The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, July 18, 1918, Page 2, Image 2
Tne officer, in my opinion, at the
noise of the wire should have given the
four-tap signal, which meant, "On your
own, get back to your trenches as
quickly as possible," but again he must
""have relied on the spiel that Old Pepper
had given us in the dugout, "Personally
I believe that that part of the
German trench is unoccupied." Any-*
way, we got careless, but not so careImo
+Vio4- tt-a cnnff nafrlnfln cnncrc np
4COC Ilial TV U ouu^ puiiivuv V*
made any unnecessary noise.
During the intervals of falling star
shells we carried on with our wire cutting
until at last we succeeded in getting
through the German barbed wire.
At this point we were only ten feet
from the German trenches. If we were
discovered, we were like rats in a trapi
jOur way was cut off unless we ror
along the wire to the narrow lane we
had cut through. With our hearts is
our mouths we waited for the three,
tap signal to rush the German trench.
Three taps had gotten about halfway
down the line when suddenly about ten
to twenty German star shells were
fired all along the trench and landed
In the barbed wire In rear of us, turn!
Ing night into day and silhouetting us
i against the wall of light made by the
! flares. In the glaring light we were
j confronted by the following unpleasant
: scene. /
| All along the German trench, at
j about three-foot intervals, stood a big
Prussian guardsman with his rifle at
the aim, and then we found out why
we had not been challenged when the
man sneezed and the barbed wire had
l>een improperly cut. About three feet
In front of the trench they had con-!
'structed a single fence of barbed wire
and we knew our chances were one j
thousand to one of returning alive.
We could not rush their trench on ac
count of this second defense. Then
in front of me the challenge, "Halt,"
given in English rang out, and one of
the finest things I have ever heard on
the western front took place.
From the middle of our line some
Tommy answered the challenge -with,
"Aw, go to h?L" It must have been
the man who had sneezed or who had
improperly cut the barbed wire; he'
wanted to show Fritz that he could
. die game. Then came the volley. Ma-,
chine guns were turned loose and several
bombs were thrown in our rear.
;The Boche in front of me was looking
down his sight. This fellow might j
have, under ordinary circumstances,
been handsome, but when I viewed him
from?the front of his rifle he had. the
goblins of childhood imagination rele- (
gated to the shade.
Then came a flash in front of me, the
flare of his rifle?and my head seemed
to burst A bullet had hit me on the
Heft side of my face about half an
Inch from my eye, smashing the cheek !
bones. I put my hand to my face and
tell forward, biting the ground and
kicking my feet I thought I was dying,
but, do you know, my past life did
not unfold before me the way it does
.n novels.
The blood was streaming down my
tonic, and the pain was awful. When
T ca^e to I said to myself, "Emp, old
boy, yon belong in Jersey City, and
you'd better get back there as quickly
as possible."
The bullets were cracking overhead, i
I crawled a few feet back to the German
barbed wire, and in a stooping position,
guiding myself by the wire, I
went down the line looking for the
lane we had cut through. Before
reaching this lane I came to a limp
form which seemed like a bag of oats
hanging over the wire. In the dim
light I could see that its hands were
blackened, and knew it was the body
of one of my mates. I put my hand
on his head, the top of which had been
blown off by a bomb. My fingers sank
Into the hole. I pulled my hand back
full of blood and brains, then I went
crazy with fear and horror and rushed
along the wire until I came to our
lane. I had Just turned down this la?*
when something inside of me seemed
to say, "Look around." I did so; a bulcaught
me on the left shoulder. It;
ttld not hurt much, just felt as if someTmnnVind
mo 4r? tho plr flnd
vuc juau puuvu^u uiv iu iuv vuvu,
then my left side went numb. My arm
was dangling like a rag. I fell forward
in a sitting position. Bnt all the fear
bad left me and I was consumed with
rage and cursed the German trenches.
With my right hand I felt in my tunic
for my first-aid or shell dressing. In
jfeeling over my tunic my hand came j
!!n contact with one of the bombs which
jl carried. Gripping it, I pulled the pin
out With my teeth and blindly threw it.
towards the German trench. I must
have been out of my head, because I
jwas only ten feet from the trench and
;took a chance of being mangled. If
*he bomb had failed to go into the
.trench I would have been blown to
!bfts by the explosion of my own bomb.
By the flare of the explosion of the
homb, which luckily landed in their
trench, I saw one big Boche throw up
his arms and fall backwards. While his
9
\
B MII
mrncm SOLMER
10 WENT * *
MfflYUHY
GUffflER.OTNG IN fRAflCE
?1917 DY
ARTHUR (UY EflPEY
rule new into the air. Anotner one
w-ilted and fell forward across the
: sandbags?then blackness.
Realizing what a foolhardy and risky
thing I had done, I was again seized
with a horrible fear. I dragged myself
to mv feet and ran madly down the
lane through the barbed wire, stumbling
over cut wires, tearing my unli
form, and lacerating my hands and
{ legs. Just as I was about to reach
i No Man's Land again, that same voice
seemed to say, "Turn around." I did
I so, when, "crack," another bullet
caught me, this time in the left shoulder
about one-half inch away from the
! other wound. Then It was taps for me.
