The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1918-11-14

hearu mile. 1t was Tommy who
had been wounded In the hand and
between curses he told me / had sat
right on his wound when 1 moved. I
asked him why he did not yell sooner,
but he only swOrc more. He surely
was great cusaer.
The bombardInent slackened up a
bit about this time, and 1 thought 1
would have look around. l did not
get out Of the crater entirely, but
moved around out of tho dugout until
/ could see the road / had been on.
The first thing I saw was broken
down wagon that had just been hit
in fact, 1t was toppling over when my
eye caught 1t. The driver Jumped
from his seat and while he was In the
air his head was torn completely from
his shoulders by another she'll do
not know what kind. This was enough
for me, so back to the dugout.
How the Germans did It I do not
know. but they had found out about
that road and opened fire Mt exnctly
the moment when the road was COW
cred with wagons and men. Yet there
had not been balloon or airplane in
the sky for some time.
After while the bombnrdment
moved away to the east. from which
direction / had come, and knew our
batteries were getting It. The Tommy
and L came out OF the dugout. As
started climbing up tho muddy sides
j saw there was man standing at
the edge OF 1t, and could tell by his
puttccs that he was Limey. 1 was
having hard job of 1t, so withou.
looking up hailed him.
"That was sure some shelling,
wasn't it7' I said. "Thcrc's a lad
down here with II wounded fin; better
give him IL hand"
"What shelling do you mean," says
the legs, without moving, "There's
been none In this sector for some
time, 1 think"
The Tommy was right at my heel
by this time. and he let out n string
OF language. was surprised, too, and
still scrambling around In the mud.
Then the Tommy let "Gawd 'elp
us!" and 1 looked up and saw that the
legs belonged to Limcy officer,
major. think. And here we had been
cuSsing the eyes off of him!
But he sized it up rightly and gave
us II hand, and only laughed when we
tried to explain. l got ratified and
told him that all I saw was his legs
and that they did not look like an off,
GERS legs, which might have made 1t
worse, only he was good-natured about
IT. Then he said that ne had been
asleep In battalion headquarters dug
out, about hundred yards away, and
only walked up when part of the roof
caved In on him. Yet he did not know
he had been shelled!
went on down the road stretch,
but soon found 1t was easier walking
beside 1t, because the Huns had shelled
1t neatly right up and down the middle.
Also, there were so many wrecked
horses and wagons to climb over on
the rOad-besides dead men.
After had passed the area Of the
bombardment and got back on the
road sat down to rest and smoke. A
couple Of shells had burst so near the
crater that they had thrown the dirt
right into the dugout, and I was n little
dizzy from the shock. While l was sit.
ting there n squad Of TOmmies came
up with about twice their number of
German prisoners. The TOmmies had
been making Fritz do the goose step
and they started them at IL again when
they saw me sitting there. 1t sure
Is good for lar III any time. this
goose step. / guess they call It that
after the fellow who invented It.
One thing l had noticed about Fritz
III, 81, ,,l
bottom, so / took this chance to find
out about 1t, while they halted for a
rest just little farther down the
road. / found that they carried their
emergency kits I'm their coats. These
kits contained canned meat, tobacco
needles. thread and plastcr-all this
I'm addition to their regular pack.
Their drilled down the road some
more. hut had to stop pretty soon To
let column of French infantry swing
on ~ the road from field. They
wcr" on their way. to the trenches as
rc-cnforccnlcnts. After every two
companies there wOu!d be wagon
Pretty soon i saw the uniform OF the
Legion. Then n company of my regi.
ment came no sn5 7 wheeled In with
s''''' We were III tne rear Oh the coz
amn that had passed. Our boys were
going up for their regular stunt In the
front lines. while the others had just
arrived at that part OF the front.
Then for the first time my feet be-
gan hurting me. Our boots were made
Of rough cowhide and fitted very well,
but 1t was days labor to carry them
on your feet. I began tagging behind
I would lag twenty or thirty yards
behind and then try to catch up. But
the thousands OF men ahead OF me
kept UP the steady pace and very few
limped, though they had been on the
march since 3 a. IN. II was then about
IL a. m. Those who did limp were
carried I'm the wagons. But had seen
very few men besides the drivers rid
Ing In the wagons, and l wanted to
be as tough as the next guy, so 1 kept