The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1918-04-11

push we did, and the Germans hadn't
been able to put up much wire. What
there was had been flattened out by the
T. M. BIS.
Trench Mortar Work.
1T was a good little T.. M. battery We
had III that bit Of the line. The officer
In charge OF them was a Yorkshiremau
one OF these keen chaps that are Al
our regiment. but he'd have been O
credit to us IL he had. He damned 1t
into the Gerries the whole day, and OF
course it meant that they hit back. The
strafed us with five-nines, and that was
a bit deadly: still, I suppose you've got
to take that az it comes. Anyhow, his
Il. M. battery officer was n pretty fair
dodger. He would give the German
trenches two bombs and the wire me-.
They thought he was after their blood.
l expect. and all the time 1t was the
wire he was at. He blew two or three
clean paths through the wire. He was
a workman, a j~ourneyman at his Job.
that Z. NJ. battery officer.
Tho Raid.
we knew that the Gerries would be
out mending their line that night, put
ting up wire and that. Sc our officers
arranged that the raid was to come Off
as soon as it was dark. 1t was very
We'll uOuS. Inc IL. M. DdtttIy liz
kept banging away until the dark was
just coming on, then started TO cut
down the firing q bit and, let them have
bursts at odd times. Half an hour, a
burst, 10 minutes. another. 10 mute
another. with odd bombs In between.
The Gerries must nave been wondering
their heads off. 1t must have been just
after z o'clock when we crept out. while
the mortars blew over a few bombs.
natural like.
I'VE were out for the usual thing,
sheer devilment in the German line:
damage dugouts. take prisoners and
generally kick UP Hell. Our big officer
led the way, as usual. I had a couple
Of bombs. though I'm a bayonet man.
but q bombs a handy thing to have
about you. We nipped into the German
lines n found a pretty good windup
among them. There was g. bit OF
Kamerading' and a bit Of fight. too.
1t was a strong point in the German
line, with two or three machine CUR
emplacements. One of the machine
| guns started to play on US n l let
drive with the bomb into the post. Then
we rushed it and landed into a bunch
with @ bit of fight in them. There was
q tidy mixup then, and ! engaged a fell
low with the bayonet. He fired at me
and got me in the side just as I made
q point at him. Whether it was being
hit or If I slipped / don't know, but
I got him in the shoulder when I meant
TO get his chest. He did the Kane
talked good English, too.
Light Duty" for Wounded.
"The sergeant saw I was hit, and told
! me to take four Gerries back with my
prisoner. l could hardly breathe with
the packet I had, so 1 made the Ger
mans pull me out OF the trench and
lead the way to our lines. Behind. us
---. $500 I -. AL> 1H,vs az
the German trench and machine gun
posts. stink-bombs in the dug outs,
good charges under the machine gun
emplacepents, general bedeviTneht-
! that Is what these tip and u raids are
1.-THE prisoner I took spoke good Eng
fish. He'd been a butter merchant in
| Hamburg--never been in England
though he could speak the language
so we'll. He was a sort Of corporal or
something, and he thought I'd bear O
grudge for my packet, but l gave him
a casper to smoke when we went down
to the dressing station, to show him it
was all right. That locsened his
tongue and he talked a lot.
HE had the hump about Germany.
He said that they seemed to have a lot
Of victories, but none that led to any
thing, and he said the news from his
homo was very BAD His fathers
business had all gone. and food was
| awful scarce with the folks at home.
Lots Of his relations were sick and
| couldn't get better, and 1t seemed to be
pretty general in Germany all over.
He said that h Gerries in III firing
line were fed up with the letters they
got from home, always grousing about
no food n about Being sick.
"Too Many Victories"
II couldn't understand how 1t was
IL 49,, x,n.. xyfp,fno ct,nb - 1~% ~
| victories that there was no peace. /
told him they'd had no victories worth
talking about, and asked him about
Vimy and M~essines. He said it was
| lust because we had such O lot Of guns
| that no troops on earth could stand the
fire. Then I spoke about Cambria with
no artillery fire. and he seemed to
think tina they'd won all the ground
back. / told him what a little bit it
was they'd taken back, n that It
| didn't make much difference, as we
were still holding Mr.. Blooming Hin
%denburg's ~line-only l spoke respectful
like about Hindenburg. I didn't like
to hurt a chap that was down n a
prisoner. 1t wouldn't be good man
ners-we leave that sort Of thing to
the Gerries.
HE praised up Hindenburg, but still
I could see that he was not too sure
everything was all right; he seemed to
think that the Germans were being
diddled by their superiors. He was
a decent enough chap, hat Gerry, and
had the makihgs of a good soldier. He
eaid a queer thing, too, something about
me making our wounds a bond Of
sympathy He couldn't get over me
being decent to him though he'd shot
me in the side.
II cannot understand you, English
man. he says, you are generous too
much