Oxford eagle., 1918-06-27

/ with q rife sticking slrAlkAA W -
air the bayonet Of which was buried
"a the hilt in his chest Across his feet
Law a dead English soldier with bul-
LET hole in his forehead This Tommy
must have been killed Just as he ran
his bsvoDet through the German
Rifles and equipment were scattered
ehout. and occasionally . steel helmet
eould be seen sticking out Of the mud
At one point. Just in the entrance to
q communication trench. was stretch
or. On this stretcher German was
living with a white bandage around his
knee. near 10 him lay one OF the
stretcher-bearers. the red cross ON MS
arm covered with mud and his helmet
filed with blood and brains. Close by.
sitting I'D against the wall OF the
trench, with head resting on his chest
ws. the other stretcher-bearer. He
seemed 10 be alive. the posture was so
natural and easy: but when j got
closer could see large, Jagged hole
In his temple. The three must have
been killed by the same shell-burst-
The dugouts were all smashed In and
Knocked about. big sQuare-cut umbers
splintered into bits, walls caved In and
entrances choked
Tommy. after taking a trench learns
10 his sorrow that the hardest part OF
the work Is TO hold IL
In our case this proved 10 be %.
The German artillery and machine
guns had Us taped (ranged) for fair:
A. was worth your life 10 expose your
self an instant
Don't think fcf q minute that the
Germans were the only sufferers; We
were clicking casualties % fast that
you needed an adding machine 70 keep
track OF them
DID You ever zee one Of the steam
shovels at work on the Panama canalf
Wen, II would look Ike q hen scratch
Ing alongside Of Tommy digging In"
while under FIRE. You couldn't see day
light through the clouds Of dirt from
his shovel
After losing three out Of six men OF
our crew we manaked 10 set up our
machine gun. One Of the legs Of the
tripod was resting on the chest Of
half-buried body. When the gun ras
firing, II gave the impression that the
body was breathing. This was caused
By the excessive vibration
Three or four feet down the trench.
about three feet from the ground. q
: foot was protruding from the earth
We knew IL was a German by the black
leather boot One OF our crew used
that foot 10 hang extra bandoliers Of
ammunition on. This man always was
a handy fellow; made use Of little
points that the ordinary person would
overlook.
The Germans made three counter
attacks. which we repulsed, but not
without heavy loss on our side. They
also suffered severely from our shell
and mschine-gun fire. The ground was
spotted with their dead and dying.
The next day things were somewhat
quIeTer, nsf nor quiet enough to bury
the dead
We lived, ate and slept In that trench
with the unburied dead for six days
II was awful 10 watch their faces be
come swollen and discolored. Towards
the last the stencil was fierce.
What got on my nerves the most wal
that foot sticking out Of the dirt. II
seemed TO me, ar night, In the moon
light, 10 be trying 70 twist around
Several times this impression was Sc
strong that / went 10 IL and grasped 4
in both hands, TO see II could feel &
movement.
i told this 10 the man who had useS
II for hatrsck Just before lay dowr
for q little nap. as things were quiet
and i needed a rest pretty badly
J When i woke up the foot was gone
] BE had cut II of with our chain ssv
5 out OF the spare parts box. and hat
. plastered the stump over with mud
/ During the next two or three DAYS
: before we were relieved. missed tina
foot dreadfully; seemed as IL / hsi
suddenly lost a chum.
; think the worst thing Of all was Z
e watch the rats. al night. and some
r times in the day, run over and pla,
I about among the dead.
Near our gun. right across the para
4 pet. could be seen the body Of q Ge,
e man lieutenant, the head and arms O
q which were hanging into our trench
d The man who had cut OF the foot use
r TO sit and carry on a one-sided convel
S. sation with this officer, used TO argu
% and point out why Germany was In tn
wrong. During all OF this rnonologu
70 i never heard him say anything out q
le the way-anything that would hay
y hurt the officers feelings had he bee
d. alive. He was square all right
ar wouldn't even take advantage of
. dead man In an argument.
81 To civilians this must seem drea,
!. ful. but out here one gets SO used
swful sights that II makes no impre
"A sion In passing a butcher shop yo
a. are not shocked by seeing a dead tn
key hanging from a hook. Wei.
A. France, a dead body is looked aps
y from the same angle.
But, nevertheless, when our six da-
were up. We were tickled TO death
be relieved.