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Show - 82 "m I iSisT AN AiWAN SOLDIER W wiiowent - iMAHllUBfiUYEHPEY W MACHINC GUNI1ER SERVING IN FRANCE ' I 1J t tinvo title n n hath ami pof on. brand-new underwear; In fact, a com plate change or uniform, and then, turned in for the night The next morn-ing morn-ing my thin would bs fun (.r them, it is n common sight to see elghl nr ten sfddlcrs itttlBg undec a tree uitli their shirts over their kneel engaging in a "shirt hunt." At nlghl about half an hour before. "lights mil," you can ice the Tommies grouped Broom candle, trying, In its dim light, to rid their underwear of the vermin. A popular and very quick metlmd la to take your ahlrl and draw era, and run the Beams back and for-ward for-ward in the name from a candle and lurn them out. Thla practice la dan-Kerens, dan-Kerens, because you are liable to burn holes In the garments If you are not careful. Recruits generally sent to Blighty for u brand Of Insect powder advertised adver-tised m "Good for body Ilea." The ad- ' vertlsctnent Is quite right; the powder Is good for "cooties;" they simply 'thrive on ft. The Older men of our battalion were wiser and made scrntchers out of wood. These ware rubbed smooth with a bit of stone or sand to prevent splinters. splin-ters. They were about eighteen inches; long, and Tommy guaranteca that a scratcher of this length win reach any part of the body which may be attacked. at-tacked. Some of the fellows were lazy and only made their seratchers twelve .inches, but many u Bight when on ' guard, looking over the top from the ' jflre step of the front-line trench, they would have given a thousand "quid" for the other six Inches, Once while we were In rest billets nn Irish Hussar regiment camped In an open field opposite our billet. After they had picketed and fed their horses, a general shirt hunt took place. The troopers Ignored the call "Dinner up," and kept on with their search for big ! came. They had a curious method of j procedure. They hung their shirts over a hedge and bent them with their entrenching en-trenching tool handles. I asked one of them why they didn't I pick them off by hand, and he answered, an-swered, "We haven't had a bath for nine weeks or n change of clabber. If rI tried to pick the 'cooties' off my shirt. I would be here for duration of war." 'After taking a close look at his shirt, I agree'! with him; It was alive. . The greatest shock a recruit gets when he arrives nt his battalion In Prunce Is to see the men engaging in a "cootie" hunt. With an air of contempt con-tempt and disgust he avoids the company com-pany of the older men, until a couple .of days later. In a torment of Itching, he nlso has to resort to a shirt hunt, or spend many a sleepless night of misery. During those hunts there tin' lots of pertinent remarks bandied back and forth among the explorers, such ,as, "Say, l'.lll, I'll swap you two little ones for a big one," or, "I've Rot a black one here that looks like Kaiser BUI." One sunny day In the front line trench, I saw three officers Bitting out-hide out-hide of their dugout ("cooties" , are nn respecters of rank ; I have even noticed U suspicion-; uneasiness about a certain j rwell-known general), one of them wits 1917 BY ARfKUR tUY MPfV Bweetoean and thai tie wrote i r every day. Jnsi imagine it. writing a love letter during a "cootie" bunt; but such Is the creed of till- trenches. CHAPTER III. I Go to Church. Upon enlistment we bad Identity diks Issued lo US, Thes,. were small disks of red fiber worn around the neck by means of a String Most of the Tom tales also need a little metal dik which they wore an und the left wrist by means of a chain, They had previous-I) previous-I) figured it out Hint If their heads Were blown off. the disk OU the left wrist would identify them. If they lost their left arm the disk around the neck would serve the purpose, bin 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 K.. meaning church of England; Eng-land; It. c. Roman Catholic; w Wes-leynn; Wes-leynn; p.. Presbyterian; but if 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 got It : The lieutenant lieuten-ant who enlisted me asked my religion. I was not sure of the religion Of the Hritlsh army, so I answered, "Oh. any old thing," and he promptly put down 0. f K. Now. Just Imagine my hard luck. Out of live