The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-04-07


the Boches had occupied "A few days
before and ont of which they had
; been driven hy the big push. In
'front.' OF this trench was Eaucourt Alb |
bayc. which had been RACED with the I
ala OF the tanks.
We had wntche. this battle from
the rear from The slight elevation OF
High Wood, and u had been Won
ueIfuI sight to see other men 90 out
over the top without having ourselves
IN think about. They had poured out, |
wave after wave, i4rse part of them
Scotch swinging along in perfect time. !
smashing harragc going on ahead !
and the tanks numbering along with /
"a kind OF Quincy majesty. When they
hit the objective the tanks crawlc3 in
ana u.ade short work ~ IL.
The infantry had hard work Of II |
after the positions were taken as there /
were numerous underground caverus |
iau6 passages which had to be mopped
out This was done by dropping
smoke bombs in The entrances %Tld
smoking the I56thes ont Ike bees
when We came up we inherited
these unHf" ground shelters. and they
we're mighty comfort bile after the
Ripping in the muck, There were "A
lot of souvenirs To be picked Gp, and
almost everybody annexed helmets and
by tbs Germans.
LOSING TRACK OF TIME
Sometimes TT was dangerous To so
after souvenirs too Rreedily The in
ventive Hun had a habit OF fixing UP
e body with q mine Ter ii aud q
tempting wrist watch on the hand.
II you started to take the watch the
mine went off and after that you
didn't care what time it was
D. T.
ine razors and one Of the bayonets
the Boche Toneers use. ] had thought
that ] would have g nice collection
sow enirs 10 take to Blighty If
ever got leave. I got the leave ali
right, and shortly; but the collection
stayed behind,
The dugout that No. % drew was
.huils of concrete ana was big enough
"a accommodate tho entire platoon
wa were we'll within the Boche range
and early in the day had several cas-
ualties, one of them a chap named
IStrausGeld. a young YorkshiTeman.
who was very good friend OF mine,
Stransie was sitting on the top step
lcleaning his rife and was blown to
8 pieces by a falling shell.
After that we kept to CoreE al day
and slept all the time We needed
, lit after tho exhausting worN Of the
past eight days.
II los along about dark when /
Twas awakened by runner from head
quarters. which was I'm n duEout a
= littje way up the line, with word that
e this platoon commanders we're wanted.
q I happened to be In command OF the
: platoon aa Mr. Bolfejd was acting
second In command of the company
. Sergeant Page was away IN Havre as
= instructor for month and | was the
~ next senior.
y thought that probably this was
a merely another detail for some fatigue,
= 50 / asked Wells If he would so. He
~ dld. and in about half an hour came
back with face as long as my arm.
r ! was sitting on the fire step cleaning
6 my rife and Wellsie sank down de-
o iccfedlY beside me,
G Darby" he sighed horeless1y, ''yrot
4 do YOU think is up now7"
al ] hadn't the faintest idea, and said
q so. I had however as the educated
"a Zones used 10 say, "a premonition of
q Impending disaster" AZ a Fremont
r right
c Wellsie sighed again and spilled the
d news.
= We're goin' over IN bleedin' top
- at q We don't ave TO carry any
k tools We're in the first oloomin
wave"
z Going without intr@ncnsng tools was
q supposed to ne a sort OF consolation
FOR being In the nrst wave. The other
n three waves carry the combination
4 picks and HhoFels They consolidate
o the trenches after they have been
= taken by the first wave. That ia, they
turn the trench around facing the
other way to be ready for Il counter
y attack It IS miserable Job.
= The tools are heavy and awkward.
I and the last waves get the cream OF
r the artillery FIRE. as the poche natu-
# rally does not want TO take the ohance
4 Of Smelling the FIRST wave, for fear OF
y getting his own men. However, the
e hrst wave gets the machine gun IRE
and gets it good,
Il At first. the fret wave Ia the pref
y erence. have heard hundreds OF
g men say SO Probably the reason is
4 that bullet unless It is explosive
O makes relatively clean wound. while
q a shell fragment may mangle fear
= fully.
Wells and were talking over the
e Internal injustice OF the situation when
another runner arrived from the SER
q geant- majors, ordering US up for the
rum Issue. I went up and left Wells
V TO break the news about going over
@ went among the bows with n spoon
T. and the tonic IN mess tin ana served
:. out two tot instead OF the customary
- one. After that all hands felt little
better, but not much They were all
5 tagged out after the weeks hard work.
A T don't think I ever saw a more
q discouraged lot getting ready to go
{ over. For myself. didn't seem 70
o care much. I was in such rotten con-
e dition physically. 7 rather hoped 4
would be my last time,
( A general cleaning of rifles started,
4 although II was dark Mine was al
4 really IN good shape and 7 leaned II
against the side NJ the trench and
/, went down below for tho rest Of my
i equipment While : was gone sheIl
lie FRAGMENT unfid alt my work by
:. SIN 4shing the treech
=, had seen a new short German
rife In the dugout with bayonet ana
r. ammo and decided 10 use that I
= hid al my souvenirs. planning 10 get
n them when came out. hadn't much
e nerve left after the bashing had
r taken = fortnight before and didn't
:. hold mueh.hope.
- Our instructions were Of the brief
v aFf r. Nn cga st,.~n