The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-05-09
night RAIDING
DESCRIBED BY
FARGO VISITOR
Private w. @. Berry Tells
Vivid Story of Life in
Trenches.
WAS WOUNDED BY AN
EXPLOSION OF SHELL
"Paying Fritz Friendly
Call" is Evening Sport"
In France.

Slu0 WHGI6 u6 was SIFuch Ny
fragment from an exploding shell
and twitching at times from &
nervous disorder brought on by
the shock of the explosion, Priv
ate w. G. Berry of the Canadian
expeditionary forces arrived il
Fargo this morning.
Private Berry enlisted at Win
nipeg, but is trying to reach ST
Louis. He is stranded in Fargo
with but $40 in his pocket. His
railroad pass is not good on this
side of the border, and he is try,
ing to get a few dollars here tt
take him to his relatives in the
Missouri city. If any Fargo citiz.
ems care to aid him, The Forum
will take charge Of the funds and
see that they are properly ex.
pended.
To a Forum reporter at the
Hotel Metropole he told his story
this morning.
Sometimes / leap right out OF
bed at night . he said, not com
plainingly or as one seeking sym
pathy. "For days this twitching
will not bother me, and then it
will come on again suddenly. 1t
is quite common among soldiers
wounded by shell fire.
Night Raids.
"The most interesting feature
Of the warfare to me is the night
raid.
Might raids are not delivered in a
motiveless fashion. There is always
some good and vital reason for or
ganizing one. Perhaps the enemy oc-
cupies trench which enfilades ours
and the little operation called
Strengthening out the line has to be
performed. Probably some trench
mortar or machine gun has to be sill
enced, or probably a new diviSion OF
the enemy has arrived in the opposite
sector and the intelligence staff desires
a few prisoners as samples. @
But the chief reason for which
these night enterprises are undertake
en- is simply to harass the enemy, to
make them feel jumpy and nervous
and wonder where and when the next
raid is going to be pulled off.
But let is follow the program Of a
raid. The day in the trenches has been
quiet, quiet as the soldier would say.
But the expression as applied to
trench matters is hardly in accordance
with the generally accepted meaning
Of the word. Now you would not think
it had been a quiet day If few high
explosive shells had burst within
thirty yards Of your front door and
one or two Of your friends had been
carried away on q stretcher. Perhaps
not. But the soldiers in their damp
and muddy dugouts are taught to
look on things more lightly and to
carry on as If nothing had happened.
SoIdisrS Humor.
well, the day has drawn to a close
and the work Of stand to- is over and
for few moments there's that pecu-
liar silence that one experiences so
often in France. The company humor-
ist, who is usually heard at this par
ticular moment, says: Come, boys,
let's go home, ther's nothing doing
here tonight And another retort:
Just a moment, Slim, till get my
dress suit on and we will go to the
show R-r-r-a-p! R-r-r-a-p! 1t is
their old friend, the machine gun,
which interrupts the conversation, and
the noise is like that of a motorcycle
making a fair pace. Things seem to be
restored to their normal again.
They are strange, these uneasy
silences. They cast an uncomfortable
feeling of something wrong and it re-
quires the wasplike z-z-z-zip Of the
snipers' bullet or the heavy crash Of a
shell to set the soldiers mind at rest.
Bustle in Trenches.
There is quite a hustle in the
trenches now, for the platoon is going
over to pay Fritz a friendly visit as
soon as darkness settles down. Even
now there are men out in No Mans
Land, cutting lanes in our barbed
wire fences to make an opening for
the raiding party.
"The night flares are now being
fired and the wire cutters are forced
TO take advantage of every little spell
OF darkness to complete their work,
hacking heavily, even fiercely, until
another flare sailing Though the sky
compels them to desist.
'1n a few moments the last wire
cutter stealthily fops back into the
damp trench and the officer in charge
Of the attack begins to hustle around
and see that his men are prepared in
every detail.
There is a party of bombers and
the guide to get ready. The men are
fixing the last Of their equipment or
having a few final puffs at O cigaret,
Or joking in the usual fashion as
they line in the trench, ready to creep
over at the word OF command. And at
last 1t comes.
The officer, very alert and watch
tu1, whispers, All ready, sergeant?
Right, SIR comes the cool voice of
the NJ. E. o. Come on, boys, very
quietly and no noise. The men are
taking advantage of a spell of dark
ness to Chamber up the parapet, and
creep down the lanes made in the
wire and in a few moments are gath
cred outside the trench in shell holes
and bitches. They wait in this posi-
ton with every nerve strung, while
the artillery payes the. way for the at
tack by a short bombardment
Eager For Action.
when will they startT the men
whisper to each other and fidget They
want to rush over and get the Ger
mans at once, and this spell OF en-
forced inaction is most unwelcome.
The time drags, so that every moment
seems like an hour, the men in the
sprawling in the mud, get
ing chilly and peevish. But at last
there is a faint crash from the rear
and almost at the same moment
softly rustles through the
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