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Show MAGAZINE SECTION. THE TIER ALD-BEPUB- MAGAZINE SEOTIOV- - CAN, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 191 G. L1 FIGHTING AT CLOSE QUARTERS IN THE TRENCHES AT VERDUN An American Lieutenant's Siory of the Battling for Mastery in the Famous ft ...; Sector in France; a Sensational Air Battle Between the Young Bostonian and a German Flyer; the Frightful Havoc Wrought by the Curtain of Fire, Which Has Proved so Effective in the Great Allied Drive Now Under Way; a Thrilling Narrative f Replete With Gripping Incidents Blood-drenche- d LIKUT. "- - V7; V1 v -- ? ,5 W . iwi J S-- Hi - HARBY ADAMSON, M. V. J. 19 of Pittsfield. continues toof adventures day his thriling at the French front. In this installment he tells of a vtit Norman Prince of Boston paid to the quartern of the American and of a sensational air bat- t! between th voun? Bostonian ar.'l a Ciernt.sn flyer. , -- 1 j.v rCKv "i. til '.-- i, t trench Tlerri r c .... s ;. tx .'.vr j- - sa . v i arn-hnl;n- tc A!.--o lie g wrought by the terrible curtain tire, whifli i proving o effective i: the irreat Brit is!) drive now under It is a thrillinc narrative, full of Tipptivt: in:lent Lieutenant Anderson afh-month.-- i in France has returned home to join hi-- ; regiment on the Mexican border. Hi- be;jm lat Sitndav his vprieners on !tory of v.;f 4 i -- raphirally thej k.-:Tio- os !:avi way. r A, 1 t j ( f tpeat battle in the air. a maneuvering sweeping clean the earth of every- Onc day the Germans began bombardfor position whieii wo'ild have been thing it fell upon. Whole regiments ing the city with long range guns. So far away were the guns staof men went down, everyone dead. The very pretty had it not been that we tioned leave close shells that it took a minute and a big together falling knew the deadlv meaning of the vari- - few wounded men. Those who are half for tho shell to arrive after it was ous moves. wounded by the first shells have lit- - discharged. There was an interval of Norman Prince in xAir Duel. tie chanee to crawl or be carried to about half an hour between shells, F.tiropean battlefield. Poste de Secour. The deadly rain j When one of the big guns was dis-o- f the It was lik a struggle between a big missiles falls ujon the unscathed f charged the front line would signal By Lieut. Harry Adamson, M. V. M. hawk and a little lightning-swif- t kingand the wounded and all save those the city and immediately sirens would It v.a-- a briirht. warm Sunday bird. Prinre. in the little Nieujwrt. in the deepest dugouts must perish. sound the alarm and the citizens nomine in April. Ili'h in the sky had the advantage of swiftness and This is the kind of firing with would take to their basements. The Ih ateu neery. iair weauier r4ou;. i,,n ;n iljlriu;n n tltlf Hardv ;4 III till which the British and the French are ambulance men got little rest. l itj There had been little aetion on the craft was a two-ma- n machine and the pushing back the Germans in the pres- ly had the first shell fallen than they octnr w weir looking after and we gunnpr had the advantage of being ent big drive. The amount of ammu- were out in their machines picking up nition on hand spells success or fail- the wounded. were thoroughly enjoying a rest. able to give all his attention to his In this detachment were four Masure; the army with the greatest sup ' Suddenly a little spark appeared marksmanship. There was will come through victorious. The sachusetts boys : Edward B. Hayden certainly ply in the air to the north. Larger plenty of excitement. utter terribleness of this warfare is of Watertown, Lawrence Hemenway we eould then nd larger it grew and For two hours the two machines well known by an incident just fol- of Boston, Oscar Iasigi of Brookline exhati-an t of hear the lowing the retaking of Dead Man's and Koland Stebbins of Williams-towaeroplane. As) were manipulated, trying each to get Affer bombardment one of Hill by the French. it vara eloper wp made out that it in a position where it could destroy The French gunner?, as T told in them wrote to a friend at another a French machine. the other. Prince was here, there and the previous installment of this nar- point on the front: Sf:on it was above our station and everywhere, above and below 'We spent the next four hours the big- rative had inundated the hill with a . t ul i In n great brg; grat'p ger machine. Every once m a while deluge of steel and high explosives. cruising slowly about the