itRQEANT MoCLINTOCK.
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Serjje
in^ton,
Grippin
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For Tin
fpirinff,
Full of
Trench*
No. 1. In Training
By Sergeant Alexaader McCllntock,
D. C. M , 87th Overtets Batt.,
Canadian Qren. (maids.
Copyright, 1317, by the Bell Syn?
dicate* inc.
HI
FOREWORD.
Berm is a literary product ichlvh is at
once oa admirable ?sample of the force
of simple realism in the description of
things u-hifk are diffUult of ordinary
comprehension, and a handbook and
guide for every prospective soldier of
our armies.
Sergeant McCUntock has not written
stories about the war. He has written
the war itself, redwing it, one might
mlmoet say, to woids of one syllable,
yet bringing to the reader's view, clear?
ly and vividly, the various aspects of
ike fr?;?! struggle, hidden to all except
the man who is actually a part of it.
Bis contribution to the history of the
war must be classed as one which
sKines with a new light.
It is fascinating in its simplicity, yet
thrilling in its convincing detail. It
leads one, with evergrowing and com?
pelling interest, from a casual conver?
sation in a hot* I in New York through
scenes of strife and blood and thrilling
conflict to the monent when tho king
and queen of England came to the bed?
side of a Kentucky youth in a London
hospital to thank him in the name of
their nation for his services in the
cause wkwk we have now come to rec?
ognize as that of Wfyrld humanity.
Sergeant McCUntock received the Dis
tinguished Conduct medal lefore leav?
ing England for homo on leave, tie is
returning to accept a commission in the
Canadian overseas forces. The story is
told im McCUntoch's own unadorned
way.
IDON'T lay claim to befog mucb of
a writer, and up till now I have
sorer felt the call to write any?
thing about my experiences with the
Canadian troops In Belgium and
Franc?, because I have realized that
a great many other men aaw qulto as
much as I did and could beat me tell?
ing about It. Of course 1 believed that
my experience was worth relating, snd
I thought that the matter published in
tba newspapers by professional writ?
ers sort of missed the essentials and
larked the spirit of tbo "ditches" in a
good msny ways in spite of its excel?
lent literary style, but I didn't see any
reason why It was up to me to make
an effort aa a war tlatorlan until now.
Now there Is a reason, as I look at it
1 believe I can show the two or three
millions of my fellow countrymen who
will be "out there" before tbla 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 aa I am going to go In
the way of excuse, explanation or com
"floyt. for God's saks don't oall ma
Harry. Hers com?? the general!"
meat, call it what fssj w ill. The rest
of my sh>ry Is s Hlmplo relation of
facts a/ul occurrem < i In the order In
nhl? h they came to my notice and Imp
pentd to me. It msy Htnrt off a little
slowly ? llv, Jmt u* ws did, not
Saas Inn what was esjgejsjg to us. I'd
UW?* to add that It got quite hot enough
to suit mo Ister several times. There
fore, ss my effort Is going to |*. to
curry von right along wl'h mc In this
secant of my expcrlcuces, don't be
'RWE
rhrill and the Hell of
Trenches, Described
an American Boy.
ant Alezander McClintock of Lex
Ky , and the Canadian Army Has
g Tale That Every American Will
'or He Telh the Facti?TJnadorn
ounded, a Distinguished Conduct
Man, He Vr'ai Invalided Home,
toing "Out There" Again to Fight
cle Sam and H s Allies. An In
Interesting, Personal Narrative,
the Spirit and Atmosphere of the
s.
Impatient If nothing very important
seems to come oil at first. I felt a lit?
tle ennui myself at the getaway. But
that was certainly one thing that didn't
snnoy me later.
In the latter part of October, 1015, I
decided that the United States ought
to be nVjtlng 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, 1 came to the con?
clusion lhat any man who whs free,
white and lwent,r-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 ssme 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 joining the Foreign legion
of the French army.
Decides to Go to Canada.
A couple of nights after I got to New
York I fell Into conversation in the
Knickerbocker bar with a chap 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
things over. I arrived at the Windsor
hotel. In Montreal, at 8 o'clock in the
moruing a couplo 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 cverseas
battalion, Lieutenant Colonel F. S.
Melgben commanding. They w ere 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 when I
got beck was that I seemed to have
picked up Canadian habits 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 cell me
Harry or spit in the ranks. Here comes
the genersi!"
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 chauged In?
stantly we went on shipboard. Disci.
P hie 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 bad a good deal of
trouble keeping our battalion up to
strength, and I was sent out several
times with ether "noncoms" on a re?
cruiting detail. While we were in the
training cimi at St. John's I mi.de the
acquaintance of a young Canadian who
becamo my "pal.* He was Campbell
McFarlaiul, nephew of George McFar
iand. the actor who is so well known
on the A medi an musical si ago. He
was a sergeant. When I first knew
bin ho was one of the most delightful
and amusing young fellows you could
Imagine.
