University of South Carolina Libraries
B1RQF VNT McCLINTOCK. ipiring Full ol Trench No. 2. The Bomb Raid By Sergeant Alexander McCllntoca, 0 C. M., R7lli Ovcrsraa BatU Canadian lireit. Guards. Copyright, 1917, by the Bell Syn? dicate, Inc. Bergeant McCHntock ii o? ?mtricfln Uof n/ Lcrispfoa, a'j/., u?Ao A/m .k rn eerviec in fro ace, mna decorated far bravery, %coutn!c<l, invaVde4 home and how it returning to acapt a comtnia aann. 2'm* it the tecoml article in the ?tritt. I* the flrtt article he describ? ed hit training up l>> the point where he reached .at front line trcnehvt. ? I WUN we took our position In the foot line trenches In Belgium we rellefed the Twenty-sixth Canadian battalion. So?its from that crgnnlxatlon came hack to the villages tf Ihn Riebosch and Keunlngliclst to tell os how glad tucy were to see us und to show us the way In. As^ we I roeeeded overland, before reatlllhi| the ejejanuiuuicaUou trenches at the front, Ibens scouts paid us the hospita? ble attention Cue strangers?that Is. one of them, lead lug s platoon, would ?ay: MNex| 2? yards In machine gun range. Keep ijulct. don't run and be ready to drop quick if you are warned." There was one scout to each platoon, aad we flowed hiu> single tile, most of the time aioug roads or well worn potha, but I es through thickets sod rugged Ueieia. etTOjry now and then the scout would yell at us to drop, and Ion n we'd go on our stomachs, whue away off In the distance we could bear the "pur-put" of machine gvnv the Mi .t Bound Ol hostile firing that Und evci readied mir ears "Its gll light." said the at out "They haven t sr. n us < v got track of ua Tin > re Just Ill ing on susp'nion." erthcle-v v\ hen our various pla? toons had all got Into the front reserve trenehes. at about two hours after mid? night. |rej lea rued that the Urst blood of our hatte hon had been spilled. Two men hud beej v.ouuded. though neither fatally Our own stretcher beafgfl took our srooadfjd b ick to the field hospital at lfJukllbur< h The men of The Twenty-sixth battaliou spent the reet of the alghl instructing us and then left gej |g h dd the position. We were as ueiv.nis as a let of cats, and It seemed to me that the Germans Met certabny know thai they COO Id come OTQf aid walk right through us, but outside of s fow casualties from silfdng, sin h < tin* one that befell tfe 1 onrUvnth platoon man, wtibh 1 hare told about, nothing asjfj alarming happened the first day und night, and by that time ne had got steady on our Job, We Ik Id l be portion for twenty eix days, which Is the longest period tfcst sny r i ndiun or British orgimi'.A tlon lias ever retnnined In a front Mm treu? h In not of the asaglfj I've read have I ever 11 ,? I. . ding ns It was carrloel on In halglgBi adequately de (m-rib.tl fod aee. you cau t get much of an Meg f.i OH! a thing like that mak? ing ? QUtch to.ir of the trem lies under offleinl dl.e-iioo sud escort ss the newspaper and gsagnxlne writers do. I faoddn'l undertake to tell auylhlng worth v hi c r.ojut the big Issues of tbe war. but I can dbjcrlbe bow colalars have to Icurn tc tlg.it In tbe trenches, sod I thlnt: s 0vum msny of our young Minus Iil\c trr.t to le.tru now. "O^er ther*" deny don't talk of peace cr even of ton arrow They sit back and tske It. Wo thssYJgj held the (Ire trench uu ssjMH es possible, because It Is a (limo.i ;h..ted fs< t that the front ditch cannot la* successfully defended lu a defer ml ed stta< k The thing we did sud the thing to do Is to be romv to Jump on to tue enemy as soon as he bss got Into your front trem h and Is fighting on ground that you know and he doesn't and knock so many kinds of tar out oi him that he II b i\e to pub loud for a spot that halt so warm That systen. worked lir-d rate with us. Daring the day we had only a very few men In tho 6re trem It If an at? tack Is coming In daylight there's III ways plenty of llano to ret renuy lot It. At nb'ut we kept prepared for trouble el) the tl.ne. We had a higr.t sentry gsj each tbdiot step anil n man sitting st his feet ftg Wmb h him to seo be wsn't aecrefly snipe 1 Then w?? had a sentry in each "bay" of lb* trench to taM Beenge" Order? didn't permit tin man on tb firing stop or the man watching him (o Icavo post ou any exume whatever TR THtRf Thrill and the Hell of I Trenches, Described y an American Boy. eant Alexander McClintock of Lex i Ky., and the Canadian Army Has ig Tale That Every American Will For He Telli the Facts?Unadorn 7ounded, a Distinguished Conduct Man, He Was Invalided Home, Going "Out Ti ere" Again to