| Show GUNNER ER DEP ju EPIE BY ex gunner and chief petty officer U 75 S navy 1 member of the foreign legion of france ALIE F i t T ANT I 1 ell 0 16 W captain winner gun turret of the french croix battleship Battle de guerre guerra snip cassard copyright 1918 by byBe llly and britton co CoTh through special arrangement with the george matthew adams service DEPEW FINDS HIS PAL MURRAY HAS BEEN MADE A VICTIM OF HUN frightfulness synopsis albert N depew author of the story tells of his service in the united states navy during which he attained the rank of 0 f chief petty officer first farst class gunner the world war starts soon after he receives his honorable discharge from the navy and ho he leaves for france with nith a determination to enlist ile he joins the foreign legion and Is assigned to the dreadnought dread naught Cos cassard sard where ills his mark marksmanship manship wins him high honors later he Is transferred to the laud land forces and sent to the flanders front he gets his first experience in a front line trench at he goes over the top and gets his first german in a bayonet fight while on runner service depew Is caught ca aught in a zeppelin raid and has an exciting experience in a fierce fight with the germans ha Is wounded and sent to a hospital after recovering he Is ordered back t to 0 sea duty and sails on the cassard for the dardanelles Darda nelles there he I 1 sees the woud wonderful erful work of the british and french in the gallipoli Gain poll campaign CHARTER XI continued r f 10 luring during ou our r eighth trick off cape hellos helles I 1 was amidships in the galley when I 1 heard our two 14 go off almost at the same time everybody ran bior tor ills his station going up the main dick deck to my turret a man told me it was a sub on the port bow but I 1 only caught a glimpse of the little whirlpool where her periscope submerged I 1 do not know why she lid did not let loose a torpedo at us the officers said she was trying to make the entrance to the dardanelles Darda nelles and came up blind among our ships and was seared scared off by our guns but I 1 thought we had just escaped by the skin of our teeth later on our d destroyers e st claimed to have sighted her oft off gaba tape at noon we were at mess when one of the troys boys yelled shies hit and we all rushed on deck there was the british ship triumph torpedoed and listing away over to starboard she was ready to turn over in a few minutes one battleship is not supposed to go to the assistance of another one that has been torpedoed because the chances are the sub Is still in the neighborhood laying for the second ship with another torpedo but one of the british trawlers trailers lers went to the C assistance assis of the triumph to pick up the crew i we could see the crew jumping into the water then we breezed out toward the horizon full speed ahead all about the triumph w was s ii a cloud of black smoke but when we looked through them the glass we could seo see she was going down then our guns began to bombard the turkish positions and I 1 had bad to gett busy when I 1 saw the triumph again she was bottom up she must have floated bated bl upside down for almost half an hour then she went down as though there was somebody on the bottom pulling her when she went our old man banged his telephone on the bridge rail and swore athe huns and turks and broke his tele telescope lens to bits about fifty from tiie the triumph were lost it was decided wat the place was too hot for us with that sub running buhning loose and when they reported that afternoon that she was makini making her way south from gaba to cape cap j hellos helles all of the fleet but the majestic got under way and the majestic was the only ship left boythe oythe off the cape r they said the majestic was chenke e oldest eldest of 0 them the ships in that c campaign amdal but she was the pride of th r sh fleet just the same she was terp torpedoed oed off cap caffe holies helles later on when 11 ere were a num berof men of war var aff fr tho the ca IA the sea was crow crowt 02 fed withmel with t men s naming imming and drowning jn I 1 sabui a life anat crowded with an a r I 1 the water hanging on ont herand tj ere were so many bang on that they started to pull her under of their own accord acord trie I 1 enen the water let go to save those in in the boat most mos of them were ard drowned d the Mai majestic manestle estle fis fisted A d so th atthe men raene could not net staled standon 1 deck dud 1 nd the old side were covered with men anding on to ropes and not knowing whether he ier to to jomp into the sea or not wo e 10 lowered all our lifeboats an and steam IP launches lanches and so did the oth other r ships we picked up a number of the crew and were pretty close to the bajes majestic when she went down like a rock rockets roc keAs a she bhe went down she turned over an and a garby ran along her side 14 r to 0 the e r at her bow and got on it n being wet A boat picked hl in off f the ram which stuck out of th water after the ship had ceased to boettle ettle she had torpe torpedo do CIO nets 0 or sides and many man v of the crew w ware w unable to get clur clearoe of the nets went down with k EL la were caught below decks do icks an chance there was a bi explosion as aho went under probably the