The Huttig news., 1918-04-06

our onlcer was making his rounds Of inspection, and we received the cheer full news that at four In the morning we were to go over the top and take 1 the German front-line trench. My heart turned to lead. Then the officer car ried on with his instructions. To the best of my memory 1 recall them as , follows: At eleven wiring party will go out in front and cut lanes through our barbed wire for the passage of | troops in the morning. At two o'clock our artillery will open up with an h. tense hombardment. which will last un- til four. Upon the lifting of the bar rage the first of the three waves will go over." Then he left. Some of the Tommies. first getting permission from 1 the sergeant, went into the machine 1 gunners' dugout and wrote letters | home. saying that in the morning they were going over the top, and also that IT the letters reached their destina ion It would mean that the writer had been killed.
 These letters were turned over to the captain with instructions to mail same in the event of the writer's being l killed. Some of the men made out their wills In their pay books, under the caption, "Will and Last Testa- ment"
 Then the nerve-racking wait com menced. Every now and then I would glance at the dial of my wrist watch and was surprised to see how fast the minutes passed by. About five minutes to two 1 got nervous waiting for our guns to open up. I could not take my eyes from my watch. I crouched against the parapet and strained my muscles in a deathlike grip upon my rifle. As the hands on my watch showed two o'clock binding red flare lighted up the sky in our rear, then thunder, intermixed with sharp, whis- ting sound in the air over our heads The shells from our guns were speed ing on their way toward the German lines. With one accord the men sprang up on the fire step and looked over the top in the direction of the German trenches. A line of bursting
 
 din was terrific and the ground trem- bled. Then high above our heads we could hear a signing moan. Our big boys behind the line had opened up and 9.2's and 15-inch shells commenced dropping into the German lines. The flash of the guns behind the lines, the scream of the shells through the air, and the flare of them, bursting, was a spectacle that put Pains greatest dis play into the shade. The constant pup, pup, of German machine guns and an occasional rattle of rife firing gave me the impression of a huge audience applaudlng the work of the batteries.
 Our 1S-pounders were destroying the German barbed wire, while the heavier stuff was demolishing their trenches and bashing in dugouts or funk, holes.
 Then Fritz got busy.
 Their shells went screaming over head, aimed in the direction of the flares from our batteries. Trench mor- tars started dropping "Minnies" in our front line. We clicked several cas- ualties. Then they suddenly ceased. Our artillery had taped or silenced i them.
 During the bombardment you could almost read a newspaper in our trench. Sometimes in the flare of shell-burst mans body would be silhouetted against the parados of the trench and It appeared like huge monster. You could hardly hear yourself think. When an order was to be passed down the trench you had to yell 1t, using your hands as funnel into the ear of the man sitting next to you on the fire step. In about twenty minutes a generous fum issue was doled out. After drink ing the rum, which tasted like varnish and sent a shudder through your frame, you wondered why they made you wait until the lifting of the bar rage before going over. At ten min- utes to four word was passed down, "Ten minutes to go!" Ten minutes to live! We were shivering all over. My legs felt as If they were asleep. Then word was passed down: First wave get on and near the sealing lad ders."
 These were small wooden ladders which we had placed against the para pet to enable us to go over the top on the lifting of the barrage. Ladders of death" we called them, and vertically they were.
 Before 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 pulling away at an unlighted flag. Then came the word "ihree minutes to go; upon the lifting of the barrage and Qn 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 1t means if you are lucky enough to come back you will be minus an arm or a leg. Tommy hates to be wished the best of luck; so, when peace is de- clared, If 1t ever is, and you meet A