Fight ncle Sam and His Allies. An In \, Interesting, Personal Narrative, I the Spirit and Atmosphere of the iei. luring their two hour "spell" cf duty. Hanging on a 3tring, at the elbow of each sentry on the fire step was a ?Iran whistle or an empty shell case aud a bit of Iron with which to ham? mer on it. This, whichever it might be. was for the purpose of spreading aal alarm in casu of a gas attack. Also we bad sentries in "listening }h)sts," at various points from twenty to fifty yurds out iu "No Man's Laud." These men blackened their faces be? fore they went "over the top" and then lay iu shell holes or natural hollows. Theft wus always two of them, a bay? onet man and a bomber. From the listeulng post a wire ran back to the Iff trench to be used iu signaling. In the trench a man sat with this wire wrapped around his hand. One pull meant "All O. K.," two pulls, "I'm coming iu," three pulls, "Enemy in That System Worked First Rate With Us. sight." and four pulls, "Sound gas alarm." Tbe tire step in a treucu is a ihetf ou which soldiers stand to,look out and shoot betweeu the saud bags ou top. In addition to these men, we bad pa? trols and scouts out in "No Man's Lag*!" the greater part of the night, with orders to gain any information possible which might be of valne to battalion, brigade, division or general headquarters. They reported on the conditloa of the Germans' barbed wire, the location of machine guns and oth? er littie things like that which might je of interest to some commanding SUVef twenty K'des back. Also they wore ordered to muke every effort to Capture any tf the enemy's scouts or Patrons, so that we could get informa? tion from them. One of the Interesting rno'.ients iu this work came when a ; star shell caught you out in an open spot If you moved you were gone. I've seen men stand ou one foot for tee thirty seconds during which a star I shell will burn. Theu when scouts or patrols met it "No Man's Land" they I slways had to fight it out with bayo? nets. One single shot would be the signal for a cillery lire and would mean the almost instant annihilation of the men on both sides of the fight l nder the necessities of ihls war many of our men Luve been killed by our own shell Are. The Daylight Hour. At a littlo before daybreak came "stund-to," when everybody got put* toned up and ready for business be ' cav:se nt that hour most attacks begin, and also that was the regular tlmo for a dose of "morning and evening hate," otiierwlso a gor.d, lively fifteen minutes of shell lire. We had some casualties very ui >rnin : and evening, and the stretcher hearers USflf) to gjtt ready for them as s regular matter cf course. For fifteen minutes at dawn and dusk the Germans used to send over "whiz "eoal boxes" and "mlnenwer fcr" (sheds from trench mortars) in BCb a gOPCfOSMI way that it looked as If ihey liked to shoot 'cm off, whether they hit anything or not. You could always hear I KJ "heavy stuff' coming, and wg paid I n'e attention to it, as it was antd In efforts to reach the bat? teries back Of <>nr lines. The poor old i >wn of Dtni tbnacb g?>t the full ban* afli of it. When a shell would anriet its way over, some one Would say, "There goes he express for IMnkie hus.h." and a couple of etCOOdl later, when some prominent landmark of i Usklebuaca would disintegrate v ith a log 1 detonation, SOtM MM else would remark : "Train's arrived P About the only amusement we had miring I nr long stay hi the front tranches wus to sit with our backs ?gainst the rear wall and shoot at the rgti running glong the parapet Poor Ifacfariane, with ? flash of the old bn? gear which h? had bafori Iba war, t< >1d a *rcokieH that the trench rats were mo big that he saw one of them trying on his greatcoat They natd to run ovpr our (gees when we flora sleeping In or r dugouts, and I've seen thetfl in raveuotis swuims burrowing iuto the mallow graves or M:?' dead. Most of the soldiers' h>ga ft re serried to UM knees with bites. The one thing of niiicli we constant? ly lived in fear was n go* attack, l used to wake in tbe mi ol Hie night In a cold sweat drearohuj (bal 1 heard the clatter and wldsljs blowing ail along the line which meant thai 'In? gas was Coining, And finally I reall> j did hear the terrifying sound, just ai a moment when it couldn't have sound 1 ed worse. I was in charge of the daily ration detail, sent back about ten miles j to the point of nearest approach of tbe . transport lorries to carry in rations. I ammunition and sand bags to the front trenches. We had a lot of trouble re? turning with our loada Passing n I point which was called Shrapnel Cor? ner, because the Germans had preciso 1 range of It, we were caught in ma Chine gnu tire and. bad to lie ou our I stomachs for twenty minutes, during I which we lost one man' wounded. 