The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1918-11-01

CHAPTER xvmI-continued.

IL
AS we went ashore, the lombard
ment began, and we were not only
under fire Of spit. IL you could call 1t
that, but also of rocks and bottles and
sticks and most anything that could
>e thrown.
All this time, "1est you forget" we
had no shoes, and no clothlng-only
what had once been our underwear.
II Is all right to be a Coney Island
snowbird and pose around in your
bathing suit in the drifts, because you
are In good condition, and last but not
least, because you do not have to do
1t. Figure out the other side Of 1t
Tor yourself.
there was nothing much but guns and
ammunition and snow, and set US up
In something like skirmish formation.
We stood there for some time, and
then we saw a lot Of Huns with the
new long rifles coming toward us.
yelling just as they did in battle, and
we thought sure we were being used
for prSctice targets. 1t Is a good
thing they halted and stopped yelling
when they did, or we would have
started for them to fight 1t out, for
we were not the kind that likes to be
butchered with hands in the air, and
we would have been glad for a chance
to get a few of them before they got
us. But they did halt, anu then sur
rounded us, and drilled us away
through swamps and woods and shall
low water or slush. The women fol
lowed, too, and there were plenty Of
bricks and spit left. Women as we'll
as men are the same the world over,
they say. / wonder? You can just
picture the women of, say, Rockland,
Me-, following a crowd Of German
prisoners that way, can't you? Not
But of course the women Of Rockland
are pretty crude-no kultur at all
and GOtt never commissioned Presi-
dent Wilson to take the lid off the
strafe pot for him.
They drilled us along the docks, and
It looked as though the whole German
AoV was z AZ q y oWluClIuhoCs
We saw many Of the ships we had
heard about, among them being the
famous Vulcan, the mother-shlp for
submarines. There were many sail
0rs loafing along the docks, and they
gave the women a hand with their
days work. They were no better with
a brick, but they had more ammunition
when 1t came to splitting. One Of them
tripped q young boy by the name of
Kelly, and as you would never doubt,
Kelly picked up a rock and crashed
the sailor with II. He was then bay
oneted twice In the left leg. We be-
gan singing then, our popular favorite,
"Pack up your troubles" etc., and
when they heard us. how the swine
stared!
Then they drilled us past the Ger
man soldiers quarters. The men were
1t rifle practice, and / guess all of Us
thought how handy we would be as
targets. But when we got near them,
they quit practicing and crowded
around us yelling: "'Rausl Zuruck I"
Finally we got to the top Of the
hill. and were halted hear the bar
racks while an officer read the mar
tial law Of Germany to us. At least
we thought maybe that was 1t.
Finally they let us into the bar
racks. and the first thing we saw was
a great pile Of hay. That looked good
to us, and we made a rush and dived
into 1t. But the Huns told us to take
the hay and throw II In the middle of
the road. They had to use force be-
fore we would do 1t. Finally we gave
In. however. and started to carry It
ont. Some Of the young boys were
crying. and I do not blame them
much.
But q Of the boys tried to hide
some Of the hay behind a box and was
caught doing 1t, and two sentries
clCuted him from one end Of the bar
racks to the other. His nose was
broken and his face mashed to q jelly.
But there was nothing we could do,
- We just wandered up and down the
barracks. about as we did between
decks on the Moewe, trying to keep
WARM.
While this marathon was on we
heard Q whistle blown very loudly,
and when we looked out we saw a
wagon piled up with old tin cans.
Then We were told to form single fle,
walk out to the wagon and each get q
en- Tor himaelf. Each man had to
t1ke the nrst q he laid his hands
- and many Of us got rusty ones with
hcoe y them. So that about half an
ho1r later. when we received barley
to9eas and al We had to drink It from
nno the rama, lots Of the men had to
1E1nk thsars almost In n gulp or lose
~ g T.
1Ae parraeks were very dirty and
@Gno6I horribly. and the msn we're
G11M Mt even half clothed. We all
loono0 6lthy and smelled that way,
~ WAWe TIE coal dust had rubbed
~ - Wert vsry pale. And all Of ~
Urn ntnFvod looking.