Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1918-08-16
CADY'S STORY
OF FIGHTING
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vi IlUlI lINu
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streaming down their eyes thanked the
soldiers for their coming, The sight
moved the soldiers to tears
Private Cady gave detailed account
OF the preliminary training through
which the regiment was put prepare
tory to going to the front and at last
the men arrived in third line trenches
where soon after their occupation they
received their baptism of fire, Private
Cady explained that in reality the she'll
] ing is worse in these trenches than in
the front line, and he said Fritz made it
pretty hot for them. At first the she'll
| fire was scattered, then the enemy OPP
ened with many big guns and the shells
! LITERALLY rained down, causing the first
casualties among the men. One Of Pri-
vate Cady's closest companions had
his eye shot out and part Of his jaw
blown away, After three days Of this
they removed up to the first line trench
es. 1t was while moving up they en-.
countered that unspeakable mud which
covered the low ground in the rainy
| season.
Private Cady said one Of his most
trying experiences came his first night
at guard duty in the front line trench.
The pitchy darkness and agonizing sill
ence while standing on the firing step
gazing tensely into No-Man's Land was
a trying ordeal. The German trenches
were LOO yards away and there was no
telling when raid might be expected,
To relieve the strain he lay down on the
step and while in this position huge
rat landed on his head and gave him the
scare of his life. After the first night Of
this it became easier.
In November, 1917, Private Cady was
detailed with British troops, lllth Roy
al Engineers, to patrol the British front
from Scissors to Toul, thus leaving
behind Alsace- Lorraine, where he had
served since his arrival. Later in the
year he returned to his company and
was surprised and dismayed to see all
new faces, the original men having been
either killed or seriously wounded. 1t
was then that the matter of taking out
insurance was presented to him, and
after some deliberation he was insured
for $4,000 on January "a, 1878 1t was
not long after this that he received his
first wounds.
Private Cady was with patrol in
o-Man's Land and after having pro-
crossed some distance they sighted,
through the gloom, the outlines OF a
party of Germans just across a canal,
/ Evidently the Germans detected their
presence and signaled for a barrage,
which was laid down about 100 yards
behind them, thus cutting of the pa
troll from retreat. Then the two patrols
began an exchange of hand grenades.
During the engagement barrage was
placed behind the German patrol and
the fight was brought to a sudden ter
mination by a German shell falling
short and destroying the bridge as well
as wiping out the enemy patrol.
Then followed weeks in the hospital,
Private Cady had only the highest
praise for the wonderful work the Red
Cross is doing and spoke particularly
of the splendid service OF the nurses.
The injuries to his eyes did not prove
serious at first and it was after several
months that he began to lose his sight,
which evidently was caused by shell
shock. During his period of GONZALES
cence he travelled extensively about
France, returning to this country July
., 1918.
Private Cady has been over the top
many times, was considerably burned
once during a gas attack, and has seen
his companions blown to atoms and
cited remarkable occurrence where a
soldier was pierced with more than no
machine gun bullets and is now on the
road to recovery A remarkable fea-
ture of the incident was the fact that
not a bone in the soldiers body was
touched by any of the bullets. The
wounds were confined to the fleshy
parts of his face, neck, shoulders and
legs.
Private Cady recounted some of the
terrible atrocities committed by the
| Germans on their first drive through
France in 1914, and said he had seen
many Belgian children with the cords
of their wrists and arms cut and their
eyes thrust out 1t is such monstrosi-
ties committed by the Boches that fills
Cady with eagerness to go back and
help finish the job.