The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1918-07-18

VHdI tHStdHmeHf dcSCTtOcS MS journey
10 the rear l1ifh ttoenfv fico pieces Of
shrdpnel IN one leg and his meeting
tcith the king IN q London hospital.
7 WAS taken from Pozieres TO Albert
In flivver ambulance or as the
Tommies would say. 'tin Lizzie"
The man who drove this vehicle would
make good chauffeur for an adding
machine. Apparently he was counting
the bumps In the road. for he didn't
miss one OF them. However, the trip
was only n matter Of seven miles, and
i was In fair condition when they lift
ed me out and carried me 10 an oper-
ating table In the field dressing station.
A chaplain came along and muir
INJURED little prayer In my ear.
imagine that would have made man
feel very solemn II he had thought
there was chance he was about TO
pass out. but | knew I merely had a
leg pretty badly smashed up. and while
the chaplain was praying ! was won
dering II they would have 20 cut II
OF. figured. II so, this would handi-
cap my dancing.
The first formality In a shrapnel
case II the administration OF an anti
tetanus innoculation. and when II is
done you realize that they are sure try
ing 20 save your life. The doctor uses
horse syringe. and the injection
leaves a lump on your chest as big as
baseball. which stays with you for
forty-eight hours. After the injection
nurse fills out a diagnosis blank
with description Of your wounds and
record Of your name, age, regiment,
regimental number, religion, parent
age and previous history as far as she
can discover II without asking ques-
tions which would be positively indeli-
cate. After all OF that my wounds
were given their first real dressing.
Immediately after this was done !
was bundled into another ambulance
and driven 10 Contay, where the {. &.
+. Casualty clearing station) and rail
head were located. In the ambulance
with me were three other soldiers, an
artillery officer and two privntes Of
infantry. We were all ticketed off as
shrapnel cases and probable recover
les, which latter detail is remarkable,
since the most slightly injured Of the
four had twelve wounds, and there
were sixty odd shell fragments or
shrapnel balls collectively imbedded
In us. The nurse had told me that
a xrnun1G AffRrUu ri
her count proved conservative. More
accurate and later returns showed
twenty-five bullets and shell fragments
were I'm my leg. They took these out
and presented them 10 me. i have
been giving them away for souvenirs
We were fairly comfortable In the
ambulance, and | especially had great
relief from the fact that the nurse
had strapped my leg in sling at
tached 10 the top Of the vehicle. We
smoked cigarettes and shatted cheer
fully, exchanging congratulations on
having got "clean ones'-that Is
wounds not probably fatal. The ar
tillery officer told me he had been sup
porting our battalion that morning
with one of the sacrifice batteries"
A sacrifice battery, | might explain
is one composed of field pieces which
nre emplaced between the front ant
support lines and which in case of al
attack or counterattack are fired al
point blank range. They call then
sacrifice batteries because some o
them are wiped out every day. Til
officer said our battalion that morning
had been supported by an entire div
sion of artillery and that ON our from
OF 400 yards the eighteen FOUNDER
alone, In u curtain fire which laste
thirty-two minutes, had discharge
1900 rounds of high explosive SHELF
was impressed by his statement, Q
course, but told him that, while TIL
was an astonishing lot OF ammunition
Il was even more surprising to nav
noticed at close range, as ! did, th
number of Germans they missed. IL
ward the end of our trip TO Contay "
were much exhausted and pretty badl