The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1918-08-02

I by passing rifle bullets. Frequently,
to my right and left. little spurts OF
dirt would rise into the air and rico
chet bullet would whine on It's way.
II Tommy should see one OF these
little spurts In front Of him. he would
tell the nurse about 1t later. The
! crossing OF No Mans Land remains n
blank to me.
Men on my right and left would
stumble and fall. Some would try TO
get up. while others remained huddled
and mOtiOnless Then smashed-up
barbed wire came into view and
seemed carried on tide to the rear.
Suddenly, In front of me loOmed a
bashed-in trench about four feet wide.
Queer-looking forms like mud turtles
were scrambllng up its wall. One OF
these forms seemed to slip ana then
rolled TO the bottom Of the trench. l
leaped across this intervening space.
The man to my left seemed to pause In
midair. then pitched head down into
the German trench. / laughed out loud
In my delirlum. Upon alighting on the
other side of the trench came to with
sudden jolt. Right in front Of me
loomed n giant form with n rifle which
looked about ten feet long, on the end
Of which seemed seven bayOnets. These
flashed in the air In front of me. Then
through my mind flashed the admoni-
tion Of our bayonet instructor back in
Blighty. He had said, ''whenever you
get in charge and run your bayonet
up to the hilt into a German the Fritz
will fall. Perhaps your rifle will be
wrenched from your grasp. Do not
waste time. If the bayOnet is fouled
in his equipment, by putting your foot
on his stomach and tugging at the rifle
to eXtricate the bayOnet. Simply
press the trigger and the bullet will
free IT," In my present situation this
was the logic, but for the life Of me
/ could not remember how he had told
me to get my bayonet into the Ger
man. To me this was the paramount
issue. l closed my eyes and lunged
forward. My rifle was torn from my
hands. must have gotten the Ger
man because he had disappeared.
About twenty feet to my left front
was huge Prussian nearly six feet
four inches in height fine specimen
of physical manhood. The bayOnet
from his rifle was missing, but he
clutched the barrel in both hands and
was swinging the butt around his head.
| could almost hear the swish of the
butt passing through the air. Three
They looked like pigmies alongside of
the Prussian. The Tommy on the left
was gradually circling to the rear of
his opponent. 1t was a funny sight to
see them duck the swinging butt and
try to jab him at the same time. The
Tommy nearest me received the butt
of the Germans rifle In a smashing
blow below the right temple 1t
his head like an eggshell. He
pitched forward on his side and con-
vulsive shudder ran through his body. |
Meanwhile the other Tommy had |
gained the rear of the Prussian. Sud- |
denly about four inches of bayOnet |
protruded from the throat of the Prus- |
sian soldier, who staggered forward |
and fell. 1 will never forget the look
Of blank astOnishment that came over
his face.
Then something hit me in the left |
shoulder and my left side went numb.
1t felt as If n hot poker was being
driven through me. l felt no pain
just sort of nervous shock. A bay
onet had pierced me from the rear. |
fell backward on the ground, but was
not unconscious, because l could see
lin objects moving around me. Then
4 flash of light in front of my eyes and
Something had hit
ne on the head. l have never found
)ut what it was.
1 dreamed l was being tossed about
n an open boat on heaving sea ana
opened my eyes. The moon was shin
ng. l was on stretcher being car
led down one of our communication
renches. At the advanced first-aid
post my wounds were dressed, and
hen I was put into an ambulance and
sent to one of the base hospitals. The
in my shoulder and head were
lot serious and In six weeks l had re-
Oined my company for service In the
rant limo