The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1918-11-28

them. They laid to and a third one
came. There were three in less than
five minutes. directly over their heads.
Then a shell landed on the left side
OF the trench and poiIu yelled that
four men had got it. They were all
wounded and three died later. The
lieutenant went over to them and just
after he passed me lad got 1t square
not far from me and was knocked
over to where l was lying.
The lieutenant came back and
helped me with the first-aid roll and
then the Germans began using shrap-
mel. The lieutenant was swearing
hard about the, shrapnel and the Ger
mans and everything else.
Farther to the right a shell had just
struck near the parados and made a
big crater and across from it, against
the parapet, was young chap with
deep cash in his head, sitting on
+ the fire step and next to him fellow
nursing the place where his arm had
been blown off. Our bread ration lay
all about the trench and some Of the
poilus were fishing it out of the mud
and water and wiping the biscuits off
on their sleeves or eating as fast as
they could. Only some of the biscuits
had fallen in bloody water and they
did not eat these.
A young fellow, hardly more than a
boy, stumbled over the parados and
fell into the trench right near the
lieutenant and the lieutenant dressed
his wounds himself. 1 think he was
some relation of the boy.
The lieutenant asked him how he
felt, but the boy only asked for water
and smiled. But you could see he was
in great pain. Then the boy said !:
"Oh, the pain is awful. am going
to die"
"You are all right, old man." the
lieutenant said. "You will be home
soon. The stretcher bearers are COM
Ing" So we passed the word for the
stretcher bearers.
Then he took the water bottle from
the boys side and sat him up and gave
him some water. He left the water
bottle with the chap and went to
hurry the stretcher bearers along.
When he got around the corner of the
trench the boy was slipping back and
the water bottle had fallen down. So
l went over to him and propped him
up again and gave him some more
water
The lieutenant came back with the
stretcher bearers and he asked one Of
them, so the boy could not hear him, IL
the boy would live.
The stretcher bearer said: IT don't
think SO. One through his chest and
right leg broken"
The boy had kept quiet for while,
but all of sudden he yelled, "Give me
cigarette!" I handed him a ciga-
rette butt that had found in the dug
out. We were all out of cigarettes.
So they lit it for him and he kept
quiet. AS soon as they could they got
around the corner of the fire bay with
him and through a communication
trench to a field hospital. The lieu
tenant and walked little way with
him and he began to thank us, and he
told the lieutenant, S:.e0ld man, you
have been a father and mother to
me-"
And the lieutenant said to him I:
'You have done well, old boy. You
have done more than your share.n-~
When they started into the commu-
nication trench the boy began to
scream again. And the lieutenant
acted like a wild man. He took out
his cigarette case, but there were no
cigarettes in it, and then he swore and
put it back again. But in a few min
utes he had the case out again and
was swearing worse than ever and
talking to himself.
The boy isn't dying like ia gentle
man, he said. "Why couldn't he keep
quiet.' I do not think he meant It.
He was all nervous. 1pd sxcted and
kept taking out his cigarettA case and
putting it back again. s.
The other officer had gone on to In
spect the sentries whepat9e hey rolled
into the trench and a poflu came up
to tell us that the officer had been hit.
We walked back to where I had been
and there was the officer. If 1 had
been there I would have got it too,
l guess. He was an awful mess. The
veins were sticking out of his neck
and one side Of him was blown off.
Also, his foot was wounded. That is
what shrapnel does to you. AS I
crawled past him happened to touch
his foot and he cursed me all over the
place. But when tried to say was
sorry l could not. for then he apollo.
gized and died moment later.
There was silver cigarette case
sticking out Of the rags mere his
side had been blown away and the
lieutenant crossed himself and reached
in and took out the case. But when
he pried open the case he found that
it had been bent and cracked and all
the cigarettes were soaked with blood.
He SwOre verse than ever, then, and
threw his own case away, putting the
other officers case in his pocket.
At this point our own artillery be-
gan shelling and we received the order
to stand to with fixed bayonets. When
we got the order to advance some Of
the men were already over the para
pet and the whole bunch after them,
and, believe me, was as pale as
sheet, just scared to death. I think
every man is when he goes over for
the first time-every time for that
matter. But was glad we were going