The central record. (Lancaster, Ky.) 18??-current, 1918-07-18


by the boys when got back, but u was
good and plenty.
Our machine gun company took over
their part Of the line at seven O'Clock.
the night after I returned from my
near leave.
At 3 30 the following morning three
waves went over and captured the first
ard second German trenches. The
machine gunncrs went over with the
fourth wave to consolidate the cap
turrd lire or "dig in" as Tommy calls
it.
Crossing No Mans Land without
clicking any casualties, we came to
the German trench and mounted our
guns on the parados Of same.
never saw such mess In my lifc
lunches Of twisted barhed wire lying
shout. she'll holes everywhere, trench
all dashed In. pnrapcts gone. and dead
bodies, why. that ditch was full Of
them. theirs AMI ours. II was regu.
lar morgue. Some were mnngled hor-
ribly from our shell Gre. while others
were wholly or partly buried In the
mud. the result OF shell explosions cav.
ing In the walls ct the trench. one
dead German was lying on his back,
with a rifle sticking straight up In the
air. the heyonet uf which was buried
to the hllt tn his chest. Across his feet
lay dead English soldier with n but.
let hole Ia his forehead. This Tommy
must have been Killed just rs h. ran
his bayonct through the German.
Rlncs and equipment were scattered
rbuut. and occasionally steel hciuet
cou'n De seen sticking out OF The mud
- one point. just On the entrance 10
q communication trench. was n stretch.
or on ;his strctcncr a German was
living With a white bnndage around HE
knee. near to him hay one o. ~
Hr,tcber-bcarsrs. thc red cross on his
arm covered with mud and he hglmot
flied with blood and brains. Close by
sitting up nrnins, the VIII Of 90.
trench. with head resting on his chess
WIS the other stretcher-heurrr. u,
seemed TO he alive the posture was 81
natul and easy; but when goi
closer | could see large. Jagged hol,
In his temple. The three must Lay,
been BILLED by the same shrll-b,irs,.
The dugouts were all smashed IN anr
knocked about. bic square-cut timber
spllntcrcd into bits. walls caved in an,
entrances choked.
Tommy. after taking n trench. learns
20 his sorrow that the hardest part oi
The WORK is To hold IL.
In our ease this proved to be so.
The German artillery and machine
guns had rs tapped tranEed) for fair
Il was worth your life TO expose your
self an Instant.
Don't think for minute that IN,
Germans were the only sufferers; We
were clicking casualties so fast thai
you needed an adding machine to kceI
track OF them.
Did you ever see one OF the steau
shovels at work on the Panama canal
Well, II would look Ike hen scratch
ing alongside of Tommy digging in
while under fire. You couldn't see day
Hight through the clouds Of dirt from
his shovel
After losing three out of six men ri
our crew We managed To set up oui
machine gun. one OF the legs OF "a,
tripod was resting On the chest of
half-buried body. When the gun wa,
firing. II gave the Impression that IN,
body was breathing. This was causes
by The excessive vibration.
Three or four feet down the trench
shout three feet from the ground.
foo, was proirudlng from the earth
We knew II was n German by the hlaC,
leather boot. one Of our crew use,
that foot to hang extra bandollers OF
ammunition ON. This man always wss
n handy fellow; made use OF llttl,
points that the ordinary person woulo
overlook.
The Germans made three counter
attacks. which we repulsed. but moi
without heavy loss on our side. They
also suffered severely from our shc
and machine-gun fire. The ground was
spoited with their dead and dying.
The next day things were somewhat
Quieter, but not quiet enough to bury
the dead.
We lived, ate and slept In that trench
with the unburled dead for six days
II was awful TO watch their faces be
come swollen and dlscolored. Towards
the last the stencil was fierce.
What got on my nerves the most was
that foot sticking out Of the dirt. II
seemed To me, at night, In the moon