1 1 sent him back and went on with my party, only to run into another machine gun shower a half mile farther on While we were lying down to escape this a concealed British battery ot five inch guns, about which we knew uothing, opened up right over our heads. It shook us up and scared us sc that some of our party were no\V worRe off than the man who had been hit and carried to the rear. We fiually got to, gather and went on. When we wen about a mile behind the reserve trench, stumbling in tlte dark through the last aid most dangerous path overland, we heard a lone siren whistle, followed by a wave of metallic hammering and wild tooting which seemed to spread over all of Belgium a mile ahead of us. All any of us could say was: ??Gas!" All you could see in the dark was a collection of white and frightened faces. Every tremb'lug finger seemed awkward as a thumb as we got out our gas masks and helmets and put them on, following directions as nearly as we could. I ordered the men to sit still and sent two forward to notify me from headquarters when the gas alarm was over. They lost their way and were not found for two days. We sat there for an hour, and then I ven? tured to take my mask off. As nothing happened, 1 ordered the men to do the same. When we got into the trenches with our packs we found that the gas alarm had been one of Fritz's jokes The first sirens bad been sounded in the German lines, und there hadn't been any gas. Our men evened things up with the Germans, however, the next night. Some of our scouts crawled clear up to the German barbed wire, ten yards in front of the enemy fire trench, tied empcy jam tins to the barricade and then, after attaching small telephone wires to the barbed strands, crawled back to our trenches. When they start ed pulling the telephone wires the. empty this made a clatter right under Fritz's no.se. Immediately the Germans opened up with all their machine gun aud rifie fire, began bombing the spot from which the noise came and sent up "S O S" signals for artillery fire along a mile of thelf* line. They fired a $1U,(J00 salute and lost a night s sleep over the noise made by the discarded containers of 5 shillings' worth of jam. it was a good tonic for the Tommies. The Prince of Wales. A few days after this a very young officer passed me in a trench while 1 was sitting on a fire step writing a letter. I noticed that he had the ml tabs of a staff officer on his uniform, but I paid no more attention to him than that. No compliments, such as ? salutes to officers, are paid in the trenches. After he had passed one of the men asked me if 1 didn't know who he was. I said I didn't. "Why, you d-fool," he said, "that^. the Prince of Wales!" When the little prince came back 1 stood to salute him. He returned the salute with u grave smile and passed on. He was quite alone, and I was told afterward that he made these trips through the trenches just to show the men that he did not consider him? self better than any other soldier. The heir of England was certainly taking nearly the same chance of losing his inheritance that we were. After we had been on the front line fifteen days we received orders to make a bombing raid. Sixty Volon tecrs were asked for, and the whole When the Little Prince Came Back I Stood to Salute Him. battalion offered. I was lucky?or un lucky?enough to be among the sixty who were chosen. 1 want to tell you in detail about this bombing raid, gg that you can understand wbot a thing may really amount to that rets only three lines or perhaps nothing at nil in the official dispatches, and. besides that, it may help some of the young men who read this In know something a little later about bombing. The six; v of us chosen to execute tin raid were taken twenty mllea to the ! roar lor a wwk's Instruction practice. Having only a slight idea of what we were going to try to do. we felt very jolly about the whole enterprise start? ing oil*. We were camped in an old barn, with several Special instruction officers in charge. We bad oral in? struction the first day. while sappers dug and built an exact duplicate of the section of the German trenches which we were to raid?that is, it was exact except for a few details. Certain "skeleton trenches" iu the practice sec? tion were dug simply