The war changed him entirely. He
l>ecame extremely quiet and see nod 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 premonl
tlou about himself, though ho never
showed fear and never spoke of the
dangers we were going Into, as the
other fellows did. He was killed In
the Soram/9 action in which I was
wounded.
I also had been made a scrgennt 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 mo that
my ippejatgfsjfil would have to be
confirmed m England and then recon?
firmed after throe months' service In
Franco. Ugsjgf tho regulations of the
Canadian forces a noncommbsloned
officer, after final confirmation in his
grade, can be relucod to tho ranks
only by a genoral court martial, though '
he cau esc ape a court martial, when I
confronted with charges, by reverting
to tho ranks at his own request.
Jot If tOXI hundred of us sailed for
England gfl tho Empress of Britain/
sister Ship to tho Empress of Ireland,
which was sunk In tho St. Lawrence
river The gfggtnsjf was, of 000100,
very crowded and UTicomfortablo, mid j
the eight day trip n ross was most un-1
pleasant, ffi Im 1 trlpo to eat until
wo were sl? k of the sight of it. A
sergeant rOOOrtod one njOfOjng. "Eight
men and twenty-two breakfasts ab?
sent.*1 There were two other troop
ship-, in oar convoy, the Haltie and tho1
Metagamn. A Britlib cruiser escorted
us until we were 400 miles off the const
of Ireland. Then each ship picked Dp
a destroyer which had come out to
meet her. At that time a notice was
posted in the purser's oAce Informing
us thnt we were In the war zone and
that the ship Would not stop for any?
thing, even lor a man overboard. That
day a soldier fell off the Metagama
with $700 in his pocket, and the ship
never even hesitated. They left blm
where he had no chance in tho world
to spend his money.
Through my training in the V. M. I
F., I was able to read semaphore sig?
nals, and I caught tho message from
the destroyer which escorted us. It
read:
"Each ship for herself now. Make
a break!"
We bent the other steamers of our
convoy eight hours in getting to the
dock in Liverpool, and, according to
what seemed to be tho regular system
of our operations at that time, we
were the last to disembark.
The majority of our fellows had nev?
er been in England before, and they
looked on our travels at that time as
u fine lark. Everybody cheered and
laughed when they dusted off one of
those little toy trains and brought it
up to take us away in it. After we
wero aboard of it wo proceeded at the
dlxzy rate of about four miles an hour,
and our regular company humorist
no corapauy 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 Bramshott camp, in
Ilnmpshiro, twelve miles from the
Aldcrshot school of command. The
next day we were given "king's leave"
?eight days, with free transportation
anywhere In the British Isles. It is
the invariable custom to give this sort
of leave to all colonial troops Immedi?
ately upon their arrival in England.
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?
ing In Canada had amounted to some?
thing. We found out that we might
Qs well have been playing croquet.
After That They Really Began to Maka
8oldi?ra of Us.
We learned more the first week of our
actuul trulnlng 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 dis?
agree with me, and I submit It for the
thoughtful consideration of the gen?
tlemen who believe that our own
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 haro 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 huve been
particularly trained. I can Illustrate
this. Immediately upon our return
from first leave in England wo 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 for special training In
bombing, probably because I was sup?
posed, as an American and a baseball
pi iyer, to be expert in throwing. With
the other men picked for training In
the same specialty, I was sent to Al?
dcrshot, and there for three weeks,
twelve hours a day, I threw bombs,
studied bombs, read about bombs, took
bombs to pieces to see what mado
them tick and put them together again
aud did practically everything else
that you could do with a bomb, except
eat It
Then I was ordered back along with
the other men who had gained this
intimato acquaintance with the entire
bomb family, und we were put to work
teaching the entire battalion all that
we had learned. When we wero not
teaching we were under instruction
ourselves by the men who had taken
special training in other branches.
Also at certain periods of tho day We
had physical training ond rifle prac?
tice. Dp to the time of our arrival in
England intensive training had been
merely a tine phrase With tis. I lin ing
our stay there It was a definite aud
overpowering fact. Day and Dlght we
trained, and day and night it rained.
At U o'clock we would fall into our
bunks In huts which held from a half
to a whole platoon from thirty to si\
Make a Break!"
ty men?and drop into exhausted sleep,
only to turn out fit 5 a. m. to give a
6udden und exact imitation of What
we would do to the Germani if they
sneaked up on us before breakfast In
six Inches Of mud. Toward the last,
when we thought we had been driven
to the limit, they told, us that we were
to have a period of real, intensive train?
ing to harden us for actual lighting.
They sent us four Imperial drill ser?
geants from the British grenadier
guards, the senior foot regiment of the
British army and the one with which
we were affiliated.
