Evening star., 1926-10-03
Fix BayOnes Story of the Marines in Critical War Stru66l

tance, stood a great forest. and to-
ward this forest the battalion
marched, talkative, as men are in
the first hour of the hike, before the
sings of the pack begin to cut into
your shoulders Look at
them poppies in the wheat" ''They
amt as red as the poppies were the
/ we went up to Hill 142-." Yep!
Beginnin' to fade some. It's gettin'
late in the season" Him be-
ginnin' to fade some myself-this
guerre is Wearin' on q man. &.
Remember how they looked in the
wheat that morning, just before we hit
the Maxim guns?-red as blood"
Pore old Jerry Finnegan picked one
and stuck it in the buckle of his he'll
| met seen 1t In his tin hat after
he was killed, there benin the hill
I'll always think about poppies an
| blood together as long as 1 live"
This last from little Tritt, the lieu
tenants orderly
| Long as you live-that's good"
gibed Corpl. Snair Of the company
| headquarters group. Don't you
know by now how expendable you
bucks are?"-the lieutenant heard.
and remembered it. oddly enough, in
a crowded moment the next day,
| when he lost the two of them to a
hard-fought Maxim gun.
| No wind moved across the lonely
wheatland; the bearded stalks waved
| not at all, and the sun-drenched air
was hot and dead. Sweat made
muddy runnels through the thick
| white dust that masked the faces of
| the men. Conversation languished;
what was said was In profane
monosyllables. Clouds came up, and
there were showers Of rain, with hot
sunshine between. Uniforms steamed
after each shower, and thirst became
a torture. The man who had the vim
blanc In his canteen fell out and was
quite i'll.
A FNTER interminable hours the col
umn came to the forest and
passed from streaming sunshine into
sultry shades. It was a noble wood
Of great high-branching trees. clean
of underbrush as a park. Something
was doing In the forest. Smallarms
| ammunition was stacked beside the
road, and there were dumps of shells
and bombs under the trees. And
| French soldiers everywhere. This
road presently led into a great paved
highway, and along it were more Of
the properties of war--row upon row
of every caliber of shell, orderly
stacks Of winged aerial bombs, pile
after pile Of rife and machine-gun
| ammunition, and cases of hand
grenades and pyrotechnics. There
were picket-lines of cavalry, and
park after park Of artillery, light and
heavy. There were infantrymen with
| stacked rifles.
The highway led straight through
| the forest. Many roads emptied into
1t, and from every road debouched
stream Of horses. men and guns. The
battalion went into column of twos,
then into column Of fives. to make
| room. On the left of the road,
abreast Of the Marines, plodded an.
other column on foot-strange black
| men, in the blue greatcoats Of the
French infantry and mustard yellow
uniforms under them.
The sultry afternoon passed YEARLY
| and at s o'clock the battalion turned
off the road. shambling and footsore,
and rested for two hours. They found
water and flled canteens. A few of
the harder made shift to wash.
Gonna smear soapsuds an lather all
over me-the Hospital Corps men say
1t keeps off mustard gas" But most
of the men dropped where the platoon
broke ranks and slept Battalion
headquarters sent for all company
commanders.
Presently the lieutenant Of the 49th
returned with papera and a map. He