boilers bursting burs ting thousands jot f troops on shore and thousands of p sailors on the ships saw the cinat na plunge and it was a sight to remember when the ship started t to 0 go the old ola man back to his cabin got the signal book and destroyed destroy cd lt it also he saved the lives of two of his men we gave dry clothes and brandy and an d caff coffee to the limeys limays wo we rescued and though they had just como come through pretty tough they were calm and cool and started talking A right away about what ship they would probably be assigned to next nest CHAPTER XII A pal crucified when wo we got to V bench beach on my next nest trip the weather was really fine but it did not please us much for as soon as we nye got in range the enemy batteries opened up 0 on n us and the shell fire was heavier than any we had been in before though not more effective we drew in on a bright morning about half past five or six with our convoy the troopship champagne va agne ahead of us and going slowly sounding all the way at this part of the shore there Is a dock clock about a mile and a half long iong running back into the country and terminating in a road the champagne was making for this dock sounding as she went suddenly when she was within yards of the shore I 1 saw her swing around aud and steer in a crazy fashion fasalo we began asking each other what was the matter with her but we learned afterwards that her rudder had been torn oft off though we never found out how nor do I 1 think anyone ever knew then she went aground with her stern toward the shore and listed over to port you could see different articles rolling out and down the side then her back broke the quarter deck was crowded with men half dressed with life belts on jumping over the side or climbing down there was an explosion and a cloud of black smoke broke over us and for a while I 1 thought I 1 was blinded all the time the shells were raining in on us and on the te champagne when I 1 could see again I 1 saw the men on the champagne climbing down the starboard or shore side one chap was going down hand over hand along a stanchion when another fellow above him let xo go and slid right down on him the first man fell about thirty feet landing in the water with his neck doubled under him our lifeboats and I 1 launches were out oat picking up survivors those who got safely over the side started ashore but when they lla dEone had gone ollya only a little way they found they could wade in when the water was only op t ta J their waists they came 1 upon barbed wire entanglements entangle ments and not a man oot ot ashore that way but scratched Yd was scratched scratch and clawed find and mans CA if V 0 where ane GOLIATH was wrecked wro cRad ar where rethe the MAJESTIC was wre wrecked cRed 10 lo where rethe the CASSARD engaged the WEPT a dai y aled horribly hor ably some of them that I 1 saw I 1 were just shredded eng tha sides of their bodies like great ravy of the them though d by shrapnel wh while le they were in the 4 OD board the our guns had 1 ban en busy ail a I 1 tile the agi time and it was noti long a ng before beut v aut one enemy bag bat to acry ry out of we had suf buffered a bit atoo too but not enough to worry us there were about m men on on the champagne I 1 think and at least a third were killed or drowned and the casualties must have been almost two thirds the ship was just a mass of 0 wreckage they called for a landing party from tile the cassard and ofil officers cers asked tor for volunteers for trench duty I 1 was not very keen about going because I 1 had been in trenches at DIx mude and I 1 knew how pleasant they were not but I 1 volunteered and so did murray we went ashore in our boats under a heavy fire there were 12 men killed in the lifeboat in w which aich I 1 was I 1 escaped without a scratch we were mustered up on shore and volunteers were called for for sentry duty murray volunteered if he had only gone on with the rest of us he be might have come through after a short watt wait we were given the order to advance the firing bring became heavier about this time so we went vent at the double wo we had not got very far before fa re we had a fine little surprise party handed us the front line was running over what appeared to be good solid ground when they broke through and fell into trenches 30 to 40 feet deep these trenches had been dug covered over with 14 inch boards and then with dirt and were regular nian man traps sharp stakes were sticking out of the parapet and parri flos and at the bottom were more stakes and rocks and barbed wire we were advancing with bayonets fixed and arms at the carry so when tile the first line fell and some of the second the boys of the third line came running up and in the scramble that followed many of the chops chaps in the first few lines were b bayoneted nyon eted by their comrades comrad ps I 1 was in ill the third line but I 1 wits was lucky enough to pull up in time and did not fall in you could not look down into that trench after you had seen it once it was too sickening our casualties were sent back to the i alp one boat was sunk by a shen shell and all the men lost we remained where we were scratching out shallow trenches for ourselves finding what natural over cover C there was and otherwise getting ready for