The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-05-02
|(NTp TIE TOP
80
ANAf1TRICAN S0I.IIIR
WHO WENT :
,lART11UpGUY fI;fpTY f
0JnnR 5ERYNG h FRANCE

the Michfne Gun school at st. Omar.
I volunteered and was accepted.
Sixteen men from our brignde left
for the course In machine gunnery.
This course lasted two weeks and we
the brigade machine gun company. II
almost broke my heart to leave my
company mates
The gun we used was the vickers.
Light .303,- water cooled
I was stiIl member Of the Suicide
club. having Jumped from the frying
pAn Into the IRE. I Was assigned TO
section i. gun No. 2. and the first time
..ip- took position In the front-iine
During the day our gun would be
disnounted on the fire step ready for
instant use. We shared a tiugout with
the Lewis gunners. Al -stand to- we
would mount our gun on the parapet
and go on wntch beside It until stand
down. In the morning Then the gun
would be dismounfed and seHl1 PLACED
in readiness on the fire step.
We did eight days In the front-iine
trench without suything unusual hap
ircniuk oUktlQt vi inc OEQln1ly dNttLn
routine. On the night thnt we were to
-cnrry out" bombing raid agnfnst the
German lines was pulled on. This raid.
ing party consisted OF sixfy. -company
men. sixteen bombers. and four Lewis
machine guns with their crcwH
The rnid took tho Boches by surprise
and was complete success. the party
bringing back twcnty-one prisoners.
The Germans must have been awful
iy sore. because they turned loose n
barrnge Of shrapnei. with q few Min
nics" and '-whixx bangs futermixed.
The shells were dropping into our front
line like hnilstones.
To get even. we could have left she
prisoners In the IRE trench. In charge
~ the men on gunrd and let them click
Frftx's strafeinx but Tommy does not
treat prisoners that way.
Five Of them were brought into my
fugout and turned over to me 20 that
Aey would be safe from the German
DIRE.
In the cnndlelisht. they looked very
much shaken. nerves gone and chniky
faces. with the exception Of one. a
great big fellow. He looked very much
at ease I liked him from the stnrt-
got out the rum jar and gave each
q nip and passed around some fags.
che old reliable woodbincs- The other
prisoners looked their gratitude. but
the big fellow said In English. Thank
you. sir. the rum is excellent and I ap-
prcciate Il. also your kindness.-
He told me his name was Carl
Schmidt. OF the Sixty sixth Bavnrian
Light Infantry: that he had lived six
years In New York tknew the city bet
ter than I did). had been to Coney
island nnd many Of our ball games- He
was q regular fan. I.couldn't make him
Z believe that Hans Wagner wasn't the
best ball player In the world
From New York he had gone to Lon
don. whore he worked A. q walter In
the Hotel Ruaell. Just before the war
ne went home to Germany to see his
parents. the war came and he was con-
scripted.
He told me he was very sorry 10
hear that London was In ruins from
the Zeppelin raids. could not CEN
vince him otherwise. for hadn't he seen
moving pictures In one OF the German
.><I<119 - "a Il ~. H. ,,
I chsnfed thc S66j ~ 6e<snSs Sc
was no stubborn 10 his belief. II was
my intention to try and pump him for
information ~ TO the methods OF the
German snlpern who had been cnus-
ing us trouble In the last few days
i broached the subject and he shut
/. ,Gp like q clam. After q few. minutes
M very inn0conffv nnidf
-crrman snipers get paid rewards
4 Tor killing the English
r eagerly asked. what are theyr
He answered:
For killing or wounding an Engiish
private. the snfpct gets one mark. For
killing or wounding an English ofziccr
ne gets fivc marks, but u he kills RED
Gap or English general. the snipcr gets
twcnty-one days tod to the wheel Of q
iimber a. punistment for bis careless
uess."
Then he paused. waiting for me to
bite. I sunuose .
mt all right hnd asked him why the
spsper was punished for killing an
Edgiish general With . smile he re-
piled:
swell. you ses. n all the English gan
erals were killed, there would be NO
one left to mako costly mistakes"
a shut him mp. he was getting too
fresh for prisoner. After Z while he
winked At me and I winked back, then
the escort came to take the prisoners
20 rnc renr. snooR hands anu Wis.,,
him '-The best Of luck and \ safe Jour