The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-03-21
cHAPTgR xi.
over the Top.

u Gn my second trip 10 the trenches
Aur officer was making his rounds Of
inspection. and we received the cheer
1ui news that at four In the fnnrning
we were to go over the top and take
the German front-iine trench. Ny heart
turned to lead. Then the officer car
ried on with his instructions. To the
bent Of my memory I recall them as
foilows: AT eleven = 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 viii open up with an In
tense bonbnrdment. which will last un-
Ill four. Upon the lifting Of the bar
rage the first of the three waves will
60 over" Then he left Some Of the
Tomudes. first getting permission from
the sergeant. went Into The machine
gunners' dugout and wrote letters
nome. saying tnat IN the morning they
were going over the top. and also that
81 the letters reached their destination
1t vouid mean that the writer hnd been
killed
These letters were turned over to
the captain with instructions 10 mall
Eame IN the event OF the xsftef's hTine
killed. Some Of the men made ont
their Wills In their pay books. under
the caption. -wiil and Las, Testa-
rnent--
Then the nerve-recking walt COM
rnsnced. Every now and then would
glance ut the dial OF my wrist watch
snd was surprised to see how fast the
minutes passed by. About ave minutes
10 two I got nervous waiting for our
guns 90 oI,cn up. could not take my
pyes from my watch. cruuched
against the parapet and Etrnined my
muscles In denthilke grip upon my
rfee. AZ the hands on my watch
showed two O'Clock a binding red faro
lighted M the sky In our rear. then
thunder. InterTnixed with Q sharp. whis-
ting sound in the air over our heads.
The sheiis from our guns were speed
.fng on their way toward she German
ltne~ With one Accord the men
srmnx up on the nre step and looked
over the top In the directioa Of the
German trenches. A line Of bursting
shells lighted mp No Mans Land. The
siin uas terrific and the ground trem-
bled- Then, high above our heads We
could hear = sighing moan. Our big
boys behind the line had opened on
and 02's and l5-inch shells commenced
dropping into the German iines The
fash Of the guns behind the lines. the
scream OF the shells through the air.
and the care OF them. bursting. was n
spectacle that put Pain's greatest dis
play into the shade, The constant
pup. pup. OF Gcrmnn machine guns and
an occasional rattle of rife tiring gave
rne the impression of n hinge audience
spplsuding the work Of the batteries.
Our 1S-pounderx were destroying the
German hsrbed wire. while the heavier
stun was demolishing their trenches
aud bashing In duEouts or funk holes.
Then Fritz got busy.
Their sheiis went screaming over
head. mined In the direction Of the
nnres from our batteries. Trench NOR
tars started dropping "Mlnnics- In
unifies. Then they suddenly CEASED.
our artillery had tapcd or siienced
them.
During the bombardment you couid
almost read newspaper In our trench.
Sometimes In the fare Of a xheil-burst
a mans body would be silhoucifed
aguinst the parados OF the trench and
II appeared like huge monster. Ton
could hardly. hcar yourself think. When
an order wns to be passed down tho
trench you had to yell II. using your
man sitting next to you on the FIRE step.
In about twenty minutes = generous
rum Issue was doled ont. After drink
Ing tho rum. which tasted like varnish
and sent shuddcr through your
frame. you wondered why they made
you whit until tho lifting Of the bar
rage before going over. At ten min
utes 10 four word wns passed down.
Ten minutes to goi- Ten minutes
10 lives We wcrc shiveriug all over.
Ny lsss felt ss II they were asleep.
Then word wua passed down: "First
wave get on and near the scaling lad
acrs."..
These were small wooden ladders
which No had placed against tho pnra-
vet to enable tis to 10 over the top on
he lifting Of the barrnge- ~LAdders Of
1cxth" we called them, and veritnbly
hey were.
Bcfore a charge Tommy IL the po-
stest Of men. There Il never any push
ing or crowding to be first up these
iadder& We crouched around the baso
VI tho ladders waiting for the word
to 30 over. wns sick and faint. and
was pufiing away at an uniightcd fas.
rhen came the word. three minutes
10 go; upon the lifting Of the barrage
end on the blast Of the whistles, Over