Show 4 P 4 11 AND INN T 1 it 6 y 1 LA fit V L ak SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE EMPEY THE BIG GUNS BOOMING synoptic fired by the sinking of the Lusi lusitania tanil with the loss 1083 of american live lives arthur guy empey fin an american living in jersey city goes to england and enlists as Us a private la in the british array army CHAPTER 11 II 1 blighty to hest rest billets Ol lleti the next morning tile aptakin ap aPt tain aln sent for me and informed me ina L empey ampey as a recruiting sergeant you are a washout and sent me to a training depot after ater arriving arrivi ag at chii n place I 1 was hustled to the quartermaster store stores and had received on an awful shock the sergeant spread a waterproof ter proof sheet on the ground and commenced throwing a miscellaneous assortment sort ment of traps straps buckle and other paraphernalia into iti thought he would never stop but when the tile pile reached to my knees he paused ions long enough to gay next no arris ards II 11 company I 1 gazed in bewilderment at the pile of junk la in front of me and then my eyes wandered around looking for the angon agon which was to carry it U to barrack barracks I 1 vaa nos rudely brought to earth by the exclaiming fre you lop op it tyke it aay blind rny MY eyes ee as looking for la is batman batman to dp elp lm carry it struggling under the load with frequent pauses for reet rest I 1 reached our larrache lar rachs largo car barns and my platoon leader came to the rescue it was a marvel to me how quickly ho he assembled the equipment after he hail completed the task he showed me how to adjust it on my person aretty soon I 1 stood before him a proper tori my atkins in heavy marching order feeling like an overloaded camel on ma feet weir wom heavy soled boot boots studded wilh wit hobnails hob hb nails nalls the toes and heel 0 of which re enforced by steel half moons my lega legs were in cased eased in woolen puttees put tees olive drab in color with my trousers overlapping them at the top then a woolen khaki tunic under which was bluish a gray woolen shirt minus a collar beneath thia this shirt a woolen belly band about six inches wide held in place by tie strings of white tape on my head was a heavy woolen trench cap cup with huge buttoned over the top then the equipment A canvas belt with ammunition pockets and two wide canvas straps ulc like suspenders called D fastened to the belt in front passing over each shoulder crossing in n the middle of my back and attached by buckles to the rear ot of the belt on the right side of the belt hung a water bottle covered with felt on lb left cido side was my bayonet and scabbard and entrenching ing tool handle this handle strapped to the bayonet in tho the rear waa was my la in trenching tool carried in a canvas mae I 1 this tills tool wits a combination pick and A canvas o 0 haversack wa was trapped strapped to tho left astle of the belt while on my back was the pack also 1 of canvas held in place by tac canvas straps om over the aboul lers suspended on the bottom of tha the pack was my mew mens tin or canteen in a neat little canvas cae case my waterproof sheet looking like a jelly roll waa was strapp strapped 41 oa on top op of the he pack with a wooden tick stick tor for clean cleaning log tho the breach of the rifle pro from each end on a lanyard my waist hung a huge jackknife with it can opener opener attachment the pock contained mt overcoat an in exten imir of cocks eks change of at underwear hold all containing knife fork troon one nome th lather brush staving soap and a razor made of tin un with itrice la in england Englat idl stamped on the blade when try lilt til to aba have with thia this it made yog you wish that you u were at war viar with patagonia rat agonia to 0 o I 1 that hat you I 1 wild bave a hollow ground stamped alade in germany i t aben en your hoate iafe button cleaning outfit consisting of f a button etick stick two stiff brush brue bruchee hee and a box of soldiers Sold lera friend paste then a shoo brush anil and a ft box of dubbin a writing pad indel ible pit atu envelopes and pay boot bool rid ad personal belongings euch such as a mi bialt mirror a decent razor and a ht naf unan am red letten letters and fag tog it in yar ya r haversack you carry your iron mit ration ions meaning a tin of bully beef bee f four biscuits and a can containing tea sugar and exo cubes a couple of pipes 1 and a it pack puck of has thug a tin of rifle oil and a pull through tummy