Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1918-06-26
Over the Top
BY An American Soldier
Who Went
ARTHUR GUY EMPEY
Machine Gunner Serving
In France
Copyright, 1917, by Arthur Guy
Empey.


Copyright, 1917, by Arthur Guy
Empey.
let hole in bis forehead. This Tommy
must have been killed just as he ran
his bayonet through the German.
Rifles and equipment were scattered
about, and occasionally steel helmet
could be seen sticking out of the mud.
At one point, just In the entrance to
a communication trench, was q stretch
or. On this stretcher a German was
lying with white bandage around his
knee. near to him lay one OF the
Observation-Disclosures, the red cross on his
arm covered with mud and his helmet
filed with blood and brains. Close by,
sitting up against the wall of the
trench, with head resting on his chest,
was the other stretcher-bearer. he
seemed to be alive, the posture was so
natural and easy; but when ! got
closer l could see a large, Jagged bole
in his temple. The three must have
been killed by the same shell-burst.
The dugouts were all smashed in and
knocked about, big square-cut timbers
splintered into bits, walls caved In and
entrances choked.
Tommy, after taking a trench, learns
to his sorrow that the hardest part Of
the work Is to hold it. 3
In our case this proved to be so.
The German artillery and machine
guns had us taped (ranged) for fair
1t was worth your life to expose your
self an instant.
Don't think for a minute that the
Germans We're the only sufferers; we
were clicking casualties SO fast that
you needed an adding machine to keep
track of them.
Did you ever see one Of the steam
shovels at work on the Panama canal?
Well, it would look like hen scratch
ing alongside Of Tommy digging In
while under fire. You couldn't see day.
light through the clouds Of dirt from
his shovel.
After losing three out Of six men Of
our crew we managed to set up our
machine gun. One Of the legs of the
tripod was resting on the chest Of a
half-buried body. When the gun was
firing, it gave the impression bat the
body was breathing. This waAcaused
by the excessive vibration.
Three or four feet down the trench,
about three feet from the ground, a
foot was protruding from the earth.
i We knew it was German by the black
leather boot. One Of our crew used
that foot to hang extra bandOliers Of
ammunition on. This man always was
a handy fellow; made use Of little
points that the ordinary person would
overlook.
The Germans made three counter
attacks, which we repulsed, but not
without heavy loss on our side. They
also suffered severely from our shell
and machine-gun fire. The ground was
spotted with their dead and dying.
The next day things were somewhat
quieter. bat not quiet enough to bury
the dead.
We lived, ate and slept In that trench
with the unburfed dead for SIX days.
It was awful to watch their faces be-
come swollen and discolored. Towards
the last the stencil was fierce.
What got on my nerves the most was
that, foot sticking out Of the dirt. It
seemed to me, at night, In the noon
light. to be trying to twist around.
Several times this impression was SO
strong that went to 1t and grasped 1t
in both hands, to see If could feel q
movement.
told this to the man who had used
It for hatrack just before lay down
for little nap, as things were quiet,
and ] needed rest pretty badly.
When I woke up the foot was gone.
He had cut 1t off with our chain saw
out Of the spare parts box, and had
plastered the stump over with mud.
During the next two or three days,
before we were relieved, ! missed that
foot dreadfully; seemed as If I had
suddenly lost chum.
think the worst thing Of all was to
watch the rats, at night, and some
times In the day, run over and play
about among the dead.
Near our gun, right across the para
pet, could be seen the body Of Ger
man lieutenant, the head and arms of
which were hanging into our trench.
The man who had cut off the foot used
to sit and carry on one-sided CONVEX
sation with this officer. used to argue
and point out why Germany was In the
wrong. During all Of this monologue
never heard him say anything out Of
the way anything that would have
hurt the officers feelings had he been
alive. He was square all right |;
wouldn't even take advantage Of
dead man In an argument.
To civilians this must seem dread
I'll, but out here one gets so used to
awful sights that Il makes no impress
sion. In passing a butcher shop you
are not shocked by seeing,a dead tur-
key hanging from hook. Well, In
France, a dead body Is looked upon
from the same angle.
But, nevertheless, when our six days
were up, we were tickled to death to
be relieved.
Our machine gun company lost
seventeen killed and thirty-one wound
ed in that little local affair Of
STRENGTHENING the line,~ while the
other companies clicked 1t worse than