The lights went out.
When I came to I was crouching in
; a hole in No Man's Land. This shell
| hole was about three feet deep, so that
it brought my head a few inches below
' the level of the ground. How I reached
this hole I will never know. German
I "typewriters" were traversing back
and forth in No Man's Land, the bullets
biting the edge of my shell hole
j and throwing dirt all over me.
Overhead shrapnel was bursting,
i I could hear the fragments slap the
ground. Then I went out once more.
xWhen I came to everything was silence
and darkness in No Man's Land. I
was soaked with blood and a big flap
from the wound in my cheek was hanging
over my mouth. The blood runj'ning
from this flap choked me. Out of
j the corner of my mouth I would, try
. and blow it back, but it would not
! i mot^e. I reached for my shell dressing
hand tried, with one hand, to bandage
i my face to prevent the flow. I had
tan awful horror of bleeding to death
and was getting very faint. Yon would
have laughed if you had seen my
ludicrous attempts at bandaging with
one hand. The pains in my^ wounded
choulder were awful and I was getting
Sick at the stomach. I gave up the
bandaging stunt as a bad Job, and then
faitoted.
When I came to, hell was let loose.
An Intense bombardment was on, and
on the whole my position was decidedly
unpleasant. Then, suddenly, our
barrage ceased. The silence almost
hurt, but not for long, because Fritz
turned loose with shrapnel, machine
guns, and rifle fire. Then all along our
line came a cheer and our boys came
over the top in a charge. The first
wave was composed of "Jocks." They
were a magnificent sight, kilts, flapping
In the wind, bare knees showing, and
their bayonets glistening. In the first
wave that passed my shell hole, one of
the "Jocks," an immense fellow, about
six feet two inches in height jumped
right over me. On the right and left
of me several soldiers in colored kilts
were huddled on the ground, then ove^
came the second wave, also "Jocks."
One young Scottle, when he came
abreast of my shell hole, leaped into
the air, his rifle shooting out of his
hands, landing about six feet in front
of him, bayonet first, and stuck in the
ground, the butt trembling. This impressed
me greatly.
Right now I can see the butt of that
gun trembling. The Scottie made a
complete turn in tne air, nit tne
ground, rolling over twice, each time j
clawing at the earth, and then remained
still, about four feet from me,
in a sort of sitting position. I called to
him, "Are you hurt badly, Jock?" but
no answer. He was dead. A dark red
smudge was coming through his tunic
right under the heart. The blood ran
down his bare knees, making a horrible
sight. On his right side he carried his
water bottle. I was crazy for a drink
and tried to reach this, but for the life
of me could not negotiate that four
feet Then I became unconscious.
When I woke up I was in an advanced
first-aid post. I asked the doctor^if
we had taken the trench. "We took
the trench and the wood obyond, all
right," he said, "and you fellows did
your bit t-but, my lad, that was thirtysix
hours ago. You were lying in No
Man's Land in that bally hole for a day ^
and a half. It's a wonder you are alive."
He also told me that out of the twenty
that were in the raiding party, seventeen
were killed. The officer died of
wounds in crawling back to our trench
nnd T was severely wounded, but one
fellow returned without a Scratch, without
any prisoners. No doubt this chap
was the one who had sneezed and improperly
cut the barbed wire.
In the qgicial communique our trench
raid was described as follows:
"All quiet on the western front, excepting
in the neighborhood of Gommecourt
wood, where one of our raiding
parties penetrated into the German'
lines."
It is needless to say that we had no
use for our persuaders or come-alongs,
as we brought back no prisoners, and
until I die Old Pepper's words, "Personally
I don't believe that that part
of the German trench is occupied," will
always come to me when I hear some
fellow Irvine to eet away with a fishy
I
statement. 1 will ju<ige it accordingly.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Blighty.
From this first-aid post, after inoculating
me with antitetanus serum to
prevent lockjaw, I was put into an ambulance
and sent to a temporary hospital
behind the lines. To reach this
hospital we had to go along a road
about five miles in length. This road
was under shell fire, for now and then
a flare would light up the sky?a tremendous
explosioA?and then the road
seemed to tremble. We did not mind,
though no doubt some of us wished
In "Blighty."
that a shell would hit us and end our
misery. Personally, I was not particular.
It was nothing but bump, jolt, rattle,
and bang.
Several times the driver would turn
around and give us a "Cheero, mates,
we'll soon be there?" fin& fellows,
those ambulance drivers, a lot of them,1
go West, too.
We gradually drew out of the fire
zone and pulled up in front of an iin
mprjsp dn<?oiit. Stretcher-bearers car
ried me down a number of steps and
placed me on a white table in a brightly
lighted room.
