Trench and camp. [volume] (Augusta, Ga.) 1917-1919, 1918-04-24
HOW IT FEELS TO Be
HIT BY SHRAPNEL
G. G. Lyon, Reporting for The
Augusta Herald in France,
Describes Experience. His
Life Saved BY 'Tin Derby"
BY c. c. Lyon.

! American Front in France (sy Mail).-
was in the first French village quar-
| tering American soldiers to be shelled by
| German artillery.
For this outrage" the kaiser will have
| just a little bit more to answer for on
| that final reckoning day.
| At this writing. the censor's ban is on
the mentioning Of troops from every state
except one-Ohio. The Ohio outfit WAS
named in a French communique as hav-
ing gone over the top after the Germans
some time ago; so, fter the secret was
longer operating incognito.
OHIO troops were occupying the village
that was shelled.
A nice large dent that a piece of Ger
man shrapnel made in my steel helmet
makes the event Of deep personal interest
to myself
1t was a fine, bright afternoon, and
No Mans Land The German machines
were trying to direct the fire of their ar
tlllery on some American field pieces they
believed to be hidden just outside our VIII
iage Within an hour they had put over
some 500 shells.
Hundreds of American and French SOL
diers, consumed with curiosity, gathered
at the edge of the village and watched
the German fire. They could be easily
seen by the German airplanes overhead.
The first intimation we had that the
Germans were peeyish with US onlookers
was when the range of fire suddenly
switched and big shrapnel shell landed
about so yards from the crowd,
About the same instant l felt a blow
on my helmet as if somebody had
bounced big rock off my bean" Then.
IN front OF me, rolled fair sibed piece
of shrapnel.
Up to that moment I had always more
or less scoffed at the "tin hats the Am
erican army is forced to wear in the fight
ing zone.
| think differently about them now.
Friends, I'm telling you, they're a Won
derful consolation Otherwise my head
would probably have been total loss
A second shell, this time a high ex-
ploSlve followed within half a minute
Many of us were on the principal street
now, breaking speed records to get into
dugouts.
A fourth high explosive shell hit the
village hospital but it was so strongly
reinforced with timbers and MASONRY
that 1t withstood the shock
Within three minutes after the she'll
ing began practically every soldier in
was in dugout.
Every house In the village near the
trenches has it's dugout.
An these dugouts are piteh-dark places
ana most of them are mody and smelly
but when the Pearly Gates suddenly loom
up before one they take on all the charms
ana attractions of marble halls.
In my particular dugout there gathered
some ~ or 70 enlisted men and officers,
and, while the German shells screeched
and exploded outside during lombard
menG OF the village that lasted 81 min
utes, conversation ran chiefly to a rather
technical discussion as to the ability OF
the dugouts to withstand any direct hits.
One pessimist said:
This dugout isn't worth hang
against one of those German 210 shells.
They would go through this as if it were
an egg SHE'LL
Then an engineer lieutenant got the
floor and in the darkness said
you don't know what you're talking
about. We've tested out a dugout just
like this and nothing but German 400
can crack it; and we all know the Ger
mans aren't going to waste any Of their
400s on peewee village like this that
has little military Importance. feel as
safe here as / would il | were in Paris
| We greeted this reassuring testimony
with loud acclaim, and then the colonel Ut
the regiment piped out with:
| II don't think it necessary to go any
! further with this discussion. I think We
all agree with our engineer friend. Any
way, that's the kind of stuff we want to
hear just now"
| When the bombardment ceased, every
body came out of the dugout and strolled
out to look over the damage. A num-
Der of houses that were already partial
ruins from French troop occupation days,
| had been hit again. The total casualties
were light. The village streets were
ksprinkled with shrapnel. And now we're
all pulling for reprisal bombardment ON
a village back of the German lines.