streets, elrt es it eatne lower and lower and we could hear the of his When the Frenchmen stormed the hill waiting for the.. next shells to come, settled lightly in a field jut behind machine grin, but always hU bullets they found no trenches, just dead men and then going to see if anyone had and shell craters. They took shelter been hit. I had three dead and ten a little Xicu- - missed their mark and the battle It our fiuarter-- . civilians in the craters and started to dig them- terribly wounded soldiers, pnit ar. out of it sttpped Norman And. oi course, there were times selves in. Tho Germans knew vers-wel-l and women. The next da I was glad Prince, the Boston man who has done when the German that with trenches once con- to be off for the front, where things grin threw a hail of French the fueli gallant service witji lead at Prince and his machine, but structed and backed up by the happen in the open and women and flirrv. artillery. others would children are not murdered." they were as unsuccessful as he was. bo chance of dislodging the little Back find and forth But, I am glad to say, there is, the battle raued, someHe knew that he could once in awhile a. funny happening at times so far away that we eould French. among the ambulance Bosehe sent five For a the the front which takes away from the hear the days engines and again raen and had dropped in for a viit. scarcely hill curtain between the fire rinht above us. Then the German evi- dreadful monotony of terrible things. WithWe surely gave hint a routing weldently made up his mind that he could and the French bases, absolutely de- out these I think we should have gone we hours come and for a couple of neither destroy nor shake off the stroying all possibility of communica- crazy. One incident we laughed much were b.t-- y listening to his experiences French machine and he sailed swiftly tion. Charge after charge they sent over, though it has a grim touch. and ever as the tide of men There was a French soldier. Pierre, and teltin him ours. He stayed to away back of his own lines. Prince up the hill, sailed low over our quarters as we rolled up it rolled back again, shat- who was a happv sort of a fellow and dinner and we were contemplating1 an cheered him and then he bore away tered by the French shells and mowed a prime favorite with all of us. Well, c n.i y a ll e a ft e rnc n . down by machine guns. Between the in the distribution of supplies, Pierre back to his has for was But it u. althougli During the seven months which I charges the German machine guns was lucky enough to get a fine new overcoat of a much better quality we did crowd in a lot of excitement. spent on the French front. I saw an raked the hillside. than those of his fellows. He was You know, the (jermans have an un- average of at least one aeroplane batCorpses for Breastworks. in tle a day. They seem terrible, but as Sab-bttl- i. The Frenchmen were in a terrible mighty proud of that garment; pleasant way of breaking the most cherished was his it posfact, a matter of fact it is very seldom that Kpeeially do they take great a machine is brought to the ground. position. They were so busy fightiug session. Then, one night while he that they had no time to construct overcoat disappeared. Every pleasure in breaking inio the Sunday In fact. I saw but four machines de- adequate defenses. For shelter from slept, the . of At Iiritishtr.-!the one of his spare moments he put in of the beginning molished during the entire seven tho machine gun bullets they piled the the war. the ot tit crs from the tiglit months. It is an extremely rare in- corpses of the Germans into huge searching for his coat, and the erstnd had visions of spending cident when an antiaircraft gun heaps in front of the shallow trenches while merry Pierre grew glum little sour. brings a machine to earth. I should they had dug. For five days they had at home. quiet week-end- s Came a day when his regiment was say that not one in a thousand of their no food except the meagre supply car'Week-EndGermans Spoil ordered out of the trenches to charge bullets strikes the mark, and that ried in. their And when knapsacks. The (Jemsans are aware of this lit- probably one hit in twenty brings ftM.ul finally did reach them they were the German line. In a wave they swept over the front German trench, tle failing on the part of the British down the aeroplane. unable to eat. the smaller force fleeing before the Air battles always reminded me of officers and very meanly derided