The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1918-04-23

''All | want yn;! hnrS q DO IS - %t>
over 10 the Gs"Inar Ines tonight, sli'-
prise them. secure couple of pt:s.n
crS. and return Immediately. Our ar
tillcry has bombarded tllat section Z
The line for two days and personally
believe that that part of the Ger:'';'n
trench is uno"cupird. so just get Il c:;,i-
pie of prisoners and return Is quickly
as possible"
The sergeant on my right, in "a I'M
dertone. whispered TO me:
"Say Yank how are we going to gat
a couple of prisoners if the Ole fool
thinks personally that that part of iae
trench is unoccupied, sounds N!il of
fiShy, doesn't it mater
1 had a funny sinking sensation in
my stomach, and my tin hat felt as il
it weighed about ton and MY enthusi-
asrn was melting away. Old Pepper
must have heard the sergeant speak
because he turned in his direction and
in laundering voice asked:
"What did you say?'
The sergeant with a scarlet look on
his face and his knees trembling,
smartly saluted and answered:
Nothing, sir
Old Pepper said:
"Well, don't say it so loudly the nexe
time"
Then Old Pepper continued:
"In this section of the German
trenches there are two or three ma
chine guns which our artillery, in the
last two or three days, has been un-
able to tape These guns command the
sector where two of our communicA-
ton trenches join the front lire, and
as the brigade is to go over the top to-
morrow morning l want to capture two
or three men from these guns crews,
and from them may be able to obtain
valuable information as to the exact
location Of the guns, and our artillery
will therefore be able to demoliSh them
before the attack, and thus prevent
our losing lot of men while using
these communication trenches to bring
up re-enforcements."
These were the instructions he gave
US:
"Take off your Identification disks,
strip your uniforms of all numerals,
insignia, ETC., leave your papers with
your captains. because I don't want the
Boches to know what regiments are
against them as this would be valuable
information 70 them in our attack to
morrow and don't want any Of you
to be taken alive. What I want is two
prisoners and if I get them have a
way which will make them divulge
all necessary information as to their
guns. You have your choice Of two
weapons-you may carry your per
suaders' or your knuckIe knives, and
each man will arm himself with four
Mills bombs, these to be used only in
case of emergency"
A persuader is Tommy's nickname
for club carried by the bonbers. 1t
is about two feet long, thin at one end
and very thick at the other. The thick
end is studded with sharp steel spikes,
while through the center Of the club
there is a nine-i,.ch lead bar, to give
it. weight and balance. When you get
a prisoner al! you have TO do is just
stick this club up in front of him, and
believe me, the prisoners patriotism
for Deutschland ueber Allies" fades
away and he very willingly obeys the
orders Of his captor. If, however, the
prisoner gets high-toned and refuses to
follow ylu, simply persuade" him oy
first removing his tin hat, and then
well, the use of the lead weight in the
persuader is demonstrated, and Toms
my looks for another prisoner.
The knuckle knife is dagger affair."
the blade Of which is about eighr
inches long with a heavy steel guarG
over the grip This guard is studdeG
with steel projections. At night in
trench. which is only about three tS
four feet wide. it makes d very handy
weapon. One punch in the face gen.
orally skaters mans jaw and you
can get MIN WIN the hu4Ie as NC S"SS
down.
Then we had what we called our
"come-alongs" These are strands OF
barbed wire about three feet long,
made into moose at one end; at tnS
other end, the barbs are cut off and
Tommy slips his wrist through loop
to get a good grip on the wire. If the
prisoner wants to argue the point, why
just place the large loop around his
neck and no matter If Tommy wishes
to return to his trenches at the walk
! trot, or gallop, Fritz is perfectly agree
able to maintain Tommy's rate OK
! speed. y
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