Jackson County journal. (Sylva, N.C.) 19??-19??, 1918-11-22

|
at all our tunnels were shot full of ,
holes and a sieve was watertight COM
pared to them.
Naturally we were not just taking
all this punishment without any come (
back. Our guns were at it fast and
from the way the fire -,e"kened in
certain places we knew we we're max
ing it effective. My guns did for two
enemy pieces that know of, and per-
haps several others.
The French garbies were a good
deal more excited in action than l
thought they would be. They were
lodging around below decks, trying
to miss the shrapnel that came
aboard, shouting, swearing, singing
but fighting hard, at that. They stood
the gait Just as we'll as any other
garbies would, only in their own
sweet way-which is noisy enough,
believe me.
One of our Seamen was hit 100
times by fragments of shrapnel, so
you can see what they were up |
against in the lodging line. A gun
turret in action is not exactly the |
best place on earth for nervous
man nor one who likes his comfort.
There is an awful lot of heat and
noise and smell and work, all the
time in fighting gun turret. But
during an engagement I would rather
be in a gun turret every time than
between decks. At that, if anything
does happen in a turret-it is good
night sure for all, and no rain checks
needed.
One of our junior lieutenants was
struck by fragment of shell IS he
was at his station behind the wheel
house and a piece of his skull was
driven into his brain. He was car
ried into my gun turret, but he
would not let them take him to sick
bay to have his wound dressed. There
he sat, asking every now and then
how the fight was going and then sort
!. of doing off for a while.
After half an hour of action we put
> about and started away, still firing.
> AS a parting slap on the back the
Turks tore off one of our big-gun tur-
rets, and then away we went, back to
II Brest with casualty list of only Is.
Il We did not have much trouble guess
ing that 1t was dry dock for us again.
u We got back to Brest after a quiet
- voyage, patching ourselves up where
we could on the way, and again there
- was the rush work, day and night
g to get into shape and do it over again
They turned us out in Il days and
- back we went to the Turks and theil
Hun assistants.
- We were lucky getting inshore, only
9 receiving nasty smash astern, wheI
- the Turks got our range and landed
- two peaches before we got out. VIZ
:, nearly tore our rudder off gettins
10 away. But we had to come back RICH
away, because we had carried quite
:, number Of heavy guns from Bres
"a and were given the job Of runnin.
NJ them ashore. It was day and nigh
10 work and great job for fun, because
II while you never knew when yO1
would get it, you had good reason t
~ feel you would get damned by q cut
y. little shell or q dainty bit of shraI
y mel before the job was over.
I'd Aboard ship it was deck work, o
IS course, and it was not much bette
20 there than ashore with the guns, be
We cause the enemy trenches were nea
he the shore and they amused then
al selves trying to pick us Off wheneve
we showed on deck. I guess we wer
,e- a regular shooting gallery for then
,o- and some Of OPT men thought the
ve did not need all the practice the
he were getting, for quite a few of I
q acted as bulls eyes.
But we did not mind the bullets S
les much. They make a clean wound {
49, put you away entirely; shrapn
tx tears you up and can play all kline
FOR OF tricks with various parts of 70,
body without killing you. AS fl
,en shells-well, mincemeat is the wor
of The Narrows were thick with min'
nv and there had been great deal
The damage done there, so after viii
tor the British detailed their YarmOu
air trawlers to go in and sweep up. The
had to go up unprotected, Of cours
o,v apd they started off one night {
mo serene.
ont everything went well untll I'll
mo turned at the Narrows and start
i'm. back. Then, before you could tell
nod five or six searchlights were playil
on one of the trawlers and she
.ch were splashing the water all over h
Uo Both banks were simply banging aw
,o+- point blank at them and I nev
! q thought they would get back.
pm They did get back, though, b
led some of them had hardly enough m
,ero left to work ship. But that is Ii
on, the Limeys. They will get back fro
riot anywhere while there is one m
eek, awe.
tur- A chap aboard one OF the trawlt
said shell went through the whe
lply house between the quartermaster