The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1918-05-10

IN my dugOut-
went back TO the advanced dress
Ing station through thel hottest shell
ire | ever experienced. More than
once | went down on my face when a
shell burst and the pieces went whiz-
zing over my head. | spent the night
in mined village where the advanced
dressing station was located, aud all
night they shelled II TO blazes II was
remarkable how few casualties we
had
About eleven o'clock the morning OF
the third day shell blew in the side
of our post, but luckily no one was
hurt. We stuck 10 il until about four
in the afternoon, when we saw our
men retiring over a ridge in front Of
US, keeping up continuous machine
gun and rife fire, and we beat il back
to another village and opened anoth-
err post.
The Bearimed Lord.
About ten o'clock on the morning Of
the fourth day Lord Thyme, my col
onel when | was with the battalion,
stumbled into the shack where | was
sitting. He looked like ghost. He
had lost his hat, his face was covered
with four days beard, the sweat
had traced tracks in the dust from his
forehead 10 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 filed with dead--mostly Huns,
| damn 'em. The line broke on the
| right; we were surrounded, and at
| the last we We're fighting back and
back. Only thirty OF rs got away"
| So we knew the BOche had broken
| through TO our right and our left, and
ii was a question of how long it would
| be before we, too, were surrounded.
| but we wanted to stick Il out as long
| as we could.
But not more than an hour later n
! medical officer rushed in from one of
| the battalions and between gasps for
! breath told MS Che Germans were on
the edge Of the village, had shot him
! through the sleeve with a machine
gun bullet luckily that was al), and
for us to beat It.
Let me tell you we did. threw
my knapsack and made the first hun
dred yards in nothing fiat and then
settled down to walk because l was
so out Of breath / couldn't run any
more.
The incesSant scream and crash and
bang of the shells kept up and the
rat-tat-tat Of the machine guns never
ceased. The village Immediately be
hind us was a Seething mass of brick
dust, smoke, flame, and bursting
shells. We were told on our way
back that stand was to be made
behind this village, so we circleC
around 1t and took up a position
about a half mile behind IL at cross
roads.
Unfortunately for us, six inch bat
terry came into action about fifty yards
from US and aside from the harnssinl
effect of the terrific noise. batteries
are always unpleasant neighbors, a
they invite shell fire. We stopped
here until about 10 o'clock at night
when we were ordered to retire.
There was no way Of getting on
the wounded that we had collected, 81
the stretcher bearers carried them OF
their stretchers for six or seven miles
In fact, we all helped, and when W,
arrived at our destination at OclOcl
in the morning of the fifth day w
were all in.
could hardly move, but after TIVE
big bowls of hot tea and some har'
tack turned In on the floor and slep
like a log for four hours. when W
moved TO another place and opened
dressing station.
Hun Plane Crashes.
On the way German airplane cam
down and crashed near the road, bu
neither the pilot nor observer wer
hurt. They were couple of rattle
neat looking lads about 10 years old
And so 1t went for three days more
open dressing station, retire tsome
times on the run). long marches, YER
little to eat except what we forage
from abandoned camps and dump
dog tired, sleeping when and where "
could. and finally the division was re
Heved We now saw our first civilians
and last night | slept In bed.
wasn't much Of a bed. and the mattreS
was full of humps, but 10 get IN
boots of my sore and aching FEET, {
stretch out, and know I wouldn't b
routed out IN fifteen minutes-wel
you couldn't have bought that be
from me for 500.
Did you ever read Robert W. Ser
ices description Of the retreat frOI
Mons? Wen. that's the way felt
Tramp. tramp the grim road the roa
from Mons TO Wipers;
I've 'smmered out this dltty with n