Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1919-01-10
By
Sergeant Arthur Guy
Empey
Author of "Over the Top"
First CALL" Etc
CO-C
Mr.. Employs Expert
ncesDuring HisSeven-
teen Months in theFirst
Line Trenches of the
British Army in France
There were six of us.

because he had the cutest little Della
Fox, or spit curl, as the gum-chewers
call it, you ever saw. Wallace was
proud of that curl, and gave it the
best of attention and care. He was
Scotch.
Happy" Houghton earned his nick
name by his constant smile and happy
disposition. He was English, Lon
Aoner.
Hungry" Foxcroft really earned his
stt.e. He took special pains that our
rations would not become mildewed by
tying around too long in the dampness
of our dugout. He was English; also
from London.
"Ikey" Honey, dubbed 'Tkey" be-
cause in one Of our theatrical at
tempts he took the part Of "Ikey CO.
henstein," and made quite hit. Eng
fish, via London.
''Dick" Turpin, called "Dick" IL
memory of the notorious highwayman.
He used to help the quartermaster SER
geant, so the name was very apprOpri-
ate. He was Irish, from Dublin.
/ was the sixth. The boys put the
prefix "Yank" to my name, because /
was american and hailed from the
"Big Town" behind the statue of lib
erty.
| The six of us composed the crew of
| gun No. 2 of the -th brigade ma
chine company. We were machine
| gunners and our gun was the Vickers,
| light, 303, water-coOled.
| 1t was rainy afternoon In June,
and we were sitting IN our dugout in
the front-line trench, about 300 yards
from the German lines.
If you should ask Tommy Atkins
"What is a dugout?' he would look at
| you in establishment, and, plying you
for your apparent lack of education,
would answer, "What's q dugout?
Why dugout is a-well, a dugout's
dugout." Only being a Tommy pro
| tem-pro TEN in my case meaning "fOr
duration of war"-I will try to de-
scribe to the best of my ability this
! particular dugout.
dugout is hole in the ground.
Gets it's name because it is dug out
| by the Royal Engineers, or r. Els as
we call them. 1t is used to shelter the
men in the trenches from shell fire,
| They also sleep in il, or try to-. From
our point of view, its main use is to
drain the trenches of muddy water
and give us rheumatism. 1t also
makes a good hotel for rats. These
| guests lo5k upon us as intruders and
complain that we OvercrOwd the place.
| Occasionally we give in to them, and
| take a turn in the Il ench to rest our
selves.
Our dugout was about twenty feet
| deep, or at least, there were twenty
wooden steps leading down to it. The
ceiling and walls were braced by
heavy, square-cut timbers. Over the
| timbers in the ceiling sheets of cor
| rugated iron were spread to keep the
wet earth from falling in on us. The
entrance was heavily sandbagged and
| very narrow; there was only room for
one person to leave or enter at time.
The ceiling was six feet high and the
| floor space was ten feet by six feet.
Through the ceiling q six-inch square
airshaft was cut. We used to take
| .urns sleeping under this in wet
weather.
The timbers bracing the walls were
driven full of nails to hang our equip
| ment on. After our ammunition, belt
| filling machine, equipment, rifles, etc.,
had been stored away. there was not
much space for six men to live, not
forgetting the rats.
| 1t was very dark III the dugout, and
| as we were only issued candle and
half every twenty-four hours we had
to economize on light. Woe betide the
last man who left the candle burningi
| In this hotel of ours we would sit
around the lonely candle and through
q thick haze of tobacco smoke would
recount our different experiences at
various points of the line where we
had been, or spin yarns about home.
Sometimes we would write a letter,
when we were fortunate enough to be
near the candle. At other times we'd
SIT for an hour without saying word,
| listening to German over in the en-
emy's front trench playing cornet.
My, how that Boche could playi Just
70 make us hate the war he'd play "Su-
vance River" Home, Sweet Home"
or "Over the Waves The latter was
my favorite. During his recital our
trenches were strangely quiet. Never
| a shot from either side.
Sometimes, when he had finished,
! key Honey would go into the trench
and play on his harmonica. AS soon
! as we'd see that harmonica come out
| II was case of duck down low" for
| the Germans would be sure, when the
first strains reached them, to send over
five rounds rapid" We hated that
harmonica. More than once we
chucked one over the top. but he'd sit
| down, write letter. and in about ten