Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-05-09

v1s Q tAstlliag slgAt.
Ten ~ oAseaa
n going foewasd 10 veat aroun,
To Cd q IL larger MOOD n front o
q. svee GFssna Tat wAs torn 10 BID
b. ~ Aeavy sAaal lrs that had jus
prsce6ed. ever archer edge. across
valley. and usdee he crest u Q hin
AA1 here ~ feaad the tanks goinl
over The top q TIE hitl to take "
their position. A. this point We wert
still abost . mile from the front nne
AZ thls plscs I epened Up an aid posi-
under the crest q the hin to take carr
Of what wounded came IN while VI
we're getting Into position.
Shrapnel was bursting 10 the cir,
shells were whixxing overhead. and our
guns behind me were belching forth
the 6re. The noise was ~deafenlng.
A railroad ran through the valley
and an engine pulling Q couple Of hat
cara was going BY. A couple OF sol.
diers were sitting on the G a truck
swinging their feet. A shell burst on
the track and only missed the last car
about fifteen yards. Neither a was
hit and the train went blithely on.
BY this time Il was getting along
toward evening. the u was sinking
In the west. and finally went down a
great ball Of fire. At the time. ] ne
member, ! noticed its color. II vas
bleod red and had q sinister look. Was
1t my Imagination. or might 1t have
been a ~premonitionf At any rate, !
shall never forget the color Of the sun
as 1t set that night at the end Of the
FIRST day Of probably M Of the great
est battles In history. 1t certainly
didn't look good to me.
The drumming Of the guns contln-
ued. twilight gradually deepened into
night, the ~signalers stopped their wig
wagging and took up their fash sig.
mails, a fog dropped down on US and
put the lights out Of business. and
when we left to 60 forward under the
Of darkness they were busy put
ting out their telephone lines-signal-
ers and runners don't have an easy
time.
Shell Dump Goes Up.
Behind US a shell landed In an am
munition dump and 1t went up with a
roar then the rifle ammunition started
going of like q great bunch Of fire
crackers, and great tongues Of fame
lit up the sky.
1t Is reported that the Germans had
broken through our line and we were
to counter-attack in the morning. We
got into positions without a single
casualty. / opened an aid post In an
old dugout and settled down to sleep
until morning. You may think 1t fun
ny that one could sleep under such
conditions, but l had been up since
$50, had tramped about six or seven
miles, had had a rather trying day
and was dog tired.
Just like some Of the warm days we
get the last Of March at home. In
going forward 1t was necessary
for us to march seventy-tive yards in
front OF three batteries Of field guns.
There are six guns to a battery. They
shoot an elghteen.pound shell and
while W. were there each gun was
shooting twice to the minute. You
can imagine the racket when l tell
you that the discharge of one gun can
be heard about four miles. In addi-
ton the Boche was trying to knock
out this battery and ne was dropping
his six inch shells a little too close for
comfort.
Nearly In 4 Trap.
Then I made n lovely mistake.
was to establish an aid post near bat
TALON headquarters and went bllthely
on when met a company commander
and asked him where to 20.
Back there about n quarter of a
mile" he replied. "This is the front
center company. II you keep on In
the direction you r going you are
going up over that ridge and Fritz will
be waiting for you with q machine
gum"
So my sergeant and orderly and
myself didn't waste any time In clear
ing. On the way back | found a gallon
can full of water, got into a corrugated
iron shelter and had n wash and q
shave. 1t certainly felt good. don't
believe | had washed for thirty.six
hours. 1t was warm and bright. i
could look out Of my shelter and see
our support lines digging themselves
in several hundred yards away. The
cannon fire ceased, the machine guns
settled down to an occasional ftful
burst md II vas midday OF a beautiful
spring day.
A couple Of partridge few over me.
What did they know or care about all
this noise and racket md men getting
up In line and killing cnch other?
Along about three o'clock things be.
gan to livcn up again. In the mean.
time headquarters had been establish.
cd IN a sunken road with banks about
fifteen feet high on either side (later
this cut was half filled with dead).
My aid post was In a dugout neat by
and gradually things got hotter and
hotter.
Our men had dug themselves In
and were popping away, with their
rifles. The field batteries behind Us
we're putting up a barrage, airplanea
were circling overhead, both ours and