The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1918-04-11
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Ny legs felt as if they were asleep.
Then word was passed down: "First
wave get on and near the scaling lad
ders."
These were small wooden ladders
which we had placed against the para
pet to enable US to 60 over the top on
the lifting of the barrage. Ladders Of
death we called them, and veritably
they were.
Before a charge Tommy is the po-
litest Of men. There is never any push
ing or crowding to be first up these
ladders. We crouched around the base
of the ladders waiting for the word
to go over. I was sick and faint, and
was putting away at an unlighted fag.
Then came the word, 'Three minutes
to go; upon the lifting Of the barrage
and on the blast Of the whistles, Over
the top with the best O. luck and give
them hell" The famous phrase Of
the western front. The Jonah phrase
of the western front. To Tommy it
means if you are lucky enough to come
back you will be minus an arm or
leg. Tommy hates to be wished the
best of luck; so, when peace is de-
clared, If it ever is, and you meet a
Tommy on the street, just wish him the
best Of luck and duck the brick that
follows.
I glanced again at my wrist watch.
We all wore them and you could hardly
call US "sissies' for doing so. 1t was
minute to four. I could see the hand
move to the twelve, then dead 81
lence. It hurt. Everyone looked up
to see what had happened, but not for
long. Sharp whistle blasts rang out
along the trench, and with cheer the
men scrambled up the ladders. The
bullets, were cracking overhead, and
occasionally a machine gun would rip
and tear the top Of the sandbag para
pet. How got up that ladder Will
never know. The first ten feet out In
front was agony. Then we passed
through lanes in our barbed wire. 1
knew I was running, but could feel no
motion below the waist. Patches on
the ground seemed to float to the rear
as if I were on a treadmill and seen
cry was rushing past me. The Ger
mans had put barrage Of shrapnel
across No Mans Land, and you could
hear the pieces slap the ground about
you.
After had passed our barbed wire
and gotten into No. Mans Land a
Tommy about fifteen feet to my right
front turned around and looking in my
direction, put his hand to his mouth
and yelled something which could not
make out on account of the. noise from
the bursting shells. Then he coughed,
stumbled, pitched forward and lay still.
His body seemed to float to the rear
of me. I could hear sharp cracks in
the ar about me. These were caused
by passing rifle bullets. Frequently,
to my right and left, little spurts Of
dirt would rise into the air and r1co-
chet bullet would whine on its way.
If a Tommy should see one Of these
little spurts in front Of him, he would
tell the nurse about it later. The
crossing of No Mans Land remains
blank to me.
Men on my right and left would
stumble and fall. Some would try to
get up, while others remained huddled
and motionleSS. Then smaShed-up
barbed wire came into view and
seemed carried on a tide to the rear.
Suddenly, in front Of me loomed
bashed-in trench about four feet wide.
Overlooking forms like mud turtles
were s~.ambling up its wall. One Of
these forms seemed to slip and then
rolled to the bottom of the trench, I
leaped across this intervening space.
The man to my left seemed to pause in
midair, then pitched head down into
the German trench. I laughed out loud
in my delirium.. Upon alighting on the
other side of the trench came to with
a sudden jolt. Right in front Of me
loomed giant form with a rifle which
looked about ten feet long, on the end
of which seemed seven bayonets. These
flashed in the air, in front Of me. Then
through my mind flashed the admoni-
ton of our bayonet instructor back in
Blighty. He had said, whenever you
get in charge and run your bayonet
up to the hilt intosa German the Fritz
will fall. Perhaps your rifle will be
wrenched from your grasp. Do not
waste time, If the bayonet is fouled
in his. equipment, by putting your foot
on his stomach and tugging at the rifle
to extricate the bayonet. Simply
press the trigger and the bullet will
free it." In my present situation this
was the logic, but for the life Of me
I could not remember how he had told
me to get my bayonet into the Ger
man. To me this was the paramount
issue. I closed my eyes and lunged
forward. My rifle was torn from my
hands. I must have gotten the Ger
man because he had disappeared.
About twenty feet to my left front