Oxford eagle., 1918-03-28

Aney nao zone fnelr DIT Tor king and
country. had died without firing q shot
but their services were appreciated,
nevertheless.
Later on. / found out their names.
They belonged to our draft.
was dszed and motionless. Sud-
denly shovel was pushed into my
hands. apd a rough but kindly voice
said:
Here, my lad. lend a hand clearing
the trench. but keep your head down
and look out for snipers. One of the
Fritz's Is daisy. and he'll get you n
you're not careful"
Lying on my belly ON the bottom oe
the trench. I filled sandbaes wiz e.
sticky mud, they were dragged to INV
rear by the other men, and the work of
rebuilding the parapet was on. The
harder 1 worked. the better felt Al
though the weather was cold. I was
soaked with sweat.
Occasionally a bullet would crack
overhead. and a machine gum vould
kick up the mud on the bashed-in para-
pet At each crack / would duck and
shield my face with my arm. One of
the older men noticed this action Of
mine. and whispered:
Don't duck at the crack of a bull
let. Yank: the danger has passed-you
never hear the one that wings you.
Always remember that II you are going
to get It. you'll get 1t, so never worry"
This made a great impression on me
at the time. and from then on, adopt-
cd his motto. II you're going to get II.
youn get It"
II helped me wonderfully. used n
% often afterwards that some Of NV
mates dubbed me. II you're going to
get It. you'n get It"
After an hours hard work. au nv
nervousness left me, and was laugh.
Ing and joking with the rest.
AT one O'Clock, dinner came up In
the form Of a dixie Of hot stew.
1 looked for my canteen. II had
faiien on the IRE step. and was half
buried In the mud. The man on INV
LEFT noticed this. and told the corporal.
dishing out the rations. to put my
share In his mess tin. Then he whis-
pered to me. -Always take care of your
mess t1n. mate"
/ had learned another maxim of the
trenches.
That stew tasted nne. I was N
hungry as q bear. We had ~seconds,- $
or another helping. because three Of
the men had agone West" killed by
the explosion Of the German trench
mortar. and we ate their share, but
still was hungry. 90 / filed In with
bully beef and biscuits. Then i drained
my water bottle Later on / learned
another maxim Of the front line. Go
sparingly with your water" The bully
beef made me thirsty, and by tea time
1 was dying for q drink. but my pride
would not allow me to ask my mates
for water. was fast learning the
ethics Of the trenches.
That night / was put on guard with
an older man. We stood on the fire
step with our hands over the top. peer
ing out into No Mans Land. II was
nervous work for me. but the other fel-
low seemed 10 take IL as part Of the
nights routine.
Then something shot past my face
Ny heart stopped heating ard duckcG
my head below the parapet A soft
chuckie from my mate brought me a.
my senses. and I feebly asked. ~For
heavens sake. what was thaty~
Ae answered. "Oniy rat taking q
promenade along lie sandhags.~ I
fe,, very sheepish.
About every twenty minutes the sen
try In the next ~. erse would FIRE q
star shell from his flare pistol. The
s1slop" would give me q start of fright
never goI used 70 this noise during
my service in the trenches.
I would watch the arc described by
the star shell. and then stare into No
Mans Land waiting for II TO burst. In
its lurid light the barbed wire anl
stakes would be silhouetted against IL
Hight like q latticed window. Then
darknesA
Once. out In front Of our wire, I
heard q noise and saw dark forms
moving. Ny rife was lying across the
sandbagged parapet- I reached for II.
and was taking aim to IRE. when my
mate grasped my arm. and whispered,
Don't IRE" he challenged In a low
voice The reply came back instantly
from the dark forms:
shut your blinkin' mouth, yea
bloomin' idiot: do you want MS to click
n from the Bochesr
Later we learned that the word. mo
challenging or fring. wiring party out
In front" had been given TO the sentry
On our rigif. but he had failed to pass
II down the trench An oficer had over
heard our challenge and the reply. and
immediately put the offending sentry
under arrest The sentry CLICKED
..-s-l that Is.
"a days ield pun
me-. -Sa. n -crucinxion," as
. amy terms II.
his consists Of hc'-- s.,read-sn gled
or The w.'7-i q llil.;,cr two hours a