Martinsburg W Va evening journal. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1913-1920, 1918-03-26
/ @IH7 BY
IAhIhule GUY E1pEYl

hundred yards to our right Another
The edge of the road about four hun
dred yards In front of us.
told the driver to throw In his
speed clutch, as we must be In sight
of the Germans. / knew the signs I;
that battery was ranging for us, and
the quicker we got out of its zone of
fire the better. The driver was trcm-
bling like asleaf, and every minute |
expected him to pile us up in the ditch.
| preferred the German fire.
In the back Atwell was holding onto
the straps for dear life, and was sing.
ing at the top of his voice:
We beat you at the Marine,
We beat you at the Aisne,
We gave you he'll at Neuve Chapelle.
And here we~are again.
Just then we hit q small shell hole
and nearly capsized. Upon loud
yell from the rear looked behind, and
there was Atwell sitting in the middle
of the road, shaking his fist at US. lis
equipment. which he had taken off
upon getting into the ambulance, was
strung out on the ground, and his rife
was in the ditch.
| shouted to the driver to stop, and
in his nervousness he put on The
brakes. We nearly pitched out head
first. But the applying of those brakes
,aved our lives. The next instant
there was a binding flash and deaf
ening report. All that / remember is
thar was flying through the air'S-lnii
wondering If I would land in a soft
spot. Then the lights Went. out.
When came to, Atwell was pouring
water on my head out of his bottle.
ON the other side Of the road the cor-
poral was sitting, rubbing lump on
his forehead with his left hand, Willie
his right arm was bound up in blood
soaked bandage. He was moalling
very loudly. l had an awful heads che
and the skin on the left side Of my
face was fun of gravel and the blood
was trickling from my nose
But that ambulance was turned over
in the ditch and was perforated with
holes from fragments Of the Shell. One
of the front wheels was slowly revolv-
ing, so could not have been out Tor
a long period.
The shells were. still screaming over
head, but the battery had raised its
fire and they were bursting in lhtle
wood about half a mile from us.
Atwell spoke up. 81 wish that OH
Ger hadn't wished us the best o. luck
Then he commenced swearing.
couldn't help laughing, though my
head was nigh to bursting.
Slowly rising to my feet felt myself
all over to make sure that there we're
no broken bones. But outside of few
bruises and scratches j was all right.
The corporal was still moaning, but
more from shock than pain. A smell
splinter had gone through the flesh Of
his right forearm. Atwell and |, from
our first-aid pouches, put a tourniquet
on his arm to stop the bleeding aud
then gathered up our equipments
We realized that we were in dam
gerous spot. At any minute shell
might drop on the road and finish US
off. The village we had left was not
very far, so we told the corporal he
had better go back to it and get his
arm dressed. and then report the fact
of the destruction of the ambulance to
the military police. He was well ahic
to walk, so he set off in the direction
of the village, while Atwell and con
tinued our way on foot.
Without further mishap we arrived
ut our destination, and reported to bri-
gade headquarters for rations and bill
lets.
That night we slept In the battalion
sergeant majors dugout. = The next
morning / went to first-ald post and
had the gravel picked out of my face.
The instructions we received from
division Headquarters read that We
were out to catch spies, patrol trenches
search German dead. reconnoitcr in No
Mans Land and take part in trench
raids and prevent the robblng OF the
dead
/ had pass which would allow me
| W ~ NittlC At any tlllit III litt 81
tor of the line held by our division. II
gave me authority TO stop and search
ambuiances, motor lorries, wagons and
even officers and soldiers, whenever
my suspicious deemed ii necessary
Atwell and were allowed to work 10.
gether or slpgly--lt was left 70 our
judgment. We decided TO team up.
Atwell was n good companion ant
very entertaining. He had an utter
contempt for danger, but was not fool
hardy. At swearing he was 4 wonder
A cavalry regiment would have beer
proud of him. Though born in Eng
land, he had spent several years IN
New York. He was about six feet one
and as strong as an OK.
We took up our quarters in a large
dugout Of the royal engineers, anC
mapped out our future actions. Thi:
dugout was on the edge of large
cemetery, and several times at night
in returning TO it, we got many a fal
stumbling over the graves OF English
French and Germans. Atwell on these
| ocpnsinnS never inanlged In swearing