The courier-index. (Marianna, Ark.) 1917-current, 1919-11-28
lem the Sniper" Did Her
'D'' Bit, and Little Bit More
From the Literary Digest.

HERMAN UaIuefy gong into position
and was ION target" in three shots.
This time she broke up the enemy
formation, destroyed three guns.
and scattered the personnel.
Betsy got a heavy baptism of en-
envy fire during the Seicheprey af
fair. The operations report of the
regiment says that she was under a
bombardment of more than 5000
high-explosive shells that day.
Three thousand was the official rec
ord. To the gun crew it seemed no
less than a million.
Betsy herself was not badly dam
aged, being merely scratched by fv-
ing pieces of shell. Her nest was
In a tunnel underneath the Beau
mont road. This sheltered her when
she was not in action, but of camou-
flage or any attempt at concealment
she had none. The German gunners
across the line had the range to
dot.
Ordinarily in heavy gun-fre the
gun is not kept in action when the
enemy is active and has good range.
The men seek shelter in their owr
dugouts. But early in the Seiche-
prey affair it became necessary to
maintain fire even while under fire.
1T was not a matter to be done by
routine order. Captain Barker, who
was in personal command of the
position throughout the 26th occupa-
ton of the sector, called for volun-
teers, and responded to his own call
first of any. During the heaviest of
the Smelling he acted as a member of
the gun crew.
From Seicheprey Betsy went with
the battery to the Chateau-T hierry
region, and in the long advance that
followed she was used as a sniping
piece three times. The batteries
were in line at this time much
longer than was the divisional in
fantry, being assigned to the sup
port of other divisions when the lat
ter was relieved.
One of her achievements here was
the Smelling of German general
headquarters, when she sent ten
shots, all hits, doing serious damage.
The fire was directed in this enter
nrise by an American observation
balloonist.
In the advance through the St
Mihiel sector Betsy was ahead of
any other gun of her class, advanc-
ing to the Woevre plain. while other
guns of the regiment were assigned
to positions on or near the hills
that are the plains boundary. Much
of her work here was against ma
chine gun nests, and her position
was particularly exposed.
North of Verdun in the final drive
of the war, Betsy and her sister
guns of Battery A and Battery B
occupied shining positions in Death
Valley. This was during the period
of harvest fire that the batteries suf-
fered, and one of Battery C's guns.
4 short distance southeast, suffered
severely.
In all, ten men, of whom, one was
& batteryman. were killed at or
close to Betsy's position in the Toul
sector. Sixty were wounded of
whom thirty were members of the
battery.
Betsy is to be give nan honored
place in the Battery Book which is
being issued bv the hatterynen. and
there the detailed history of the To-
nous weapon is to be told. The
suggestion was made in France that
TIE batterymen club together to buy
the Betsy from the war department.
but is was believed that the DEPART
ment should be induced to send her
to the home of the battery. If ever
a fighting unit won the right to have
and to hold permanent souvenir of
it's work. Battery A earned right
to own BETSY.