religions I was unlucky enough to pick the only one where church parade was compulsory! The next morning was Sunday. I was sitting In the billet writing home to my sister telling her of my wonderful wonder-ful exploits while under tire-nil recruits re-cruits do this. The sergeant major put his head In the door of the billet and shouted: "('. of K. outside for churcl parade !" I kept on writing. Turning to me, In. a loud voice, he asked, "Kmpey, aren't you (', of K.?" I rrfWwerod. "Yep." In an angry tone, he commanded, "Don't you 'yep' me. Suy, 'Yes, scr-geant scr-geant uiajor.' " "I did so. Somewhnt mollified, he ordered, "Outside for church parade." I looked up and answered. "I am not going to church this morning." He said, "Oh. yes, you are!" I answered. "Oh. no, I'm not!" Hut 1 went. We lined up outside with rifles mid bayonets, !:'n rounds of ammunition, wearing our tin hats, and the inarch to church began, After marching about five kilos, we turned off the road into an open field, At one end of this Held the chaplain was standing in a limber, We formed a semicircle around him. Overhead there was a black speck circling' cir-cling' round and round In the sky. This was a Oerman Fokker. The chaplain had a I k in his left hand left eye on the book right eye on the airplane. We Tommies were lucky, we had no books, so had both eyes on the airplane. air-plane. After church parade we were marched back to our billets, ami played football all afternoon. " ---- -" ',,'T .-.,-. . : ; T iMMMUNICATTdN'"r"3SaBB ' .J' tfRENCH -----.J tWrG Bto5 Ft Tim width -;; V ..- )TLp?!r .o . &AH0BAGCD far - r--'- .-"'-" :0r top- SS-. -'-t' .- - ' ; ' pAfwtTr"V'i i ,L51 y fs- - -. Diagtem Showing Typical Front-a Front-a major, two of them were exploring Aiii..r shlrr paying no attention to the hccaslnnnl Shells which passed over head. The-gnijor was writing a letter; every now gild then he would lay aside Jils wrltingxfad, search his shirt for I ' few ininiitJS. i-'.'i an Inspiration, and 4k then resume writing. At last he tin Ished his leiBer ami gave it to 'is "runner." "run-ner." I w a -t curbms to see whether he was writing t an insect firm, bo when the runner lassed me I engaged blm in conversation and got a glimpse at the address n lie envelope, it was addressed to Miss iice Somebody, in London. Tile "runner" Informed mo that Mis, B imebody was the major's Line and Communication Trencher CHAPTER IV. "Into the Trench." The net morning the draft was In spacted by our general and are were assigned fo different companies. The boys In the brigade had nicknamed this general old Pepper, and hi cer talnly ( urned the sobriquet. I was as- tied to it cm, ipany wtb another American named Stewart. For the next ten days we "rested,' repairing rouds ftir the i nchles, drilling, drill-ing, and digging bomblnK trenches, (ne i uln I we were Infoi in d thai we were going UP the line, and our mnrcn rtegan. It took us, three days to rench re-sen-e billets each day's march bringing bring-ing the sound of the guns nearer and nearer. At night, way off in the distance dis-tance we could see their flashes, which lighted Up the sky with a red glare. Against the horizon we could see numerous observation balloons or "sausages" "sau-sages" as they are culled. On the afternoon of the third day's march I witnessed my first airplane being shelled. A thrill ran through me and I gaaad in awe. The airplane was making wide circles in the air, while little puffs of white smoke were bursting burst-ing all around it. These puffs appeared like tiny balls of cotton while after each burst could be heard a dull "plop." The sergeant of my platoon Informed us that It was a Cerman airplane air-plane and I wondered how he could tell from BUCh a distance because the plane seemed like a little black speck In the sky. I expressed my doubl as to whether it was English, French or Oerman. Oer-man. With a look of Contempt he further fur-ther Informed us that the allied antiaircraft anti-aircraft shells when exploding emitted white smoke while the German shells gave forth black smoke, anil :s he expressed ex-pressed It, "It must be an Allem.itid be-enuse be-enuse our pom-poms are shelling, and I know our batteries are not off their bally Happen and ar rtalnly not strafeliiL' our own planes, and another piece of advice don't chuck your Weight about until you've been up the line and learnt Something." I Immediately qull "chucking lny Weight about' from thai time on. .lust before reaching reserve billets we were marching along laughing, ami singing one of Tommys trench ditties; I Want to ro hnm T wnnt to ro home, I don't want to pa i., tii.. trenches no mors Where lausaici sad sfhlssbsnss are ga- lore Tnke me mer tlir s.