New Britain herald., 1918-04-25
co. | BOYS GASSED
and UNDER fire
Pvt. O'Dell, in Base Hospital,
Writes Of His Experiences

is hell" He is now under observa-
ton vt Base Hospital No. Is, having
had u touch of gas poisoning. By in
Ference 1t may be concluded that he
mad IL mishap passing through the
communicating trenches while wear
ing has mask, for he refers to the diff
heultles attendant to such a trip
Having done two clutches" in the
front line trenches and having been
sassed he regards himself as a vet
eran. Two most interesting letters
nave just been received by his moth
er, Mrs. John F. O'Del of Blake
court, Belyidere. The letters follow:
Somewhere in France,
March 27, 1918.
Dearest Mother:
I'm a regular veteran now, Ma
Two 'hitches' in the front line
trenches and still O. K. I'm now in
Base Hospital No. Is, A. E. F., under
observation. You see while we
cupied the trenches across from Fritz
he took a dislike to our dear Amer
lean Sammies and he thought he'd
try some of his "civilized' warfare
on us. He gave us twenty-four hours
of gas, without any letup, and be-
1ieve me, that gas sure is some prod
uct of ''kultur". It's about the worst
think and [ don't think they are far
here now. under observation for a
touch of gas poisoning, but I don't
believe it is bad, so don't worry.
The big drive that is on now will
end the war, is What most people
thing and I don't think they are far
from wrong. I just wish you could
visit some of. the dug-outs up on the
line. Some have Morris chairs and
wicker chairs. They have looking
ole II Ill l.
home as you can expect under fire.
I watched a barrage one morning
about o'clock. and believe me it
was a nice sight. The sky resem-
bled sunset, only it was all flashes, as
the guns went off. The sky was lit
up for miles around. Oh, it's some
war, but Sherman never knew what
war really was. I was attached to
battalion headquarters as a laison,
or in American, runner. I carried
messages between the lines, and I
heard and saw all the firing | wanted
to see. One good thing about the
shells is that you can generally tell
just about where they are going to
hit. The noise they make coming
through the air is like a train going
around a curve, and when they
break, Oh, Lord, what racket. The
"a7 shells are the most musical Of
them all. They hum all the way
over, and when they land there's a
puff and a whizz and it's all over
Poison floats through the air and
that's the end of it. Well, Mother, 7
guess that's about all you want to
know about the war, but I thought
you would like to know what We see
and do.
I wrote to the top sergeant of my
%o11 inn, ~
send my mail, so I suppose I will be
seeing a little mail pretty soon. I
haven't had any since we went to the
trenches the last time, SO I suppose
7 can expect some pretty soon. Re-
member me to all the family and
Florence. T got a letter of hers
dated Jan. 9, on March is. That
must have been delayed somewhere.
That's all for now, Ma, but I'll write
again soon. Your loving son,
BILLY.
Gas War Sure Is He'll.
To friend Private O'Dell writes:
March 27th, rs,
Somewhere in France
Dear Charley
It's some time since I wrote but
it was through fault of mine. I've
been up in the front line and in re-
! serve for over month. so you see
I couldn't write. There is no mail
gees out from the line What do you
think of Fritz? When he found out
that we were neighbors of his, he
sent over twenty-four hours of his
gas and tried to drive us out, but
our artillery gave him shot for shot,
and about three hundred per cent
better. And the next morning, we
j sent up a barrage that a fly couldn't
get through. [ guess our artillery
sends about four shots to every one
of Fritz's. But that gas sure is hell.
It's about the worst enemy to man
in this war. When a man has to
wear a gas mask and try to walk
through a communicating trench at
night, it's some job. Naturally, off
comes the mask and Mr.. Gas gets in
lis work. You ought to hear bar
rage, Charley. Some fireworks be-
lieve mel | am now in Base Hospi-
tai No. Is, under observation for gas
This hospital is some nice little
place There is a large Y. M G. A
here, and we have entertainments
every night I have heard quite a
few of the lads talking about the
good work of the Red Cross. All Of
them say if they ever have any
money they don't know what to do
With it will go to the Red Cross
The nurses are like mothers to the
men The place is all fitted out with
iron beds. Each man has two sheets
and two blankets, a feather pillow
and mattress. and everything spick
and span. We have all kinds of games
end reading matter. and a fellow
nclx fnr