Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1919-03-20
CHAPTER xxV--Continued.

| ~
! When we took over the front line
/ we received an awful shock. The
/ Germans displayed slgnboards over
| the top of their trench showing the
| names that we had called their
trenches. The signs read Fair"
/ Fact" Fate" and Fancy" and so
on, according to the code names on
our map. Then to rub It in, they
holsted some more signs which read,
Come on. we are ready, stupid Eng
nsh"
1t Is still a mystery to me how they
obtained this knowledge. There had
been no raids or prisoners taken, so
II must have been the work of spies
in our own lines.
Three or four days before the big
push we tried to shatter Fritz's nerves
| by feint attacks, and partially sue
ceeded as the official reports Of July
1 show.
Although we were constantly bonn
harding their lines day and night, still
we fooled the Germans several times.
This was accomplished by throwing
an intense barrage into his lines
then using smoke shells we would put
a curtain of white smoke across No
Mans Land, completely obstructing
his view OF our trenches, and
would raise our curtain of fire
as If I'm an actual attack. All
down our trenches the men would
shout and cheer. and Fritz would turn
loose with machlne-gun, rife. and
shrapnel fire, thinking we were com
Ing over
After three or four of these dummy
attacks his nerves must have been
near the breaking point.
On June "a. 1915. at 9:40 in the
morning our guns opened up, and hell
was let loose. The din was terrific,
constant boom-hoom-boom In your ear.
At night the sky was a red glare.
Our bombardment had lasted about
two hours when Fritz started reply
Ing. Although we were sending over
ten shells TO his one, our casualties
were heavy There was a constant
stream of stretchers coming out Of the
communication trenches and burial
parties were a common sight.
In the dugOuts the noise OF the guns
almost hurt. You had the same sensa-
ton as when riding on the subway you
enter the tube under the river going
10 Brooklyn--a sort OF pressure on the
err drums, and the ground constantly
trembling.
The roads behind the trenches were
very dangerous because BOche shrap-
mel was constantly bursting over them.
We avoided these dangerous spots by
crossing through open nelds.
The destruction in the German lines
was awful and l really felt sorry for
them because | realized how they must
be clicking 1t.
From our front-llne trench. every
now and again, we could hear sharp
whistle blasts In the German trenches.
These blasts We're the signals for
sretcher bearers, and meant the
wouudinc or killing of some German In
the service Of his fatherlaud.
Atwell and l had tough time OF It.
patrolling the different trenches at
night. but after awhile got used TO Il,
My old outfit, the machine gun com
pany was stationed In huge elephant
dugouts about four hundred yards be-
hind the front-line trench-they were
In reserve. Occasionally / would stop
In their dugout and have a confab with
my former mates Although we tried
to be jolly, still, there was a lurking
feeling Of impending disaster. Each
man was wondering H. after the
slogan. lover the top with the best Of
luck" had been sounded, would he stili
be alive or would he be lying some
whore I'm France" In an old dilapidated
house. the walls OF which were Scared
with machine gun bullets, No. 3 sec
ton of the machine gun company had
It's quarters, The compauys cooks pre-
pured the meals Ia this billet. on the
dCth evening of the bombardment a
German eight-inch shell registered a
direct hit on the billet and wiped out
ten men who were asleep in the sup
posed)y bomb-proot cellar They were
buried the next day and attended the
funeral