Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1918-03-21


Ing or crowdlng to be first up these
ladders. We crOuched around the base
OF the ladders waiting for the word
to 20 over / was sick and faint, and
was pulling away at an unlighted flag
Then came the word. ''Three minutes
TO go; upon the lifting Of the barrage
and on the blast OF the whistles, over
the top with the best o. luck and give
them HE'LL" The famous phrase of
the western front The Jonah phrase
" the western front. To Tommy II
means II you are lucky enough to come
back you will be minus an arm or a
leg. Tommy hates to be wished the
best OF luck So when peace Is de-
clared, II II ever is, and you meet a
Tommy on the street. just wish him the
best OF luck and duck the brick that
follows.
glanced again at my wrist watch.
We all wore them and you could hardly
call us "slssIes" for doing so. II was
minute to four. l could see the hand
move to the twelve, then a dead 81
lence. II hurt. Everyone looked up
to see what had happened, but not for
long. Sharp whistle blasts rang out
along the trench, and with cheer the
men scrambled up the ladders. The
bullets we're cracking overhead, and
occasionally a machine gun would rip
and tear the top Of the sandbag para
pet. How got up that ladder / will
never know. The first ten feet out In
front was agony. Then we passed
through lanes in our barbed wire.
knew / was running but could feel no
motion below the waist. Patches on
the ground seemed to float to the rear
as If / were on a treadmill and seen
cry was rushing past me. The Ger
mans had put barrage of shrapnel
across No Mans Land. and you could
hear the pieces slap the ground about
s6d.
After had passed our barbed wire
and gotten into No Mans Land a
Tommy about fifteen feet to my right
front turned around and looking In my
direction, put his hand to his mouth
and yelled something which could not
make out on account of the noise from
the bursting shells. Then he coughed,
stumbled, pitched forward and lay still.
His body seemed to float to the rear
of me. / could hear sharp cracks In |
the air about me. These were caused |
by passing rife bullets. Frequently,
to my right and left, little spurts of
dirt would rise into the air and q rico
Chef bullet would whine on its way.
If a Tommy should see one of these
little spurts Ia front of him. he would
tell the nurse about 1t later. The
crossing of No Mans Land remains a
blank to me. a. S
Men on my right and left would
and fall. Some would try to
get up, while others remained huddled
and mOtlonless. Then smashed-up
9arbed wire came into view and
Seemed carried on a tide to the rear.
Suddenly, IN front Of me !loomea Q
1ashed-in trench about four feet wide. !
Queer-looking forms like mud turtles
We're s~.ambllng up its wall. One Of
-hese forms seemed to slip and then
oiled to the bottom of the trench. /
capped across this intervening space
The man to my left seemed to pause in |
nidair, then pitched head down into \
he German trench. | laughed out loud C
n my dellrlum. Upon alighting on the 4
'ther side of the trench came to with =
sudden jolt. Right In front of me .
oOmed a giant form with a rifle which =
ooked about ten feet long, on the end
f which seemed seven bayonets. These
ashed in the alr In front Of me. Then
through ny aI.I Mind flashed tthSS SdH9pl-
ion of our bay66sIet Instructor back In Ip
Ilighty. He had said, Whenever you n
ct in a charge and run YOUR bayonet is
p to the hilt intosa German the Fritz n
'ill fall. Perhaps your rifle Will. be :,
'renched from your grasp. Do not
'aste time, II the bayonet Is fouled
l his equipment, by putting your foot
n his stomach and Juggling at the rifle NJ
} extricate the bayonet Simply
ress the trigger and the bullet will
zee it." In my present situation this J,
as the logic, but for the life of me II
could not remember how he had told IL
lie to get my bayonet into the Ger !,
ian. To this was the paramount
sue. l closed my eyes and lunged III
'rward. My rifle was torn from my e1
ands. l must have gotten the Ger re
an because he had disappeared. m
bout twenty feet to my left front =
as huge Prussian nearly six feet
'ur inches In height, fine specimen
physical manhood. The bayonet -
ON his rifle was missing, but he
utched the barrel in both hands and
as swinging the butt around his head.
could almost hear the swish of the
lit passing through the air. Three
tile Tommles were engaged with him. tn
hey looked like pigmies alongside of W.
e Prussian. The Tommy on the left its
as gradually clrcling to the rear of ha
$ opponent. 1t was funny sight to III
e them duck the swinging butt and
to jab him at the same time. The
Dmmy nearest me received the butt VI
the Germans rifle in a smashing pr