American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1917-09-04

Il WAS taken from Pozieres 10 Albert
ia a Ford ambulance or, as the
Tommics would say. a "tin Lizzie"
The man who drove this vehicle would
make a good chauffeur for an adding
machine. Apparently he was counting
the bumps IN the road, for he didn't
miss one Of them. However, the trip
was ouly a matter Of seven miles, aud
l was in fair condition when they lifted
me out aud carried me 10 an operating
table In the field dressing station.
A chaplain came along aud murmur-
ed a little prayer IN my ear. ] imagine
that would have made a man feel very
solemn II be had thought there was a
chance he was about to pass out, but
I knew / merely had a leg pretty hadly
smashed up. and while the chaplain
was praying I was wondering n they
would have To cut u on. | figured, II
~. this would handicap my dancing.
The FIRST formullty la a sbrapnel case
~ the administration Of an anti tetanus
innoculation. aud when Il Is done you
realize that they nrc sure trying to
save your Ire. The doctor uses a horse
syringe. aud the injection leaves IL
lump ON your chest as biz as a base
bail. which stnss with YOU for forty
eight hours After the injection "A
nurse mis- out "a diagnosis blank with
a description Of YOUR wounds aud a
record OF your name. age. regiment,
%rcgimeuial number. religion. parentage
and rreNiou history as lar as she can
discoyCr 81 without asking questions
whichEd1d Zee positively indicate
After ~ Of that M, wounds were Civ
en- their first real dressing
Immediately after this was done
was bundled into another ambulance
aud driven Co Coutay. whore the G. c.
s casualty clearing station and rail
head were located. Ia the ambulance
with me were three other soldiers, an
artillery officer aud TWO priyatcs OF In
faufry Wp were an tlckcted on as
shralncl cases and probable recoverics.
which latter dciuil is remarkable, since
the most slightly injured of the four
lat twelve wounds. and there We're
sixty odd shel fragments or shrapnel
balls collectively lmNcddcd in as. The
nurse bad told me thnt { bad about
twenty wounds Aftcrwarl her count
proved conservative More accurate
and later returns showed twenty-five
DHlirfs and she'll fragments were IN
Wy IDr They fonk ths,sc ou and pre-
seu'cl them io me have been Civ
iue them away Cor souvenirs.
We were f'riy comfortable I'm the
ambulance. nud / especially had great
relief from iho fact that the nurse had
strapped mf leg iu "a sling attached to
the top % the vehicle We smoked
cigarettes and chatted cheerfully. ex-
changing congratulations on having
Eot "clcan ones that Is. wounds not
probably fatal The artillery officer
told me be had been supporting our
battalion that morning with one OF the
sacrifice batteries
A sacrifice battery. / might explain.
Is D composed o. held pieces which
are emplaced between the front and
support lines aud which In case OF an
attack or counterattack are fred a
point blank range. They call then
sacrifice batteries because some o.
them are wiped out every day. Thi
oficer said our battalion that morning
had been supported by an entire divl
sion OF artillery and that on our from
OF 400 yards tho eighteen FOUNDER
alone. In a curtain fire which Taste
thirty-two minutes, had discharge
1900 rounds OF high explosive shells.
I was impressed by his statement. ,
course, but ! told him that, while tn.
was an astonishing lot OF ammunition
II was eve more surprising 20 hay
noticed at close range, as / did, Il
number OF Germans they missed. T
ward the end Of our "trip 10 Contay Y
were much exhausted and pretty bad