Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1918-03-08
CHAPTER XVI.
Battery D 23s,

EIuu lllllIlkN AAlNN 4 NNNNN N''Allg wv
machine gunners' dugout right near
the advanced artillery observation
post This dugout was n roomy affair,
dry as finder, and real cots In H.,
These cots had been made by the
II. Els who had previously occupied
the dugout ! was the first 10 enter
and promptly made slgnboord with
my name and number on II and sus'
pended II from the foot Of the most
comfortable cot therein,
In the trenches It Is always "nrst
come, first served" and this Is lived
up to by all.
Two II. +, A, men Royal Field mr.
tlllcry) from the nearby observation
post were allowed the privilege Of
stopping in this dugout when on duty.
One Of these men, Bombardler Will
son by name, who belonged TO Bat
terry d 23S, seemed to take liking
TO me, and I returned this feeling.
In two days time we were pretty
chummy, and he told me how his bat
terry in the early days u the war had
put over stunt on Old Pepper, and
haA gotten away with It.
I will endeaver to give the story as
far rs memory will permit in his own
words:
~ came out with the first cXpedl-
t$Nary force, and, like all the rest
thought we would have the enemy
licked in jig time, and be able to eat
Christmas dinner at home, Well so
far. | have eaten two Christmas din
ners in the trenches and am liable 10
eat two more, the way things are
pointing. That is, If Fritz don't drop
Withholding on me, and send me to
Blighty. Sometimes l wish I would
get hit, because It's no great picnic
out here, and twenty-five months of 1t
makes you fed up,
ITS fairly cushy now compared TO
what 1t used TO be, although | admit
this trench is n trlne rough, Now
we send over five shells to their one.
We are getting our own back, but in
the early days It was different. Then
you had to take everything without
reply In fact, we would get twenty
shells in return for every one we sent
over. Fritz seemed to enjoy II, but
we British didn't; we We're the suf-
fererS. Just one casualty after an
other Sometimes whole platoons
would disappear, especially when a
Jack Johnson plunked into their
middle. II got so bad that fellow,
when writing home wouldn't ask for
any cigarettes to be sent out, because
he was afraid he wouldn't be there to
receive them.
"After the drive to Paris was turned
back. trench warfare started. our
general grabbed map, drew a pencil
across ii, and said, Dig here Then
he went back to his tea, and Tommy
armed himself with pick and shovel
and started digging. He's been dig
ging ever since.
"Of course we dug those trenches at
night, but it was hot work. what with
the rifle and machnegun fire. The
Stretcher bearers worked harder than
the diggers.
"ThOSe trenches, blOOmin' bitches, |
call them, were nightmares. They were
only about five feet deep, and you used
to get the backache from bending
down. 1t wasn't exactly safe to stand
upright, either, because as soon as
your napper showed over the top a
bullet would bounce off 1t, or else come
so close it would make your hair stand
1--WE used to fill sandbags and stick
them on top of the parapet to make II
higher, but no use; they would be
there about an hour and then Fritz
would turn loose and blow them to
bits. My neck used to be sore from
ducking shells and bullets.
"Where my battery was stationed q
hasty trench had been dug, when
the boys nicknamed Suicide ditch,
and, believe me, Yank, this was the
original Suicide ditch All the Others
are limitations.
"When a fellow went into that
trench it was an even gamble that hC
would come out on stretcher. At one
time Scotch battalion held it, anC
when they heard the betting was ever
money that they'd come out or
stretchers they grabbed all the bets
in sight. Like a lot of bally idiots, sew
eral Of the battery men fell for theil
game, and put up real money. The
Jocks suffered lot Of casualties, anC
the prospects looked bright for thu
battery men to collect some cas-!
money. So when the battalion was re
lleved the gamblers lined up. Severa
Jocks got their money for emerging
safely, but the ones who clicked !
weren't there to pay. The artillery
men had never thought 1t out tina
way. Those Scotties were bound t
be sure winners, no matter how tn
wind blew. So take tip from me
never bet with Scottie, cause you'll
lose money.
"At one part of our trench wher