-.i. Where the Alle- iiiiiml i a n't Kel nt me. Oh, my. I don't want to die, I want to go home" when overhead came a "sw sh"thrnugh the air. rapidly followed by three others. oth-ers. Then about two hundred yards to our left In a large Held, four columns of black earth and smoke rose Into the air, and the ground trembled from the report tha explosion of four Oerman live-nine's, or "conlboxes," 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 s,iiads and wont 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 was all enthusiasm, bul from there down, everything was missing, I thought I should die with fright. After awhile, we reformed into columns col-umns of fours, and proceeded on our way. About five that night, we reached the ruined village of H . and I got my first Bight of the awful destruction caused by (ierman Kultur. Marching down the main street we came to the heart of the village, and took up Quarters in Bhellproof cellars (shellproof until hit by a shell). Shells i ' M " ' hjBafliHysyaiijBaSBays ?, , i -; r 'tlTvsi A Bomb Proof. were constantly Whistling over the village vil-lage and bursting in our rear, searching search-ing for our artillery. These cellars were cold, damp and smelly, and overrun with large rats big black fellows. Most of the Tom lilies slept with their OVarCOOtS over their faces. I did not. In the middle of the night 1 woke up In terror. The cold, clammy feet of a rat had passed over my face. I Immediately smothered smoth-ered myself in my overcoat, but could not sleep for the rest of that Bight Next evening, we took over our sec tor of the line. In single file we wended wend-ed our way through a zlg.ag communication com-munication trench, six inches deep with mud, This trench was called "Whisk) street." on our way up to the front Hue an occasional Hare f bursting shrapnel would light up the sky ami we could bear the fragments slapping the ground above us on our light and left Then a Fritz vvoii'd traverse back and forth with his "typewriter" "type-writer" or nun bine gun. The bullets made a sharp (TOI king noise overhead. Tie- boy in front of nn' named Prentice Pren-tice ruinph d up with. mi a word. A puce of shell had gone through in shrnpuel proof h linet, 1 fell -u i. am) .'iik-Iii .'iik-Iii bout thirty minutes we reached the fronl line. It was dail, as pitch rj now ;...ii ii.. i a Herman ,1I iel'l e the 1,1 a from v itli its -iiv. rj rht. i ibllng all .imt, and felt er lonely id. am ore" i riven In wnisin-rs. t ne company we relieved tiled past us and disappeared Into the blackness of the communication trench leading to the rear. As they passed us, they whispered. "The best o' hick mates." I sat on the fire step of the trench with the rest of the men In each traverse two of the older men had been put on guard with their heads sticking over the top, and with their eyes trv bag to pierce the blackness In "No Man's Land." In this trench there were only two dugouts, ami these were used by Lewis and Vlckers machine gunners, so It was the tire step for ours. Pretty soon It started to rain. We put on our "macks." hut they were not much protection The rain trickled down our backs, and it was not long before we were wet nml cold. How I passed that night I will never know, hut without any unusual occurrence, dawn arrived. The word "stand down" was passed along the line, and the sentries cot down off the tire step. Prettv soon the rum Issue eaiii, along, and If was a Oodsend. It warmed our chilled bodies anil put new life into us. Then from the communication trenches came dixies or nun DOtS, tilled with Steaming Steam-ing lea. which had two wooden Stakes through their handles, and were car rled by two men. I tilled my canteen and drank the hut tea without taking It from in.v lips. It was not long before be-fore 1 was asleep in the mud on the lire step. My ambition had been attained! I was in a front-line trench on the western west-ern front, and oh. how 1 wished 1 were buck in Jersey (Jlty. CHAPTER V. Mud, Rats and Shells. T