The Holt County sentinel. (Oregon, Mo.) 1883-1980, 1918-05-10
on FIELDS OF FRANCE
Continued from Page One.)

tNOntlnueu from rage One.)
set foot on British soil. The girls
gave us coffee. sandwiches. fruits and
all sorts Of nice things, and then we
marched TO Dcvises and later TO Pond
Farm on Salisbury Plains.
There we hit the bali as they say
in America. In other words. we train.
ed for service a; the front. II was
lean frog. rack.the-whip. boxing.
wrestling. and al the old games we
played at school from morning TO
night.
They Go TO the Front.
"onc day We were reviewed by the
King and Queen. They seemed like
kindly and sympathetic human beings
To- me. The Queen passed between the
ranks Of the men and looked US up
and down and aftcrward remarked:
They'll make a reputation
"Some time after this We were NOV
ed to Bullford camp. II seemed 10
me that the men who had us in charge
were trying to kill US all. but were
only training us 90 fight for our very
lives.
"A hi, later we were reviewed BY
the king and Lord Kitchener. We
stood in mud and water kncc.dcep on
this occasion. Soon afterward came
the opportunity We had all been hop.
ing for since We had sailed from Que
bee. II was a contest between the
ninth and tenth battalions for the
right 10 go TO the front. The tenth
won the contest. and we sailed for
France. February 4. 1918. landing n,
80. i.azairc at the mouth of the River
Rhone.
II shall never forge, that trim
around the English coast As we
drew near the shores Of France |
heard far.ofr roar. like thunder com.
ing up In the west before a big storm.
I paid no particular attention NJ the
time. bu, a. the vessel continued her
course. the rumbling increased in vol.
umc. Sounds like real fighting re.
marked one Of the members Of the
crew. and then | knew had been lis.
tcning to the guns. When we landed
in France the noise was fearful nd
never ceased.
Feel. chin Fir, Tim.
"The day after We landed NO do.
trained nj Rorre, wh,r, ~, rested
eighteen hours and then entered Tho
trenches nj nigh, near pIco,pstee,t
Here, for IN. mr., time, ". we're under
fire, Bullets were humminv around
~ IKE bees, and | fcl, a cold chill
running up and down my shine. The
feeling lasted p.rhaps hail mn hour
and then PASSED away.
"W, remained In ina, ,rcnch with
.hc ROYAL Irish Rifles alI nigh, and
then n, dawn tho Irish l,f, rs in fuli
charge and marched away. Innv,no
how No fcl, there All alone. During
the nigh, We almost chung 10 tbosc
hoys. hut th,y had hccn thor, man.
days and needed rest, and when they
went 10 IN, rear We realized /, VA,
up 10 us,
I'VE saw many thing. happ,ning
nround N. n, plo,..,co,, "a. 49,,
Ing on the parapc, a, daIbreal. and
ylanciny around | saw S,rv,. Cush.
man spin around and fall 10 Nh,
ground with his law sho, away. Hc,.
also We were snircd from tho ,.nr h,,
Germans dire, ,cd as women working
in fields.
Then We wen, 10 Armcniicrc..
and from thor, 10 Flour RaiN. wbcr.
we experienced ho, fighting in tho
trenches. The fr,t morning al In.
front here | glanced through my pccp.
hole and saw about POO Germans
dancing around a tall tree ,hat Ead
been stripped of is foliage. and FROM
which they few the German flag AZ
the pcak They acted Ike Indians In
a fanatical VAR dance. | saw n, ono.
they were trying 10 madden a, in',