Show by an american guy TOP empey machne gunner serving m france copyright ty arthu INTO THE FRONT LINE AND WISHES HE WERE BACK IN JERSEY CITY synopsis tired by the sinking of the with the loss of american lives arthur guy empey an A merican living in jersey city goes to england and enlists as a private in the british army after a short experience as a recruiting officer in london he Is sent to training quarters in france where be first hears the sound of big guns and makes the acquaintance of booties cooties co oties CHAPTER 11 continued the greatest shock a recruit gets when he arrives at his battalion in france Is to see the men engaging in a cootie hunt with an air of contempt and disgust he avoids the company of the older men until a couple of days later in a torment of itching he also has to resort to a shirt hunt or spend many a sleepless night of misery during these hunts there are lots of pertinent remarks bandied back and forth among the explorers such as say bill ill swap you two little ones for a big one or ave got a mack one here that looks like kaiser bill one sunny day in the front line trench I 1 saw three officers sitting out side of their dugout booties cooties co oties are no re specters of rank I 1 have even noticed a suspicious uneasiness about a certain well known general one of them was a major two of them were exploring their shirts paying no attention to the occasional shells which passed over head the major was writing a letter every now and then be would lay aside his writing pad search his shirt for a few minutes get an inspiration and then resume writing at last he finished his letter and gave it to his runner I 1 was curious to bee whether he was writing to an insect firm so when the runner passed me I 1 engaged him in conversation and got a glimpse at the address on the envelope it was addressed to miss alice somebody in london the runner informed me that miss somebody was the majors sweetheart and that he wrote to her every day just imagine it writing a love letter during a cootie hunt but such Is the creed of the trenches CHAPTER III I 1 go to church upon enlistment we had identity disks issued to us these were small disks of red fiber worn around the neck by means of a string most of the tom mies also used a little metal disk which they wore around the left wrist by means of a chain they bad previously figured it out that if their heads were blown on the disk on the left wrist would identify them it they lost their left arm the disk around the neck would serve the purpose but if their head and left arm were blown off no one would care who they were so it did not matter on one side of the disk was inscribed your rank name number and battalion while on the other was stamped your religion C of E meaning church of england R C roman catholic W wesleyan P presbyterian but it you happened to be an atheist they left it blank and just handed you a pick and shovel on my disk was stamped C of E this Is how I 1 got it the lieutenant who enlisted me asked my religion I 1 was not sure of the religion of the british army so I 1 answered oh any old thing and he promptly put down COIE now just imagine my hard luck out of five religions I 1 was unlucky enough to pick the only one where church parade was compulsory I 1 the next morning was sunday I 1 was sitting in the billet writing home to my sister telling her of my wonderful exploits while under fire all recruits do this the sergeant major put his head in the door of the billet and shouted 0 of E outside for church parade 1 I 1 kept on writing turning to me in a loud voice he asked empey arent you 0 of E I 1 answered tep in an angry tone he commanded dont you yep me say yes sergeant major 1 I did so somewhat mollified he ordered outside for church parade I 1 looked up and answered 1 I am not going to church this morning he said ob yes you are 1 I 1 answered oh no im not 1 but I 1 went we lined up outside with rifles and bayonets rounds of ammunition wearing our tin hats and the march to church began after marching about five kilos we turned off the road into an open field at one end of this field the chaplain was standing in a limber we formed a semicircle around him overhead there was a black speck circling round and round in the sky this was a german fokker the chaplain had a book in his left hand left eye on the book right eye on the airplane we commies tommies were lucky we had no books BO had both eyes on the airplane after church parade we were marched back to our billets and played football all afternoon CHAPTER IV into the trench the next morning the draft was inspected by our general and we were assigned to different companies the boys in the brigade had nicknamed this general old pepper and he certainly earned the sobriquet yuet I 1 was as signed to B company with another american named stewart VOT the next ten days we rested repairing roads for the frenchies tes drilling and digging bombing trenches one morning we were informed that we were going up the line and our march began ti it took us three days to reach reserve billets each days march bringing the sound of the guns nearer and nearer at night way off in the distance we could see their cashes which lighted up the sky with a red glare against the horizon we could see numerous observation balloons or sausages as they are called on the afternoon of the third days march I 1 witnessed my first airplane being shelled A thrill ran through me and I 1 gazed in awe the airplane was making wide circles in