The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-06-04
@iN7 BY l
ARThuS GUY EHpEYl
CHAPTER xI.
Over the Top.

] full news that at four In the morning
we were TO. go over the top and take
the German front-line trench. My heart
turned to lead. Then the officer car
/ ried on with his instructions. To the
| best of my memory ] recall them as
! follows: "At eleven a wiring party will
| go out In front and cut lanes through
| our barbed wire for the passage of
| troops in the morning. At two o'clock
/ our artillery will open up with an in
| tense bombardment, which will last un-
| til four. Upon the lifting of the bar
| rage the first Of the three waves will
| go over" Then he left. Some Of the
! lTommies, first getting permission from
! the sergeant. went into the machine
/ gunners' dugout and wrote letters
home. saying that IN the morning they
| were going over the top, and also that
! If the letters reached their destination
| 1t would mean that the writer had been
killed.
These letters were turned over to
the captain with instructions to mail
! same in the event Of the writer's being
killed. Some of the men made out
their wills in their pay books, under;
the caption, "win and Last Tesla;
ment"
Then the nerve-racking wait COM
menced. Every now and then would.
glance at the dial of my wrist watch
and was surprised to see how fast the
minutes passed by. About five minutes
to two I got nervous waiting for our
guns TO open up. i could not take my
eyes from my watch. crouched
| against the parapet and strained my,
muscles in a deathIike grip upon my
| rifle. AS the hands on my watch,
| showed two o'clock binding red fare
| lighted :up the sky in our rear, then.
thunder, intermixed with sharp, whis.i
/ ting sound In the air over our heads.
The shells from our guns were speed:
ing on their way toward the German.
lines. With one accord the men.
sprang up on the fire step and looked
over the top in the direction Of the
German trenches. A line OF bursting,
shells lighted up No Mans Land. The
din was terrific and the ground trem-,
bled. Then, high above our heads we,
could hear signing moan. Our big,
boys behind the line had opened up,
%
dropping into the German lines. The,
flash of the guns behind the lines, thes
scream Of the shells through the air.:
and the flare of them, bursting, was a.
spectacle that put Pains greatest dis
play into the shade. The constant,
pup, pup, Of German machine guns and
an occasional rattle of rifle firing gave,
me the impression of huge audience
applauding the work of the batteries.
Our 1s-pounders were destroying the!
German barbed wire, while the heavier
stuff was demolishing their trenches
and bashing in dugouts or funk holes.
Then Fritz got busy.
Their shells went screaming over
head, aimed in the direction Of the.
flares from our batteries. Trench NOR
tars started dropping "Minnies" in
our front line. We clicked several cas-
ualties. Then they suddenly ceased.
Our artillery had tapped or silenced
them.
During the bombardment you could
almost read newspaper in our trench.
Sometimes in the flare Of shell-burst
a mans body would be silhouetted
against the parados of the trench and
it appeared like huge monster. You
could hardly hear yourself think. When
an order was to be passed down the
trench you had to yell it, using your
hands as a funnel into the ear of the
man sitting next TO you on the fire step.
In about twenty minutes a generous
rum issue was doled out. After drink
ing the rum, which tasted like varnish
and sent a shudder through your
frame, you wondered why they made
you wait until the lifting Of the bar
rage before going over. At ten min
utes TO four word was passed down,
"Ten minutes TO go!" Ten minutes
to live. We were shivering all over.
My legs felt as If they were asleep.
Then word was passed down: First
wave get on and near the scaling lad
ders."
These were small wooden ladders
which we had placed against the para
pet TO enable us to go over the top on
the lifting Of the barrage. Ladders of
death we called them, and vertically
they were.
Before a charge Tommy is the po-
litest Of men. There is never any push
ing or crowding TO be first up these
ladders. We crouched around the base
of the ladders waiting for the word
to go over. / was sick and faint, and
was putting away at an unlighted flag.
Then came the word, Three minutes
TO go; upon the lifting of the barrage
and on the blast of the whistles. Over
the top with the best o. luck and give
them he,I'" The famous phrase Of
the westa@ front. The Jonah phrase
Of tho Ne ern- front To- Tommy It