Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-04-05

nave nedTu q NOISE III NO man b l<tHQ.
Nothing. happened. We received two
taps and crawled forward slowly for
five yards: no doubt the officer be-
lieved what Old Pepper had said.
PERSONALLY / believe that that part of
the German trench is unoccupied." BY
being careful and remaining motionless
when the star shells fell behind us, We
reached the German barbed wire with
out mishap. Then the fun began.
was scared stifr as 1t Is ticklish work
cutting your way through wire when
il about thirty feet in front Of you there
is a line OF Boches looking out into No
Mans Land with their rifles lying
across the parapet, straining every
sense to see or hear what Is going on
in No Mans Land: because at night,
Fritz never knows when 4 bomb with
his name and number on 1t will come
bursting through the air aimed In the
direction Of Berlin. The man on the
right, one man In the center and my
self on the extreme left were equipped
/ WIFI wire CulttTS. HtSt art lilSuidltu
| with soft rubber not because the Ger
man wires are charged with electricity,
but to prevent the cutters rubbing
against the barbed wire stakes. which
are Of iron, and making a noise
which may warn the inmates of the
trench that someone Is getting fresh
in their front yard. There Is only one
way to cut a barbed wire without noise
and through costly experience Tommy
has become an expert in doing this.
You must grasp the wire about two
inches from the stake in your right
hand and cut between the stake and
your hand.
II you cut a wire improperly, n
loud twang will ring out on the night
air like the swapping of a banjo
string. Perhaps this noise can be
heard only for fifty or seventyfive
yards, but in Tommy's mind II makes
a loud noise in Berlin.
We had cut lane about halfway
through the wire when. down the CEN
ter of our line. twang! went an i'm
properly cut wire. We crouched down.
cursing under our breath. trembling all
over, our knees lacerated from the
strands OF the cut barbed wire on the
ground, waiting for u challenge and
the inevitable vollcy OF rifle fire. Moth
ing happened. suppose the fellow
who cut the barbed wire improperly
was the one who had sneeZed about
half an hour previously. What we
wished him would never make his new
year happy one.
The officer. in my opinion. at the
noise Of the wire should have given the
four-tap signal, which meant, "On your
own, get back to your trenches as
quickly as possible" but again he must
have relied on the spiel that Old Pep
per had given us in the dugout, Per
sonally I believe that that part Of the
German trench is unoccupied." Any
way, we got careless, but not SO care
less that we sang patriotic songs or
made any unnecessary noise.
During the Intervals of falling star
shefis we CARRIED OH with our wire cut
ting until at last we succeeded in get
ting through the German barbed wire.
At this point we were only ten feet
from the German trenches. If we were
discovered, we were like rats in trap.
Our way was cut Off unless we ran
along the wire to the narrow lane we
had cut through. With our hearts in
our mouths we waited for the three
tap signal to rush the German trench.
Three taps had gotten about halfway
down the line when suddenly about ten
to twenty German star shells were
fired all along the trench and landed
in the barbed wire in the rear OF us.
turning night into day and silhouetting
us against the wall Of light made by
the flares. In the glaring light we
were confronted by the following un-
pleasant scene:
All along the German trench. at
about three-foot intervals, stood big
Prussian guardsman with his rifle at
the aim. and then we found out why
we had not been challenged when the
man sneezed and the barbed wire had
been improperly cut. About three feet
in front of the trench they had con-
structod a single fence Of barbed wire
and we knew our chances were one
thousand to one OF returning alive.
We could not rush their trench on ac-
count OF this second defense. Then
in front of me the challenge. Halt,
given in English rang out, and one-of
the finest things l have ever heard on
the western front took place.
From the middle of our line some
Tommy answered the challenge with.
Jaw, 20 to HI" II must have been
the man who had sneezed or who had
improperly cut the barbed wire; he
wanted to show Fritz that he could
die game. Then came the volley. Ma
chine guns were turned loose and sew
eral bombs were thrown in our rear.
The Boches In front Of me was looking
down his sight. This fellow might
have. under ordinary circumstances.
been handsome, but when I viewed him
from the front Of his rife he had the
goblins OF childhood imagination rele-
gated to the shade.
Then came a flash in front of me. the
flare Of his ritie-and my head seemed
to burst. A bullet had hit me on the
left side of my face about half an
inch from my eye. smashing the cheek
homes I put my hand to my face and
fell forward. biting the ground and
kicking my feet. thought was dy-
ing, but do you know. my past life
did not unfold before me the way 1t
does in novels.
The blood was streaming down my
tunic. and the pain was awful. When
I came to / said to myself Emp. old
boy, you belong In Jersey City, and
you'd better get back there as quickly
as possible"