must have slept for two or three hours, not the refreshing kind that results re-sults from clean sheets and soft pll lows, hut the sleep that comes from Cold, wet and sheer exhaustion. Suddenly, the earth seemed to shake and a thunderclap hurst in my ears. I opened my eyes I was splashed all over with sticky mud, and men were picking themselves up from the bottom of the trench. The parapet on my left had toppled Into the trench, completely blocking It with a wall of tOBSCd up earth. The man on my left lay still, rubbed the mud from my face, and an awful sight met my gaze- his head was smaahed to a pulp, and his steel helmet -was full of brains and blood. A (ierman "Minnie" (trench mortar) had exploded In the next traverse.Meu were digging into the soft mass ,,f mud in a frenzy of haste. Stretcher hear ers came up the trench on the double After a few minutes of digging, three tiH, i Id.v forms on stretchers were carried down tin- communication trench to the rear. Soon they would be resting "somewhere in Frame." with a Utile wooden cross over their heads They had done their bit for king and country, had died without tiring u shot hut their services were appreciated, nevertheless. Later on. I found out their mimes. They belonged to our draft. I was dazed and motionless. Slid denly a Shovel was pushed into uiy bands, ami a rough but kindly voice said : Here, my lad. lend a hand clearing the trench, but keep your head down, and look out for snipers, tine of the .Fritz's is a daisy, and he'll get you if you're not careful." Lying on my belly on the bottom of the trench, I filled sandbags with the sticky mud, they were dragged to my r,'"r by tl ther men. and the worl of rebuilding the parapet was on. The harder I worked, the better 1 felt. Although Al-though the weather was cold, I was ' soaked with sweat. Occasionally a bullet would crack overhead, and a machine gun would kick up the mud on the bashed In para-, para-, pet. At each crack I would duck and j shield my face with my arm. One of j the older men noticed this action of , mine, and whispered : "I 'I 'link at the crack of a bullet. bul-let. Yank; tlie danger has passed you never bear the one that wings you. j Always remember that If you are going ' to get it, you'll gel it, so never worry." This made a great Impression on me I at the time, and from then on, I adopted adopt-ed his motto, "If you're going to get it, you'll get It." It helped me wonderfully. I used it so often afterwards that some of my mates dubbed me, "If you're going to get It, you'll get it." After an hour's hard work, all my nervousness left m,., ami I was laugh Ing and inking with the rest. At one o'clock, dinner came up In the form of a dixie of hot stew. I loosed for my canteen. I; had fallen off the tire step, and was half hurled in the mud. The man on my left noticed this, and told the corporal. dishing nut the rations, to put in.v -bar,. jn ,s ,,ess , Tn,.M (1. n pi ml to a, ,., "Always take care of your me IB tin, mute," I had learned another maxim of the trenchi s. That -lev, tasted line. I wMs as hungry a u hear We had "seconds " "i' another helping, because tbr f the nn n had "gone West killed by 'he c-pi., ion ,,f 1 1 , . . Oerman trench mrtar, ami we .it. their share, bin 'i I I Wits bin, try, s,, mi,., umi bully b.el ami biscuits. Tl,,.,, drained my water bottle, Later on I learned : maxim of the fronl line, -r,,, iltl I ( nr ual.r. " The bUll3 '"'i' n i de a e u,,. , v Bnd i,y tea time 1 ' Cor a i!rlnk. hut my pi ""''I !'"l allow a,.- to ask iii.v lllllli i fa le i.. Mi. ' hi s. ' on Hie .. r the fop, p I ad. Il v . low it a of tha I ne, 1 IwM -ma. Ih, a;, shot nasi mv Mv heart slopped heating, anil I uucKei: my head below the parapet. A soft chuckle from my mate brought me to my senses, and I feebly asked, "For heaven's sake, what was that?" He answered. "Only a rat taking n promenade along the sandbags." I felt very sheepish. About every twenty minutes the sen try In the next traverse yvonld fire star shell from his (hire pistol. The "plop" would give me a start of fright. 