The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1918-03-26
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tA01lnE dlhhR, ERMAGM FRANCE

SShRO&AS~S
. mans body would b silhouested
against the parados Of the trench and
4 appeared Hike a hugo monster. You
could hardly hear yourself think. When
an order was to be passed down the
trench you had to yell It. uanG your
hands a. . funnel INTO ths ear Of the
man sitting next to you % the Gre step.
In about twenty minutes Q generous
rum issus was doled ost After drink
Ing the rum which tasted nhe varnish
and sant q shuddsr tArouSh zeur
frama, you wondered why thW made
you wstt until ths lifting Of tho bar
raSe before going over. At ten MN
uees to four word Was passed down,
ten minutes 10 pos Ten minutes
to Aysl We were delivering al over.
Ny legs fAt % 4 thay were sheep.
Then word WIS passed down: First
wave GET On and near the ,sca1ns lad
dsrs."
These were small wooden ladders
which. we had placsdiagainst the para
pet to, enable 10 TO 90 over the top on
the lifting Of the berreea ladders Of
death" we called them, and vertically
thay were.
Before Q charge Tommy h the 20
lftest Of men. There b .nsYeS any puah-
ing OF ezowding to BE- first up these
lkddefs. We crGnched Round the base
M the ladders waiting for the word
to 90 oven. -Iwes sick and faint, and
WIS pufhng away at en- unlighted fag.
Thsa came, the. word. 'Thrse minutes
to 60; upon The uftinI Of the barrase
and on the blast Of the Whistles, Over
the top With the, best u luck and give
than bsH.!" The fsmous phrase OF
Hss pestern front Ills. Jonah phrase
he Wsstssni front. 10 Tommy It
means II you ana hakytanoughtto come
back. you win b minus IN arm a .
lee. Tommy hates. to b wished the
best of luck; 90. uhsn peace 70 de-
esarsd. y, Il svss b, and you meet .
Tommy % the street Inst wish him The
best, q luck and du6 the :bFsek that
touoWA -"
I glanced again at mytvrtst watch.
Wsa1 wore them and youcould' hardly
call % -stshss' for doinye II was .
minuta b, .fouR. ,I;could; see tie hand
move to tn, swelys,- than . dead ID
hence. It, hurt. Ever5sne3 Looked up
10 80 what lad hApssasd, lbut&noe zsf
leoE. ahap. whistle blasts S1nS ont
along ths trench, and With a;ehsse o.
mep scrambled up The hdtsrsN. The
bullets we've egsckdn6 overhead; ard
oesshonally a. naoAihs DUN would ZIP
and tsar tie tgp q thsl sandbas psfa.
pes How I got NJ. thst Addsf I VIII
.nsAar know. Tho frst nan. fsst,out in
front kas agony. Hhen We paDsA
through lsnes-h our barhed- yira. /
knew I vas running. but could tssa No
motion below the satyt Patches "A
tie ground seemed toI foat,t the rsRr
a f. ! were on attreAdmilli and aeea-
ery was rushins ffpast ms. The Ger
mans had put . barraye Of shFapnel
across No Mans, Land, and you could
hear the piecssAaap thu ground. shout
Jon.
After I had 'passedtour barbed wire
and gotten Into No Asn's Land Q
Tommy about fifteen feet 10 my right
front turned. stround. and looking in my
direction, put his hand 10 his mouth
and yellsd something whieh.I 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 10 the ear
q me. I could hear sharp cracks In
the cir sbout me. These were caused
BY passing Eide bullets. Frequently,
to my right and left, little spurts Of
dirt would rise into the air land a rico
chst bullet would whine dn its way.
H~a Tommy should see ONE Of these
little spurts In front Of him. he would
tell the nurse about It latter. Tho
crosstng of Mo- Mans Land remains q
blank to rna
Men On my right and left would
stumble and fall: Some would try to
get Up. while others remained huddled
and motionleea. Then smashed-up
barbed wire came into view and
seemed carried on a tide to the rear.
Suddenly, m front of me bomed Q
'bashedIn trench about four feet wide.
oueer-fooking forms like mud turtles
were s-tamblins mp its wall One Of
these forms seemed to slip and then
rolled 30 the bottom Of the trench. I
.leaped across this Intervening space.
The man to my left seemed 10 pause in
midair, then pitched head down into
The German trench. laughed ont loud
10 my delirium. Upon arghting on the
othef side Of the trench I came TO With
q sndden Jolt. Right in 'front.' Of me
doomed . giant form wtthsa rihh which
about ten feet long, on the end
of which seemed seven hayonetA, These
flashed In the air In front 6 me. Then