The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1918-12-31
Soldier S L,1hes


row Turner son of Mr. = Mrs. Jas.
H. Turner, this city. uA.s Il men,
Der of the Ambulance : u. lI5th
Reg, Sanitary Train 104. \. E. F:
France, December 10, 1918.
Dear old friend, Reginald:
I received your Christmas card
sometime ago, and was very glad TO
hear from you once again. Reg, |
am going to tell you about some Of
the life at the front. On Saturday,
Oct. 5th, We moved up toward the
front and stopped at little VILLAGE
and found our sleeping quarters for
the night; as there was re Meekins
Corner, or Grand Opera House TO
go to, we went to bed, and next
morning, which was Sunday, some OF
the boys went to church, but for my
self, I went to work on my motor,
for l knew l would not have any
time when we got into action. The
day passed very fast, and Fritz
dropped tons of shells into the city
Of Verdun. 1t was 9.15 p. m. when
our Sergeant came in and the orders
he gave us were fine. He said, Mo
tormen on their cars an line up on
Verdun pike" and ten minutes later
We We're all i'll place on the pike. We
let our motor run for some little
time until at last we were ordered
to cut off. Well, we slept in our
cars all that night, and at o'clock
Monday morning we We're reused
from our slumbers by a barrage. 1t
was Oct. 18th. We knew the Dough
boys were at the front and were
going over the top that morning. At
o'clock We were ordered to crank
up; We Were loaded with our dress
ing station and litter bearers. Reg,
you talk about hard fellows, you
ought to see those boys; all the way
to the front they sang It's a Long
Ways to Berlin and Hello, Cen
trail Give Me No Mans Land
We reached the place where we
were to have our dressing station,
and l unloaded at 10 O'Clock, and af-
ter inquiring around, l found that
where l was had been No Man't Land
at 5 o'clock that morning Reg, the
Blue and Gray drove them over hills
and farms that day, and, of course, it
kept us busy all day. 1 made three
trips to the hospital, and got back to
the front about $50 o'clock that
night. and found orders for me to go
up Death Valley to a dressing sta
ton that was about three miles from
the main road. Well, / started. 1t
was not long before 1 arrived at the
station and found that 1 was to be
loaded with litter patients. l was
ordered to drive very slow, and, Reg,
you know I never did like to drive
that way. While l was waiting for
"a I nneeInIAlp II
ley, and just think how 1 felt, for,
Reg, tell you, there are plenty of |
jobs. such as bookkeeping, etc., more !
healthy than it was to bring that |
ambulance through that barrage.
Well, l started; it was very dark,
l could not see one yard ahead only |
by bursting of shells, so the orderly |
said he would ride on the bumper |
and tell me the way to dodge shell |
holes. He rode that way for about |
five minutes, and 1 told him to get |
back in the seat, out of the fine mist |
OF rain, and just as he got in, a dyna- |
mite factory went up in the road, |
about twenty yards ahead Of me. |
Bob, the orderly. fell to the floor of |
the car; l smelled gas, and rushed to
the rear of the car and got the pa
tients' masks on was nearly
choked myself, but managed to get
Bob's mask on him, and then my
own. l then went to the hole in the