the night which was near it began to rain and we could hardly keep heep any fires going because we had to shelter them from the shore side so the enemy could not spot us and the wind ind was from the sea it was certainly miserable that night every once in a while we would stand by to repel an attack whether it was a real one or not and we were under fire all the time it seemed as it if morning would never come the sand was full of fleas great big boys and they were as bad as any cloties cooties I 1 had ever had at the morning came at last and I 1 was detailed with a fatigue party to the beach where we had bad landed stores when wo we got down to the docks I 1 missed murray and asked where he was they said he be had been missing from his post not more than an hour from the time we left I 1 left my fatigue party with without out orders and joined in the hunt for murray there were men searching all along the docks and on the shore to each side finally I 1 saw a bunch of men collect around a storehouse at the farther end of the docks on the shore side I 1 ran up to them there was poor old murray they were just taking him down he had been crucified against the wall bf of iho storehouse there was a bayonet through each arm one through each foot and one through his stomach one of the garbles fainted when he be had to pull one of the bayonets out they had hacked off his bis right hand at the wrist and taken his identification disc I 1 lay this to the officers more than the turks I 1 do not know just what I 1 did after this but it changed me all around and I 1 was not like my usual self during tile the rest of the time it was still raining when we started on our wa way y to the front lan line along the road were numbers of troops scoffing and among them indian troops on sentry duty they looked like a bunch of frozen tur turnips nibs cool and uncomfortable 1 we were close enough to make the roar of the cannino cannonading canno seem intolerably loud and could see the bursting shelly shells particularly those fro i the british alps hl ps then we came across some turkish prisoners prison eis who were sheltering lu in an old barn I 1 guess it was and we stopped for shelter and rest they told us that their troops were very tired from long fighting but that they had plenty of men they sald a couple of shells bad dropped about a hundred yards from the barn just before wo we came so we knew the batteries were trying to get our range and we did not stay an any k longer but went away from there an and d on our road aboaf yards farther on we came to ruins and w when en we went inside we found 50 or oc 0 GO O of our boys cooking and lid api giving a thought fo 10 tho bh eils s ol 01 of shrapnel the mules outside were banging away at the hay 1 is as though there never had been a war in the w world orld thero ther was no shell made budge budge them away from fl that ia t liay unless them 0 then along came a cart making a lot of rackets racket one of the fellows in it had half of lils face shot away and was all bandaged up but lie he was trying to sing bing and laugh just the same as tho the rest were doing they were anzack and were pretty badly shot up the word anzac as you probably probable know is made from the initials of mhd australian and new zealand army corps they had a regular town called anzac on the peninsula at suvia bay and around gaba the anzack got further into the turkish lines than any other unit in the allied armies they were wonderful lighters fighters by this time the turks were making an attack and all you could see to the front was one long line of smoke and spouting earth then our guns started and the noise was deafening it was worse than in the turrets aboard ship during an engagement sly my head rang for days after we left the dardanelles Darda nelles the turks were getting a better idea of our range now ani and the shells were falling pretty close to us but finally we tore in with the 14 inch kavals and ripped up three of their batteries in the lull that followed we made good time and reached our front line positions at bedd ol cl bahr during the afternoon the next nest morning we made our first attack I 1 had had a bad night of it thinking about murray and when the N A he had been crucified time came there never was a chap more glad to charge and get a chance at the enemy with the bayonet than I 1 was we attacked according to a pro program gram time cards were issued to the officer of each section so that we would work exactly with the barrage to be ahead of or behind the time card would 1 mean walking into our own barrage the time of attack Is called zero that is the minute when you leave the trench sonic some of 0 the anzack said it meant when your feet got the coldest but I 1 do not think they suffered very M much uch with trouble in the feet not when they were advancing anyway the time card might read something like this first wave zero advance rapid walk barrage 25 in 10 seconds take first trench second wave same as the first pass first trench 0 2 3 take second trench the third wave la Is ordered to take the third trench and so on for as many lines as the enemy Is entrenched the other waves might be instructed to occupy HIU 7 1208 or dig in behind rock 1 1245 1945 here zero Is understood the first figures standing for minutes |
