Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1918-07-17
"Over the Top
BY An American Soldier
Who Went
ARTHUR GUY EMPEY
Machine Gunner Serving
In France
Copyright, 1917, by Arthur Guy
Empey.
CHAPTER XIV.


secret from him. I think I must have
lost at least ten pounds worrying over
the affair.
Beginning at seven in the evening 1t
was our duty to patrol all communica-
ton and front-line trenches, making
note Of unusual occurrences. and ar.
resting anyone who should. to us, ap-
pear to be acting In suspicious man.
ner. We slept during the day.
Behind the lines there was great &C.
tivity, supplies and ammunition pour
ing in, and long columns Of troops con.
stantly passing. We were preparing
for the big offensive, the fOrerunner
Of the battle Of the Somme or big
| PUSH"
The never-ending stream Of men,
supplies, ammunition and guns pour
Ing into the front lines made a mighty
spectacle, one that cannot be de-
scribed. It has to be witnessed with
your own eyes to appreciate it's vast
ness.
At our part Of the line the influx Of
supplies never ended. 1t looked like
huge snake slowly crawling forward,
never a hitch or break, a wonderful
tribute to the system and efficiency Of
Great Britain's contemplate little
army" of five millions of men.
Huge fifteen-inch guns snaked along,
foot by foot, by powerful steam tract
tors. Then long line of -four point
five" batteries, each gun drawn by six
horses, then couple of mine point
two" howitzers pulled by immense
caterpillar engines.
When one of these caterpillars would
pass me with It's mighty monster in
my face, because I could plainly read
on the name plate, "Made in U. 8. A."
and would remember that if l wore a
name plate it.would also read, From
the U. S. A." Then I would stop to
think how thin and straggly that
mighty stream would be If all the
''Made in U. S. A." parts Of it were
withdrawn.
Then would come hundreds Of lin
bers and &C. s." wagons drawn by
sleek, well-fed mules, ridden by sleek,
well-fed men, ever smiling, although
grimy with sweat and covered with the
fine, white dust Of the marvelously
well-made French roads.
What a discouraging report the Ger
man airmen must have taken back to
their division commanders,t and this
stream is slowly but surely getting big
ger and bigger every day, and the pace
is always the same. No slower, no
faster, but ever onward, ever forward.
Three weeks before the big push Of
July las the battle Of the Somme has
been called-started, exact duplicates
Of the German trenches were dug
about thirty kilos behind our lines.
The layout Of the trenches was taken
from airplane photographs submitted
by the Royal flying corps. The trench
es were correct to the foot; they
showed dugouts, saps, barbed wire de-
lenses and danger spots.
Battalions that were to 60 over in
the first waves were Sent back for
three days to study these trenches, en-
gage in practice attacks and have night
maneuvers. Each man was required to
make map of the trenches and ia
miliarize himself with the names and
location of the parts his battalion was
to attack.
In the American army nOncOmmis-
stoned officers are put through course
Of map making or road sketching, and
during my six years service in the
United States cavalry had plenty Of
practice in this work, therefore map
ping these trenches was compare
lively easy task for me. Each man
had to submit his map to the company
commander to be passed upon, and l
was lucky enough to have mine select
ed as being sufficiently authentic to use
in the attack.
No photographs or maps are allowed
to leave France, but in this case it ap-
pealed to me as valuable souvenir of
the great war and managed to SNUG
gle it through. At this time It carries
no military Importance as the British
lines, I am happy to say, have since
been advanced beyond this point, so
In having it in my possession am not
breaking any regulation or cautions
of the British army.
The whole attack was rehearsed
and rehearsed until we heartily cursed
the one who had conceived the idea.
The trenches were named according
to q system which made it very simple
for Tommy to find, even in the dark,
any point in the German lines.
These imitation trenches, or trench
models, were well guarded from obser-
walton by numerous allied planes
which constantly circled above them.
No German airplane could approach
within observation distance. A re-
stricted area was maintained and no
civilian was allowed within three
miles, so we felt sure that we had a
great surprise in store for Fritz.
When we took over the front line
we received an awful shock. The
Germans displayed signbOards over
the top of their trench showing the
names that we had called their
trenches. TIL signs read 'Fair,"
"Fact," "Fate," and Fancy" and so
on, according to the code names on
our map. Then to rub it in, they
hoisted some more signs which read,
"Come on, we are ready, stupid Eng
lish."