Show t I I OVER gOVER THE TOP Jay By A Ifil AJ Ath humr Guy GUllY S Who Machine Gunner Serving in France Francea a r 4 f Copyright 1917 by Arthur Guy Gny Empey EMPEY GIVES A DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK ON OBSERVATION OBSERVATION t POST DUTY j e 6 5 Synopsis Fired Fired by the sinking of the Lusitania with the loss of American lives ArthUr Guy Empey an American living in Jersey City goes to England and enlists as a private In the British army anny After a short experience as a recruiting officer In London ho he Is sent to trainIng train train- trainIng Ing tug quarters In France where he first hears the sound of big guns and 1 makes the acquaintance of cooties After a brief period of training Empey's company Is sent Into the line front trenches where he takes his first turn on the fire step while the bullets whiz overhead Empey learns as comrade falls that death lurks always In th the trenches Chaplain distinguishes himself by rescuing wounded men under hot fire With pick and shovel Empey has experience as a trench digger In No Mans Man's Land La d. d Exciting experience on listening post detail CHAPTER XVI XVI Continued 11 11 I carne came came out ut with the first expeditionary expeditionary force and like all the rest thought ht we we would have the enemy a licked in jig time and be able to eat Christmas dl didner ner at home Well so far I have eaten two Christmas dinners dinners din din- ners In the tr trenches and am liable to eat eat two more the way things are t r pointing pointing That Is If Fritz dont don't drop I a a bang band on me and ind send me to Blighty Sometimes I wish I would t get hit because Its It's no great picnic out here and two twenty-two months of It makes make you fed up Its fairly cushy now compared to what what It used to be although I admit this trench Is a trifle rough Now we send over five shells to their one y We are getting our own back but Ini in the early days It was different Then i you had to take everything without reply In tact we would get twenty i r. r r- r shells In return for every everyone one are we sent t over over Fritz seemed to enjoy it but butr r we British didn't we were the suf suf- ti f 5 Just one one on casualty after an an- 2 other Sometimes whole platoons platoons's s 's K would disappear especially when a aJack K Jack Johnson plunked Into their K middle It got so bad that a feU fellow ow y when writing home hom wouldn't ask for 7 k any cigarettes to be sent out because A. A he was afraid he be wouldn't be there to toi tor i r i receive them r. r After the drive to Paris was turned rt t J back trench warfare started Our 1 r general grabbed a map drew a pencil t v.- v. across It and said Dig here Then i he went back to his tea and Tommy f x armed himself with a pick and shovel r. r a and started digging Hes He's been digging dig dig- 5 cine ging ever since T Of course we dug those trenches at l night but It was hot work w what at with f 1 t the rifle and machine-gun machine fire The j r stretcher bearers worked harder than the diggers it t t Those trenches bloomin ditches I 1 IpA pA call them were nightmares They were rt 1 only about five feet deep and you used r to to- get the backache from bending fT f 6 down It wasn't exactly safe to stand f upright either because as soon as ast 1 your napper showed over tho the P a at t t bullet would bounce off It or else c come me f c jJ i rv r. r so so close it would mate your hair stand a We used to fill fil sandbags and stick Rt them on top of the parapet to make it higher but no use they would be bethere e et t there ere about an hour and then Fritz t ry c. c would turn loose and blow them to Ii t bits Sly My neck used to be sore from I s ducking shells and bullets r i t Where h my battery r was s sl stationed a had hadr r k hasty trench had been dug which l ay f the boys boys' nicknamed Suicide ditch I 1 1 and believe me Yank Yar k this was the R original Suicide ditch All the others 2 are imitations fry j When f fellow went into that t r a 4 trench it was as an an even gamble that he would come come out on a stretcher At one onetime V j time a Scotch battalion held it and when hen they heard the betting was even k r money that they'd come out on onI If I V stretchers they grabbed all the bets J In sight Like a lot of bally idiots several several sev sev- l r eral of the battery men fell for their I 1 I game and put up real rea money The Jocks suffered a lot of casualties and the prospects looked bright for t the e battery men to collect some easy money So when the battalion was relieved relieved relieved re re- re- re the gamblers lined up Several Jocks got their money for emerging safely but th the ones who clicked I It weren't there to pay The artillerymen artillery artillery- men had had never thought It out out that way Those Scotties were bound to tobe tobe tobe be sure winners no matter how the wind blew So take a tip from me never bet with a Scottie cause you'll lose money At one part of our trench where a communication trench joined the front line a Tommy had stuck up a I wooden signpost with three hands or I arms on It One of the hands p painting paint paint- ing to the German lines Unes read To Berlin Berlin Ber Ber- lin t the one pointing down the com communication trench read To Blighty mighty while the other said Suicide Ditch Change Here for Stretchers Farther down from this guide post the trench ran through an old orchard On the edge of this orchard our battery battery battery bat bat- tery had constructed an advanced ob- ob observation observation post The trees screened It from the enemy airmen and the roof was It wasn't cushy like Uke ours no timber or con concrete rete re just walls of sandbags From it a splendid view of the German lines Unes could be obtained This post wasn't exactly safe It was a hot c corner shells plunking all aU around and the bullets cutting leaves off the trees Many a time when relieving the signaler signaler signaler sig sig- sig- sig at the phone I had to crawl on on my belly like a worm to keep from being hit I It was an observation post sure enough That's all the use It was Just observe all aU day but never a message back for oui out battery to open up You see at this point