The Big Sandy news., 1918-06-28

preparing
because he turned In his direction ant
In laundering voice asked:
what did you sayf"
The sergeant with scarlet look OF
his face and his knees trembling
smartIy saluted and answered:
"Nothing, sir"
Old Pepper said:
well, don't say II so loudly the rex
time"
Then Old Pepper continued:
"ln this section OF the German
trenches there are two or three ma
chine guns which our artillery, In this
last two or three days. has been un
able TO tape. These guns command the
sector where two Of our communica,
zion trenches join the front line, and
as the brigade Is TO 90 over the top to-
morrow morning / want to capture two
or three men from these guns crews
and from them ! may be able TO obtain
valuable Information as 10 the exact
location Of the guns. and our artillery
will therefore be able 10 demoHsh them
before the attack. and thus prevent
our losing lot Of men while using
these communication trenches TO bring
up re-enforcements."
These were the instructions he gave
us:
Take on your Identification disks,
strip your uniforms Of all numeralA
insignia, etc. leave your papers with
your captains. because don't want the
Boches to know what regiments are
against them rs this would be valuable
information to them in our attack to-
morrow and don't want any Of you
to be taken alive. What ] want is two
prisoners and II I get them have a
way which will make them dIvulge
all necessary information as to their
guns. You have your choice of two
weapons-you may carry your per
suaders' or your knuckle knives, and
each man will arm himself with four
Mills bombs. these to be used only In
case Of emergency"
A persuader Is Tommy's nickname
for o club carried by the bombers. II
Is about two feet long, thin at one end
and very thick at the other. The thick
end is studded with sharp steel spikes,
while through the center OF the club
there Is nlne-inch lead bar. TO give
IL weight and balance. When you get
n prisoner all you have 10 do is just
stick this club up In front OF him, and
believe me. the prisoners patriotism
for Deutschland ueber Allies" fsaes
away and he very willingly obeys the
orders OF his captor. II. however, the
prisoner gets high-toned and refuses TO
follow you. simply persuade" him by
first removing his tin hat, and then
well, the use Of the lead weight In the
persuader Is demonstrated. and Tuni-
my looks for another prisoner.
The knuckle knife is dagger affair.
the blade OF which Is about eight
inches long with a heavy steel guard
over the grip. This guard is studded
with steel projections. At night In a
trench. which is only about three to
tour feet wide, II makes very handy
weapon. One punch In the face gen.
srally skaters mans jaw and you
,an get him with the knife as he goes
iown.
Then we had what we called our
'come-elonEs." These are strands OF |
1arbed wire about three feet long.
made into a moose at one end; ut the |
,ther end. the barbs are cut of and |
Tommy slips his wrist through a loop
o get good grip on the wire II the
prisoner wants to argue the point. why
ust place the large loop around his
ieck and no matter II Tommy wishes
o return to his trenches at the walk.
rot. or gallop. Fritz b. perfectly agree
lble to maintain rommy's rate Of
peed.
We were ordered to black our faces
nd hands. For this reason; At night,
he English and Germans use what
hey call star shells. q sort Of rocket
flair. They are fired from large
istol about twenty inches long. which
) held over the sandbag parapet Of the
rench. and discharged into the air.
,hese star shells attain height OF
bout sixty feet. and a range Of from
fly to seventy-five yards. When they
It the ground they explode. throwing
ut strong calcium light which lights
p the ground in q circle Of a radius OF
etween ten to fifteen yards. They
lso have parachute star shell which.
fter reaching height Of about sixty
eet. explOdes. A parachute unfolds
nd slowly floats to the ground. light
lg up large circle In No Mans Land.
he Official name Of the star shell Is
"very-light" Very-lights are used
, prevent night surprise attacks on
10 trenches II a star shell falls In
ont Of you. or between yon and the
erman lines. you are safe from detec-
on. as the enemy cannot see you
trough the bright curtain Of light.
at II II falls behind you and. as Tom
Y says. "you get In the star shell
me-" then the fun begins; you have
lie dat on your stomach and remain