Oxford eagle., 1918-04-18

bullets were cracking Overhead, and
occasionally a machine gun would rip
and tear the top Of the ssndbag para
pet. How got up that ladder I win
never know. The first ten feet out In
front was agony. Then we passed
through lanes In our barbed wire. ]
knew I was running. but could feel no
motion below the waist. Patches on
/ the ground seemed to noat TO the rear
m IL / were on q treadmfll and seen
ery was rushing past me. The Ger
mans had put a barrage Of shrapnsl
across No Mans Land. and you could
hear the pieces slap the ground about
ycu-
After i had passed our barbed wire
and gotten into No Mans Land q
Tommy about fifteen feet 10 my rssht
'front.' turned around and looking In my
direction. put his hand to his mouth
and yelled something which could not
make out on account Of the noise from
the bursting shells. Then be coughed.
stumbled. pitched forward and lay sfiIl.
His body seemed TO foat to the rear
of me. ! could hear sharp cracks In
the air about me. These were caused
by passing rife bullets. Frequently.
70 my right and left little snur7S Of
ls into the air and q rico
ff would whine on its way.
i Tommy should see one Of these
i-tile spurts in front Of him, be would
tell the nurse about II later. Ts
crossing of No Mans Land remains \
blank TO me.
Men on my right and left would
stumble and fall Some would Try to
Get MP. while Others remained huddled
and motonless. Then smashed-up
barbed wire came into view and
seemed carried on q tide to the rear.
suddenly. In front Of me loomed Q
oeshed-in trench about four feet wide.
Vessrlooking forms like mud turtles
were s~aambling MP its wall. One of
these forms seemed to slip and then
rolled to the bottom OF the trench. I
leaped across this intervening space.
The man 70 my left seemed to pause In
midair. then pitched head DOWN into
NE German trench 4 laughed out loud
In my delfrtum- Upon alighting on the
other side OF the trench / came to with
q sudden 5olt- Right In front OF me
,ioomed q giant form with q rife which
looked about ten feet long. on the end
of which seemed seven bayonets. These
nashed In the air In front Of me. Then
through my mind flashed the admoni-
oon or our bayonet instructor back I'm
bughty. He had said, whenever You
get In a charge and run your bayonet
up to the hilt intosa German the Frit,
VIII fall. Perhaps your rife viii be
wrenched from your grasp. Do not
waste time. IL the bayonet Ia fouled
In his equipment, by putting your foot
on his stomach and tugging at the rife
b extr1cate the bayonet. Simply
press the trigger and the bullet win
free It" In my present situation this
was the logic. but for the life OF me
/ could not remember how he had told
me to get my bayonet into the Ger
man. To me this was the paramount
Issue. i closed my eyes and lunged
forward Ny rife was torn from my
hands. l must have gotten the Ger
man because he had disappeared
About twenty feet to my left front
was huge Prussian nearly six feet
four inches in height, q fine specimen
OF physical manhood. The bayonet
from his rife was missing, but he
clutched the barrel in both hands and
was swinging the butt around his head
L could almost hear the swish OF the
butt passing through the air. Three
little Tomrnies were engaged with him.
They looked like pigmies alongside Of
the Prussian. The Tommy on the left
was gradually circling 70 the rear Of
his opponent II was funny sight 10
ees them duck the swinging butt and
try to jab him at the same time. The
Tommy nearest me received the butt
Of the Germans rife In q smashing
blow below the right temple. II
smashed his head like an eggshell. He
pitched forward on his side and q con-
vulEve shudder ran through his body.
Meanwhile the other Tommy bad
eatned ths rear ef the Prussian. Sud-
denly about four inches Of bayonse
psc1uded from the throat Of the Prus-
dso soldier. who staggered forward
9n1 fsIl WI never forget ths look
e blank astonishmsut that cana ovse
hAs fAeA
TAsn somsthing hit ne fn sAs lsft
Qhsul1sr and my left sids wvnt numb.
j fit ~ II q hot poker was bslns
e111n thronsh M I fnlt no min
~ sort e nervous shock 4 Bay
ooot had pierced me from the rear. I
ID baekward On the ground. but vas
1ot unconsdouS because I could -
nm objects moving around ma Thsn
Aash Of light In front Of my syss and
uDconsciousness Something had hit
Ne on the head hsve never fpund
out what II was
I dreamed ! was being tosssd about
b IN open boat on q hsaving - and
opened my sye2. The moon was shin
Ing. was on q strstchsr being car
ESed down one Of our communicated
trenches- At the advanced nrst-aid
post my wounds were dressed. and