Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-04-18

gunners' dugout and wrote letters
home. saying that In the morning they
were going over the top. and also that
II the letters reached their destination
1t would mean that the writer had been
killed.
These letters were turned over to
the captain with Instructions to mail
same In the event of the writer's being
killed. Some Of the men made out
their wills in their pay books, under
the caption, "Will and Last Tesla.
ment."
Then the nerve-racking wait COM
menced. Every now and then I would
glance at the dial Of my wrist watch
and was surprised to see how fast the
minutes passed by. About FIVE minutes
to two I got nervous waiting for our
guns to open up. I could not take my
eyes from my watch. I crouched
against the parapet and strained my
muscles in a deathlike grip upon my
rife. As the hands on my watch
showed two o'clock u binding red flare
lighted up the sky In our rear, then
thunder, intermixed with a sharp, whis'
, thing sound in the air yer u heads.
The shells from our guns were speed
Ing on their way toward the German
lines. With one accord the men
sprang up OF the fire step and looked
over the top in the direction OF the
German trenches. A line Of bursting
shells lighted up No Mans Land. The
din was terrific and the ground trem-
bled. Then, high above u heads we
could hear a signing moan. Our big
boys behind the line had opened up
and 9.2's and 15-inch shells commenced
dropping into the German lines. The
fash Of the guns behind the lines, the
scream Of the shells through the air,
and the fare Of them. bursting, was a
spectacle that put Pains greatest dis
play into the shade. The constant
pup, pup, Of German machine guns and
an occasional rattle Of rifle firing gave
me the impression Of a huge audience
applauding the work Of the batteries.
Our 18-pounders were destroying the
German barbed wire, while the heavier
stuff was demolishing their trenches
and bashing in dugouts or funk holes
Then Fritz got busy.
Their shells went screaming over
head, aimed In the direction OF the
flares from our batteries. Trench NOR.
tars started dropping "Minnies' In
our front line. We clicked several cas-
ualties. Then they suddenly ceased.
Our artillery had tapped or silenced
them.
During the bombardment you could
almost read a newspaper In our trench.
Sometimes In the fare Of a shell.burst
a mans body would be %silhouetted
, against the parados OF the trench and
, 1t appeared like a huge monster. You
could hardly hear yourself think. When
an order was to be passed down the
trench you had to yell 1t, using your
hands as q funnel into the ear Of the
man sitting next to you on the FIRE step.
In about twenty minutes q generous
rum issue was doled out. After drink.
ing the rum. which tasted like varnish
and sent q shudder through your
frame. you wondered why they made
you wait until the lifting Of the bar
rage before going over. At ten min.
utes to four word was passed down,
"Ten minutes to gow Ten minutes
to livel We were shivering all over.
My legs felt as II they were asleep.
Then word was passed down: "First
wave get on and near the scaling lad
, ders."
) Before q charge Tommy is the po'
ntest Of men. There is new my push
ing or crowding to be first up these
ladders. We crouched around the base
, Of the ladders waiting for the word
, to 70 over. I was sick and faint, and
, was pufing away at IN unlighted fag'
, Then came the word, "Three minutes
to 60; upon the lifting Of the barrage
and on the blast Of the whistles, over
the top with the best o. luck and give
them HE'LL" The famous phrase OF
the western front. The Jonah phrase
Of the western front. To Tommy II
. means II you ore lucky enough to come
back you will be minus an arm or q
leg.
, glanced again at my wrist watch.
/ We all wore them and you could hardly
call 10 "sissies' for doing 80. It was q
minute to four. ! could see the hand
move to the twelve, then a dead 81
lence. II hurt. Everyone looked up
, to see whit had happened, but not for
Ions. Sharp whistle blasts rang out
, along the trench, and with . cheer the
men scrambled up the ladders. The
. bullets were cracking overhead. and
. nrcnslon0llv n machine gun would rip