to fool the Ger? man aviators. If a photograph taken back to German headquarters had shown an exact duplicate of a German trench section suspicion might have been nrouscd and our plans revealed. We were constantly w arned about the skeleton trenches and told to remem? ber that they did not exist in the Ger? man section where we were to operate. Meanwhile our practice section was changed a little several times, because aerial photographs showed that the Germans had been renovating and making some additions to the trenches in which we were to have our frolic with them. We had oral Instruction, mostly dur? ing the day, because we didn't dare let the German aviators see us practicing a bomb raid. All night long, sometimes until 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning, we rehearsed that raid, just as carefully as a company of stur actors would re? hearse a play. At first there was a dis? position to have sport out of it. "Well," some chap would say, roll? ing into the hay all tired out, "I got killed six times tonight S'pose it'll be eight times tomorrow night." One man insisted that he had discov? ered in one of our aerial photographs a German burying money, and he care? fully examined each*new picture, so that he could be sure of finding the dough and digging it up. The grave and serious inauner of our officers, however, the exhaustive care with which we were drilled and, more than all, the approach of the time when we were to "go over the top" drove all sport out of our minds, and I can say for myself that the very thought of the undertaking as the fatal night drew near sent shivers up and down my spine. A bombing raid, something originat? ed in warfare by the Canadians, is not intended for the purpose of holding ground, but to gain information, to do as much damage as possible and to koep the enemy in a state of nervous? ness. In this particular raid the chief object was to gain information. Our high command wanted to know what troops were opposite us and erbat troops had been there. We were ex? pected to get this information from prisoners and from buttons and papers off of the Germans we might kill. It was believed that troops were being We Rehearsed That Raid as Carefully as a Company of Star Actors. relieved from the big tent show up at the Somme and sent to our side show In Belgium for rest. Also it was sus? pected that artillery was being with? drawn for the Summe. Especially we were anxious to bring back prisoners. In civilized war a prisoner can be compelled to tell only his name, rank and religion. But this is not a civili/.ed war, and there are ways of making prisoners talk. One of the most ef? fective ways-quite humane?is to tie a prisoner fast, head and foot, and then tickle his bare feet w ith a feather. More severe measures have frequently been used-the water cure, for in? stance-but I'm bound* to say that nearly all the German prisoners I saw were quite loquacious and willing to talk, and the accuracy of their infor? mation, when later confirmed by raids, was surprising. The iron discipline which turns them into mere children In the presence of their ollleers seemed to mgke them subservient and obedient to the officers who commanded us. I mean, of course. th0 private*. In this tray the system worked against the fatherland. Captured German officers. ? specially Prussians, WCPO a nasty lot. We never tried to get information from them, for w e know they would lie. hap? pily and very Intelligently?W*ll in? structed in the art. At hist came the night when we were to go "over the top." across No Man's Land, and have a frolic with Fritz in lbs own happy homo. I am endeavor big to bo ns accurate and truthful as poaalhle in these stories of my soldier? ing, and i am therefore compelled to say that there wasn't a man in the sixty who didn't show the strain in his pallor ami nervousness. Inder orders, we discarded our h em h helmet! and substituted knitted skullcaps or empty mess tins. Then we blackened our hands and faCCi with ashes from a camp fire >o as to avoid being seen as long as possible. Afler Ibis they load ed us Into motor trucks nud took up to "Shrapnel Corner," from which point we went In on font. Ju t before wc leff a staff captain came along and Bare us a little talk. 