Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1918-04-19

the corner Of my mouth would try
and blow II back, but II would not
move. reached for my shell dressing
and tried, with one hand, 10 bandnge
my face TO prevent the flow. l had
AZ awful horror OF bleeding to death
ana was getting very faint, You would
have laughed II you had seen my
ludlcrous attempts at bandaging with
one hand, The pains In my wounded
shoulder were awful and l was getting
sick at the stomach, / gave up tina
bondaglng aunt as bad job, and then
tainted.
When ! came to, hell was let loose.
An Intense bOuhardment was on, and
on the whole my position was decided.
ly unpleasant, Then, suddenly our
barrage ceHsed, The silence almost
hurt but not for long, because Fritz
turned loose with shrapnel, machina
guns, and rifle fire. Then all along our
line came a cheer and our boys came
over the top In charge. The first
wave was composed OF Jocks" They
were magnificent sight, kits, Tapping
In the wind, bare knees showing, and
their bayonets glstenlng. In the frse
wave that passed my shell hole, one %
the Jocks" an immense fellow, about
six feet two Inches In height jumped
right over me. On the right and left
OF me several soldiers in cOlored kits
were huddled on the ground, then oVeQ
came the second wave, also Jocks"
One young Scottie, when he came
abreast Of my shell hole, leaped into
the air, his rife shooting out of his
hands, landing about six feet In front
Of him, bayonet first, and stuck In ths
ground. the butt trembling. This lm-
pressed me greatly.
Right now / can see the butt Of that
gun trembling. The Scottie made u
complete turn In the air, hit the
ground, rolling over twice, each time
clawlng at the earth, and then re-
malned still, about four feet from me,
In sort Of sitting position. called to
him, Are you hurt badly, Jockl" but
no answer He was dead. A dark red
smudge was coming through his tunic
right under the heart. The blood ran
down his bare knees, making horrible
sight. On his right side he carried his
water bottle. was crazy for a drink
and tried to reach this, but for the life
Of me could not negotiate that four
feet. Then became unconscious.
When woke up was In an advanced
frst-aid post. | asked the doctor IL
we had taken the trench. I'VE took
the trench and the wood beyond, all
right" he said, "and you fellows did
your bit but, my lad, that was thirty
six hours ago. You were lying in No
Mans Land in that bally hole for day
and half. It's wonder you are alive"
He also told me that out Of the twenty
that were in the raiding party, seven
teen were killed. The officer died Of
wounds in crawling back to our trench
and was severely wounded, hut one
fellow returned without scratch, with
out any prisoners. No doubt this chap
was the one who had Sneczed and inn
properly cut the barbed wire.
In the official communique our trench
raid was described as follows:
"All quiet on the western front, eX-
ceptng in the neighborhood Of Com
meCourt wood, where one Of our raid
ing parties penetrated into the German
lines"
1t Is needless to say that we had no
use for our perSuaders or come-alongs,
as we brought back no prisoners, and
until | die Old Peppers words Per
sonally | don't believe that that part
Of the German trench is occupied" will
always come to me when i hear some
fellow trying to get away with fishy
statement. will judge 1t accordingly,
Continued Next Week.