Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-09-06
CHAPTER x.
Clashes with the Enemy.

Our s~hafpshooters let go when the
big German plane came within easy
range. The shooting was wonderful
~ accurate and put the finishing
touches to n ambition of the boche
faviators to bomb the American po-
sition. ~
The German machine gunner was
seen to lurch heavily forward as il
he had been badly hit. A bullet from
q Yankee rifle smashed through the
oil tank of the airplane, and other
bullets fired by our crack shots rid
died the wings of the machine. The
German pilot Jaw he had struck q
hornets nest, and he turned tail and
mixed back to hts, " lines: This in
that In the Yankees they are contend
ing with the crack sh~arpshooters of
the world.
In n place u trenches were lesa
than sixty feet from those Of the Ger
mans, while In another place fully a
mile separated the opposing forces.
Our trenches were located in marshy
ground: making the use of duck
boards" necessary at all times except
when the trench water and mud be-
came frozen in winter. The trenches
were very shallow when our infantry
men moved in, but they began imme-
diately to deepen them and improve
them in other ways.
In every dugout the soldiers work.
ed almost constantly pumping\o out the
water which seeped in. The presence
OF this water was d~isagreeable, Of
course, but in n way it served q
good purpose. Rats detest water, and
they gave these damp dugouts a wide
berth, for which our boys were SUI
premely grateful.
Every man inathe line at all times
kept his eyes peeled for two kinds of
coiored rockets. One is green and
other red. The first means
asphyxiating gas, and the other calls
, Tor a barrage. And the green light
20 the men In the line means more
tack they know that their lives often
depend upon the speed in which the
gas masks are adjusted after an
alarm lis given. ~
During November, 1917, the Huns
made several attempts to raid the
American lines, but were always
beaten back with heavy loss. lhe
Germans made an attack early in
the night Of November 49,. bringing
up five machine guns and opening
a cross-fire on the. Yankee lines. Not
one of our. men was hit. When the
first deluge of bullets came, the
American lieutenant in command
telephoned for the machine guns to
come up on either flank and fire to-
ward the Germans in No Mans Land.
Observers at listening posts reported
that there were 200 bocheS in the
raiding party
Machine Guns Begin Pepperine.
|. Our machine guns began peppering
IN less than a minute after the first
German shot raj fired. A few min
utes later the artillery in the rear
was laying down a barrage where
the Germans We're supposed to be.
The Yankees in the trenches, shield
ing their faces with their steel hell
NETS. climbed on the shooting lodges,
aiming at the flashes Of the Ger
man machine guns. The attack was
continued for o than a half hour
before the Germans retired. 1t is be-
lieved that they timed the raid to
take the Americans by surprise while
a relief was entering the trenches.
Both American and French soldiers
in advanced listening posts reported
seeing the returning Germans carry
ing bodies. This indicated they had
suffered heavy. losses.