One, here in the United States, canAs he. leaped over the trench Pierre a bout between two extremely clever not come anywhere near imagining the that they should have all they wanted boxers, not a slugging match, you utter horror of this great war. First saw before him and 'running for his on and to do Sunday. They know, but one in which the opponents Saturday a German officer with an overwas in tho Champagne, then at the life, it the so Engthem that coat even finer than the one which have kept arc fast on their feet and well ground- St. Mihiel busy then at other salient, points lishmen have forgotten that they ever ed in ring tactics. The aviators on in the line. But then, and even dur- was lost. each side know every kink of the game How Pierre Got a Coat. spent a week end anywhere save in and ing the first days at Verdun the gunmaof every their idiosyncrasy ners had not perfected the horrible' Immediately Pierre forgot what he the trenches. chines. They spar and spar for a poBut up until this time our Sundays sition where they will have an ad- barage fire which sweeps back and was there for. He dropped his rifle, forth spreading death and destruction. for it hindered his movements, and on the lower end of the French line vantage over the other fellow. The last part of the fiercest fight- put out after that officer. lie disThe ideal position is beneath the had been comparatively quiet. It was ing at Verdun was marked by this tanced the rest of the Frenchmen and about '1 o'clock when we heard the enemy craft, inclined upwards with curtain fire and now it has its place was son on the German's heels. Just the nose of the machine pointing di- in the drive. I know the terrible as he was reaching for the collar of antiaircraft runs near our lines toward the upper machine. scenes big rectly which are being enacted there. the coat the order to retreat to the snapping, and running out we saw r. When an aeroplane attains that posican I forests and villages laid trench was given, for an overpowerbig tJerman machine bearing down on tion it is all over with the enemy. to the imagine and whole ground regiments an- ing Gentian host was plunging forin These battles in the air were the oar sector. Instantly Prince high nihilated. But these are fighting men. ward. action. lights in our existence. Most of the One can stand that, but when he Pierre paid no heed to the order; gets lie climbed into the scat of his ma- time it was rush, rush, rush, with the to a point where women ami children he was going to have that coat. His keen taken the off excitement ede the and his killed chine are whole spirit re- hand darted forward and his fingers headpiece by adjusted the knowledir' that we must get volts.being by I didn't come took a firm grip on the collar. A deft maehine-gtThank he heaven, the which he operated wounded men into the hospitals. twist and a pull and the coat was his. up against this. carried. His engine wan started and Whole Regiments Killed. But there was one detachment of Then, at the same instant, he and the he took off in great sdiape, circling up There were terrible davs at Ver- - the American ambulance, which after officer beeame aware of the oncoming as was as he until nearly hgh j!un j10n lour af(or i,onr the deadly seven days and nights of steady work reinforcements. The officer turned, and up Then began aircraft. Hie enemy ajbarage fire swept back and forth. was sent to Dunkirk to recuperate. so did Pierre; but he held on to the . - wiV i'V. vVvv r tp&iZs ;;V,vi ' - "'-- .K v - r?-on- : I j ; fc ji i i I i'i-.-- n. j de5-rnt- rat-tat-t- at eon-tinne- d. 1 well-ammunition- s. -- m ed overcoat. Then it was Pierre's turn to run for his life. The officer pulled out his revolver and sent shot after shot toward the flying Frenchman. One bullet hit Pierre in the arm, but he kept going and finally tumbled into the trench, the overcoat husrged tightly .in his arm. I had him in my ambulance after the affray and he sat on the seat with me. Ouee again he was merry and mighty proud. For he had the finest overcoat of any private in the French army. I'll wager that no one ever got the chanee to steal-tha- t one from him. One day I was bowling over the road in ray flivver when I met 'another car. It was occupied by an officer and three very peculiar looking men in uniform. The were unshaven and unshorn and their garments were in tatters. As I passed the three saluted me and I wondered at the unaccustomed display of formality. How Russians Escaped. Later I