The Big Sandy news., 1918-06-28


absolutely motlonless until the light o
the shell dies out. This takes any
where from forty TO Seventy seconds
If you haven't time TO fall TO TN
ground you must remain absolutel,
still In whatever position you were u
when the light exploded; II is adyis
able not to breathe. as Fritz has M
eye like an eEsie when he thinks yot
are knocking at his door. When a stai
shell Is burning In Tommy's rear h'
can hold his breath for z week.
You blacken your face and hands SC
that the light from the star shells will
not reflect on your pale face. In q
trench raid there is quite sufficient
reason for your face to be pale, II you
don't believe me. try II Just once.
Then another reason for blsckenlng
your face and hands Is that. after you
have entered the German trench at
night. '.whIte face" means Germans,
-black face" English. Coming around
traverse you see a white face In
front Of you. With a prayer and wish
ing Fritz "the best o. luck" you intro
duee him to your '.persuader" or
knuckle knife.
A little later we arrived at the com
munication trench named Whisky
street. which led to the hre trench at
the point We were TO 90 over the top
and out In front
In our rear were four stretcher bear
ess and corporal OF the X A. NJ. G.,
Carrying a pouch containing medicines
and first-aid appliances Kind Of q
grim reminder 10 Us that our sxpedi-
ton was not going 10 be exactly 0 pic
mic. The order Of things was reversed.
In civilian life the doctors generally
come first. with the undertakers tag
ging in the rear and then the insur-
ance man. but In our case. the under
takers were leading. With the doctors
trailing b, ID. minus the Insurance
adjuster.
The presence OF the X. A. NJ. G. men
did not seem TO disturb the raiders. be-
cause many joke made In an under
tone. was passed along the winding
column. as to who would be 1rst to
take n ride on one OF the stretchers.
This was generally followed by wish
that. II you were to be the one. the
wound would be "cushy Bllghty
one"
The strctcher bearers. no doubt.
hoping that. II they did have 10 carry
anyone TO the rear. he would be small
and light. Perhaps they looked at me
when wishing. because could feel an
uncomfortable. boring sensation be-
tween my shoulder blades. They got
their wish all right.
Going up this trench. about every
sixty yards or so we would pass lone
y sentry. who in a whisper would
wish Us ..the best o. luck. mates" We
would blind at him under our breaths:
that Jonah phrase TO us sounded very
ominous.
Without any casualties the minstrel
roop arrived NJ Suicide ditch, the
,ront-llne trench. Previously, a wiring
party Of the Royal Engineers had cut
/ lane through our barbed wire TO en-
lble us TO get out into No Mans Land.
Crawling through this lane, our
,arty Of twenty took up an extended
'r6er formation about one yard apart
We had tap code arranged for our
while In No Mans Land.
,ecause for various reasons II ls not
Iafe to carry on heated conversation
few yards In front OF Fritz lines.
The officer was on the right OF the
Inc. while was on the extreme left.
Two taps from the right would be |
'assed down the line until received
hem, then / would send back one tnp.
The officer. in receiving this one tap.
Vould know that his order had gone
own the whole line, had been under
TODD. and that the party was ready |
o obey the two-tap signal. Two taps
leant that we were to crawl forward |
Iowly-and believe me. very slowly
DR. five yards. and then halt to await
1rther instructions. Three taps meant,
hen you arrived within striking dis
ince Of the German trench, rush n
nd inhict as many casualties as DOS
ble. secure couple OF prisoners, and
hen back TO your own lines with the
peed clutch open. Four. taps meant,
have gotten you into a position from
'hich It is impossible for me 20 extri-
ate you, so you are on your own"
After getting Tommy into mess on
le western front he is generally told
lat he is aon his own" This means.
Save your skin In any way possible
ommy loves to be ION his own" behind
le lines. but not during trench raid
The star shells from the German
mes were falling In front Of us, there.
re we were safe. After about TWEEN.
minutes we entered the star shall
me. A star shell from the German
mes fell about five yards in the rear
I'd to the right Of me; we hugged the
'ound and held our breath until n
irned out. The smoke from the star
'eli travelled along tho ground ana
ossed over tho middle Of our lIi6.