'tThls Is the III ' lime you men have heen foaled." be said "You're Caua illltlis I nee l i t sa\ itliytlllllg more fn you. Thej re going tu be popping them off at a groat rate wiilio you're on your way across. Itcmcmhcr that you'd hot? ter not stand up straight, because our shells will be going over just six and a half feet from the ground where it's lOVtL If you stand up straight you're likely to be hit in the head, but don't let that worry you, because if you do get hit in the head you won't know it. So why in Ii? worry about it?" That was his farewell. Ha jumped on his lior.se und rode off. The Bomb Raid. The point w e were to attack bad been selected Ion? before by our scouts. It was not, as you might suppose, the weakest point in the German line. It was, on the contrary, the strongest. It was considered that the moral effect of cleaning up a weak point would be comparatively small, whereas to break j in at the strongest point would be j something really worth while. And if we were to take a chance it really wouldn't pay to hesitate about degrees. The section we were to raid had a , frontage of 150 yards and a depth of 200 yards. It had been explained to us that we were to be supported by a "box barrage," or curtain fire, from our artillery to last exactly twenty-six minutes?that is, for twenty-six min? utes from the time when we started "over the top" our artillery, several miles back, would drop a "curtain" of shells all around the edges of that 150 yard by 200 yard section. We were to have fifteen minutes in which to do our work. Any man not out at the end of the fifteen minutes would neces? sarily be caught in our own fire, as our artillery would then change from a "box" to pour a straight curtain fire covering all of the spot of oar opera? tions. Our officers set their watches very carefully with those of the artillery of? ficers before we went forward to the front trenches. We reached the front at 11 p. m.. and not until our arrival there were we informed of the "zero hour"?tbe time when the attack was to be made. The hour of 12:10 had been selected. The waiting from 11 o'clock until that time was simply an agony. Some of our men sat stupid and inert. Others kept talking con? stantly about the most Inconsequential matters. One man undertook to tell a funny story. No one listened to It, and the laugh at the end was emaciated and ghastly. The Inaction was driving us all into a state of funk. I could ac? tually feel my nerve oozing cut at my finger tips, and if we had bad to wait fifteen minutes longer 1 wouldn't have been able to climb out of the trench. About half cu hour before we were to go over every man bad his eye up the trench, for we know "the rummies" were coming that way. The rum gang serves out a stiff shot of Jamaica just before an attack, and it would be a real test of temperance to see a man refuse. There were no prohibitionists in our set. Whether or not we got our full ration depended on whether the sergeant in charge was drunk or sober. After the shot began to work one man next me pounded my leg and hollered in my ear: "I say, why all this red tape? Let's go over now." That noggin of rum is a lifo saver. When the hour approached for us to start the artillery fire was so heavy that orders had to be shouted into ears from man to man. The bombardment was, of course, along a couple of miles of front so that the Germans would not know where to expect us. At 12 o'clock exactly they began pulling down a sec. "tion of the parapet so that we wouldn't have to climb over it and we were off. There are six articles in this remjajk able scries by Sergeant MeClinteck. Two have already been printed, and the third will appear soon. It is tbe most interesting one of the series thus far and is entitled: "Over the Top and Givo 'Em Htlll" The KnKlish Tommy's battlj cry> as he breaks from his trench. The somb raid and what happened. Of sixty lhat start? ed forty-six tailed to return because tho (Jcrmana bad prepared a surprise for them. Graphic description of Sergeant McClintock's terrible experience. Handy Literature. Saunderson found it very hard work selling books. The volumes be had to offer, one of which he had to carry with him as a sample, were very heavy, and nobody seemed to want them.' But he was a persistent man. and even the stt bbom Mrs. Bowlinp. could not send him away unheard. "Wo have all the books we can use,'" she said, "and we really can't afford any more reading malter. Why, 1 haven't even opened the second vol? ume of that Itoman history you sold us last spring. Now, ii you wore sell ing one of those adjustable ironing hoards"? "I've got just the thing!" said Saunderson cheerfully. "There are twelve books in this set, and you can use either one or two or three, and so on up to six, to tilt your board any way you want