Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1918-04-26
CHATTER xi.
Over the Ton,

OteF tne TOP
On my second trip to the trenches
our officer was making his rounds Of
inspection, and we received the cheer
full news that at four In the morning
we were to 60 over the top and take
the German ffont-line trench. My heart
turned to lead. Then the officer car
ried on with his instructions. To the
best of my memory I recall them as
follows: "At eleven wiring party win
90 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 win
90 over" Then he left. Some Of the
Tommies. first getting permission from
the sergeant, went into the machine
gunners' dugout and wrote letter.
home, saying that In the morning they
were going over the top. and also that
II 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 Testa-
ment."
Then the nerve-racking wait COM
menced. Every now and then would
glance at the dial of my wrist watch
and was surprised 10 see how fast the
minutes passed by. About five minutes
to two / got nervous waiting for our
guns to open up. I could not take my
eyes from my watch. I crouched
against the parapet and strained my
muscles In a deathEike grip upon my
rife. As the hands on my watch
showed two O'Clock . binding red fare
lighted up the sky in our rear, theT
thunder, intermixed with sharp, whis
Ting sound in the sir over our heads
The shells from our guns were speed
ing ON their way toward the German
lines. With one accord the mel
sprang up on the fire step and looket
over the top In the direction Of th'
German trenches. A line Of bursting
shells lighted up No Mans Land. Tit
din was terrific and the ground trem
bled. Then, high above our heads w
could hear q signing moan. Our bill
boys behind the line had opened NJ
and 9.2's and 15-inch shells commenced
dropping into the Geeman lines. Th'
fash Of the guns behind the lines. tn
scream Of the shells through the air
and the fare Of them, bursting, was {
spectacle that put Pains greatest dis
play into the shade. The constan
pup, pup, Of German machine guns an
an occasional rattle Of rifle firing CAV
me the impression Of a huge audienc
applauding the work Of the batteries
Our 18-pounders were destroying tn
German barbed wire, while the heavie
stuff was demolishing their trenche
and bashing in dugouts or funk hole:
Then Fritz got busy.
Their shells went screaming oveI
head, aimed in the direction OF tn
flares from our batteries. Trench mol
tars started dropping "Minndes" i
our front line. We clicked several ca!
ualties. Then they suddenly cease'
Our artillery had taped or silence
them.
During the bombardment you coul
almost read newspaper In eur trenc
Sometimes in the fare Of q shell-bur
mans body would be silhouette
against the parados Of the trench an
1 1t appeared like huge monster. Ys
could hardly hear yourself thrnE. Whs
an order was to be passed down Il
trench you had to yell 1t, using Eo'
hands as a funnel into the ear OF Il