The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-09-06

former resident of Mankato.
Dearest Folks: 1t is darn near time
/ wrote more than the note that |
sent the other day. l am feeling fine,
sitting up in nice white bed and
! munching bon bons. My leg is doing
nicely and gives me very little trou-
BILE. AS ! told you, / got a machine
gun bullet through the calf of my
left leg. 1t went in on the outside
little below the middle and came
out about three inches higher. Made
a nice hole, which has been well
cleaned out and should give no trou-
BILE. The small bone in my leg is
broken, but not misplaced at all
There isn't even splint on it now,
but | have to stay in bed If the
wound heals soon they will put a
cast on it,. and l can get about.
/ am in Nantes, which, | guess, is
quite place. Tates Murphy is here.
and comes in every day. 1t surely
makes it nice to see him. Today he
brought two very nice French girls
with him.
/ wish l could tell you all about
what I-have been doing for the last
few weeks. Sure lived fast for time.
Huns Scent Attack.
When | wrote the last letter | was
|staying back with a French machine
gun company that relieved us. After
that we travelled about France pretty
lively for time. I'll write the story
OF 1T some time. Finally, on the morn
ing of the 18th we found ourselves,
after an all night hike, in sunken
road just behind our front line near
scissors.
We were to attack at 4:35. About
AIS we arrived and crawled out
little way to the infantry that was to
go over in the first wave. A few
shells were dropping behind us and
an occasional machine gun bullet
whizzed overhead. Otherwise quiet.
Behind us, through the ravine and on
the roads, we could hear the clatter
and bang of the tanks coming up. We
had heard them all night and Won
dered why the boche wasn't wise. At
4:3O he evidently smeIled a large
sized rat, for all along his line there
went up red rockets, with four stars.
we Rugged the ground closer, for we
knew it was his S. o. S., and then
his barrage came down. Shells began
TO drop among us, and we had to
SUCK it out for five minutes.
Hundreds Surrender.
On the dot, our guns opened.
(Ihere had> been no previous artil-
lery preparatory Believe me. the
noise they made was grand, and
helped lot. Everybody up and for
ward in hurry to get through the
boche barrage. There were practi
cally no trenches and no wire, so it
was mostly in the open. The worst
was at the start near our own front
line. One shell knocked over one of
my squads, my sergeant, my runner
ana myself. No one scratched save
two OF the lads who were wounded
we scrambled up and went on.
After that grand morning. Hardly
mad we showed ourselves than the
boche began pumping out of the
wheat and coming toward us with
kamerads" and their hands up. Hun
oreds OF them hurried to surrender.
we didn't bother with them, lust
chased them to the rear by them
selves.
once In a while some particularly
brave Hun would stick by machine
gun IN the wheat, which was waist
nlgh, but most of them quit before
they did much damage. Those that
stuck, the doughboys soon chased
out or we knocked them out with
one of our machine guns. One of
tnem | got with my pistol.
At one point there were forty or
nfty Huns in q strong point to our
right. The infantry halted, we went
into action out i'm front of them and
you should have seen the boche scat
ter. After that it was picnic. no
ngnting TO speak of and every one
ieit able to go on to Berlin. We
stopped, however and began to dig
in. Another outfit went over us and
Kept the ball rolling. Soon we went
forward again and took up positions
some miles from where we started.
L. r