The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1918-04-03


cling in the rear and then the inSur-
anCe man, but in our case, the under
takers were leading, with the doctors
trailing behind, minus the insurance
udiust@.'
The presence OF the X A. N. c. men
did not seem to disturb the raiders, be-
cause many Il Joke made in an under
tore. was passed along the winding
column, rs to who would be first to
take a ride on one of the Stretchers.
This was generally followed by wish
That. if you We're to be the one, the
wound would be Il 'cuShy Blighty
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
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 a lone
ly sentry. who in a whisper would
wish us the best o. luck, mates" We
would blind at him under our breaths !;
that Jonah phrase to US sounded very
/ ominous.
Without any casualties the minstrel
troop arrived at Suicide ditch, the
front-line trench. Previously, Il wiring
party of the Royal Engineers had cut
a 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 it is not
safe to carry on heated conversation
/ few yards in front of Fritz lines.
i 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 l would send back one tap
The officer, in receiving this 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 W. re to crawl forward
sioWly-and bei"Ee me, very slowly
for five yards. and then halt to await
further instructions. Three taps meant,
when you arrived within striking dis
vance of the German trench, rush it
md infiict as riany casualties as pos
Sihle, secure couple of prisoners, and
then back to your own lines with the
speed clutch open. Four taps meaut,
/ II have gotten you into a position from
which it is impossible for me to extri-
: cate you, so you are on your own"
After getting Tommy into 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 "on his own" behind
the lines, but not during trench raid
The star shells from the German
| lines were falling in front of US, there
! tore we were safe. After about twen-
, ~ 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 it
| burned out. The smoke from the star
| sheA 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 VIXEN 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 it 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
hurtling 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
with wire cutters. These are insulated
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 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.
| If you cut a wire improperly, a
loud twang will ring out on the night
air like the swapping of banjo
string. Perhaps this noise can be
heard only for fifty or seventy-five
yards, but in Tommy's mind it makes
/ q loud noise in Berlin.
| We had cut a 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 a challenge and
the inevitable volley of rifle fire. Moth.
ing happened. l 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.
| Tho officer in nv oDiDioD at tine