Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-04-05

rag. I fell forward in a sitting po'
sition. But all the fear had left mi
and / was consumed with rage an'
cursed the German trenches. VIII
my right hand l felt in my tuhi'
for my first aid or shell dressing. IL
feeling over my tunic my hand came
in contact with one of the bomb:
which 1 carried. Gripping it. pulle'
the pin out with my teeth and blindl!
threw 1t toward the German trench
| must have been out of my head. be
cause l was only ten feet from IN
trench and took a chance Of bein'
mangled. II the bomb had failed to g.
into the trench l would have beel
blown to bits by the explosion of m!
own bomb.
BY the flare of the explosion Of tn
bomb. which luckily landed in thei
trench. / saw one big Boche throw VI
his arms and fall backward, while hi
rifle few into the air. Another on
wilted and fell forward across tn
sandbags-then blackness.
Realizing what a foolhardy risk!
thing I had done, l was again seizeS
with a terrible fear. I dragged mysel
to my feet and ran madly down th'
lane through the barbed wire, STUN
bling over cut wires, tearing my uni
form, and lacerating my hands ant
legs. Just as I was about to reaci
No Mans Land again. that same voice
seemed to say, Turn around" l die
so, when, crack" another bullet
caught me, this time in the left shoul'
der about one half inch awa.' from Tho
other wound. Then y was taps for mt
The lights went out.
When l came to was crouching in
a hole in No Mans Land. This shtl
hole was about three feet deep, so thai
it brought my head a few inches be-
low the level of the ground. How
reached this hole / will never know
German "typewriters'' were traversing
back and forth in No Mans Land. tho
bullets biting the edge of my shell hole
and throwing dirt all over me.
Overhead shrapnel was bursting
could hear the fragments slap the
ground. Then l went out once more
When came to everything was silence
and darkness in No Mans Land.
was soaked with blood and big flal
from the wound in my cheek was
hanging over my mouth. The blood
running from this flap choked me. Gu,
of the corner OF my mouth ! would try
and blow it back, but it would no,
move. / reached for my shell dressing
and tried with one hand. to bandage
my face to prevent the flow. had
an awful horror OF bleeding to death
and was getting very faint. You would
have laughed II you had seen my
ludicrous attempts at bandaging with
one hand. The pains in my wounded
shoulder were awful and ! was getting
sick at the stomach. gave up the
stunt as a bad job and then
tainted.
When 1 came to. hell was let loose
An Intense hombardment was on. a4J
on the whole my position was decided
ly unpleasant. Then. suddenly. our
barrage ceased. The silence almost
hurt. but not for long, because Fritz
turned loose with shrapnel, machine
guns. and rife fire. Then all along our
line came a cheer and our boys came
over the top in a charge. The first
wave was composed of Jocks" They
were a magnificent sight. kits flap
ping in the wind. bare knees showing,
and their bayonets glistening. In the
first wave that passed my shell hole.
one Of the Jocks" an immense fellow,
about six feet two inches in height
jumped right over me. On the right
and left OF me several soldiers In COL
ored kits were huddled on the ground,
then over came the second wave. also
Jocks" One young Scottie, when he
came abreast of my shell hole, leaped
into the air, his rifle shooting out Of his
hands. landing about six feet in front
of him. bayonet first, and stuck in the
ground, the butt trembling. This i'm
pressed me greatly.
Right now I can see the butt Of that
gun trembling. The Scottie made a
turn in the air, hit the
ground. rolling over twice. each time
at the earth. and then re-
mained still, about four feet from me,
in sort of sitting position. I called to
him, Are you hurt badly. Jock?" but
no answer. He was dead. A dark red
was coming through his tunic
right under the heart. The blood ran
down his bare knees, making hor-
rible sight. On his right side he car
ried his water bottle. was crazy for
Il drink and tried to reach this, but for
the life OF me could not negotiate that
four feet. Then became unconscious.
When I woke up was In an advanced
first laid post. asked the doctor II
we had taken the trench. I'VE took
the trench and tho wood beyond, all
right" he said, 'and you fellows did
your bit: but, my lad, that was thirty
six hours ago. You were lying in No
Mans Land in that bally hole for a
day and half. It's a wonder you are
alive" He also told me that out Of
the twenty that were in the rai,ling
party. seventeen were killed. The Of
fiCer died OF wounds in crawling back
to our trench and ! was severely
but one fellow returned
without u scratch. without any prison.
ers. No doubt this chap was the one
who had sneezed and improperly cut
the barbed wTfe.
In the official communique our trench
raid was described as follows:
'All quiet on the western front, ex-
cepting in the neighborhood Of Com
mecourt wood, where one of our raid
ing parties penetrated into the Ger
man lines. "
It Is needless to say that we hal no
use for our persuaders or come-alcngs.
as we brought hack no Drisoners and