Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1918-07-04

ing Fritz "the best o. luck" you intro
duce him to your ''persuader" Of
knuckle knife.
little later we arrived at the com
munleation trench named Whisky
street, which led TO the fire trench a
the point we were to go over the tot
and out In front.
III our rear were four stretcher bear
srs and a corporal Of the X. A. NJ. 9
cnrrylng n pouch containing medicines
and first-aid appliances. Kind of q
grim reminder 10 us that our expedi
ton was not going to be exactly a pic
mic. The order of things was reversed
In civilian life the doctors generally
come first. with the underwriters tag
ging In the rear and then the insur
nnee man. but In our case, the under
takers were leading. with the doctors
trailing behind, minus the insurance
adiuster.
The presence of the II. A. Nj. G. mer
/ dill not seem TO disturb the raiders, be
cause many a joke made in an under.
tone. was passed along the winding
column, as to who would be first to
take ride on one Of the stretchers
This was generally followed by a wish
that, If you were TO be the one. the
wound would be a "cushy BlShty
one
The stretcher bearers, no doubt
hoping that. If they did have to carry
anyone to the rear. he would be small
and light Perhaps they looked at me
I when wishing, because ! could feel an
uncomfortable, boring sensation be-
tween my shoulder blades. They got
their wish all right
Going up this trench, about every
sixty yards or so we would pass lone
" sentry. who in whisper would
wish us "the best o. luck, mates" We
would blind at him under our breaths
that Jonah phrase to us sounded very
omlnous
'WTili6ur 1lny casualties sle minstrel
troop arrived at Suicide ditch, the
front-llne trench. Previously, a wiring
party of the Royal Engineers had cut
lane through our barbed wire to en-
able us to get out into No Mans Land.
Crawling through this lane, our
party of twenty took up an extended
order formation about one yard apart.
We had a tap code arranged for our
movements while In No Mans Land,
because for various reasons II Is not
safe to carry on heated conversation
few yards In front of Fritz lines.
The officer was on the right of the
line, while | was on the extreme left.
Two taps from the right would be
passed down the line until | received
them, then / would send back one tap
would know that his order had gone
down the whole line, had been under
stood, and that the party was ready
to obey the two-tap signal. Two taps
meant that we We're to crawl forward
slowly-and believe me, very slowly
for five yards. and then halt 10 await
further instructions. Three taps meant,
when you arrived within striking dis
lance of the German trench, rush it
and inflict as many casualties as pos
sible, secure a couple of prisoners, and
then back TO your own lines with the
speed clutch open. Four taps meant,
Il have gotten you into position from
which L i Impossible for me to extri-
cate you, so you-are on your own
After getting Tommy Into a mess on
the western front he is generally told
that he is ION his own" This means,
Save your skin in any way possible"
Tommy loves to be ION his own" behind
the lines, but not during trench raid.
The star shells from the German
lines were falling in front of us, there
fore we were safe. After about TWEEN
ty minutes we entered the star shell
zone. A star shell from the German
lines fell about five yards in the rear
and to the right of me; we Rugged the
ground and held our breath until 1t
burned out. The smoke from the star
shell Travelled along the ground and
crossed over the middle of our line.
Some Tommy sneezed The smoke had
gotten up his nose. We crouched on
the ground, cursing the offender under
our breath. and waited the volley that
generally ensues when the Germans
have heard a noise in No Mans Land
Nothing happened. We received two
taps and crawled forward slowly for
five yards; no doubt the officer be-
lieved what Old Pepper had said, per
sonally believe that that part of the
German trench is unoccupied." BY be-
ing 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 stiff as 1t is ticklish work
cutting your way through wire when
about thirty feet in front of you there
is 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 bomb with
his name and number on it will come
hurting through the air aimed In the
direction of Berlin. The man on the
RIGHT one man in the center and N.Y.