The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1918-02-26

round tnal our Drgaue was in the
trenches (another agreeable surprised
and that an attack was contemplated
Seventeen of The fOrty-one will never
get another JhHnce To 90 on leave
ley We're killed In the attack. just
think If that train has been on time,
those seventeen would Still be alive.
hate to tell you how | was kdded
by the boys when | got back, but it was
good and plenty.
Our machine gun company took over
their part of the line ut seven o'clock,
The night after | returned from my
Hear leave
AT 1880 the following morning three
waves went over and captured the first
and second German trenches. The
machine gunnerS went over with the
fourth wave to consolidate the cap
tured line or dig in as Tommy calls
It.
Crossing No Mans Land without
clicking any casualties, we came to
The German trench and mounted our
guns on the paradoS Of same
never saw such n mess In my life
punches Of twisted barbed wire lying
about, shell holes everywhere, trench
all bashed in, parapets gone, ana dead
bodies, why, that ditch was full Of
them, theirs and ours Ii was q regu-
lar morgue Some were mangled hor-
ribly from our shell fire. while others
were wholly or partly buried in the
mud, the result of shell explosions cav
ing in the walls of the trench. one
dead German was lying on his back,
with a rifle sticking straight up In the
mir, tie haVonet of which was buried
to the hilt in his chest Across his feet
lay Il dead English soldier with a bul-
let hole in his forehead. This Tommy
must have been killed Just as he ran
his bayonet through the German.
Rifles and equipment were scattered
about, and occasionally Il steel helmet
could be seen sticking out Of the mud.
At one point just in the entrance to
a communication trench, was stretch
cr. On this stretcher Il German was
lying with a white bandage around his
knee near to him lay one of the
stretcher-bearers the red cross on his
arm covered with mud and his helmet
filed with blood and brains Close by,
sitting up against the wall Of the
trench, with head resting on his chest,
was the other stretcher-bearer. He
seemed to be alive, the posture was so
natural and easy; but when | got
closer could see large, Jagged hole
In his temple. The three must have
been killed by the same shell-burst.
The dug0uts were all smashed in and
knocked about, big square-cut limbers
splintered into bits, walls cayed in and
entrances choked.
Tommy, after taking trench, learns
to his sorrow that the hardest part of
the work is TO hold it.
In our case this proved to be so.
The German artillery and machine
guns had us tapped (rangcd) for fair;
it was worth your life to expose your
self TN instant
Don't think for a minute that the
Germans We're the only sufferers; we
were clicking casualties so fast that
you needed an adding machine to keep
track of them.
Did you ever see one of the steam
shovcls at work on the Panama canal?
Well it would look like hen scratch
ing alongside of Tommy digging In"
while under fire. You couldn't sec day
light through the clouds of dirt from
his shovel.
After losing three out Of six men OF
our crew we managed to set up our
machine gun. One of the legs Of the
tripod was resting on the chest Of IL
half-burled body. When the gun was
firing, it gave the impression thNt tho
body was breathing. This was caused
by the excessive vibration.
Three or four feet down the trench,
about three feet from the ground, o
foot was protrudlng from the earth,
We knew it was German by the black
leather boot. one of our crew used
that foot to hang extra bandoliers OF
ammunition on. This man always was
handy fellow; made use of little
points that the ordinary person would
overlook.
The Germans made three counter
attacks, which We repulsed, but not
without heavy loss on our side. They
also suffered severely from our shell
and machine gun fire. The ground waa
spotted with their dead and dying.
The next day things were somewhat
Quieter, bat not quiet enough to bury
the dead.
We lived, ate and slept In that trench
with the unburied dead for six days.
1t was awful to watch their faces be,
come swollen and disc0lored Towards
the last the stencil was fierce.
What got on my nerves the most was
that foot sticking out Of .he dirt. II
seemed to me, at night, in the NOON
light to be trying to twist around,
Several times this impression was SO
strong that went TO it and grasped it
in both hands, to see if could feel a
movement
told this to the man who had used
1t for hatrack just before | lay down
for little nap as things were quiet,
and | needed a rest pretty badly,
When | woke up the foot was gone.
He had cut it off with our chain saw
out of the spare parts box, and had
plastered the stump over with mud.