Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1918-06-04
CHAPTER x,.
Over the Ton,

inspection, and we received the cheer
ful news that at four In the morning
we were to 60 over the top and take
the German front-line trench. My heart
turned to lead. Then the officer car
ried on with his instructions. To the
best Of my memory I recall them as
follows: "At eleven a wiring party will
90 out In front and cut lanes through
our barbed wire for the passage Of
troops in the morning. At two O'Clock
our artillery will open up with an In
tense bombardment, which will last I'M
til four. Upon the lifting Of the bar
rage the first Of the three waves will
20 over" Then he left. Some Of the
Tommier, first getting permission from
the sergeant, went into the machine
gunners' dugout and wrote letters
home, saying that in the morning they
were going over the top, and also that
II the letters reached their destination
1t would mean that the writer had been
killed.
These letters were turned over to
the captain with instructions to mail
same in the event Of the writer's being
killed. Some Of the men made out
their wills in their pay books, under
the caption. "Win and Last Testa.
ment."
Then the nerve-racking wait com
menced. Every now and then / would
glance at the dial Of my wrist watch
and was surprised to see how fast the
minutes passed by. About five minutes
to two I got nervous waiting for oul
guns to open up. could not take my
eyes from my watch. I crouched
against the parapet and strained my
muscles in deathlike grip upon my
rifle. As the hands on my watch
showed two o'clock q binding red fare
lighted up the sky in our rear, then
thunder, intermixed with sharp, whis
tling sound in the air over our heads
The shells from our guns were speed
ing on their way toward the German
lines. With one accord the mer
sprang up on the fire step and looked
over the top in the direction Of the
German trenches. A line Of bursting
shells lighted up No Mans Land. The
din was terrific and the ground trem
bled. Then, high above our heads we
could hear q signing moan. Our big
boys behind the line had opened uI
and OPS and 15-inch shells commenced
dropping into the German lines. The
flash Of the guns behind the lines, the
scream Of the shells through the air
and the flare Of them, bursting, was q
spectacle that put Pains greatest dis.
play into the shade. The constant
pup, pup, Of German machine guns and
IN occasional rattle Of rifle firing gave
me the impression Of huge audience
applauding the work Of the batteries
Our 1S-pounders were destroying the
German barbed wire, while the heavier
stuff was demolishlng their trenches
and bashing In dugouts or funk holes
Then Fritz got busy.
Their shells went screaming over
head, aimed in the direction Of the
flares from our batteries. Trench NOR
tars started dropping "Minnies" In
our front line. We clicked several cas-
| ualties. Then they suddenly ceased
Our artillery had taped or silenced
them.
During the bombardment you could
almost read q newspaper in our trench
Sometimes in the flare Of shell-burs'
mans body would be silhouetted
| against the parados Of the trench and
1t appeared like q huge monster. Yor
| could hardly hear yourself think. WheI
an order was to be passed down thu
| trench you had to yell 1t, using YOU
hands as q funnel into the ear Of thu
man sitting next to you on the fire step
In about twenty minutes generous
rum issue was doled out. After drink
ing the rum, which tasted like varnisf
and sent q shudder through YOU
frame, you wondered why they made
you wait until the lifting Of the bar
rage before going over. At ten min
utes to four word was passed down
'sTen minutes to go!" Ten minutes
to live! We were shivering all over
My legs felt as II they were asleep
Then word was passed down: "Firs
wave get on and near the scaling Lad
ders.".
These were small wooden ladder
which we had placed against the para
pet to enable us to 90 over the top OF
| the lifting Of the barrage. Ladders O
death" we called them, and veritabl!
they were.
Before a charge Tommy is the po
iitest Of men. There 10 never any push
Ing or crowding to be first up thes'
ladders. We crouched around the bas'
Of the ladders waiting for the wort
to 20 over. I was sick and faint, ant
was putting away at an unlighted fag
Then came the word, 'Three minutes
to 20; upon the lifting Of the barrag'
and on the blast Of the whistles, Owe
the top with the best o. luck and CIV
them HE'LL" The famous phrase O
the western front. The Jonah phras
LOT the western front. To Tommy !
means II you are lucky enough to COM
hack you win be minus an arm or
LEG. Tommy hates to be wished tn
best Of luck; so, when peace is de
clared, II 1t ever is, and you meet
Tommy op the street, Just wish him th
best of luck and duck the brick tina
follows.
4 / glanced again at my wrist watch
j We all wore them and you could hardl'
call us .sissies" for doing 20. It was
minute to four. I could see the ham
move to the twelve. then a dead d
lence. It hurt. Everyone looked d
to see what had happened, but not 70
long. Sharp whistle blasts rang ou
along the trench, and with Q cheer tn
men scrambled up the ladders Th
bullets were cracking overhead, en-
occasionally machine gun would n
and tear the top Of the sandbas para
! Pct. How got up that ladder I WI
never know. The hrst ten fest out 4
I front was agony. Then we passe
i through lanes In our barbed wire
knew was running, but could feel .
1 motion belox re yai2t fet9ee. 9