A sergeant of*the Royal Army Med- j
ical corps removed my bandages and j
cut cfl' my tunic. Then the doctor,
with his sleeves rolled up, took charge.
He winked at me and I winked back, i
and then he asked, "JJow do you.feel,
smashed up a bit?"
I answered: Tm all right, but F<?;
give a quid for a drink of Bass."
He nodded to the sergeant, who dis- j
appeared, an* I'll be darned if he ;
didn't return witl. a glass of ale. I
could only open my mohth about a !
quarter of an inch, but I got away with
every drop of that ale. It tasted just
like Blighty, and that is heaven to
Tommy.
The doctor said something to an orderly,
the only word I could catch was
"chloroform," then they put some kind
of an arrangement over my nose and
mouth and it was me for dreamland.
When I opened my eyes I was lying
on a stretcher, in a low wooden
building. Everywhere I looked I saw
rows of Tommies on stretchers, some
dead to the world, and the rest with
fags in their mouths.
The main topic of their conversation
was Blighty. Nearly all had a grin on
their faces, except those who didn't
have enough face left to grin with. J
grinned with my right eye, the other
was bandaged.
Stretcher-bearers came in and began
to carry the Tommies outside. You
could hear the chug of the engines in
the waiting ambulances.
I was put into an ambulance with
three others and away we went for an
eighteen-mile ride.
I was on a bottom stretcher. The
lad right across from me was smashed
ilp
fm.
(then
l
I
up something horrible.
Right above me was a man frcm the
Royal Irish rifles, while across from
niiii was a scotcnman.
! We had gone about three miles when
I heard the death-rattle in the throat
of the man opposite. He had gone to
rest across the Great Divide. I think
at the time I envied him.
The man of the Royal 4rish rifles
had had his left foot blown off, the
jolting of the ambulance over the
rough road had loosened up the bandages
on his foot, and had started it
bleeding again. This blood ran down
the side of the stretcher and started
dripping. I was lying on my back, too
weak to move, and the dripping of this
blood got me in my unbandaged right
eye. I closed my eye and pretty soon
could not open the .1; the blood had
congealed and closed it, as if it were
glued down.
An English girl dressed in khaki was
driving the ambulance, while beside
her on the seat was a corporal of the
T? A \f O Thoir L'ont nn o ninninff
A* aU? v?) JLAiV Jf I up U 1 UUUAU^
conversation about Blighty whU-h almost
wrecked my nerves; pretty
soon from the stretcher above me, the!
Irishman became aware of the fact
that the bandage from his foot had become
loose; it must have pained him
horribly, because he yelled in a loud
voice:
"If you don't stop this bloody death
wagon and fix this d-;? bandage on
my foot, I will get out and walk."
The girl on the seat turned around
and in a sympathetic voice asked,
"Poor fellow, are you very badly
wounded?"
The Irishman, at this question, let
out a howl of indignation a ad answered,
"Am I very badly wounded, j
what bloody cheek; no, I'm not wounded,
I've only been kicked by a canary
bird."
The ambulance immediately stopped, i
and the corporal came to the rear and
fixed him up, and also washed out my
right eye. I was too weak tc thank!
him, but it was a great relief. Then
I must have become unconscious, because
when I regained my senses, the >
ambulance was at a standstill, and my
stretcher was being removed from it.
It was night, lanterns were dashing
nere ana mere, ana 1 coma see streicner-bearers
hurrying to and fro. Then
I was carried into a hospital t rain. j
The inside of this train looked like
heaven to me, just pure white, and we
met our first Red Cross nurses; we
thought they were angels. And they
were.
Nice little soft bunks and clean,
white sheets.
A Red Cross nurse ?at beside me;
during the whole ride which lasted
three hours. She was holding myj
wrist; I thought I had made a hit, and
tried to tell her how I got wounded,
but she would put her finger to her lips
and say, "Yes. I kn?w, but you mustn't
talk now, try to go to sleep, it'll do you j
good, doctor's orders." Later on I
learned that she was taking my pulse
every few minutes, as I was very weak
from the loss of blood and they expected
me to snuff it, but I didn't.
From the train we went into ambulances
for a short Tide to the hospital
ship Panama. Another palace and more
angels. I don't remember the trip
across the channel.
I opened my eyes; I was being car-,
ried on a stretcher through lanes of
people, some cheering, some waving
flags, and others crying. The flags were
Union Jacks, I was in Southampton.
Blig^y at last. My stretcher was
strewn with flow/ers, cigarettes, and
chocolates. Tearsvstarted to run down
my cheek frcra my good eye. I like a
booby was crying. Can you beat it??
Then into another hospital train, a
five-hour ride to Paignton, another am*
bulance ride, and then I was carrieo
into Munsey ward of tbe iimerican
Women's War hospital and put into a
real bed. ,
This real bed was too much for my
unstrung nerves and I fainte<L
When J came to, a pretty Bed Cross
nurse was bending over me, bathing
. i
(Continued on page 3, column 1.) j
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