The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1918-03-14

Shell goggles, a balaclayn helmet,
gloves and tin Of untifrOStbite grease
which is excellent for greaSing the
boots. Add to this the weight Of his
rations, and can you blame Tommy for
growing at twcnty-kilo route march
Having served as sergeant major in
the United Stntes cavalry, l tried to
tell the English drin scrgeants their
business, but it did not work They
Immediately put me as batman in their
mess. Many Il greasy dish Of stew was
accidentally spilled over them.
would sooner fight than be Il waiter,
so when the order came through from
headquarters calling for draft Of
25O re-enforcements for France, I vol
| unteercd.
Then we went before the M. o.
imcdtcnl Ofticer) for another physical
| examination. This was very brief. He
| asked our names and numbers and
SAID "Flt," and we went out to fight.
We were put into troop trains and
sent to Southampton, where we de-
trained. and had our trench rifles Is
sued to us. Then In columns of twos
we went up the gangplank OF a little
|
AT the head Of the gangplank there
was an old sergeant, who directed that
we line ourselves along both rails Of
the ship. Then he ordered us to take
life belts from the racks overhead and
put them on. I have crossed the ocean
several times and knew was not sea
sick, but when I bucklcd on that life
belt had q sensation Of sickness.
After we got out into the stream all
[ could think OF was that there were q
million German submarines with q tor
pedO on each. across the wnrhead Of
which was inscribed my name and ad-
dress.
After five hours we came alongside
q pier and diSembnrked. I had at
taincd another one Of my ambitions.
was somewhere in France" We
slept In the open that night on the side
OF the road. About six the next morn
ing we were ordered to entran.
looked around for the passenger
| coaches, but all could see on the sid
these. On the side Of each car was
sign reading "Hommcs 40, Chcveaux
g." When we got inside Of the cars,
we thought that perhaps the sign
painter had reversed the order Of
things. After 48 hours in these trucks
we detrained at Roucn. At this place
we went through an intensive training
for ten days.
Tho training consisted of the rudi-
ments Of trench warfare. Trenches
had been dug, with barbed wire en-
ENGAGEMENTS, bombing saps, dugOuts
! observation posts and machine gun en-
placements. We were given Il smat-
tcring Of trench cooking, sanitation,
bomb throwing. accommodating. listen
ing posts, constructing and repairing
barbed wire. carrying in" parties
methods used in attack and defense
wiring parties. mass formation, and
the procedure for poison-gas attacks
On the tenth day we again met our
friends "HOmmes 40, Cheveaux g."
Ihirty-SiX hours more of misery, and
We arrived at the town Of d.
After unloading our rations and
equipment, we lined up on the road in
columns Of fours waiting for the order
to march.
A dull rumbling could be heard. The
sun was shining. turned to the man
on my left and asked, "What's the
noise, Bill?" He did not know, but his
race was Of a pca-grccn color. Jim,
on my right also did not know, but
suggested that "awsk" the sergeant.
Coming towards us was an old criz-
"ied sergeant, properly fed no with
'he war. so "awskcd" him.
IDlnk It's going to rain, sergeant?"
1le looked at me ~. conrempt, eu,y
grunted, "Ow's it a-goin' ter rain Win
the bloomln' sun a-shinin'Y I looked
guilty.
"rhem's the guns up the line, mo
lad. and yo,l'll get enough of 'em be.
fore you gets back to Blighty."
My knees seemed to wilt and
squeaked out weak "Oh!"
Then we started our march up TO tbc
| line in ten-kilo trcks. After the first
days march we arrived at our rest
billets. In France they call them rest
bllets, because while In them Tommy
works seven days week and on the
eighth day Of the week he Is given
twenty-four hours con his own"
Our billet was a spacious affair,
large barn on the left side of the road,
which had one hundred entrances,
ninety-nine for shells, rats, wind and
rain. Nnd the hundr adth one for Tom.