Cheyenne record., 1919-04-17

very keen about going. because I had
been In trenches at Dixmude. and I
knew how pleasant they were-not,
but ! volunteered, and 30 did Murray.
We went ashore In our boats under a
heavy fire. There were II men killed
in the lifeboat in which was. I es-
capped without scratch.
We were mustered up on shore and
volunteers were called for. for sentry
duty. Murray volunteered. II he had
only gone on with the rest Of MS he
might have come through. After q
short wait we were given the order to
advance. The firing became heavier
about this time, 30 we went at the
double. We had not got very far be-
fore we had fine little surprise party
handed Us.
The front line was running over
what appeared to be good, solid
ground, when they broke through and
fell into trenches 80 to 40 feet deep.
These trenches had been dug, covered
over with A-inch boards and then
with dirt. and were regular man-traps.
Sharp stakes were sticking out Of the
parapet and parados, and at the bot
tom were more stakes and rocks and
barbed wire.
We were advancing with bayonets
fixed and arms at the carry, 20 when
the first line fell. and some of the
second, the boys Of the third line came
running up, and In the scramble that
followed many Of the chaps in the
flrst few lines were bayoneted by their
comrades. was In the third line, but
I was lucky enough to pull up in time
and did not fall in. You could not look
down into that trench after you had
seen 1t once, 1t was too sickening
ship. One boat was sunk By shell
and al the men lost.
We remained where We were,
scratching out shallow trenches for
ourselves, finding what natural cover
there was and otherwise getting ready
for the night which was near. It
began to rain and We could hardly
keep any fires going. because we had
to shelter them from the shore SIDE 30
the enemy could not spot N, and the
Wind was from the sea. It was certain
" miserable that night.
Evesy once In . while We would
stand By to repel an attack. whether 1t
was Q real eae Or not, and We were
under IRE an The time. It seemed a.
II morning would never come. The
sand was fun Of dsas-great big boys
and the0 ware a. bad a. any
coolies I had ever had at DtEmude.
Ths morning came at last, and I
was detailed With . fatigue party
to the beach whsrs We had landed
storeA When We got down 70 The
docks I missed Murray and asked
vhefe hs was. They said he had been
missing. from his post not moro than
IN hour from The tims We left
I lsft my fahgue party. without
orders, and Joined In the hunt for
Murray. There were men searching
al along tho docks and On the shore
10 each aide. Finally I saw Q bunch
Of men collect around q storehouse
at the farther end Of the docl1 On the
shore side. I ran up to them.
There was poor old Murray. They
wseo Just taking him down. He had
been crucihed against the wall Of the
storshousa. There was a bayonet
through each arm. one through each
foot and one through his stomach.
One Of the garbies tainted when he
had to pull one Of the bayonets out.
They had hacked of his right hand
at the wrist and taken his Identifies
ton disc. lay this to the German
ofncers more than the Turks.
do not know Just what did after
this. But 1t changed me all around
and was not like my usual self dur
ing the rest Of the time.
It was still raining when we started
on our way to the front line Along
the road were numbers Of troops
scofflng and among them Indian troops
on sentry duty. They looked like Q
bunch Of frozen turnips, cool and un-
comfortable. We were close enough to
make the roar Of the cannonading
seem intolerably loud and could see
the bursting shells. particularly those
iron the British ships.
Then We came across some Turkish
prisoners who were sheltering In an
old barn, guess it was. and we
stopped for shelter and rest. They
told us that their troops were very
tired from long fighting. but that they
had plenty Of men. They said couple
of shells had dropped about . hun
dred yards from the barn Just before
we cana. % we knew the batteries
were trying to get our range and we
did not shy any longer, but went
away from thsre and on our road.
Aboat 800 yards farther On We Game
Do ratha. and when We went insids
~ 1sund 80 or 60 Of our boys cooking
and slssping and not givinS Q thought
Do ~ shslls q shrapnel. ne mules
outsids wsrs banging away at ths hay.
- tAcagh thsrs nsvsr had bsaa war
in H. Wog3A msro Was no ohAQ uA6s