of the u line e there were strict orders not to fire a shell unless specially ordered to do so from brigade headquarters BlIme me If anyone disobeyed that command our general yes general yes it was Old Pepper Pepper- would have court the whole expeditionary force Nobody wen el t out of their way to disobey Old Pepper In those days because he he couldn't be called a parson he was more like a pirate If at any time the devil should feel lonely and sigh for a proper mate Old Pepper would get the first call caU Facing the Germans wasn't half bad c compared with an Interview with that old firebrand r If a n company or battalion should give way a few yards against a a superior superior su suo su- su perlor force of Boches Old Pepper would send for or the he commanding In about half an Hour the officer would come back with his face the color of a brick and arid in a few hours what was left of his command would be holding their original position I have seen an officer who wouldn't say d n d-n n for a thousand quid spend five minutes minutes' with the old boy lillY and when when he returned the flow W of lan language from his his lips would make a blush for shame ro p i 1 I ira One of the Big Bla Guns Barking r. r What I am going to tell you Is how two of us put it over oer on the old scamp and got away with It It was a risky thing too because Old Pepper wouldn't have been exactly mild with us if It he had got next to the game Me e and my mate a alad lad named marry Harry Harry Har Har- mar mar- ry CasseU Cassell Cassella a bombardier In D bat tery or lance corporal as you call caU It ItIn Itin itin in the infantry used to relieve the We would do two hours on and four off oft I would be on duty auty In the advanced observation post while he would be at the other end of ot the wire in the battery dugout sig signaling signaling signal signal- lIng l- l ing station We were supposed to send trough through orders for the battery to fire when ordered to do so by the observation observation tion lion officer In the advanced post But very few messages were sent It was only In case of aa as actual attack that we would get a chance to to earn our wo and six a day You see Old Pepper Pepper Pep Pep- per had issued orders net act to fire except except except ex ex- ex- ex when the orders came from him And with Old Pepper orders is orders and made to obey t The Germans must have known about these orders for even In the day their transports and and troops used t to expose themselves as If they were on parade This This sure sure got up our our- nose sitting there day after da day with fin fine targets in front of us but unable to to send over a shell We heartily cussed Old Pepper his orders the government government government govern govern- ment the people at home and everything everything everything every every- thing In general But the Boches didn't mind cussing and got very care care- less Blime BUme me they were bally In In- Used to when using a certain road throw their caps into the air a ao aa aoa a taunt at our heIl helplessness Cassell CasseU had been beEm a telegrapher In civil life Ufe and joined up when war was declared As for me I knew Morse learned it at the signalers' signalers school back In hi 1910 With an officer in the observation observation post w we could not carry carryon on the kind of conversation convers that's usual between between between be be- tween two mates so we used the Morse code To send one of us would tap the transmitter with his finger fingernails fingernails nails mills and the one ODe the other end would get it through the receiver Many an hour was whiled away in this manner passing compliments back and forth IlIn t I In lIn the observation post the officer used to sit for hours with a a powerful I pair of field glasses to his hl eyes I IT T Through rough a cleverly concealed loophole he would scan the ground behind the I German trenches look looking ng for targets and finding many This officer Captain Captain Captain Cap Cap- tain A A- A by byname name had a habit of talking out loud to himself Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Some Some- times he would vent his opinion same as' as a common private does when hes he's wrought up Once upon a time the captain had been on Old Peppers Pepper's staff stair so he could cuss and blind in the most approved style Got to be sort of a habit with him About six thousand yards from us behind the German Germa lines was a road in plain view of our post For the last three days Fritz had brought companies companies compa compa- nies mes of troops troops down down this road road road-ln in broad daylight They were never shelled shelled- Whenever this happened the captain would froth at the mouth and let out outa a volume of Old Peppers Pepper's rs religion which used to make me love him Every battery has a range chart on which distinctive landmarks are noted with the range for each These landmarks landmarks land land- I marks are called targets and are num num- On our battery's chart that I road was called Target 17 11 Range Moo 3 degrees 30 minutes left left D ba battery tery consisted of four 45 howitzers howitzers howit howit- and fired a pound 35 H. H E. E shell As y fu know H. H E E. means high ex ex- ex- ex plosive I dont don't like bumming up my myown myown myown own battery but we had a q record Inthe in inthe inthe the division for direct hits and our boys were just pining away for a x chance to exhibit their skill In the eyes of Fritz On the afternoon of the fourth day of Fritz contemptuous use of the road mentioned the captain and I were at atour atour atour our our posts a as usual Fritz was strafe- strafe Ing us pretty rough Just like hes he's doing now The shells shelle were playing leapfrog leapfrog leapfrog leap leap- frog all through that orchard I was carrying on a conversation In In our tap code with Cassell CasseU at the theother theother theother other end It ran something like this Say Cassell how would you like Ilke to be In the saloon bar of the Kings flings Arms down Rye lane with a bottle of Bass in front of you and that blonde barmaid waiting to fill em up again The next Installment relates how two artillerymen put one over on Old Pepper TO BE CONTINUED |