Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-04-12
"0ver the Top
By An American Soldier
Who Went
ARrHuR GUY EMPEY
.9,7. by Arthur Guy Hmpey)
Machine Gunne, Se,oins In France

Maekfne Gunner Serofng In France
tCor,Asht .9l7 by Arthur Guy Bmpey)
/, The star shells from the German
lines were falling in front of us, there
fore we were safe. After about twen-
ty minutes we entered the star shell
zone. A star shell from the German
lines fell about five yards in the rear
and to the right Of me; we Rugged the
ground and held our breath until 1t
burned out. The smoke from the star
shell Travelled along the ground and
crossed over the middle Of our line.
Some Tommy sneezed. The smoke had
gotten up his nose. We crouched on
the ground, cursing the offender under
our breath, and waited the volley that
generally ensues when the Germans
have heard noise in No Mans Land.
Nothing happened. We received two
taps and crawled forward slowly for
five yards; no doubt the of1lcerV be-
lieved what Old Pepper had said, "Per.
sonally I believe that that part of the
German trench is unoccupied." BY be-
ing careful and remaining motionless
when the star shells fell behind us, we
reached the German barbed wire with
out mishap. Then the fun began. l
was scared stiff as it is ticklish work
cutting your way through wire when
about thirty feet in front of you there
is line Of Boches looking out into No
Mans Land with their rifles lying
across the parapet, straining every
sense to see or hear what is going on
in No Mans Land; because at night,
Fritz never knows when bomb with
his name and number on 1t will come
hurtling through the air aimed In the
direction Of Berlin, The man on the
right, one man In the center and my
self on the extreme left were equipped
with wire cutters. These are insulated
with soft rubber not because the Ger
man wires are charged with electricity,
but to prevent the cutters rubbing
against the barbed wire stakes, which
are Of iron, and making noise
which may warn the inmates Of the
trench that someone is getting fresh
in their front yard. There is only one
way to cut barbed wire without noise
and through costly experience Tommy
has become an expert In doing this.
You must grasp the wire about two
inches from the stake In your right
hand and cut between the stake and
your hand.
If you cut q wire improperly, a
loud twang will ring out on the night
air like the swapping Of banjo
string. Perhaps this noise can be
heard only for fifty or seventy-Hve
yards, but in Tommy's mind it makes
q loud noise in Berlin.
We had cut lane about halfway
through the wire when, down the CEN
ter Of our line, twang! went an i'm
properly cut wire. We crouched down.
cursing under our breath, trembling all
over, our knees lacerated from the
strands Of the cut barbed wire on the
ground, waiting for a challenge and
the inevitable volley Of rife fire. Moth
ing happened. suppose the fellow
who cut the barbed wire improperly
was the one who had sneezed about
half an hour previously. What we
wished him would never make his new
year happy one.
The officer, in my opinion, at the
noise Of the wire should have given the
sour-tap signal, which meant, "On your
own, get back to your trenches as
quickly as possible" but again he must
have relied ON the spiel that Old Pep
per had given us in the dugout, "Per-
isonally I believe that that part Of the
German trench Is unoccupied." Any
way. we got careless, but not so care
less that we sang patriotic songs or
made any unnecessary noise.
During the intervals Of falling star
shells we carried on with our wire cut
ting until at last we succeeded In get
ting through the German barbed wire.
AT this point we were only ten feet
from the German trenches. If we were
discovered, we were like rats in trap
Our way was cut OF unless we ran
along the, wire to the narrow lane we
had cut through. With our hearts in
our mouths we waited for the three
tap signal to rush the German trench.
Three taps had gotten about halfway
down the line when suddenly about ten
tc twenty German star shells were
fred all along the trench and landed
lin the barbed wire in rear Of us, turn
Ing night into day and silhouetting us
against the wall of light made by the
flares. In the glaring light we were
confronted by the following unpleasant
scene.
t All along the German trench, at
about thfee-foot intervals, stood big
Prussian guardsman with his rife at
the aim and then we found out why
we had not been challenged when the
man sneezed and the barbed wire had
been Improperly cut. About three feet
In front Of the trench they had con-
structed single fence Of barbed wire
and we knew our chances were one
thousand to one Of returning alive.