Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-03-05

a man should manage 10 doZe on
| likely as not he would wake with q
| start as the Clammy. cold feet OF
! rat passed over his face, or the next
relief stepped on his stomach. while
| stumbling on their way 10 relieve tn,
| scntrics in the trench.
Just try 10 sleep with belt full o'
ammunition around You. your rifle bolt
biting into YOUR ribs. intrenching tool
| handle sticking into the small OF your
back. with tin hat for pillow and
feeling very damp and cold. with
| "cooties" boring for oil in your arm
pits. the air foul from the stencil oi
| -rimy human bodies and smoke from 4
Juicy pipe being whitfield into your nos
trils. then you will not wonder why
| Tommy occasionally takes turn in
| the trench for rest.
While in a front line trench orders
| forbid Tommy from removing his
| boots puttees. clothing or equipment.
The "cootics" take advantage OF this
order and mobilize their forces. and
Tommy swears vengeance on them and
mutters to himself, Just wait until
hit rest billets and am able 10 get my
own back"
Just before daylight the men turn
to" and tumble out OF the dugouts. man
the fire step until il gets light. or the
welcome order stand down" is given
Sometimes before stand down" Is or
dcred. the command five rounds rap
| i'll" is passed along the trench. This
means that zach man must rest his
rifle on the top and fire as rapidly as
possible FIVE shots aimed toward the
German trenches. and then duck with
the emphasis on the "duckD. There is
great rivalry between the opposing
forces TO get their rapid fire all OF
first. because the early bird. IN this IN
| stance. catches the worm-sort OF gets
| the jump on the other fellow, catching
| him unawareS.
We had Il sergeant in our battalion
named Warren. He was on duty with
| his platoon in the fire trench one after
noon when orders came up from the
| rear that he had been granted seven
days leave for Blighty. and would b,
| relieved AT five o'clock to proceed tC
England.
He was ticklcd To death At thcst
welcome tidings and RECALLED his more
or less cnvious mates beside him or
| the first step with the good times IN
store for him. He, figured IL out that
in two days tim"ihc would arrive a,
Waterloo station. London. and then
seven days bliss.
| At about fivc minutes to five h,
started To iidgrt with his rifle. anu
| then suddenly springing up on the fir,
step with u mlIttcrcd. "l'll send over
n couple of souvenirs to Fritz so thai
he'll miss me when leave" he stucl
his rifle over the top aud fired two
shots when crack" went bullet an,
he tumblrd off the step, fell into th'
mud at the bottom OF the trench, an,
lay still in hnddlcd heap with bul
let hole in his forehead.
At about the time he expected to ar
rive at Waterloo station he was lai'
20 rest i'm little cemetery behind th'
lines. He had gone to Blighty.
| In the trenches one can never tell
IL is not safe to plan very far ahead.
| After stand down" the men sit oI
the fire step or repair to their respec
tive duGouts and wait for the rum Is
sue" to matcrialiZe. Immediately fol
lowing the rum issue comes breakfast
brought up from the rear. Sleeping b
then i'm order unless some special worl
| turns up.
Around .l2.30 dinner shows VI
When this is eaten the men try L
lamlise themselves until tea" appear
at about four o'clock. then stand to
and they carry on as before.
While in rest billets Tommy gets u
about six in the morning, washes VI
laps%Sxs roll call Is inapfcted ,by hi
platoon officer, and has breakfast. A
S.i5 ne parades (drills) with his com
pany or goes on fatigue according Il
the orders which have beer read ou
by the orderly sergeant the night pre-
vious.
Between 1l.30 and noon he is dis
missed. has his dinner and is "on hi'
own" for The remainder Of the day
unless he has clicked for digging ol
working party. and so ii goes on IRON
day to day. always looping the loop
and looking forward to peace an'
Blighty.
Sometimes. while engaged in {
"cOotic" hunt you think. Strange Il
say, but il is fact, while Tommy !!
searching his shirt serious thought:
come to linn. Many a time, when per
forming this operation, | have trict
To figure out the outcome OF the wal
and what will happen to me.
My thoughts generally ran in thi:
channels:
| VIII | emerge safely from the mex
attack? II ! do will skin through th'
following one, and so on? While YOU
mind is wandering into the future !
is likely to be- rudely brought to eartl
by Tommy interrupting with
What's good for rheumatism?"
Then you have something else Il
think OF. Will you come out OF thi:
war crippled and tied into knots will
rheumatism. caused by the wet ant
mud OF trenches and dugouts? iol
give II up as a bad job and general!
saunter over TO the nearest estamine
To drown your moody iorcbodmgs in ;
| glass Of sickening French beer or L
try your luck at the always prcscn
| game of house" You can hear tn
sing song voice OF Tommy dronint
out the numbers as he extracts thu
little squares Of cardboard from tn
bag between his feet.
| ITO be Continued).