Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1919-01-24

!
| low whisper, came to us:
| "'Boys, the men in our trenches
/ have received orders not to fire on ac-
count of our accommodating patrol be-
| ing out in front. A strong German
raiding party has just circled our left,
and is making for our trench. It's up
to us to send word back. We can't
all go, because We might make too
much noise and warn the German par
| ty, SO it's up to one of us to carry the
news back to the trench that the raid
ing party is on it's way. With this
information it will be quite easy for
our boys to wipe them out. But it's
up to the rest of us to stick out here,
and if we go west we have done our
duty in a noble cause. Corporal
French, you had better take the news
back, because you are too valuable
man to Sacrifices
French, under his breath, an
swered:
"'Sir, I've been ont since Mons, and
/ this is the first time that I've ever
! been insulted by an officer. If this
patrol is going to click it, I'm going to
click it too. If we come out of this
you can try me for disobedience Of or
ders, but here I stick, and I'll be
damned if L go in, officer or no Off
GER
"Newall, in a voice husky with emo
| ton, answered:
"'F'rench, it's men like you that
make it possible for ''our Little Island"
/ to withstand the world. You are a
true Briton. and I'm proud of YOU
Il was hoping that he would detail
me to. go back, but he didn't. Hender-
son was picked for the job. When
Henderson left Newall shook hands
all around. I felt queer and lonely.
"YOu see, fellows, it was this way:
| Henderson was to tell the men in the
| trench that we had returned and that
it was all right for them to turn loose
ON the raiding party with their rifle
and machine gunfire, without us click
j. ing their fire. Leftenant Newall sure
| was a lad. not 'arf he weren't.
! 'That next twenty minutes of wait
ing was hell. Then, from out of the
j blackness, over toward our trench,
rang that ola familiar ''Alt, who goes
! there?' We Rugged the ground. We
! knew what was coming. Then, vol
! ley from our trench, and four type
t writer's (machine guns) turned loose.
Bullets cracked right over our heads.
I One hit the ground about a foot from
me, ricocheted, and went moaning and
/ signing over the German lines.
Lieutenant Newall sobbed under his
breath:
"'God, we're in direct line of our
own fire. The trench-raiding party
must have circled u.s.
"Our boys in our trench sure were
I doing themselves proud. The bullets
We're cracking and biting the ground
all around us.
'In between our trench and our
| party, curses rang OUT in German as
the Boches clicked the fire from the
English trench. Star shells were
shooting into the air and dropping in
No Mans land. 1t was a great but
terrible sight Which met our eyes.
Fritz's raiding party was sure being
wiped out
'Ten or fifteen dark forms, the rem
nants of the German raiding party,
dashed past us in the direction of the
German trench. We Rugged the
ground. 1t was our only chance. We
knew that it would only be a few
seconds before Fritz turned loose. If
we had legged it for our trench we
would have been wiped out by our
own fire. You see, our boys thought
we were safely in.
"Then, up went FritZ's star lights,
turning night into day, and hell cut
loose. Their bullets were shipping
twigs from the hedge over our heads.
Suddenly the fellow on my left,
MacCauley by name, emitted a muf-
fed groan. and started kicking the
ground; then silence. He had gone
west. A bullet through the napper
suppose. There were now five of us
left.
Suddenly Leftenant Newall, in a
faint, choking voice, exclaimed:
They've got me, French; it's
through the lung and then fainter
you're in command. See that
His voice died away. Pretty soon he
started moaning loudly. The Germans
must have heard these means, because
they Immediately turned their fire on
us. French called to me:
Honey, come here, my lad, our
officer has clicked it,
II crawled over to him. He was
sitting on the ground with the leften-
| ants head resting in his lap, and was
getting out his frst-aid packet. /
told him to get low or he would click
| it. He answered.
"Since when does a bloomin' lance
corporal take orders from bloody pfi-
vate? You tell the rest of the boys, if
they've not as yet gone west, to leg it
back to our trench at the double and
get a stretcher, and you go with them.
This lad of ours has got to get medical
attention, and damned quick, too, if we
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