1 never got used to this noise during my service In the trenches. I would watch the arc described by the star shell, and then stare Into X,. Man's Laud Waiting for It to burst. In Its lurid light the barbed wire and stakes would be silhouetted against Its light like a latticed window. Then darkness. Ome out In front of our wire, 1 heard a noise and SJH dark forms moving. Mv title was lying across the Sandbagged parapet. I reached for it, and was taking aim to tire, when my i mate grasped my arm, and whispered "Don't fire." lie challenged In a low ! voice. The replv came back Instant I J from the dark forms : "Shut your bllnkln' mouth, you bloomlti' Idiot ; do vou want us to , , it from the Bocheaf" Later we learned that the word. "n challenging or firing, wiring party mil in front," had L. . n Iven to the setitrv mi nur right, but he had failed tn pass it down the trench. An officer had over heard our challenge and the reply, and Immediately put tl fendinp, sentrj under arrest. The m hi, i i lickeil twenty-one duvs on the wheel that Is. he received twenty-one da.vs' Held punishment pun-ishment .o. i, or "crucifixion," as Tommy lertns It. This consists of -being spread-eagled on the wheel of a limber two hours a du.v for twenty one days, regardless of the weather. During this period, your nil Inns cnlisist of bully beef, biscuits and water. A few months later I met this sentry and he confided to me that since being "crucified," he had never failed to pass the word down the trench when so ordered. or-dered. In view of the offense, the above punishment was very light. In thai failing to pass the word down u trench may mean the loss of many lives, and the spoiling of some Important Impor-tant enterprise in N'o Man's Land. CHAPTER VI. "Back of the Line." Our tour in the front line trench lasted four days, and then we wero relieved by the brigade. doing down the communication trench we were in a merry mood, although al-though vve were COld and wet, ami every bone in our bodies ached. It makes a lot of difference whether you are "going In" or "going out." At the end of the communication trench, limbers were wultlliK on the road for us. 1 thought we were going lo ride hack to rest billets, but soon found out that the only time an infantryman in-fantryman rides Is when he is wounded and Is bound for the base or lillghty. These limbers carried our reserve ammunition and nil Ions. Outmarch Out-march to rest billets was thoroughly enjoyed by ine. It seemed as If I were on furlough, and was leaving behind be-hind everything that was disagreeable disagree-able ami horrible, Kvery recruit feels this way after being relieved from the trenches. We marched eight kilos and then halted In front of a French edatnlnet. The captain gave the order to turn out on each side of the road and wail his return. Pretty soon he came back and told It company to occupy billets 117. IIS and 111). Billet 117 was an old stable which had previously been occupied by cows. About four feet in front of the entrance was a huge manure ma-nure pile, and the odor from it was anything but pleasant. Using mj flashlight I stumbled through the door. Just before entering I observed a white sign reading: "Sitting BO, lying 80," but, al the time. Its significance did not strike me. Next morning I asked tlie sergeant major what it meant, lie nonchalantly answered: "That's soma Of the work of the It. A. M. ('. (Royal Aiiiiv Medical corps) It simply means that In case of an attack, at-tack, this billet will accommodate fifty wounded who are able to sit up and take notice, cr twenty stretchei cases." It whs not long after Ibis that I was one of the ""(I lying." I soon hit the hay and was last asleep, even my friends the "cooties" fulled to disturb me. Tlie next morning tit about six o'clock I was awakened by the lame corporal of our section, Informing mo that 1 had been detailed as mess orderly, or-derly, and to report to the c k and give him a band, I helped him make the tire, carry water from an old well, and fry the bOCOn. Lids of dixies urn Useil lo cook the bacon In. After breakfast was cooked, I carried a dlxia of hot tea and tlie lid full of bacon to our section, and told the corporal that breakfast was readv. He looked at ine in contempt, ami (hi D shouted, "Itreak-fast "Itreak-fast up, come and get It !" I Immediately Immedi-ately got wise lo the trench parlance, and never again Informed that "iireak-fast "iireak-fast was served." It didn't tale long for the Tommies to answer this calL Half dressed. they lined up with their canteens and 1 dished nut tin- tegp Bach Tommy carried in bis band u thb . slice ol il " iiieh i ad I ii issued with He- rail. his the nlgln befni, . Then I had the pleasure of si . In . tin m dig Into the bacon uiih their dirty I i l lie allowance WUS one Bill pi i . u. 