Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1918-08-20

CHAPTER xxvi. i
All Quiet ~ on the Western Front
At brigade headquarters I happened
% overhear conversation between oul
G. o. @. general officer commanding
and the divisional commander. From
this conversation I learned that we
were to lombard the German lines fol
eight days, and on the first Of July the
big push" was to commence.
In few days orders were issued to
that effect, and it was common prop
.rty all along the line.
On the afternoon Of the eighth day OF
,ur "strafeing," Atwell and were sit
ing in the front-line trench smoking
ags and making out our reports Of the
,reviOus nights tour Of the trenches
yhich we had to turn in to headquar.
:ers the following day, when an order
vas passed down the trench that Old
Pepper requested twenty volunteers to
20 over on trench raid that night to
Try and get q few German prisoners fol
Information purposes. Immediately
Volunteered for this job, and shook
hands with Atwell, and went to the
rear to give my name to the officers IL
charge of the raiding party.
was accepted. worse luck.
At 9:45 that night we reported to the
brigade headquarters dugout to receive
Instructions from Old Pepper.
After reaching this dugout we lined
mp in semicircle around him, and he
addressed us as follows:
"All I want you boys to do is to &c
over to the German lines tonight, sur
prise them, secure couple Of prison
ers. and return Immediately. Our ar
tillery has bombarded that section OF
the line for two days and personally
believe that that part Of the German
trench is unoccupied, so just get a cou'
pie of prisoners and return as quickly
rs possible"
The sergeant on my right, in an un
dertone, whispered to me:
"Say, Yank, how are we going to gel
a couple Of prisoners II the old foo
thinks personally that that part Of the
trench is unoccupied,'-sounds kind o1
fshy, doesn't 1t mate?"
had a funny sinking sensation ir
my stomach, and my tin hat felt as II
1t weighed about q ton and my enthusi
asm was melting away. Old Pepper
must have heard the sergeant SPEAK
because he turned in his direction and
In laundering voice asked:
"what did you say"
The sergeant with q scarlet look or
his face and his knees trembling
smartly saluted and answered;
Nothing, sir"
Old Pepper said:
"Well, don't say 1t so loudly the nex'
time"
Then Old Pepper continued:
"In this section Of the German
trenches there are two or three ma
chine guns which our artillery, In the
last two or three days, has been un
able to tape. These guns command the
sector where two Of our communica
ton trenches join the front line, ant
as the brigade Is to 60 over the top to
morrow morning want to capture two
or three men from these guns crews
and from them may be able to obtair
valuable information as to the exac
location Of the guns, and our artillery
will therefore be able to demolish then
before the attack, and thus prevent
our losing a lot Of men while using
these communication trenches to brin(
up re-enforcements."
These were the instructions he gave
us:
"Take off your Identification disks
strip your uniforms Of all numerals
insignia, ETC., leave your papers will
your captains, because I don't want thu
Boches to know what regiments arr
against them as this would be valuable
information to them in our attack to
morrow and I don't want any Of 70,
| to be taken nlive. What I want Is two
prisoners and If I get them have .
way which will make them divulg'
all necessary information as to theil
guns. You have your choice Of two
weapons-you may carry your per
suaders' or your knuckle knives, ant
each man will arm himself with fou
| Mills bombs, these to be used only II
case Of emergency"
A persuader is Tommy's nickname
for q club carried by the bombers. I
is about two feet long, thin at one ent
and very thick at the other. The thicl
end Is studded with sharp steel spikes
while through the center Of the clul
| there Is q nine-inch lead bar, to CIV
1t weight and balance. When you &c
a prisoner ,all you have to do Is jus
stick this club up In front Of him, ant
believe me, the prisoners patriotism
for deutschland ueber Allies" fade
away and he very willingly obeys tn
orders Of his captor. If, however, tn
prisoner gets high.toned.and refuses t
follow you, simply persuade" him b.
first removing his tin hat, and them
| well, the use of the lead weight In tn
persuader is demonstrated, and Tom
my looks for another prisoner.
The knuckle knife is dagger affair
the blade of which Is about eight
inches long with a heavy steel guart
over the grip. This guard Is studded
with steel projections. At night In {
trench, which Is only about three Y
four feet wide, 1t makes very hand!
weapon. One punch In the face gen
orally skaters a mans jaw and 20.
can get him with the knife as he goe'
down. Y ee.
| Then we had what we called on
.come-alongs." These are strands O
| barbed wire about three feet long
made into a moose at one end; at tn
other end, the barbs are cut OF an
Tommy slips his wrist through Q looI
| to get q good grip on the wire. Il tn
prisoner wants to argue the point, VIII
i Just place the large loop around BIT
4 neck and no matter II Tommy wishe
to return to his trenches at the wall
| trot or gallop, Fritz IL perfectly agree
able, to maintain Tommy's rate Q
speed. Z, stst 4
4 weiweTe ordered to black our face
and hands. For this reason At night