Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1917-12-24
WRITES LETTER
FROM FRANCE
Clifford Thompson, Son Of Mr.. and
Mrs. c. w. Thompson, Writes o
Letter from the Trenches
In France.
SHOT AT IN NO MANS LAND
Tells of Wading in Mud and Water IN
Trenches and Hearing ~
Big Shells.

Clioffrd H. Thompson, member OF
Co. B, eighteenth infantry, American
Expeditionary Forces somewhere III
France, writes the following very In
teresting letter to Murray McMurray
and, as Clifford is a Webster City
young man, the experiences related by
him will interest many of his former
acquaintance. Clifford was formerly
a member of the Boy Scouts here. He
is a son of Mr.. and Mrs. c. w. Thomp-
son of this city.
The letter is written under Nov ~
date line and the heading states that
the writer, as we know, is in active
service with the American Expedition
ary Force, Somewhere in France"
Dear Friend Murray: Received
your letter yesterday and was glad to
hear from you. You say you wrote
once before. 1 have not received it
yet. Maybe it went to the bottom
where lot of other things go.
$50 nearly all of the boys are in
the army. We have bunch of men
coming to our outfit in few days.
Maybe l will see some of them in the
crowd-I hope so anyhow.
In the Trenches.
II got letter from my grandmoth-
er the other day and she said fellow
who came back said that the trenches
were clean and dry-and were kept
clean. Murray, if you ever hear any
one make that kind of a remark Just
ask him what front he was on, or II
ae just got a little experience in a
raining camp. I'll bet that fellow
never heard big shell whistle and
growl as it went over, or never heard
The whir of bullets as they went past.
In No Mans Land.
awe were up on the front few
weeks ago and it sure did me some
good anyhow. 1t is all very easy to
sit back in place about four thousand
miles from the so'lpd of the big guns
and tell what ,;.; We fIould do il thel
were there--and / know that Is What
some are doing. / know while we
we're on our way over here,w were all
telling what we would do and I was
rs bad as the rest. Now, however.
nave been there, fighting along side OF
many other fellows. After we arrived
At the front the first thing we had to
learn was how to wade in mud and
water without grumbling. The next
thing we did was to climb out on top
and stack arms in "No Mans Land"
Guess the Germans were dumbfOund-
ed at this for they never fired shot
Tor while. We were working along
when suddenly some Fritz thought we
had had enough and sent over big
shell which blew up about hundred
yards on the other side of US. We
didn't pay much attention to that one
either. However, right after it eX-
ploded another one came tearing its
way along. Some of the men were in
the trench and three or four Of us were
on top. l was standing on a traverse
and that shell went in on one side
Of the traverse and went in the othef
side. / ran down the trench about
twenty feet when it went off. Whew!
Talk about your weak knees-I sure
lad pair that nearly refused to hold
me up! l started down communica-
ion trench and shells started right
litter mel don't know whether that
Dutch artilleryman had anything
against me or not!
Wading in Mud.
"a few nights later l was out with
he engineers and we had waded in
mud and water for the best part Of an
hour. l threw my rifle up on the
bank climbed up on top and started to
walk along. had not gone more than
orty or fifty feet when--zing!-a
,ullet threw mud all over me. l
stopped to look and see where it came
rom and-ca-zing!- me an
,ther bullet plowed into the mud. I
hought it was time for me to get back
n the trench and wade water some
more. Anyhow it was about the best
hing could do right then.
st sure does rain in this country.
t has rained here for nearly month.
Today is the first day it has been clear
nd nice for long time. Around our
amp things were mighty muddy.
Iaybe you have seen moving pictures
# the French soldiers standing in mud
alf way up to their knees. l used to
hink those pictures were made up;
ow know they are real. have been