Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-11-18

on account of the buttons with the
crown stamped on them Our sum
ply OF boots, up to and including
the march into Germany, was COM
posed in part of British boots. These
BOOTS had low instep and caused
much foot trouble. These are facts
no amount of words can cover, no
speeches explain away"
The Spirit of The Men
Contrasted against the unprepar-
edness of the Nation in material
needs and knowledge of war is the
spirit of the fighting men. Regard
less or their safety the fighting
ioIces went willingly to the battle
determined that high courage
2,ioulu ni overcome all difficulties.
ricture then this little cross section
or life on the battle field as troops
march to the attack:
Inc infantry slogged through
the mud, up roads cut to pieces bv
trucks and over trails ankle deep in
water. The artillery skittered and
stralned into place. The tanks
clanked and ratified up, breaking the
columns and tearing up what was
ieft OF the road. 1t was so dark Won
could hardly see your hand before
your face. The troops reached
the position safely by about
CLOCK. Our position lay along the
cage OF rugged and steep ravine.
me ram had stopped and the first
IalnL PINK of the early summer
morning lighted the sky. Absolute
silence hung over everything. broken
only by twittering' of birds. Sud
uenly out of the stiffness, without
warning of a preliminary shot, our
artillery opened with a crash. All
along the horizon, silhouetted
against the pale pink of the early
dawn, was the tufted smoke of high
explosive shells, and the burst of
shrapnel showed in, flashes like the
spittlng of broken electric wire
IN hailstorm. After the lombard
ment had been going on for two or
shree minutes d company, on the
rlght, became impatient and wanted
TO attack, and l heard the men be-.
gin to call, Let's go, let's go!"'
another description takes up
events after the men have marched
and fought twenty-four hours with
out stopping and orders come to
move to a new sector Tor attack.
All night long the men plowed
like mudcaked spec:ers, through
the dark, some staggering as they
walked. Often we had to make
detours, as the Germans had mined
the road. Everyone had
reached the last stages of cxhaustion
A corlling good OFF,
Ger tainted on the march. law nm
conscious in the mud Tor an hour,
came TO. and Joined his company
before the morning attack. Major
frazler, while riding at the head of
MS battalion, fell asleep on his horse
and rolled off.
Anxious TO Meet Germans.
"As l rode up and down the
column l watched the men. Most
or them were so tired that they said
but little. Occasionally. however. I
would run on to some of the old men
laughing and joking as usual. l re-
member hearing a sergeant who
was closing the rear of one platoon,
say, 'Oooh, la la''
What is it, sergeant, aren't you
getting enough eXercise?" / asked
him.
Exercise is it, sir? It's not the
be afraid that them Germans are
better runners than we are!'
Another time l passed an old
sergeant named Johnson.
Sir asked Johnson, when do
we hit emp
I'm not sure, sergeant I said,
but l think about a lsilometer and
a half from here.
That's good, Johnson replied
If we can once get them and do 'em
up proper they will let us have
rest
johnson voiced there the senti-
ments of the rank and file. They
had been set task and it never en-
tered into their calculations that
they could not do the task They
wanted to do it. do it well, and then
have their rest"