It would be quite unavailing for me
to attempt to describe these drill ser?
geants. The British drill sergeant is
an Institution which can be understood
only through personal and close con?
tact and is about as cordial as loose
electricity. If he thinks a major gen?
eral is wrong he'll tell him so on the
spot in the most emphatic way, but
without ever violating a single sacred
tradition of tho service. The sergeants
who took us in charge to put on the
real polish to our training had all seen
from tAventy to twenty-five years of
service. They had all been through
the battles of M?ns and the Marne,
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 rifle drill one day and put
them through the manual of arms
while the soldiers of the battalion stood
around looking on.
?'Gentlemen," said he very politely
in the midst of the drill, "when I see
you handle your rifles I feel like fall?
ing on my knees and thanking God
that we've got a navy."
A Call For Volunteers.
On June 2, after the 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 the possibility of
getting leave to go up to London. The
message was that the First, Second
and Third divisions of the Canadians
had lost 40 per cent of their men in the
third fight at Ypres and that 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! 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
even 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 been called upon to furnish j
volunteers from his outfit to replace
casualties. He backed his regiment up
agaiust a barrack wall and said:
"Now, all who don't want to volun?
teer step three paces to the rear."
In our battalion sergeauts and even
officers offered to go as privates. Mc?
Farland and I wero 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 hi 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?
port, 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 tho quay was filled with
wounded men. We had twenty-four
hours in 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 Foperinghe, which
Is 150 miles from Havre and was at
that time the rail head of the Ypres
salient. We made the trip iu box cars
which wore marked In French, "Eight
horses or forty men," and we had to
draw straws to decide who should He
down.
In the Front Trenches.
Wo got into Poperlnghe at 7 a. m.,
and the scouts had led us Into the
front trenches at 2 the next morning.
Our position was to tho left of St Elol
and was known as 'the island," be?
cause it had no support on either flank.
On the left were the Yser canal and
tho bluff which forms its bank. On
the right were 800 yards of battered
down trenches, which bad 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
tho 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 just keep it scouted and
protect our separate flanks. Another
nanie they had for that position was
the "bird cage." That was because
tho 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
"whiz bangs" and "coal boxes," the
same being thirteen pounders and six
Inch shells, that wire netting presented
a spectacle of utter Inadequacy width
hasn't been equaled in this war.
They called the position which wo
wero assigned to defend "the grave?
yard of Canada." That was because
of the fearful losses of tho Canadians
hero In the second battlo of Ypres,
from April 21 to June 1, 1015, when ,
the first tias attack lu tho World's his- |
tory was launched by the Germans,
and, although tjie French on the left
and the British on the right fell hack,
the Canadians stayed where they were
put.
Bight here I can mention something
which Will glvo you an idea why de?
scriptions of this war don't describe it
During the first gns attack the Cana
I dians, choking to death and falling
; over each other in a fight against a
new and unheard of terror in warfare,
found a way?tho Lord only knows
j who first discovered It and how he
! happened to do it?to stay through a
gas cloud and come outfUive. It isn't
( pretty to think of, and Ifl like many
\ other things in this war which you
? can't even toll of In print, because the
' simple description would violate the
j nice ethics about reading matter fot
i the public e}e which have grown up in
long years of pence and traditional de?
cency. But this thing which you can't
describe meant Just the difference be?
tween life and death to many of tho
Canadians that, tirst day of the gas.
At Dawn Broke We Made Out a Big
Painted Sign Above the German
Front Trench.
Official orders now tell every soldier
what ho is to do with his handker?
chief or a piece of his shirt if ho is
caught in a gas attack without his
mask.
The nearest I can come in print to
telling you what the soldier is ordered
to do in this 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
150 yards from tho intrenched front
of the German army in Belgium I
might as well add a couple of details
about things which straightway put
fear of God in our hearts. At day?
break one of our Fourteenth platoon
men, standing on the firing step, push?
ed back his trench helmet and remark
i
Sergeant Alexander McClinto
Battalion Canadian Grenadier gn
November, 1918, the last four n
in France, where he gained the
his devotion to duty and bravery
As his former commanding ol
qualities, and I consider he woul
(Signed)
Brigadier General, Commandin|
Bramshott.
\
NO. I.?Is Training. How the men are
finally brought to the firing line. ? de?
scription of condition* that our own boys
and their parent* will read eagerly.
NO. I,?The Bomb Raid. The great prep?
arations and rehearsing for this attack.
Volunteers for the Job taken behind tho
line where the German trenches are exact?
ly reproduced. The days of preparation.
Heretofore unwritten detail of modern
trench raids. This article concludes with
the men going out to their job.
