New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1918-05-10

derful sight to watch l decided dds
erection was the better part Of valor.
or something like that, and got dow
In my dugout.
I went back to the advanced dress
ing station through the hottest shell
fire l ever experienced. More thai
once ! went down on my face when I
shell burst and the pieces went whiz
zing over my head. l spent the nigh
In a mined village where the advanced
dressing station was located, and al
night they shelled 1t to blazes. 1t wa.
remarkable how few casualties We
had.
About eleven o'clock the morning OF
the third day a shell blew in the side
of our post, but luckily no n was
hurt. We stuck to 1t until about foul
in the afternoon. when we saw oul
men retiring over a ridge In front OF
us, keeping up a continuous machine
gun and rifle fire, and we beat 1t back
to another village and opened anOth'
er post.
Inc oe0Timeo Ioro.
About ten o'clock on the morning OF
the fourth day Lord Thyme. my col
Onel when l was with the battalion,
stumbled into the shack where l was
sitting. He looked like a ghost. He
had lost his hat, his face was covered
with a four days beard, the sweat
had traced tracks in the dust from his
forehead to his chin. His sleeve was
torn and bloody and he had a cash in
his arm where he had been struck by
a piece Of flying shell case.
my God, doc, are you here?" he
said. "You got out just in time. The
battalion is all gone. The sunken road
Is filled with dead-mostly Huns,
damn 'em. The line broke on the
right; we were surrounded, and at
the last we were fighting back and
back. Only thirty of us got away"
So we knew the Boche had broken
through to our right and Il left, and
1t was a question Of how long 1t would
be before We, too, were surrounded.
but we wanted to stick 1t out as long
as We could.
But not more than an hour later a
medical officer rushed In from n Of
the battalions and between gasps for
breath told us the Germans were ON
the edge of the village. had shot him
through the sleeve with a machine
gun bullet luckily that was all), and
for us to beat It.
Let me tell you we did. l threw
my knapsack and made the first hun
dred yards in nothing fiat and then
settled down to a walk because I al
so out Of breath / couldn't run any
more.
The incessant scream and crash and
bang of the shells kept up and the
r~at-tat-tat Of the machine guns
ceased. The village Immediately be-
hind us vas a seethlng mass of brick
dust, smoke, flame, and bursting
shells. We were told on our way
back that a stand was % be made
behind this village, so We circled
around 1t and took up position
about a half mile behind it at a cross
roads.
Unfortunately. for us, a six inch bat
terry came into action about fifty yards
from us and. aside from the harassing
effect Of the terrific noise, batteries
are always unpleasant nelghbOrs. as
they invite shell fire. We stopped
here until about 10 o'clock Mt night,
when we were ordered to retire.
There was no way Of getting out
the wounded that we had collected, so
the stretcher bearers carried them On
their stretchers for six or seven miles.
In fact, we all helped, and when we
arrived at u destination at 4 o'clock
In the morning of the fifth day we
were all in.
I could hardly move, but after two
big bowls of hot tea and some hard
tack I turned in on the floor and slept
like a log for four hours. when we
moved to another place and opened a
dressing station.
Hun Plane Crashes.
On the way a German airplane came
and crashed neal the road, but
the pilot nor observer were
hurt. They were n couple Of rather
neat looking lads about 10 years old.
And so 1t went for three days more,
open a dressing station, retire (some-
lines on the run), long marches, very
title to eat except what we fOraged
from abandoned camps and dumps,
log tired, sleeping when and where we
,Ould, and finally the division was re-
ieVed. We now saw our first civilians,
md last night I slept in a bed. 1t
much of a bed, and the mattress
vas full of humps, but to get my
Off my sore and aching feet, to
out. and know l wouldn't be
'Outed out in fifteen minutes-well,
'Ou couldn't have bought that bed
rom me for 500.
Did you ever read Robert W. Serv-
ce's description of the retreat from
Ions? Well. that's the way l felt:
ramp, tramp. the grim road the road
from Mons to Wipers:
I've hammered out this ditty with me
bruised and bleeding feet;
ramp. tramp. the dim road
We didn't ave no pipers-
All bellies that were 'oller was the
drums we 'ad to beat.
The ninth day, sitting around the
Ire in our mess after the best dinner
re had had in days, the commanding
fficer handed m some papers and
aid, Here is something that will in
you, Petit. I want to say we
hall be sorry to lose you"
And this is what 1t was: Lieut..
T. Petit, NJ. r. c., is relieved
rom duty with the British army and
1ill proceed to the A. E. F., where he
ill report for duty"