The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1918-05-31
CHAPTER XIV.
Picks and SnovelS.


had not slept long before the sweet
voice of the sergeant Informed that
mo. 1 section had clicked for another
blinking digging party" / smiled TO
myself with deep satisfaction. / had
been promoted from a mere digger to
member of the Suicide club. and was
exempt from all fatigues. Then came
an awful shock. The sergeant looked
| over in my direction and said:
Don't you bomb throwers think you
are wearing top hats out here. Cord
| in to orders you've been taken up on
| the strength of this sectiCn, and will
have to do your bit with the pick and
shovel, same as the rest of u.s."
put up a howl on my way to get
| my shovel, but the only thing that re-
suited was loss of good humor on
| my part.
We fell in at eight o'clock, outside
| Of our billets, q sort Of masquerade
/ party. / was disguised as a common
| laborer, had a pick and shovel, and
about one hundred empty sandbags.
The rest, about two hundred in all,
were equipped likewise: picks, shOvels,
sandbags, rifles and ammunition.
The party moved out i'm column of
| tours, taking the road leading to the
trenches. Several times we had to
string out in the ditch to let long col
umns of iimbers, artillery and supplies
get past.
The marching. under these cOndi-
tons, was necessarily slow. Upon ar
rival at the entrance to the communi-
cation trench, l looked at my illumi-
mated wrist watch-it was eleven
/ O'Clock.
Before entering this trench, word
was passed down the line, mo talking
or smoking. lead off in single file. COW
ering party first
This covering party consisted of 30
men, armed with rifles, bayonets,
bombs. and two Lewis machine guns.
They were to protect us and guard
against surprise attack while dig
ging in No Mans Land.
The communication trench was
about half a mile long, zigZagging
ditch, eight feet deep and three feet
wide.
Now and again, German shrapnel
would whistle overhead and burst in
our vicinity. We would crouch against
the earthen walls while the shell frag-
ments slapped" the ground above us.
Once Fritz turned loose with ma
chine gun, the bullets from which
Cracked" through the air and kicked
up the dirt on the top. scattering sand
and pebbles, which, hitting our steel
helmets, sounded like hailstones.
Upon arrival in the fire trench an
officer of the Royal Engineers gave US
our instructions and acted as guide.
We were to dig an advanced trench
two hundred yards from the Germans
(the trenches at this point were six
hundred yards aparD.
Two winding lanes, five feet wide,
had been cut through our barbed wire,
for the passage of the diggers. From
these lines white tape had been laid
on the ground to the point where we
were to commence work. This in or
der that we would not get lost in the
darkness. The proposed trench was
also laid out with tape.
The covering party went out first
After a short wait, two scouts came
back with information that the work
ing party was to folfpw and ''carry on"
with their work.
In extended order. two yards apart,
we noiselcssly creptI across No Mans
Land. IL was nerJbus work: every
minute we expected q machine gun to
open IRE on us- strj y bullets cracked"
around ~, or . ficochet sang over
head.
Arriving At the tapped diagram Of
the trench. rine4 .slung around our
shouldersv - LOT no dime In getting
to work. We dig a quietly - pos
sible but evesy 6ow and then TIE noise
So - - navsa alz1nlng ~ sobne
Wonl0 SOD ~ eoad shlvees down our
bae1n. Un69 Due bgeothD We heartily
|csrsed ths ogsdine 1ennJ.