NO. J.- "Over the Top sad Give 'Eta
Hell/' The English Tommy's battle cry
as he breaks from his trench. The bomb
raid and what happened. Of sixty that
started forty-she failed to return because
the German8 had prepared and rained the
trench. Graphic description of Sergeant
McCUntock's terrible experience*
NO. 4.?Shifted to the Somme. Sergeant
McCllntock takes part in the,greatest of
The Thrill and Hell
scribed by an
We have secured a s
Sergeant Alexander M<
Ky., and the Canadian ai
tale that every America
the facts, unadorned. "W
Conduct medal man, he
is going "Over There" a
Sam and his allies.
td that he thought it was about timef
for coffee. He didn't get any. A Ger?
man sharpshooter, firing tiie first time
that day, got him under the rim of his
helmet, and bis career with the Cana?
dian forces was over right there. And
then, as the dawn broke, we made out
a bij; painted sign raised above the
German front trench. It read:
?-?
I WELCOME,
I EI(iHTY-SEVENT>% CANADIANS
I We were a new battalion. We bad
been less than seventy-two hours on
the continent of Europe, and the Ger?
mans were not supposed to know any?
thing that was going on behind our
lines!
We learned afterward that concealed
I telephones in the houses of the Bel?
gian burgomasters of the villages of'
Dink ebusch and Renninghelst, near
our position, gave commuuication with
the German headquarters opi>osite us.
One of the duties of a detail of our
I men soon after that was to stand these
two burgomasters up against a wall
I and t hoot them.
I In concluding this first article I want
I to say frankly that any man who
claims he is not afraid when for the
first line he goes into that hell of fire
on the western front is a liar, and I'll
tell him so to his face. Later we be?
came impervious, but that first day;
i I prayed, and I would have bent down
and prayed only my knees shook so.
The five remaining articles In this
remarkable series will appear one each
week. They are as follows:
No. 2?The Bomb Raid.
The great preparation* and rehearsing
for tris attack. Volunteers for the Job
taken behind the Una whero the German
i trench es are exactly reproduced. The
! days >f preparation. Heretofore unwrit
j ten detail of modern trench raids. This
t article concludes with the men going out
I to their Job.
No. 3^-"Ovar ths Top snd Qlvs 'Em
Holl."
The English Tommy's battle cry as ha
breakf from his trench. The bomb ratd
and what happened. Of sixty that start?
ed forty-six failed to return because the
Germans had prepared and mined the
trench Graphic description of Sergeant
McClir tock's terrible experience.
No. 4.?Shifted to the Somme.
Sergeant McCllntock takes part in the
greatest of all battles and tells of the
hell o;' iL 'The front in Belgium was
really a rest sector In comparison with
it," he says. The extensive preparations
of the allies for open warfare afterward
abandoned because of the f ailure of ex?
pected developments.
No. 5.?Wounded In Action.
This article describes the terrible fight,
the deed and dying, the loss of a pal and
the Ii; al falling of McClintock In No
Man's Land. Simply told, it is one of ths
most remarkable descriptions of a battle
by a participant ever put together.
No. 6.?Decorated For Bravery; Homo
and Uncls Sam. t
This concluding article of the series re*
lates In detail how England cares for ths
woundei. How the king and queen cams
to the ocd of an American boy and dec?
orated aim In a London hospital for gal?
lantry. Interesting, intimate and amus?
ing incidents told by and of the wounded
Tom mit a Trying to fight for Uncle Sam. .
Feb. 14, 1917.
ck served in the Eighty-seventh
arda frcm September) 1915, until
lonths of that time at the front
Distinguished Conduct medal by
* mnder Are.
Seer I oaa testify as to his good
d nuke a valuable officer.
P. 8. MEIGHEN,
X Canaiian Training Division,
--I
all battles and tella of the hell of it "The
front in Belgium was really a rest sector
In comparison with it,M he says. The ex?
tensive preparations of the allies for open
warfare afterward abandoned because of
the failure of expected developments.
NO. 5.--Wounded la Action. This article
describe:* the terrible flght, the dead and
dying, tlie loss of a pal and the tins! fall?
ing of M :Cllntock in No Man's Land. Sim?
ply told, it is one of the most remarkable
descrlptlsns of a battle by a participant
I aver put together.
NO. a. -Decorated For Bravery; Hosm
and I'ncli Sam. This concluding article of
the series relates In detail how England
cares foi the wounded. How ths king and
quoen cume to the bed of an American
boy and decorated him in a London hos?
pital for gallantry. Interesting, intimate
and amusing Incidents told by and of the
wounded Tommies. Trying to flght for
Uncle Sem.
THERE"
of the Trenches De
American Boy
eries of six articles by
:Clintock of Lexington,
-my. He has a gripping
n will read, for he tells
ounded, a Distinguished
was invalided home, but
gain 1:o fight for Uncle