commence. In a few days orders were Issued to that effect, and It was common property all along the line. On the afternoon of the eighth day of our "strafeing," Atwell and I were sit- j ting in the front-line trench smoking I fags and making out our reports of the j previous night's tour of tfce trenches,\ which we had to turn in to headquarters the following day, when an order was passed down the trenclvfhat Oldj Pepper requested twenty volunteers to j go over on a trench raid that night to j try and get a few Gennan prisoners for' information purposes. I immediately volunteered for this Job, and shook! pBsiiaifipPP y-/: ?y':; Over the Top bands with Afwell, and went to th* rear to give my name to the officers Id charge of the raiding party. J I was accepted, wprse Inch. At 9:45 that night we reported to the brigade headquarters dugout to receive instructions from Oid Pepj.?er. After reaching this dugout we lined up in a semicircle around him, and he addressed us as follows: "All I want yon boys to do is V* go over to the German lines tonight, surprise them, secure ft couple of prison- j ers, and return immediately. Our arv tillery has bombarded that section of the line for two days and personally I believe that that part of the German trench is unoccupied, so just get a conpie of prisoners and return as quickly as possible." The sergeant on my right, in an undertone, whispered to me: "Say, Yank, how are we going to get a couple of prisoners if the old fool thinks *personally that that part of the i trench is unoccupied,'?sounds kind of fishy, doesn't it mate?" I had a funny sinkine sensation in | iny stomach, and my tinhat felt as if it weighed about a ton and my enthusi-1 asm was melting away. Old Pepper must have heard the sergeant - speak because he turned in his direction and iin a thundering voice asked: "What did you say?" The sergeant with a scarlet look on ibis face and his knees trembling, smartly saluted and answered: "Nothing, sir." Old Pepper said: "Well, don't say it so loudly the next time." Then Old Pepper continued: "In this section of the German i trenches there are two or three maI chine guns which our artillery, in the {last two or three days, has been unable to tape. These guns command the . {sector where two of our communica;tion trenches join the front line, and ias the brigade is to go over the top to! morrow morning I want to capture two or three men from these guns' crews, .and fmm them I may be able to obtain 'valuable information as to the exact I location or the grins, and our artillery .will therefore be able to demolish them before the attack, and thus, prevent our losing a lot of men while using these communication trenches to bring! ;up re-enforcements." ' These were the instructions he gave j !ns: ; "Take off your identification disks,' I strip your uniforms of all numerals, ; insignia, etc., leave your papers with ;your captains, because I don't want the j 'Boches to know what regiments are against them as this would be valuable information to them in our attack tomorrow and I don't want any of you ito be taken alive. What I want is two | prisoners and if I get them I have a iway which will make them divulge all necessary information as to their mm soldier 9 went * * mittv /Ti\r r vmm t liUlMJI IJMJ : mm,5mm m hunce? . ?l9f7 0Y ARTHUR CUT PtPnr funs, iou nave your cnoice or two weapons?you may carry your 'persuaders' or your knuckle knfves, and each man will arm himself with four Mills bombs, these to be used only in case of emergency." A persuader is Tommy's nickname for a club carried by the bombers. It is about two feet long, thin at one end and very thick at the other. The thick end is studded with sharp steel spikes, while through the center of the clul there is a nine-inch lead bar, to give It weight and balance. When you get a prisoner all you have to do is just stick this club up in front of him, anc believe me, the prisoner's patriotisn for "Deutschland ueber Alles" fades away and he very willingly obeys the orders of his captor. If, however, the prisoner gets high-toned and refuses tc follow you, simply "persuade" him by first removing his tin hat, and then? well, the use of the lead weight is the persuader is demonstrated, and Tom* my looks for another prisoner. The knuckle knife is a dagger affair, the blade of which is about eight inches long With r. bpavr e+onl cnio*"* ^1 x'V.:> ' ! "\ - ! 11" * S y;sZ& V;---: -'' '* '^1 In a Charge. over cue grip, rnis gnara is sruaaea with steel projections. At night in at trench, which is only about three to four feet wide, it makes a very handy weapon. One punch in the face generally shatters a man's jaw and you : can get him with the knife as he goes i down. Then we had what we called our : "come-alongs." These are strands of ! barbed wire about threg> feet. long,! made into a noose at one end; at the j other end, the barbs are cut off and | Tommy slips his wrist through a locp | to get a good grip on the wire. If t?>3 prisoner wants to argue the point, why Just place the large, loop around his neck and no matter if Tommy wishes to return to his trenches at the walk, i trot, or gallop, Fritz is perfectly agree-' able to maintain Tommy's rate of speed. We were ordered to black our faces j and hands. For this reason; At night, j the English and Germans use what! thoiT noli ctor ehplls. a sort of rocket affair. They are fired from a large pistol about twenty inches long, which is held over the sandbag parapet of the trench, and discharged into the air. These star shells attain a height of about sixty feet, and a range of from fifty to seventy-five yards. When they j hit the ground they explode, throwing out a strong calcium light which lights up the ground in a circle of a radius of between ten to fifteen yards. They also have a parachute star shell which, after reaching a height of about sixty feet, explodes. A parachute unfolds and slowly floats to the ground, lighting up a large circle in No Man's Land. The official name of the star shell is a "Very-light" Very-lights are used to prevent night surprise attacks on th^ trenches. If a star shell falls in front of you, or between you and the German lines, you are safe from detection, as the enemy cannot see you through the bright curtain of light But if it falls behind you and, as Tommy says, 4,you get in the star shell zone," then the fun begins; you have to lie flat on your stomach and remain absolutely motionless until the light of the shell dies out This takes anywhere from forty to seventy seconds. If you haven't time to fall to the ground you must remain absolutely still in whatever position you were in when the light exploded; it is advisable not to breathe, as Fritz has an eye like an eagle when he