The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1917-08-14

7 WAS taken from Pozieres to Albert
in a Ford ambulance or, as the
Tommies would say, 'tin Lizzie"
The man who drove this vehicle would
make q 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 only a matter Of seven miles, and
was in fair condition when they lifted
me out and carried me to an operating
table in the field dressing station.
A chaplain came along and murmur-
ed a little prayer in my ear. l imagine
that would have made a man feel very
solemn if he had thought there was a
chance he was about to pass out, but
/ knew i merely had leg pretty badly
smashed up, and while the chaplain
was praying 1 was wondering if they
would have to cut it off. / figured, if
so, this would handicap my dancing.
The first formality in a shrapnel case
is the administration of an anti-tetanus
innoculation, and when it is done you
! realize that they are sure trying to
save your life. The doctor uses horse
syringe, and the injection leaves a
lump on your chest as big as a base
ball, which stays with you for forty
eight hours. After the injection a
nurse fills out a diagnosis blank with
description of your wounds and a
record of your name, age, regiment,
regimental number, religion, parentage
and previous history as far as she can
discover it without asking questions
which would be positively indicate.
After all of that my wounds were CIV
en- their first real dressing.
Immediately after this was done i
was bundled into another ambulance
and driven to Contay, where the @. @.
s. Casualty clearing station) and rail
head were located. In the ambulance
with me were three other soldiers, an
artillery officer and two privates of In
faptry. We were all ticketed off as
shrapnel cases and probable recoveries,
which latter detail is remarkable, since
the most slightly injured of the four
had twelve wounds, and there were
sixty odd shell fragments or shrapnel
balls collectively imbedded in us. The
nurse had told me that ! had about
twenty wounds. Afterward her count
proved conservative. More accurate
and later returns showed twenty-five
bullets and shell fragments were In
my leg. They took these out and pre-
sented them to me. j have been CIV
ing them away for souvenirs.
! We were fairly comfortable in the
ambulance, and / especially had great
relief from the fact that the nurse hao
strapped my leg in sling attached &c
the top of the vehicle. We smoked
cigarettes and chatted cheerfully, ex
changing congratulations on having
got "clean ones"-that is, wounds mol
probably fatal The artillery ohcel
told me he had been supporting oul
battalion that morning with one of the
sacrifice batteries"
sacrifice battery, might explain
is one composed Of field pieces whicf
are emplaced between the front anC
support lines and which in case OF ar
attack or counterattack are fired al
point blank range. They call then
sacrifice batteries because some Of
them are wiped out every day. This
officer said our battalion that mornin:
had been supported by an entire divi
sion of artillery and that on our from
of 400 yards the eighteen pounder
alone. in a curtain fire which laste'
thirty-two minutes, had discharges
$4,000 rounds of high explosive shells.
was impressed by his statement. o
course, but told him that. while thi
was an astonishing lot of ammunition
it was even more surprising to hay
noticed at close range. as did. tn
number of Germans they missed. II
ward the end of our trip to Contay W
we.e mach exhausted and pretty badl