The Ordway new era., 1918-05-10
,rs. II was warm and bright.

cannon fire ceased. the machine guns
settled down to an occasional fitful
burst and IL was midday of beautiful
spring day.
A couple of partridge flew over me.
What did they know or care about all
this noise and racket and men getting
up in line and killing each other?
Along about three o'clock things be-
gan TO liven up again. In the mean
time headquarters had been establish
ell In a sunken road with banks about
fifteen feet high on either side Uater
this cut was half filed with deadD.
MY aid post was in dngout near 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
were putting up a barrage. airplanes
were circling overhead, both ours and
counter-barrnge. the machine guns
were going like mad. I was standing
with the colonel on little rise of
ground above the sunken road when
the Germans broke through about n
mile to the north of us. They could
be plainly seen pouring over the ridge
in close formation.
Tanks Get Into Action.
Then the tanks came up. and you
should have seen them run! Just like
rabbitsi The tanks retired; the
Boches reformed and came at II
again. They tell me that at certain
t,1n ,t-ithstnn1
cessive attacks and that the Germans
went down in thousands One Welsh
man told me that his gun accounted
for rs in three minutes during one
wave.
Machine-gun bullets were nipping
around me, the shell fire was getting
hotter. and even though It was n won
derful sight to watch I decided dis
cretion was the better part of vnlor."
or something like that and got down
In my dugout.
was sitting there smoking Gig
arctic when my orderly came down
and said was being relieved and was
to 90 back and work with the arnbu-
lance Fifteen hours later the man
that relieved me was captured. But
I am getting ahead of my story.
went back to the advanced dress
ing station through the hottest shell
fire l ever experienced. More than
once went down on my face when
shell burst and the pieces went whiz-
zing over my head. spent the night
in mined village where the advanced
dressing station was located, and all
night they shelled 1t to blazes. 1t was
remarkable how few casualties we
had.
About eleven O'Clock the morning of
the third day shell blew in the side
of our post, but luckily no one was
hurt. We stuck to It until about four
in the afternoon, when we saw our
men retiring over n ridge In front Of
us. keeping up continuous machine
gun and rifle fire, and we beat 1t back
to another village and opened anoth-
er post.
The Begrlmed Lord.
About ten O'Clock on the morning of
the fourth day Lord Thyme, my col
onel when I was with the battalion.
stumbled into the shack where was
sitting He looked like a ghost. He
had lost his hat, his face was covered
with four days beard. the sweat
had traced tracks in the dust from his
forehead to his chin. His sleeve was
torn and bloody and he had a cash in
his arm where he had been struck by
a piece of flying shell case.
my God, doc, are you hereT he
said. "You got out just in time. The
battalion is all gone. The sunken road
is filled with dead-mOstly Huns,
damn 'em. The line broke on the
right: we were surrounded and at
the last we were fighting back and
back. Only thirty. of us got away
SO we knew the Boche had broken
through, to our right and our left, and
1t was question of how long II would
be before we, too, were surrounded,
but we wanted to stick 1t out as long
us we could.
But not more than an hour later
medical officer rushed in from one of
the hnttalions and between gasps for
breath told us the Germans We're on
the edge of the village. had shot him
through the sleeve with II machine
gun bullet Quckily that was alD and
for us to beat it.
The ninth day. sitting around the
fire in our mess after the best dinner
we had had in days. the conmandin"
officer handed me some papers nnd
said. Here is something that will in
terest YOU. Petit, want to say we
shall he sorry to lose YOU"
And this is what II was: Lieut.
Roswell T. Petit. NJ. Il. c.. is relieved
from duty with the British army and
will proceed to the a. L. f., where he
will report for duty
leave for Paris in the morning.
This has been n long tale, hui The half
of 1t hasn't been told. hope haven't
strung II out too much.