Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-11-30

officer showed up safe and sound and
started back for camp.
1t was a terrible experience, and we
were absolutely helpless, as we had
not been furnished with the respirators
and gas helmets at that time. We Sc
cured these things soon after, but all
the time | had mine L never saw an
other sign of gas.
1 found out afterward that those two
officers who had been in the dugout
were both killed by the gas.
The officer who was with me at the
time of the gas attack vas one of the
most remarkable men | ever met. For
several years before the war he had
been in the British secret service in
Germany. so he spoke German almost
as well as he did English.
One day we stopped at a hospital in
Bailleul, and one of the orderlies told
us that there were some German
wounded there. The officer asked me
IL l would like to go in and see them.
! said l would like it very much, so We
went in. There was one poor devil all
ny 4lllcCll dulOlS oOAllC 1ASlich pa
tents. The officer went over and sat
on the edge of his bed and began to
talk to him.
If you could have seen hat poor fell
lows face when he heard himself ad-
dressed In his OWL language! His
whole countenance lighted up, and he
began to talk. Pretty soon the tears
began to run down his cheeks, and |
felt awfully sorry for the poor chap,
who was away from all his own peo-
pie, severely wounded.
He said that he had just beer mar
ried before the beginning of the war,
and he and his wife had saved all they
could, and two days before he was
called up they had bought a COW. He
was as worried as he could be for fear
something had happened to the COW.
The bombardment of Ypres began the
night of the April day we experienced
the gas. and with the bombardment be-
gan the infantry attack. ! was up at a
little place called Rheninghlest, and l
could hear the rifles and machine guns
at it for all they were worth. | was
thanking my lucky stars that l was on
my car instead of a motorcycle ma
chine gun, when an orderly rode up and
told me that l was to report~at head
quarters at once.
All the way back to camp l had the
feeling that something was going to
happen, and when l arrived there l
was told TO report myself to the signal
company for duty with my motorcycle.
Then l knew that | was to carry dis
patches through the coming battle.
l wish to make particular note of the
fact that at the beginning of this bat
tie, which lasted three weeks, we dis
patch riders numbered t~hirty-one in all
for our corps. Half an hour later we
were fully equipped and on our way to
the advanced report center, which
would be the scene of u activities
until the fight was over.
We were about 500 yards to the rear
IF the first line of trenches and were
given an old barn to ourselves, and we
laid out u blankets and made our
beds, for ii was 1920 o'clock. The at
tack was increasing In fury, all kinds
of shells landing around US, and the
Germans were using their same old
tactics Of hurting great masses of
troops against our position.
Our machine guns gave the usual
good account Of themselves, and the
German dead were piled up over our
wire entanglements in great heaps.
The Germans would fall back, reform
and come on again in their usual close
formation. So 1t went all night, and
when the morning came the dead
ground between the two lines of
trenches was a grewsome looking place.
During the day the Germans bonn
barded our first and second line trench
es with high explosives and schrapnel
all day, and at night they resumed
their infantry attack on our position.
Day after day and night after night
the battle continued until we all felt
dead and numb all over.
Sometimes the Germans would pen
citrate our lines for a few yards, and
then we would Immediately counter
before they had a chance to strengthen
their position. We lost an awful lot Of
men, but even though I don't know the
exact figures / know I am safe in say
ing that the German losses were more
than double what ours were.
We dispatch riders were certainly
kept busy during this time. Our work
was to be standing by every minute of
the day and night, and the moment we
were wanted to sling the dispatch case
ever our shoulder and get away for the
headquarters to the rear.
The riding at night was terrible. The
Germans were Smelling all the roads in
the vicinity, and we had to go dashing
along through the inky b%lackness at
breakneck pace. 1t was impossible to
see more than a yard or two ahead,
and so it was a case of ride like ths
dickens and trust to luck. The road
was covered with shell holes, and the