Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1917-11-30
ana naturally IT puts the fear of death


spent Christmas day OF 1914 in the
trenches just south Of Ypres. Christ
mas eve was a beautiful night, and the
Germans who held the trenches oppo.
site left us very much alone the entire
evening. We didn't bother them either.
There was beautiful moon. and
with everything so quiet and peaceful
II was hard to realize that there was
war on. During the evening the Ger
mans started singing, and ] heard
some OF the most beautiful music
ever listened TO In my life The song
might start just opposite us, and II
would be taken up all along the line,
and soon II would seem as IL all tho
Germans in Belgium were singing.
When they had finished we would ap-
plaud with all orr might, and then we
would give them song In return.
regiment In the trenches started
MY Old Kentucky Home" The men
were getting well along with it when
some one In the German trenches Join.
ed the singing In just as good English
as any OF us could speak. 1t was beau
tiful. but it made me awfully home.
sick. After they had finished the same
German voice sang Dancing Around"
and, believe me, that fellow could sing
ragtlme. He was applauded uproarl-
ously. and then we sang some more
popular songs for them, and so 1t went
until the wee small hours OF the morn.
ing.
During the night a couple of our
chaps crawled up almost to the Ger.
man parapet, and with them they took
photograph and a record. They
wound up the machine, put on the rec
ord and attached a piece of string to
the starting lever Then they crawled
back. unwinding the string as they
came. The next morning they pulled
the string. and 1t started the machine
playing the song which was so popu-
lar in England at that time, when We
Wind Up the Watch on the Rhine"
You can bet that that photograph was
filed full Of lead in short order.
During the few weeks directly after
Christmas | was In the trenches just
south OF Ypres most OF the time. When
on duty In the daytime II was not so
bad, but the nights were awful The
Germans had the advantage over us
In that their trenches were on higher
ground, and they drained all the water
down into our own. We had only
buckets to bail with. and 1t was very
slow work, as well as dangerous.
Then, too, the cold weather increased
our troubles.
/ notice in my diary. which kept
from time to time. that / entered an
incident which shows our state. will
quote you just what ! wrote:
Dec. ~, 1914. - Was talking with
two boys of the Royal Scots today.
They have just come down from the
Hollebeke trenches, and they are in ter
rible condition. Their casualties dur
ing the last engagement were light, as
they lost only four killed and nineteen
wounded. but forty-two died from ex-
posture.
zone poor devil tells me that he has
three brothers and fifteen cousins in
his battalion. fwo OF his brothers
died during the past two weeks. One
stopped IA bullet, but the other one
drowned right by his side in the
trenches. aud he was unable to aid
him.
- "A lot came in on their hands and
knees, and many came dragging them
selves on their stomachs through the
mud. Ii was terrible"
One OF the saddest things | have
ever seen is the last roll call Of a reg
iment which has been cut to pieces
l saw one regiment go into action for
the first time.
| watched them go up singing and
shouting and In tgh spirits generally.
They were LOO strong going into ac-
ton, but two days later they came
out. and there were only twenty-three
of them to answer the last roll call
1t was heartbreaking sight and i'm
possible TO forget.
One day ! went TO some trenches our
division had just taken over. The wa.
ter was above our knees, and there was
also about foot of soft mud In feel
Ing around for firmer foothod my
foot struck something more solid than
the ground around me. | started
stamping and kicking about, but
couldn't seem to make It give way. Be
ing curious, one OF my comrades and
dug down with intrenching tools
What we unearthed was the body OF a
dead Frenchman. Heaven only knows
how long he had been there. but he
was as black as a derby hat.
At this time the Dickebusch- Hole
beke road was alive with snipcrs. In
some way they would get through our
lines and secrete themselves along the
road, where they could pick or indlvid-
uals without much fear of being seen
! noticed that there was one place In
particular where we always heard a
bullet pass too close 10 he comfortable
II was "A little wooden bridge, and
don't think l ever crossed 1t without
hearing one whine past me.
One day rode up with a second lieu
tenant OF the Royal Engineers. AS we
crossed the bridge bullet whizzed be.
tween us, but when looked at the OH.
GER he did not appear TO have noticed
Ii, SO | didn't say anything. About