The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1919-02-18
SOLDIER
RELATES EXPERIENCE
Continued from Page One.)

goes forward to a certain objective
a second line goes through the first
line, then the first line advances
through. the second. The artillery
barrage goes ahead of the men while
the German fire comes across. The
soldiers advance between the two
fires and when their objective is
reached they take what shelter they
can find. Even the smallest shelSer
seems to afford safety. Lieut.. Neuffer
gives a vivid description of lying on
the ground one night and counting
the shells as they burst near him,
he counted up to fifteen, and when
asked if he had any thought of home
and sweetheart while all this was 60
ing on, as the story writers always
have it, he replied that his sole
thought was, (which one of those
durn things is going to hit mep'
Lieut.. Neuffer usually had under
his command thirty or forty men and
these men carry four machine guns,
ammunition, tripods, water, rations,
picks, shovels, and sand bags. When
one man falls out another can take
his place.
Lieut.. Neuffer was wounded Oct.
18th, near La Hail Meuerresse at
Meberfaye farm, and when asked
to tell about it he said there was
nothing to tell, "a shell burst near
me and piece hit me in the foot. l"
| After being hit the young soldier
lay on the ground and took solace in
couple of cigarettes and watched
the progress of the fight. The firing
was so heavy that a sergeant ven-
tured the opinion that they were "all
going to get killed right there" while
! two of the men who were lying on
the ground in comparative safety,
jumped up, ran through the shell fire
i and took refuge behind a six-inch
+ apple tree. When the bsrrage lifted
Lieut.. Neuffer was taken to a first
aid station, after which he was
inoculated against tetanus, then ia
/ ken to clearing station, then by
train to Abbeville, France, where he
spent two days in an English hospi-
| tai, then he was taken to England,
hartford Kent, where he spent five
weeks getting well. At hartford he
was under the care Of American doc
tors and nurses and was just two
days too late to see the King and
Queen on their visit Of inspection.
When asked what he had to eat, he
replied, "spuds and beef" The Eng
lish call biscuits, scones and at first
he declined them. When asked about
the women, the Lieutenant acknowl-
edged to being impressed by their
ugly feet and their very sweet voices
and their heavy chins. :
The air planes were an impressive
and a majestic sight and their sound
overhead always called the men out
to see WHAT was going on. The Brit
ish were superior in the air-and the
Gefmans rarely came out in the day
time, but came in bombing planes at
night. Lieut.. Neuffer saw plane
brought to earth one day, one out Of
= bunch of ten being hit, and COM
ing to earth head first. He says it is
no use going to see what has hap
pened to the man, everybody knows
Sixty-two planes in one squadron was
the largest number Lieut.. Neuffer
ever counted.
When asked about the refugees
Lieut.. Neuffer said that one night
going into a small town which had
long been in the hands Of the Ger
mans, they met the civilian popula-
tion coming out. The town was be-
ing shelled by the Germans and peo-
PIE were leaving with what they
could carry with them. In the party
was a little three year old girl,
wounded by a piece Of shell, being
carried by doughboy. In the town
were many placards, printed in Ger
man and French, warning the popula-
49, ho,, S,~ &bor oo,,1d m &o1.,erdo