The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-25

Es the company had passed through the gap. made between me and my companion, I found that the rest of my company had moved forward.
 AWFUL FEELING TO BE LOST l was lost. No one except he who has been lost under smnar circumstances can appreciate my feelings. l was afraid of charge of 'desertion in the face of l the enemy if l failed to find my con- pany by the time we were scheduled to go over the top" I attached myself to passing file of men and it was not until just before the barrage that I found my company and platoon.
 Our barrage opened at 1 o'clock All the fiends of discord seemed to have broken loose. The heavens were livid with streaks of flame, while the whining and bowling of the shells as they passed over us was terrific. Then, too, you could hear the distant boom boom boom or the explosions as they hit on and be-
 hind the German lines Whereas you could scarcely see a yard in front of you before the barrage started you could now almost read a newspaper bv the
 flash of the guns.
 l could not help but admire the de-
 meanor of the troops. In spite of the
 fact that the morrow meant death to
 many or them, no one could have been
 able to tell it by looking at that body of
 men save only by the fact that their
 faces were perhaps a little tense and
 pale and that some had kind of glassy
 stare in their eyes. Some were talking
 some eating the lunch that had been
 glven them before starting out that
 night; others were trying to get a little
 sleep before the battle began This was
 to be my first time lover the top." and
 1 will admit that I felt somewhat shakv
 Of course, I had been in several bom-
 hri r1 ,te .I.s sJ1
 missed Champagne and Chateau Thierry
 owing to gas that I got when we were
 being relieved from Lorraine.
 The zero hour was to be at o'clock
 bout 30 minutes before we were to go
 over the top Lieutenant x sent me,
 with four other men, to the first aid sta
 tion for some stretchers for the platoon.
 We were unable to find the stretches
 at the first aid station, but, luckily for
 us. we stumbled upon some and got back about 15 minutes after the company had gone over.
 PRETTY PLACE TO FIGHT
 shall never forget the battle scenes as viewed it from our lines As one of the boys expressed it, it was pretty place to fight and lovely place to die. There was a slight depression in the lay Of the land between our lines and those Of the boche. The day had broken clear, after the rain of the night before, and, wonderful view was to be had. Mt. Sec and range of other mountains extended, on our left, like the fingers of ones hand. On the right was a rolling plain dotted here and there with small vi- lages and patches of woods. The smoke of our rolling" barrage hung like a curtain, as far as the eye could see Be- hind this the troops were advancing in combat groups while here and there the German shells were exploding among fhArp. ~1- ing the barrage while those of the boche were lowering about. like birds of prey, sweeping. at times, to open their machine guns upon the troops below. Above the roar of the barrage, which had dimn- ished to some extent now, could be heard the rattle of machine guns
 We clambered out of our trenches with the stretchers just as our men were talk
 ing the German front lines. sniper saw us and opened up on us with a machine gun and we took shelter in some shell holes. About 10 minutes later, when came out from my shelter after he had quit shooting, I was unable to find the men who had come with me. It was about this time that I ran upon run ner" from our company, who said that Lieutenant had been shot in the head and was needing immediate attention and also that Captain Green of company had been killed in the German lines
 WOUNDED COME IN
 The wounded were now beginning to struggle back to the first aid station. some by themselves and in places two or three of the more seriously wounded locked arms around one another and hob i bled in. could not help but admire the fortitude shown by these men. who smiled. laughed and told jokes even though they were mortally hit" They | spoke of the most horrible incidents as tI@ rt. thArv Hxrk 1sao everyday affairs.
 I looked for the wounded lieutenant. | but was unable to find him where the |, runner had said that he was lying. | While I was wondering what could have | become of him another runner came up | and told me of two wounded men in a | "dug-out' nearby. I had just finished [ the first aid station. Having no filters | being brought in. I hailed them and | made them carry the wounded men to | the first aid station. Having no litter with me at the time the other men whom i had been with having taken them, ! the two men were carried on stretchers | made out of two German shelter halves and some poles. I was busy the whole day carrying in the wounded. In all cases, when they were available. the boehe prisoners were made to carry them to the first aid station.
 Never DefOre or since nave l ever seen | troops advance as rapidly as we did that . day By night we had captured 15 kill ometers of ground and several villages. 1t was a race, a walkover. Not a man in my company was wounded or killed after we had broken through the German third lines. That night our first aid sta tion was located at Essey. The battalion W as relieved by the second, battalion and fell back in regimental reserve.
 FULL OF AMERICAN TROOPS
 When I entered Essey found it full of American troops. As I remember. Iowa had captured ~the town and the boys were scattered about looking every where for what they could find. It wasn't long before they had located plenty of beer, bread and win rouge. We rolled several barrels of beer out into the middle |, of the street snd knocked the heads in with our bayonets Everyone had feast didn't like the bread. for 1t tasted. like they say, as though it had been made out of wheat straw and potarces. The beer was good. This ended the first day'a lighting. E.
 A few days later. when va were hold