The Carlisle independent., 1918-10-24

trench had been battered in and the trenches it joined with were all filled
 up. There were rifles sticking out of them in several places, and I thought probably the men had been buried alive in them. But it was too lefe then, if they had been caught, so
 I climbed over the blocked entrance to the communication trench and started back along it. It led up through a sort place to dig & communication trench in. because it gave the Turks some thing like the side of hill to shoot at.
 Every once in 8 while would have to climb in and out of shell hole. and parts of them were blocked where . shell had cayed in the walls. In one place [ saw corpses all torn to pieces,
 so I knew the Turks had found the rsnge and had got to this trench in great shape. At another place I found dots of blood and equipment but no bodies. and figured that reinforce ments had been caught at this spot and that they had retired, taking their casualties with them.
 The Turks still had the range. and they were sending a shell into the trench every once in a while, and ] was knocked down again, though the
 shell was so far away that it knocked me down with force of habit more
 than anything else. I felt dizzy and
 sllivered lot and kept trying to think O. Murray or anything else but myself.
 So finally l got to the top of the little hill over which the gully ran and on the other side I felt almost safe. Just down from the crest Of the hiil was one of our artillery positions with the good old '75s" giving it to the Turks as fast as they could. I told the artillery officers what had hap pened had q drink of water and thought I would take a nap. But when they telephoned the message back tc division Headquarters the man at the receiver said something to the officer and he told me to stay there and be ready. I thought sure he would send me bacL. to where I came from and I knew I never could make it again but I did not say anything.
 When I looked around I saw that our real position was to the right of where the artillery was, and that there were three lines of trenches with French infantry in them. So the trenches I had come from were more like outpOsts than anything else, and were cut off. I felt pretty sure, then
 that Lhe boys in them would never come back alive. because as soon as their fire let up the Turks would ad vance. and to keep them back our guns would have to wipe out our men, and
 if they did not, the Turks would. Al ! first 1 was glad l had come out, but then I remembered what the artillery officer had said and I figured l would have t0 go back and stay with them or bring them back. Either way there was aet one chance in hundred that any of us would make it. Because when ' got through it was really just miracle and nobody would have thought tt could happen.
 Then the officer told me to go back to the beach, where our naval guns were, and that 1 was detailed to them. Maybe you do not think was gladf But there was rough work still ahead of me. because when I got behind the third line I saw a wide open field that WIS light gray from the shell smoke hanging over it, and I could see the flashes where the big ones were doing their work, and I had to go through that field.
 l fell time and again, sometimes when thought a shell was near, and sometimes when I had no reason for it-only I was thirsty again, and was sfivering all the time, and was so weak I could not have ehoked a gold fish. 1 do not remember hardly any thing about going through that field, and you might say the next thing l knew was when 1 was overtaken by dispatch runner, and got in tin tub at the side of a motorcycle and was taken to the guns.
 I felt ready for a Rip Van Wrinkle nap then, but the officer in command would not let me. He said they were short of gunnerS-the terrific smelling had killed off dozens of thern-and as he knew I could point gun he had ordered them over the telephone to get me to the beach as fast as possi- ble. He spotted the two warehouses I have spoken of for me and said it was up to US to put them out of com mission. The gun was 14-inch naval, and that looked good to me, so bucked up lot. The warehouses were about 10 or II miles away, I should judge, and about 30 or 40 yards apart.
 I felt very weak, as I have said. and shivered every once In while, SD I did not think l could do much sunning worth whistling at. But they loaded the old 14-inch and made ready, and we got the range and all was set. The officer told me to let her ride. So said to myself. "This is one for