to. And between whiles when your Iron is heating you have good literature to refresh your mind.". A Bonehead. There are many things dropped in the subway ticket chopper by absent minded riders besides the little piece of pasteboard which entitles them to a ride. An eccentric looking young man and his particularly eccentric looking wife hurried up to the door of n Broad way theater last night The man reached into his pocket, handed tin doorman some tickets sud, assisting his wife before him, turned to reoelv? the stubs. ?These are subway tickets.' Bald the doorman. At the rate of twt pockets per second the young mai searched himself. Then ho clapped bl hand on his forehead. "Good heavens Annie." ho gasped. "I [tut the scats ii the .subway!" And what Annie san about honcheada was only heard bj herself.- Neu Vorfc *'<?r Pittsburgh Dispatch, WHITMAN TRAISAS WILSON. ? . ?-. ... ! Governor of N**w York Pays Nil all to Solitary Figure" RuJipg <>vur Coi ntry's Destiny. 1 Nev York, Oct. 14.?flovearsinr Whtt* mall paid a stirring tribute to Presi? dent Wilson tonight in a patriotic ad? dress to the congregation of St. Paul'? Methodist Episcopal Church. "At? we contemplate the solitary* figure who is ruling over the destinies of our hundred million people," the governor said, "and consider the tre? mendous task he has before him, we are no longer Democrats, or Republi? cans or Progressives, but Americans all." WT it certain persons termed "apathy" ,n the attitude of the Ameri? can people toward the war, he assert? ed, in reality was "our national poise.'* "Today the United States leads the whole world in mustering materials and i i the sweep of the human mind," he added. "The European nations had the f Use impression that America Ls the If nd of the dollar and thought the Yankees would not fight. All history gives the lie to these slanders. Our dollars have carried food to the hun? gry, help to the wounded and health to the sick. Peace is our devotion, [but not our obsession." Council of Defense Fund. The following public spirited citi? zens af Sumter county have contrib? uted the amounts opposite their namt*a to help defray the expenses of the Sumter County Council of Defense, and to help pay for carrying on the Food Enrollment Week, October 2&tii ; to November 4th. A great deal of mone?r is needed for postage, stenog- , raphers' salaries, printing, etc. Ev? erybody should contribute something and < ontribute in a hurry. We ara helping our own soldier boys tc win I the war. Th>> names of individuals, firms, and corporations will be published from time to time in this paper as the contributions are turned in to either Treasurer G. A. Lemmon or Secretary ,.E. L Reardon. X. B Murray, Dalzell, R. F. D...$5:0O M hid let<?n Township, Collected by 12. K. Aycock. J H. Aycock^ & Sons. 10.00 Miss Cleon Troutman. .50 H. Chundler., .50 1 W. H. Ramsey. .. 1.0? M. at. Mellette.25 LeGiand Geddings. 50 Oldin Geddings.50 J J. Geddings. .50 Dr. M. U Parier. .. Us) / W. J. Rees.50 Richard R Singleton.50 G| H Burgess.50 M. If. Brice.50 A. E. Aycock, Jr.50 W T. Brown. 1.00 J. B. Crouch.5S . H. if McLaurln. l.co Cash.25 E. W. Nettles.50 Cash. . .50 Oswcjro Section, Sumter Township, Collected by M. M. Brown. Conycrs Brown. 1.00 M. M. Brown.5'J Cash. I.M R. K. Brown. 1.00 Hugocd Section, Hatting Creek Town? ship, Collected by R. M. Moore. J. L. Jackson. .50 A. H. Sanders.50 J. R. Atkins.50 H. L,. Sanders.5<? | C P. Myers.50 B. F. Myers.50 W. H. Freeman. 1.00 J. L. Sanders.50 S. Belle.N Andy Davis. .50 Bam Cole. .Set Total. $35.25 A Unique Record. Home testimony for Doan's Kidney Pills, published in every locality, is of itself convincing evidence of merit. Confirmed testimony fonns still Stronger evidence. Years ago, a citi? zen of Sumter gratefully acknowl? edged the benefit derived from Doan's Kidney Pills. The statefnent is now .'onflr Tied?the proof more convinc? ing. Tases of this kind are plentiful in the work of Doan's Kidney Pills ? the record is unique. W. Y ea don, 27 Haynsworth St., lumter, says: "I suffered from dull, i.iggii g backaches, and my kidneys tcted tco freely. I used Doan's Kil ley P 11s for these ailments, and they ?elleved me and toned up my whole lyntem." (Statement given January ?. llll.) over four years Inter Mr. Yeadon Slid: "The benefit Doan's Kidney .Mils rave tue has been permanent." Price f?c, at all dealers. Don't ttlmpl) ask for a kidney remedy?get Doan's kidney Pills?Up same that Mr. Y'oadon has twice publicly rec? ommended, Foster-ifllhurn Co 1 Props., Buffalo, N. Y.?Advu