Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-01

- The tails Of trench raid. The bare
ubon Il has been printed, but news
166nic compression concerned mostly
tn1o statement of fact--and I pray
@n1y be more.
6n6fk give names. because-well, be-
- the censor would cut them out. But
cannot prevent my using Christian
80 ana true ones at that Bob was
Nh Irire6uri Bfll was from Illinois. Hank
~ frAm Pennsylvania. and Jack and Tom
roin Kansas and Texas respectively. They
<1reta each and all members OF certain
1ynpauy Of a certain battalion OF a certain
'<Srtnent Of American infantry; and they
formed part Of platoon numbering about
'{v,eu<v-nve Sammees. who were on guard
a. 4 frontline trench which was portion Ct
~ certain sector somewhere in France where
American soldiers are taking the top of
fReff training. Sounds awfully mysterious.
6onsn't It But you see. it's got to be. for
Il would BE quite frightful IL the Germans
knew 1ust where this sector was.
The salient that formed part OF IL
i1nrI,ere cur twenty-five were is sharply
s,xinted oneA That doesn't tell you any
fhlnr. for there are hundreds like IL. II
was raining. as II does in the tropics. The
suddenly at so in the morning the enemy
ertillery began a barrage upon this salient
II 4 few minutes It encircled it, isoating
ti,e twenty-five. And it lasted for nearly
an hour, a constant rain of shell accurately
planted
Wav back of the line II was concluded to
- hut a lftt.e severe intermittent firing. but
~. tventy-five knew better. The lieutenant
II command turned over his platoon to a
sergeant and tried to buck the barrage
toward the rear. that help might be secured.
1rwicc en- route he was knocked down by
,hell conclusion The third time he was
rnocked out completely. Incidentally he is
IN q hospital suffering from she'll shock.
h Most Of his platoon at his command had
taken refuge in abris There is nothing else
to do please believe. when the shells be-
gin dropping as thick as hail.
Bob and Bill were in the extreme front
line with the first shell exploding near
them and demolishing the trench, Bob was
buried under a mass of upheaved earth.
Bill started to dig him out. He had Moth
ine but a trench spade and his rlfed bay
onet. But he kept at the job, oblivious to
anything or anybody with hell of fire
about him Five timeseh he was knocked
down. and five times he got up and went
at II again. That he was not hit by a shell
or q fragment is because it was not writ
tan. Finally, ne succeeded In his task a
work In the dark and in a pouring rain,
pulling Bob out half unconscious.
lust then the barrage ceased. ending In
A terrific explosion. The Boche were on
a pleasant little ,raiding party, 21o strong,
N was afterward ascertained. And but
fwenty-five Americans. the greater number
in abris, as per orders. The explosion was
the usual method of crossing wire. You
lam pipes with high explosives, ram them
into the ground In front Of enemy wire and
blast path through.
Bob, it seems, was more than half un-
conscious for he had collapsed and lay
a II dead. As the Boche came over the
top from the outside Bill began to use his
automatic. He winged two before he re-
ceived two bullets, one in the arm shat
tering II. and another in the knee. The
barbarians passed him and passed uncon-
scio6s Bob. too. going on. Their barrage
now placed beyond the first
limo trench. t@
At one end OF the sectors portion oc-
cunted by the twenty-five were Hank. Jack
end Tom. They had not had time to get
20 an abri and had taken refuge as best
they could. Luck was with them. and they