The Elk Mountain pilot., 1919-04-17

4 Assuaesnsns WA - 0sssue 1faAsAsw Aaaas
volunteers for trench duty. I was not
very keen about Uotn& becauss hid
bssn in trenches ct Dixmude. and I
knew how pleasant they were-not.
but volunteered, and 20 did Murray.
We went ashore In our boats under .
heavy IRE. There were II men killed
IN the Hfeboat In which was. e.
capped without scratch.
We were mustered up on shore and
volunteers wers called for, for sentry
duty. Hufay volunteered. II he had
only goos On With the rest Of - he
might have came through. After z
short whit ~ WsEo gwen the order TO
advance The firing Became heavier
about this time. - " went at the
double. We had not got vegy far be-
fore We had . nne little surprise party
handed u
The fruot line was running over
what appeared 70 b good. solid
ground. when they broke through and
fell Into trenches 30 to 20 feet deep.
These trenches had been dug. covered
over With A-inch boards and then
with Dirt. and were regular man-traps.
Sharp stakes were sticking out Of the
parapet and parados, and ut the bot.
tom were more stakes and rocks and
barbed WtrA
We were advancing with bayouets
nxsd and arms at The carry. % when
the drst line fen, and some o6 the
second. the boys oe the third line came
running up. and N the scramble that
0rse few lines were bayonstsd By their
comrades. I was in the third line. but
was lucky enough 70 pull up in time
and dld not fall In. You could not look
down into that trsoeh after you had
seen Il once. It was too sieksoing.
Our easualties were ssnt back b The
ship. Ous boat was sunk BY Q she'll
and an he men lost
We remained where ~ Wsee.
scratching out shallow trenches for
ourselves, finding what natural cover
there was and Otherwise getting ready
for the night, which was near. Il
began 70 rain and We could hardly
keep any fires going. because We had
to shelter them from the shore side. 20
the enemy could not spot N, and the
Wind was from the sea. Il was certain
" miserable that night.
Every once In . while We would
stand By TO rspel an attack. whether It
was . real one o. not, and we wore
under Aro al the time. Il seemed n
II morning would never come. The
aand WAS fun Of 6eas-Ereat big boys
I-and thAy wero a. bad ~ any
Goodies I had ever had at Dtxmuds.
Ths morning came af last. and I
was dstailsd with Q fat1gus party
to the beach whsse We had landed
stoesA When ~ got down 70 the
dockS missed AuFray and asked
whsfs ~ was. They said hs had bssa
misslng fFom his post not more than
an hour from the time we LEFT.
lsft NJ fatigue party. without
ordsfA and 3oined in tAs hunt for
Murray. TAere weee men searching
Ill along tho docks and o. tie shore
10 each ada. Finally saw . bunch
oe men collect around . storehouso
at ths fa1thse end of the doc1s On the
Ghoee do. ] FaA - b thsm.
Thsee was poor old Murray. Thy
WsEo Just taking him down. He had
been eruc1nsd against The van Of the
stoeshousa There was . bayoost
through each arm, one through each
foot and ooe through his stomach.
Ons q H. esxnlss tainted when hs
had to pun enc o6 ths bayoostS out
Thsy had hacked a hls right hand
ct he wrist and taken his identinca-
ton disc. I lay this 10 tie German
omeegs more than the Turns.
I % not know just what I did aftsr
this. But It changed me al around
and I WAS not IKE my usual ell dun.
Ing ths rest of ths ttms.
Il was st11 raining whsn W started
On eur way b ths fEu0t INA Alag
De road WWo numbers of treops
seeding and among them Indian treops
On sentry duty. TAsy looked IKE .
bunch Of frossn tuxnips. cool and un-
leom6oetahle. We wGe eloee snousA to
make the roar q tho eannooading
sesm intolsrably loud and could ses
the bursting shells. particularly those
hrU1 TIE British ships.
Then We came across some Turk1sh
pr1sonsas who were ahsltefinS IN an
old barn, I guess It was. and We
stopped for shelter and rest Thsy
told ~ that their troops were very
tirsd from long fighting. but that they
had plenty Of men. They said couple
Il shells had dropped abeut . hum
dred yards from the barn Just before
Ve cana. - We knew the batteries
were trying 70 get our range and We
did lot say any longer, but went
away from there and on our road
Abeat 600 yards farther on We came