the air while little puffs of white smoke were burst ing all around it these puffs appeared like tiny balls of cotton while after each burst could be beard a dull plop the sergeant of my platoon informed us that it was a german airplane and I 1 wondered how he could tell from such a distance because the plane seemed like a little black speck in the sky I 1 expressed my doubt as to whether it was english french or german with a look of contempt he further informed us that the allied antiaircraft shells when exploding emitted white smoke while the german shells gave forth black smoke and as he ex pressed it it must be an because our pom are shelling and I 1 know our batteries are not off their bally and are certainly not our own planes and another piece of advice dont chuck your weight about until youve been up the line and learnt something I 1 immediately quit chucking my weight about from that time on just before reaching reserve billets diagram showing typical front lino and communication trenched Tren chei we were in arching along laughing and singing one of tommas tommys trench ditties I 1 want to eo home I 1 want to go home I 1 don t want to co to the trenches no more where cau saes and chizz bangs are ea lore take me over the ea where the allemand cant get at me oh my I 1 don t want to die I 1 want to eo home when overhead came a swish through the air rapidly followed by three others then about two hundred yards to our left in a large field four columns of black earth and smoke rose into the air and the ground trembled from the report the explosion of four german five nines or coal boxes A sharp whistle blast immediately followed by two short ones rang out from the head of our column this was to take up artillery formation we divided into small squads and went into the fields on the right and left of the road and crouched on the ground no other shells followed this salvo it was our first baptism by shell fire from the waist up I 1 was all enthusiasm but from there down everything was missing I 1 thought I 1 should die with fright after awhile we reformed into columns of fours and proceeded on our way about five that night we reached the ruined village of H and I 1 got my first sight of the awful destruction caused by german kultar marching down the main street we came to the heart of the village and took up quarters in shellproof shell cellars she Uproot until hit by a shell shells nere constantly whistling over the village and bursting in our rear searching for our artillery these cellars were cold damp and smelly and overrun with large rats big black fellows most of the tom mies slept with their overcoats over their faces I 1 did not in the middle of the night I 1 woke up in terror the cold clammy feet of a rat bad passed over my face I 1 immediately smothered myself in my overcoat but could not sleep for the rest of that night next evening we took over our sector of the line in single file we wend ed our way through a zigzag communication muni cation trench six inches deep with mud this trench was called whisky street on our way up to the front line an occasional flare of bursting shrapnel would light up the sky and we could hear the fragments slapping the ground above us on our right and left then a fritz would traverse back and forth with his typewriter or machine gun the bullets made a sharp cracking noise overhead the boy in front of me named prentice crumpled up a word A piece of shell bad gone through his shrapnel proof helmet I 1 felt etch and weak in about thirty minutes we reached the front line it vas dark as pitch every now and then a german star shell would pierce the out in front with its silvery light I 1 was trembling all over and felt very lonely and afraid all orders were given in whispers the company we relieved filed past us and disappeared into the blackness of the communication trench leading to the rear As they passed us they whispered the best 0 luck mates I 1 sat on the fire step of the trench with the rest of the men la each traverse two of the older men had been put on guard with their beads eftick over ahe top and with their eyes try log to pierce the blackness in 10 mans land in this trench there were only two dugouts dug outs and these were used by lewis and fickera machine gunners so it was the fire step for ours pretty soon it started to rain we put on our macks but they were net much protection the rain trickled down our backs and it was not long before we were wet and cold now I 1 passed that night I 1 will never know but without any unusual occurrence dawn arrived the word stand down was passed along the line and the sentries got down off the fire step pretty soon the rum issue came along and it was a godsend it warmed our chilled bodies and put new life into us then from the communication trenches came didies or iron pots filled with steaming tea which had two wooden stakes through their handles and were carried by two men I 1 filled my canteen and drank the hot tea without taking it from my aps it was not long before I 1 was asleep in the mud on the fire step my ambition had been attained I 1 was in a front line trench on the west era front and oh how I 1 wished I 1 were back in jersey city empey takes his first turn on the firing step of the trench while the machine gun atleta whiz over his head he soon learns why tommy has adopted the motto if youre going to get it get it so never worry dont ml the next installment i 10 BE no one kill time in these strenuous days without alo hta owe n |