came upon the party again. and then I heard their story. The three tattered soldi&is were Russians who had been captured by the Germans way over on the eastern fighting line. The7 had been taken months before; for some time they were in prison camps and were then in Lorraine taken to the firing-lin- e and there with other prisoners made to work constructing third line trenches, often under the Tire of guns of their allies. This is a direct infringement of international law and is one of the things which show to what straits the Germans are reduced. Then, one night, ten of the Russian prisoners decided to escape. It was dark and stormy and as the Russian uniform is decidedly like that of the Germans they had little trouble in making their way to the finst line of trenches. There seven of them became frightened and turned back, but these three brave fellows kept. on. They were just about to climb over the mrarjet when a German soldier un-wound- eon-fin- ed ed showed up. One of them seized a club and hid in the shadows while the German came up and started to talk to the others. Just one blow on the head and the German went down. Then the Russians got out of the trench and crawled across "No Man's Land" to the French line. Arrived there they arose to their feet calling, "Kamrade, Kamrade," and got in safely. For davs our gunnel's had been trying to silence a troublesome battery, but as yet had failed. The Russians had been quartered near it and were able to give the exact location. It wasn't long before that battery was out of commission. I think it safe to say that these were the first Russians to make a n passage since the beginning of the war. They took their places in the French ranks and Avere, when I left the sector, busy getting even with their former captors. The American ambulance has been especially fortunate in losing but fewT members killed by shell fire. We were always within easy reach of the enemy guns, but very few of our number were incapacitated by wounds. trans-Germa- One evening we were just starting supper. Shell Smashed Salad. We had seated ourselves around the table when there came a terrifie explosion just over the house. There was a splintering of tiles and woodwork and before anyone eould move a large piece of siiell came hurtling through the ceiling and landed in a large dish of salad in the center of the table. We all had salad; it was plastered all over our clothes. While I was there but one driver was killed in the performance of his duty. Richard Hall, of Detroit, was going out under fire to pick up some wounded soldiers. It was just before midnight. When he failed to return we went out to find him. At 4 a. ra. we came upon parts of his car lying around a shell hole in the road. Fin- - fallv we found him terriblv wounded in the stomach and spine, in a field at the side of the road. He died before we got him to the hospital. What I call my narrowest escape happened one night in February. We had had a sleet storm and then the weather turned colder; the roads became sheets of ice. At 2 o'clock in the morning I was ordered to the Poste de Secour. I got there without incident except a couple of skids which threatened to put me into the ditch. I took on three men, two of them head cases able to sit up, and one man laid out on a stretcher. Then we started back. We got along all right until we reached the bottom of a big hill 300 or 400 yards from the Germaja trenches, but sheltered from them by a higher rise in the land. I put the flivver at the hill at top speed and went into low as she slowed up. But it was no use. She oon stopped and slid down to the bottom again. Time and again I tried to make the grade. Directly Under Tire. I don't think that any machine in the service was in worse shape than the one I was driving upon this occasion. It made a terrifie racket as I tried to get up the hill. The Germans heard the noise and started throwing shells toward us. Soon they were exploding all around c and we were in great danger. One of the men with head wounds suggested that it might help if they and the stretcher-beare- r got out and pushed. It was no use. The stretcher bearer laid the blankets ahead of the machine and they gave the wheels purchase so that they would hold. Then as the machine passed over a blanket he would gather it up and place it ahead. In this manner we got to the top of the hill and hastened back afoot for our wouned man. He was little the worse for exposure and we oon had him back in the ambulance j |