'I he late nlles II CI i Veil V' i - .. I es. As each h ' im- m dlutely dl up ean I Into the billet, prettj booh al... in t M, i, j ttiera mudi a rush to the cookhouse, i . h cm rj huge sib f bread. These slices I'AtiK SKV KN BJB they (lipped into the haron grerse which was stewing over the fire. Ths last man Invariably lost nut. I wss H the last M After breakfnst our section carried H their equipment into a field adjoining- H the billet and got busy removing tin, M trench mud therefrom, because at s t . H a. m.. they had trf fall In for Inspection H and parade, and woe betide the man M who was unshaven, or had mud on hi H uniform. Cleanliness is next to gndiu H Beta In the Hritlsh army, and Old I'cp- H per must have been personally ac- M MUiilnted with St. Peter. H Our drill consisted of i lose order formation, which lasted until noon. H I uiing (his time vve hud two ten mln- H ute breaks for rest, ami no sooner tho word, "fall out for ten minutes." was H Riven than em b Tomm.v got out a fag M and lighted H Fags are issued every Sunday morn- H lug. and von generally gat between H twenty ami forty. The brand gen- H erall.v issued Is the "Woodbine." Some H times we are luck.v and get "Oold- H Hakes'' "Havers" ,,r ",.,l Hussars." H 'Occasionally an issue of "Lire Raya" H comes along, Then the older Tommies H Immediately get busy on ihs recruits and Hade these for "W'eoilhines" or "Ooldflakaa," a recruit only has to be stuck once in this manner, and i In n H he ceases to h,. recrull. There is a H reason. Tommy is a great rignrettd smoker, lie smokes under all condl I lions, except when nil isdnes or H "ben be Is reconnollerlng In ,.. ; m's Land at night. Then, for obvious H snn he does not care to have a light- H ed cigarette In bis mouth. H Stretcher bean is curry fags for H Wounded Tommies. When a stretcher H bearer arrives alongside of a Tommy H wh.i has been hit the following en liver- H SatiOU Usually takes place- Stretcher H bearer- 'Want a fag? Where are you H hit 7" Tommy looks up and answers, H "Yes. In I he leg." H After dismissal from parade, we re- H turned to our billets and I had to get H busy Immediately with the dinner is- H sue. Dinner consisted of stew made H from fresh I f, a couple or spuds, H bully beef. Macouocble rations and wa- H ter plenty of water. There is great H competition among the men to spear H with their forks the two lonely pota- After dinner I tried to wash out H the dixie with cold water anil a rag, H and learned another maxim of tho H trenches- "It can't be done." I slylyt H watched one of the older men from H another section, and was horrified to H see him throw into his dixie four or H five double haiidfuls of mud. Then he poured in some water, and with his H hands SCOnred the dlxle inside and out. I thought he was taking an awful risk. H Supposing the cook should have seen H blm! After half an hour of unsuc- H essful efforts 1 returned my dixie to the cook shack, being careful to put on' H the cover, and returned to the billet. H Pretty nam the cook poked his head H in the door and shouted: "Hey, Yank, come out here and clean your dixie!" H I protested that 1 had wasted a halt- H hour on It already, and had used up H my only remaining shirt In the at- H tempt. With a look of disdain he ex- H claimed: "Itlovv me, your shirt! Why H In didn't you use mud?" H Without a word In reply I got busy H with the mud, and soon my dlxle was M bright and shining. t Most of the afternoon was spent by the men writing letters home. 1 used my spare time to chop wood for the H k ami go with the quartermaster to H draw coal, i gol back lust in time to H Issue our third meal, which consisted H of hot tea. I rinsed out my dlxrs- and H returned it to the cookhouse, ami went M back to the billet with an exhilarated H feeling thai my day's labor was done. H I had fallen asleep on the straw when once again the cook appeared In the H .door of the billet with : "I'.lime me. you H Yanks are laz.v. Who In a-goin' to H draw Ibe water for the mornln' tea? Do you think n-goln' lo? Well, H I'm not," and he left I filled the dlxle H with water from an old squeaking well, t und once again lay down in the Straw. H (To be continued.) M |