Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-03-05

man blood, but a decent and popular
officer. When informed thai n woman
was in the ranks of the newly arrived
regiment he was amazed
"a woman" he cried out, she can't
be permitted to remain. This regiment
is going into battle soon, and women
were not made for war"
There was heated discussion be-
tween him and Commander Grishani-
nov. which ended in an order for my
appearance before them. | received a
thorough test and passed it we'll
Asked il 7 wanted to take part in the
fight. ] replied afiirmatively. Mutter.
ing his wonderment, Colonel Stuben.
dorf allowed me TO remain till he
looked into the matter further.
\ big battle was raging at the time
on that section of the front. We were
told TO he ready for an order to move
at any moment to the front line.
Meanwhile we were sheltered in dug
outs. My company occupied ten Of
these. all bombproof, though not
in tirstClass condition. They were
cold and had no windows. AS
soon as the day broke We busted
ourselves with cutting windows, build
ing tireplaces, repairing the Caved.in
ceilings of timber and sand and gen
eral houseCleaning. The dugouts were
constructed in rows, the companies OF
odd numbers being assigned to the
row on the right, while Inose OF even
numbers went to the left. Signs were
posted on the streets and each com.
many had a sentinel on duty.
Our position was eight versts behind
the first line of trenches. The boom
ing of the guns could be heard in the
distance. Streams OF wounded, some
on vehicles and others trekking along
on foot, flowed along the road. We
drilled most Of the time, the second
day watched by Colonel Stubendorf.
He must have kept close eye on me,
| for at the end Of the drilling he called
me, praised my efficiency and granted
/ me permission to stay in the ranks,
On the third day came the order to
move TO the trench lines. Through
mud and under shells We marched for
ward. II was still light when we ar.
rived at the firing line. We had two
killed and five wounded. AS the Ger
man positions were on a hill they were
enabled to observe all our movements.
We were, therefore, instructed by field
telephone not to occupy the trenches
till after dark.
80 this is war" I thought. My
pulse quickened and caught the spirit
of excitement that pervaded the regi-
ment We were all eXpectant, as if in
the presence of a solemn revelation.
We were eager to get into the fray to
show the Germans what we, the boys
of the Fifth Regiment, could do. Were
we nervous? Undoubtedly, But it
was not the nervousness of CowardiCe,
rather was il the restlessness of young
blood. Our hands were steady, our
hayonets fixed, We eXulted in our ad-
venture.
Night came. The Germans were re
leasing a gas wave at us. Perhaps
they noticed an unusual movement ne.
hind the lines and wished to amt.
hilate US before we entered the battle.
But they failed. Over the wire came
the order to put on our masks. Thus
were We baptized in this most inhuman
of all German war inventions. Our
masks were not perfect. The deadly
gas penetrated some and made our
eyes smart and water. But we we're
soldiers of Mother Russia, whose sons
are not unaccustomed to half'suffocat
ing air and so we withstood the rri-
tating fumes.
The midnight hour passed. The com
mander went through our ranks to in
form us that the hour had come 10
move into the trenches and tina before
dawn we would take the offensive. lie
addressed us with words of onCour
| aRement and was heartily Cheercd
The artillery had been laundering all
night, the fire growing more and more
intense every hour. In single file We
/ moved along a communication trench
10 the front line. Some of us were
wounded but we remained dauntless
D All our fatigue seemed 10 have van
I ished
r The front trench was "A plain ditch
: and as we lined up along it our shoul
ders touched. The positions of thu
= enemy were less than one verst away
l. and the space between was filed will
D groans and swept by bullets II wa'
e a scene full of horrors. Sometimes al
Y enemy shell would land in the mids
o Of our men. killing several and wound
: ing many. Then we would be sprinkle,
!, with the blood of our comrades anC
/ spattered by the mud.
n At in the morning the commando
y appeared in our midst. He was seem
d ingly nervous. The other officers cam'
t with him and took their positions a
e the head of the men. With draw
sabers they prepared 10 lead tn
l. charge. The commander had a rife.