tommy gen eally carries the oil with bis his rations it gives the cheese a ort sort of sardine e add to this a first aid pouch and a lone urSa rifle patterned after the boone period ser iod and you have an idea deft of a british soldier in blighty before leacint 11 for france this rifle Is 1 taken from him and he Is I 1 leaned rith with a lee eufeld short trench rifle and a ration bag in ha u receives two ps bd mete mets a sheepskin coat rubber mack intosh steel helmet two blankets tear shell goggles a R balaclava helmet hl met clove gloves and a tin of grease malch Is excellent for greasing the boots add to this the weight of his rations and can you blame tommy for growling at n twenty kilo route march having served ae as sergeant major in the united plates cavalry I 1 tried to tell the english drill ee se g ants their business but it did not york they immediately put me as 49 batman in their mess many a greasy dish of stew was vitally spilled over them I 1 would sooner fight than bo be a waiter so to when the order came through from headquarters calling for a draft of re for france I 1 volunteered ered then wo went before the M 0 medical officer for another physical examination this was very brief ile baled our names and numbers and eald said fit and we went out to fight we were put into troop trains and sent to southampton where we de anil and had our trench rifles Is sued to us then in column columns of twos we went up the of a little steamer lying alongside the dock kt U the head lend of the gangplank there waa was an old sergeant who directed that we line ourselves along both rails ralls of the ship then he be ordered us n to take ilia belts from the racks overhead and put them on I 1 have crossed the ocean several times time and knew I 1 was not sea bick pick but when I 1 buckled on that life belt I 1 had a hn of dl ekness Ic knese after wo we got out into the stream ream all I 1 could think of i nas as that there were n million german submarines with a toi tot on each across the warhead ot at which was inscribed my name and ad dress after five houra hours we came come alongside a pier and disembarked embarked dis I 1 had bad attained another one of my ambition ambitions I 1 was somewhere in france we slept in the open that night on the elde side of 0 the road about six the next morning we were ordered to entrain I 1 looked around for the passenger coaches conches but all I 1 could see rn un the bid ing were cattle cars we climbed into these on the side of each car anit wa a sign reading 40 Chey chemeaux eaux S when we got lai of the cars cam we thought that perhaps the eign sign painter alad reversed the oder omer of things after 48 hours in these trucks we detrained at rouen at this place we brent through an intensive training for ten the training conflated consisted of t tho be rudiments of trench warfare had been dug with barbed wire en tangle ments bombing laps dug dugouts outs observation pots po ts and machine gun emplacement ve were even g acu a bering of trench cooking sanitation bomb throwing reconnoiter reconnoitering ing listening posts constructing and repairing barbed wire carrying in parties me methods aboda used in attack ond and defense wiring parties masa mass formation and the procedure for poison gas attacks on the tenth day we met our friends 40 Clie veaux 8 thirty six houra hours more of misery and we arrived nt at the town of V after unloading our rations bid equipment we lined up tip on the road read in columns of four fourr waiting for tho the order to march A dull rumbling could bo be heard the sun un was as shining I 1 turned to the man on my loft left and aked the noise bill blair ue be did not know but his face was of a pea green color jim on my right also did not know but suggested that I 1 abek the sergeant 1 coming towards as us was an old grizzled bcd lcd sergeant properly property fed up with the nar a r du I 1 awaked aw him think ue its going to rain marcean ua tr lie ile logged at me in contempt and grunted owa wa it I 1 c a ter rain with the Llo bloomin omIn sun a I 1 looked guilty i aherns the gun up nathe the line me lad and get enouch enough of cm em before you ou gets gots back to blighty my knees seemed to wilt and I 1 aque squeaked aked cut a weak I 1 ohi oh I 1 then we started our march up to the linn line in a ten kilo ticks treks after the first days march wo arrived at our rest billete la in france they call them rest billet billets because while in them tommy works seven days a wea and on