Ellsworth American., 1919-01-01
OVER THE Top.
Former Hancock County Boy Writes
of Experience in elton.

| j. sherman Douglass OF lamoine sends
us the following letter written by his
brother, Private Roscoe A. Douglass, Go.
b, 354th infantry, A. e. f., a son OF the
late John IL. Douglass, formerly OF Bar
Harpor. The letter, dated in France Oct.
2s, follows:
For two days we were billeted in a little
French village near the front line 1t
rained night and day, but men and guns
seemed to pour into the little shell, torn
village in a steady stream. We all knew
that something was going to happen soon.
The day before we we're to go into what
meant the last charge for some OF us the
colonel OF our regiment came around and
| picked the men who were to lead the way,
and was one who was called. They sewed
little red ribbon on our sleeve so every
one would know we were the boys who
would lead the way for our battalion.
We felt pretty proud that day as we
walked around and knew that we were
1 gong to lead an advance on certain hill
where forty thousand brave French buys
Iell IN thirty minutes some three yesis be-
{, fore. The Germans had said the hill would
never be taken, but they didn't kroy
that when the american doughboy," as
they call us, started out that hill would
fall. We all wrote home that afternoon,
and as sat there and looked over the rest
OF the boys wondered who would be able
| to write home again. OF course, we all
| wanted to, but we knew for some it was
the last. think we all had q strange
feeling, know l did, but each one was
anxious to have it over with. In the af-
ternoon we began to get ready. We were
| only to carry our raincoat, can OF bully
beef, and two packages of hardtack,
three hundred and thirty rounds of am
munition, rifle, bayonet, canteen of water
and first-aid packet. We did not know
that for three nights and four days it was
| all we would have to eat and drink.
AS the afternoon went by we went over
| to the Y. M. Z. A. and got cake of choco-
| late to take with us iii there is anything
that the soldier boys like it is chocolates
| Dark came at last and it rained worse
| than ever. We had orders to be ready to
move at any moment, so there we lay on
| our raincoats in an old French building,
no one knows how old, but it kept the
rain out, so that helped some.
Our thoughts, I think of all of US, were
of home. Seemed like there was friend
ship among us> like there never was before.
AT ten O'Clock the order came to fall out.
1t was SO dark and raining very hard, but
we were all glad to start. The street and
roads were crowded with men and can
non-such a sight. / never dreamed there
could be so many horses and men. We
had started on our march to the front
line. The mud was half way to ones
knees but that did not matter, we were
going to give "Fritz" the surprise of his
life. AS we Deared the front line the
flares from no mans land would kind of
light up the road once in a while and you
could see the men as thick as flies, in
single file slowly moving up. Artillery
| and supplies almost blocked the road.
As we marched by the artillery boys they
said, "Good luck to you, we are back of
you and if you hold that hill thirty min
| utes, until we can move up our guns, we
| will do the rest.''
"Fritz" was sending over few shells,
but little did he dream what was coming
soon. We reached our front lines at
little after twelve O'Clock; they were full
of mud and water but we didn't care, we
were to wait there till daylight. At one
o'clock, without moments warning, the
air seemed to leave our face and we
caught our breath as thousands of our
guns spoke at once and began hurting
. ,-t . Lz
line. Our barrage was on. 1t was not
long before we saw explosions and fires
springing up behind the German lines.
Fritz" tried to answer back but in one
hour our guns had silenced every battery,
as a German prisoner told us the next
morning. 1t was one continued roar all
night long, and we stood there waiting
Tor daylight. Then came that zero hour,
as it is called, the last hour before we go
over the top. We were cold and wet.
think most every one was glad we were
going to move out of those trenches, even
il did mean death for some. How l
should have liked to have had cup of
good hot coffee that morning, but that
was out Of the question,
AT nVe minutes pttore sfA our pdrrHse
lifted it's fire and our machine guns
opened up for fire ave minutes, which was
the signal for IN to go over at six O'Clock.
1t was great but terrible sight, those big
tanks crushing everything in front OF
them-littft punches of men everywhere
We rushed the first line trench with the
bayonet, and want to say, there is ONE
thing tine German soldier can't stand, erfd
that ss a doughboy with a bsyonet> We
had 'shelled them so heavily they couls not
get out OF their dugouts and we were on
'ueem before they knew what was'coming.
III did not take long to hear 'sIanrad"
cries from everywhere, ana with their
hands in The air We pushed ta1eln back of
us for some one else to take care OF, anu
on we went. We took thesecond trench
about the same way 1t sure made us feel