The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1916-04-13
UNDER GERMAN FIRE
Soldiers at Nprss Like Guests at Bel.
shazzar's Feast.

shaZzar'S Feast.
am sending you an account of the
battle of Sept. 25th. From Ypres
no one returns alive" say the German
soldiers. When heard that the
Scotch brigade, of which | am a mem
Der, was TO deliver an attack there
felt something like the guests at Bel
shazzar's feast when they saw the
handwriting on the wall At dawn,
with slung rifles and bandoliers, we
started for the firing line via com
municating trench. The firing line
was made up OF new trenches. NO
Mans Land in front, which reached
to the enemies line. was catacombed
maze of battered-down trenches
strewn with bodies, pieces OF equip
ment, broken rifles, tins and fragments
OF sand bags.
At $50 a. m. the darkest hour of the
night, the fireworks started, AS the
bombardment became more intense
the ground began to shake as if from
violent earthquake. At 4.05 with
shining steel bayonets on their rifles,
long line of battle-made soldiers
scrambled over the parapet and dis
appeared in the darkness
Machine guns were pumping bullets
into the earth everywhere. found
myself caught in the cul de sac of i'm
pregnable barb wire entanglements.
1t was another death trap, for few
feet in front, hanging in the wire like
a fly in spiders web, was corporal,
whose feeble efforts TO extricate him
self showed that he was dying. The
hot lead was coming in sheets and
began TO develop strong affinity for
mother earth. Suddenly / was cover
ed with earth by violent explosion
and some minutes / lay daZed, the
blood gushing from a wound in my
hand where piece of she'll had gone
clean through. Incapacitated as
now was, and with death facing me on
every side life never seemed sweeter
than at that moment 6crambling to
my feet | made dive into the newly
made and still smoking shell hole. ii
was deep and | was at least safe from
bullets. From everywhere came the
piercing screams and squeals OF men
dying in poignant agony, Never will
those horrible and penetrating cries
be effaced from my mind.
To lie in the shell hole until day
light meant certain death. and it was
already gray drawn Stripping off my
equipment | started on the 40-yard
sprint, and luck was with me for half
way stumbled into an old sap which
gave me ample cover until our para
| pet was reached With q number Of
others, wounded, but who could walk
we attempted to leave the 1iring line
but it was too late. Hundreds of Ger
man cannon trained on the communi
cation trenches had blown them t
atoms. Sand bags and earth were
| still going high in the air leaving deer
open cavities through which in day
light it would be impossible for rein
/ w ANN VI NOhliNNu ~
leave
At a. m. the bombardment Of the
enemy became more intense 1t was
the prelude to a counter attack. Huge
Jack Johnsons" fell nearer and unit
our dugout shelter became so precar
ious we were forced to make for fur
Their up the trench. ] looked over the
parapet and saw dead bodies every
where, with far in the distance wha
looked like a low dark cloud MOVING
nearer and nearer. II was a bluegray
mass OF humanity pouring out of The
German second-line trenches and ad
vancing on the first line, which wa.
still held by few platoons The ma
chine guns ratified and every man witt
rifle opened fire, but still that an
heap OF humanity kept coming on til
the first trench MAS recaptured, which
sealed the fate OF the platoons as the!
were unable to retire.
In the afternoon a driZzling rain Sc
in, which subdued to a certain extern
the artillery fire.-Lieut, Johnson o
the Gordon Highlanders in Leslies.