the eighth day of the week be he Is given twenty four houra hours on his own our billet was a spacious pa cloua affair a large barn on the left elde side ot of the road which bad one hundred entrances entrance ninety nine for shells rats ram wind and rain min and the hundredth one for tom my I T was tired out nd using m MY shrapnel proof helmet proof until a piece of shrapnel bite bits it or 01 tin hat for a pillow lay down in the straw and was coon soon fast asleep I 1 must have base slept about two hours when I 1 awoke with a prickling sensation all over me As I 1 thought the straw bad had worked through my uniform I 1 woke up the fellow lying on my left who had been up the line before and asked him doea does the straw bother you matel 1 ile t ts worked through my uniform and I 1 cant sleep in a sleepy voice he answered that aint straw cooil booties cooties co oties from that time on my friends the cloties cooties co oties otles were constantly with me tootles cooties Co oties or body lice are the bane lane of tommy tommys existence the aristocracy of the trenches very seldom call them cloties cooties co oties otles thy they peak speak of them as fleas to an american flea means a small insect armed with a bayonet who Is in wont to jab it into you and then hop bop skip dud jump to the next place to be attacked there Is an advantage in having fleas on you instead of Is oodles in that in one of his extended lamps ump said flea Is liable to land on me tb fel low next to ou he has the finical energy and push of the american while the cootie has the bulldog tenacity of the englishman bo he hold holds on and consolidates or digs dip in until his meal Is finished there Is no way to get lid rid of them permanently no matter how often you bathe and that Is not very often or how many times units you change yoni your underwear your friends the booties cooties co coot oties leal are always in evidence the billets a ar infested with them especially so 11 there Is straw on the floor I 1 have taken a bath and put on a brand new underwear in tat fatt a coa COW change of uniform and then turned in fit for the night the next morn ing my shirt would be full of them it Is a common bight to see eight or ten soldiers sitting under a tree with theli theft shirts over their knees engaging in a hart hunt at night about halt half an hour before lights out you can see the commies tommies grouped around a candle trying in its dim light to rid their underwear of he the vermin A popular and ra quick method Is to take your shirt and draw ers and run the seams back and tor for word ard in the flame flume from a cundle candle and burn them cut out this practice III dan IY ti 01 0 A the author identification disk I 1 serous because you are liable to burn holes in the garments if you are not careful recruits generally sent to blighty for a brand of insect powder advertised as I 1 good for body lice the ad ertl erti Is quite right the powder Is good for cootie co oties sl they simply thrive on it the old r men of our battalion were wiser aal made rande out of wood chece were rubbed smooth with a bit of stone or sand to prevent splinters they were about eighteen inches long and tommy guarantees that a scratch cr of this length will reach any tiny part of the body which may be attacked some of tl it fellow fellows were lacy lazy anil am only made their twelve achen inches but man p a night when on guard looking over the top from the fire step of the front line trench they would have given a thousand quid tor for the other elx six inches once while we ace ernrest in rest billets an irish hussar regiment c t roped in III an open field held opposite our W bi et after they had picketed and fed thir horses a general shirt hunt took place C I 1 ibe he trooper troopers ignored the call dinner up ekr and kept on wit dietr search for big pune me they haa a curious method ot of procedure they hung their shirts over a hedge and beat them with their entrenching tool handles I 1 aked asked one of them why aliey aey puk alk them off by hand aad d he answered we bad had a bath for nine weeks or a change of clabber if I 1 tried to pick the Ico co oties otles off oft ray my shirt I 1 would be hero here for duration of war after a close look at hi his shirt I 1 narel alth ith him it was alive in the next ser gent geant empey tell of the reail realization xa of his hi ambit ambition lon als an r rival in a it farst line trend and ef of how he bashed he were back in jersey city TO 10 UE BE CONTINUED |