Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1919-02-27
Sergeant Tells How Bullet, En-
tering Peep Hole, Killed
His Buddy"
SHOTS RATIFIED OFF SIDES
Machine Gunner First Kept Count Of
Germans Slain, but Soon Forgot
the Number-SIaln at
the Wheel

| advance along the west bank of the
Mouse early in October, and Sergeant
James AVERT of Birmingham, Ala,
with his buddy" did their share in
giving the Hun his due. Avertt's
buddy" was killed in the thick of the
fight by a bullet that entered a peep
hole in the side of the tank and struck
him in the face.
It was in the American push" in
the Argonne sector. Avertt's tank
went along with a lot of brother"
! tanks in line with the American in
fantrymen crowding them in the rear.
AVERT was the machine gunner of his
tank, while his buddy" ran the engine
and steered the tank.
81 was so near q number of Gey-
mans encountered in a shallow trench
| that / could see the terror on their
faces when my gun began to let fly
/ bullets almost in their very faces"
! Sergeant Avertt said. "These were
| the first Boches l ran into on this
drive and | certainly let them have it
as fast as my old machine could fire,
and that was some fast, and / just
kept going ahead and pounding away
until every last one of them was
! stretched on the ground.
Keep Tab on Each Other.
Passing beyond This hastily dug
| trench, in the meantime watching my
brothers on my right and left and at
tah hn
doughboys coming up. l got sight of a
| little batch of Germans behind hump
in the hill along the roadway, on what
had been roadway before our heavy
artillery opened up that morning.
These were machine gunners, | soon
learned, and bullets began to splash
off the tanks sides, particularly those
which struck a glancing blow.
81 ordered my tank buddy at the
wheel to keep after those gunners if 1t
cost US all four wheels. He did, and
we went up after them sort of side
ways, and | got around on the side of
the hump, and my brother on the
other side was doing the same, and we
wiped that bunch out in a jitfy-I be-
lieve it was by enfilading fire, as the
officers call it."
Sergeant Ayertt explained that the
tank men, all of whom were Ameri-
cans, using two-men tanks invented
by the French. always watched one
another closely, or endeaeored to, the
idea being to keep hundred yards or
so apart for their mutual protection,
and it being important also that they
not get too far ahead of the infan-
try.
Just beyond the hump was clump
of woods, and we began to pour bullets
into that" Sergeant AVERT continued,
land for time there was some smoke
arising above the tree tops, so we
knew there were Boches in there.
About four of us opened up in full
force and showered that woods with
lead.
"The machine gun answers were
pretty still for a while, as we went
forward but / just kept peppering
away and talking to my buddy all
the time and telling him what we were
going to do-clean out that woods.
My brothers on either side had the
same bunch The doughboys back OF
me, too were firing along with us, and
the Boche in that thicket must have
thought all hell had broken loose. be-
cause first thing knew the firing vir-
tually stopped and l figured all the
Boches had been killed or had decided
to beat it before we all got there in
force.
Slain at the Wheel.
Along about this time / noticed
that the tank boys on the right were
swinging around the side of the clump
OF trees, and from the position of
their guns and the speed of their
tanks l judged that they were giving
fits to some Fritzies running away. l
then switched SO as to run alongside
the thicket, at distance, and Joined
the tank boys going around the end.
",Iust about that time there was a
volley of machine gun bullets, and
some antitank gun stuff. too, from a
hill q bit TO ms left. Suddenly ny
tank just began TO tremble or some
thing and then stopped, and shuddered
all over. I looked down and my
buddy was limp in his seat One of
those damned bullets mad come in
through my 'buddy's' peep hole, and
hit him square in the face.
MY buddy was dead. His final
clutch on the throttle shut OF the gas
and the old tank stopped, and there
was aud the boys went on. That's
about all know about that fight, or
whatever it was"
Avertt said that when he went into
action he determined to keep count
II the number Of Germans his machine
sun touched or" hut when he began
to use his gun he could think of moth
ny but 2 purpose to spread death and
destruction, and that he quickly LOST
count Of the number he saw fall.