Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1918-08-20
I GIs7 eY |
iARfhuR aY EnpEYl

affair. They are fired from large
pistol about twenty inches long, which
} Is held over the sandbag parapet Of the
trench, and discharged into the air.
These star shells attain height Of
about sixty feet, and range Of from
fifty to seventy-five yards. When they
hit the ground they explode, throwing
out strong calcium light which lights
up the ground In circle Of radius OF
between ten to fifteen yards. They
also have parachute star shell which,
after reaching height Of about sixty
feet, explodes. A parachute unfolds
and slowly floats to the ground, light
ing up large circle in No Mans Land.
The official name Of the star shell Is
a "Very.light." Very-lights are used
to prevent night surprise attacks on
the trenches. II a star shell falls In
front of you, or between you and the
German lines, you are safe from detec.
tion, as the enemy cannot see you
through the bright curtain Of light.
But If it falls behind you and, as Tom
my says, you get in the star shell
zone," then the fun begins; you have
to lie fiat on your stomach and remain
absolutely motionless until the light Of
the shell dies out. This takes any
where from forty to seventy seconds.
If you haven't time to fall to the
ground you must remain absolutely
still in whatever position you were In
when the light exploded; it Is advis-
able not to breathe, as Fritz has an
eye like an eagle when he thinks you
are knocking at his door. When star
shell is burning in Tommy's rear he
can hold his breath for week.
You blacken your face and hands so
that the light from the star shells will
not reflect on your pale face. In a.
trench raid there is quite sufficient
reason Cor your face to be pale. If you
don't believe me, try 1t just once.
Then another reason for blackening
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 white face In
front of you. With prayer and wish.
ing Fritz "the best O. luck" you intro
duce him to your "persuader" or
knuckle knife.
A little later we arrived at the COM
munication trench named Whisky
street, which led to the fire trench at
the point we were to 60 over the top
and out In front.
In our rear were four stretcher bear.
ers and q corporal Of the R. A. NJ. Q.
carrying a pouch containing medicines
and first-aid appliances. Kind OF
grim reminder to US that our expedi-
ton was not going to be exactly 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 behind, minus the insurance
| adjuster.
The presence Of the r. A. NJ. G. men
did not seem to disturb the raiders, be-
cause many a joke made in an under
tone, was passed along the winding
column, as to who would be first to
take ride on one Of the stretchers.
This was generally followed by a wish
that, II you were to be the one, the
| wound would be q "cushy Blighty
one."
The stretcher bearers, no doubt,
hoping that, If they did have to carry
anyone to the rear, he would be small
and light. Perhaps they looked at me
when wishing, because I 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
ly 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
troop arrived at Suicide ditch, the
| front-line trench. Previously, wiring
party of the Royal Engineers had cut
lane through our barbed wire to en-
able us to get out into No Mans Land.
Crawling through this lane, our
party of twenty took up an extended
order formation about one yard apart
We had tap code arranged for our
movements while in No Mans Land,
because for various reasons 1t Is not
safe to carry on q heated conversation
a few yards in front Of Fritz lines.
The officer was on the right OF the
line, while was on the extreme left
Two taps from the right would be
passed down the line until received
them, then would send back one tap.
The officer. in receiving this one tap,
would know that his order had gone
down the whole line. had been under
stood, and that the party was ready
to obey the two-tap signal. Two taps
meant that we were to crawl forward
slowly-and believe me, very slowly
for FIVE. yards, and then halt to await
further instructions. Three taps meant,
when you arrived within striking dis
tance of the German trench, rush 1t
and inflict as many casualties as pos
sible, secure couple Of prisoners, and
then. back to your own lines with the
speed clutch open. -Four taps meant.
IT have gotten you into position from
which 1t is impossible for me to !extri-
cate you. 80 you are oh your own"
! After getting Tommy into mess on
the western front he Is generally told
that he is ION his own" This means.
"Save your skin In any way possible"
Tommy loves to be ION his own" behind
the lines, but not during a trench raid.
1 The star shells from the Germhn
lines were falling In front Of us. there
fore we were safe. After about twen-
4 ty minutes We entered the star shell
4 zone. A star shell from the German
lines fell about i've yards In the rear
and to the right Of me-; we hugged the
Il ground and, held our breath until 1t
burned out. The smoks from the star
{ shell travelled along the ground and
I crossed over the middle Of our line.
4 Some Tommy sneesed, The smoke had
Il gotten up his, nose. We crbuched on