thinks you are knocking at his door. When a star 1 shell is burning in Tommy's rear he I can hold his breath for a week. You blacken your face and hands so that the light from the star shells will not reflect on your pale face. In a french raid there is quite sufficient j reason for your face to he pale. If you don't believe me, try it just once. I Then another reason for blackening I your face and hands is that, after you i have entered the German trench at j night. "white face" means German* i "biacic face" English. Coming arouna a traverse you see a white face In front of you. With a prayer and wish* ing Fritz "the best o* luck," you introduce him to your "persuader" or knuckle knife.. A little later we arrived at the communication trench named Whisky street which led to the fire trench at the point we were to go over the top and out in front In our rear were four stretcher bearers and a corporal of the R. A. M. C carrying a pouch containing medicines and first-aid appliances. Kind of a grim reminder to us that our expedition was not going to be exactly a picnic. The order of things was reversed. In civilian life the doctors generally come first, with the undertakers tagging in the rear and then the insurance man, but in our case, the under takers were leading, witn uie aocuim trailing behind, minus the insurance adjuster. The presence of the R. A. M. C. men did not seem to disturb the raiders, because many a joke made in an undertone, was passed along the winding column, as to who would be first to take a ride on one of the stretchers. This was generally followed by a wish that, if you were to be the one, the wound would be a "cushy Blighty one." The stretcher bearers, no doubt, hoping that, if they did have to carry anyone to the rear, he would be small and light. Perhaps they looked at me when wishing, because I could feel an uncomfortable, boring sensation between my shoulder blades. They got their wish all right. Going up this trench, about every sixty yards or so we would pass a lonely sentry, who in a whisper would wish us "the best o' luck, mates." We would blind at him under our breaths; that Jonah phrase to us sounded very ominous. Without any casualties the minstrel troop arrived at Suicide ditch, the $ront-line trench. Previously, a wiring party of the Royal Engineers had cut a lane through our barbed wire to enable us to get out into No Man's Land. Crawling through this lane, our party of twenty took up an extendedorder formation about one yard apart. We had a tap code arranged- for our Movements while in No Man's fcand, because for various reasons it is not safe to carry on a heated conversation a few yards in front of Fritz' lines. The officer was on the right of the line, while I was on the extreme left. Two taps from the right would be passed down the line until I received them, then I would send back one tap, The officer, in receiving this one tap, would knew that his order had gone down the whole line, had been understood, and that the party was ready to obey the two-tap signal. Two tap# ae&ut mat we were to crawl forward slowly?and believe me, very slowly? for five yards, and then halt to await further instructions. Three taps meant, when-you arrived within striking distance of the German trench, rush it and inflict as many casualties as possible, secure a couple, of prisoners, anfi then back to your own lines with the speed clutch open. Four taps meant, "I have gotten you into a position from which it is impossible for me to extricate you, so you are on your own." After getting Tommy into a mess on the western front he is generally told that he Is "on his own." This means, "Save-your skin in any way possible." Sommy loves to be "on his own" behind ie lines, but not during a trench raid. The star shells from the German lines were falling in front of us, therefore we were safe. After about twenty minutes we entered the star shell zone. A star shell from the German lines fell about five yards in the rear and to the right of me; we hugged the ground and held our breath until it burned out. The smoke from the star shell traveled along the ground and crossed over the middle of our link Some /Tommy sneezed. The smoke had gotten up his nose. We crouched on the ground, cursing the offender nndpr I Cooling Re / These thr I rh iwm JEZL . Sold only insure uni Whol< With ] iBbbbii^B ) i oar oreatn, ana waitea the volley mat f ! generally ensues when the Germans | I have heard a noise In No Man's Land, j Nothing happened. We received two j | taps and crawled forward slowly for five yards; no doubt the officer be- j ! lieved what Old Pepper had said, "Perj sonally I believe that that part of the ; German trench is unoccupied." By bej lng careful and remaining motionless ; when the star shells fell behind us, we j reached the German barbed wire without mishap. Then the fun began. I j was scared stiff as it is ticklish work j cutting your way through wire when j about thirty feet in front of you there j | is a line of Boches looking out into No 1 ? - - -f/i? i | Man's Land witn tneir ones i>iug across the parapet, straining every ; sense to see or hear what is going on in No Man's Land; because at night, j Fritz never knows when a bomb with ! his name and number on it will come hurtling through the air aimed in the I direction of Berlin. The man on the right, one man in the center and myself on the extreme left were equipped with wire cutters. These are insulated with soft rubber not because the Geri man wires are charged with electricity, |-but to prevent the cutters rubbing against the barbed wire stakes, which are of iron, and making a noise which may warn tne inmates or uio i trench that someone is getting fresh in their front yard. There is only one way to cut a barbed wire wilthout noise and through costly experience Tommy has become an expert in doing this. , You must grasp the wire about two ; inches from the stake in your right hand and cut between the stake and i your hand. If you cut a wire improperly, a | loud twang will ring out on the night ! air like the snapping of a banjo string.' Perhaps this noise can be heard only for fifty or seventy-five yards, but in Tommy's mind it makes a loud noise in Berlin. We had cut a lane about halfwaythrough the wire when, dosvn the center of our line, twang! went an improperly cut wire. We crouched down, Receiving First Aid. cursing under our breath, frembling all over, our knees lacerated from the strands of the cut barbed wire on the ground, waiting for a challenge and the inevitable volley of rifle fire. Nothing happened. I suppose the fellow who cut the barbed wire improperly was the one who had sneezed about half an hour previously. 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