it
(ID II If
AN AMERICAN SOLDIER
WHO WENT
* '
MACHINE GUNNER,DRYING IN FRANCE
as® I
©19(7 BY
Arthur ciff tnpfy
SYNOPSIS.
CHAPTER I—Fired by the news of the
(Inking of the Lusitania by a German
submarine, Arthur Guy Empev, an Ameri- i
ran, leaves his office In .Jersey City and
goes to England where he enil*u in the
British army.
tTHApTER II—After a period of train- 1
Ing, Empey volunteers for immediate serv
ice and soon finds himself in rest billets
“somewhere In France,” where he first
makes the acquaintance of the ever-pres
ent "cooties.”
CHAPTER fll—Empey attends hls first
church services at the front while a Ger
man Fokker circles over the congregation.
CHAPTER IV— Empey's command goes
Into the front-line trenches and Is under
fire for the first time.
CHAPTER V—Empey learns to adopt
the motto of the Brtlsh Tommy, “If you
srs going to get it, you'll get It, so never
worry."
fHAPTER VI—Back In rest billets, Em
pey gets hls first experience as a mess
orderly
CHAPTER VII—Empey learns how the
British soldiers are fed.
CHAPTER VIII—Back In the front-line
trench, Empey seea hie flret friend of the
trenches "go West.”
"CTlApTETt IX—Empey makes hls first
visit to a dugout In "Suicide Ditch.”
CHAPTER X—Empey learne what con.
stltutes a "day'a work” In the front-line
trench.
CHAPTER XI—Empey goes "over the
top" for the first time In a charge on the
German trenches and Is wounded by a
hnvonet thrust.
rnAFTER XII—Empey Joins the "sui
cide club” as the bombing equad Is called,
CHAPTER XIII—Each Tommy gels an
official bath.
CHAPTER XIV—Empey helpe dig an
advanced trenoh under Qerman lire.
CHAPTER XV. il^.
Listening Post.
It was six In the morning when we
arrived nt our rest billets, and we were
allowed to sleep until noon; that Is,
If \vn wonted to go Without our break
tuHt, tor sixteen days we remained
Entrance to a Dugout.
In rest billets, digging roads. dlUMttSi
and uthor fatigues, and then back Into
the front-line trench,
Nothing happened that night, hut the
next afternoon I found out that ft
bomber Is geuerul utility mun In a sec
tion. •
About five o’clock In the afternoon
our lieutenant cnine down the trench
and stopping In front of a bunch of us
on the lire step, with a broad grin on
his face, asked:
•‘Wild is* going to volunteer for listen
ing post tonight? I need two men."
It Is needless to say no oue volun
teered, because It Is anything hut a
cushy Job. I began to feel uncomfort
able as I knew It was getting around
for my turn. Sure enough, with another
grin, he said:
“Empey, you and Wheeler are due,
so come down Into my ilugout for in
structions nt sis o’clock,’'
Just as he left and was going around
a traverse, Fritz turned loose with a
machine gun and the bullets ripped the
sandbags light over his head. It gave
me great pleasure to see him duck
nguinst the purupet. lie was getting a
taste of what we would get later out
In front.
Then, of course, It began to rain. I
knew It was the forerunner of a mis
erable night for us. livery time I had
to go out In fropf, |{ jpst nu,Hrtt!!i’
ruined. Old Jupiim' Pluvius must have
had it In for me.
At six we reported for instructions.
They were simple and easy. All we
had to do was to crawl out Into No
Man's Land, lie on our bellies with our
ears to th. ground and listen for the
tap, tap of tlie German engineers or
suppers \,ho might be tunneling under
No Man’s Land to establish n mine
head beneath our trench.
Of cotjj'se, tp our orders we were told
not to la* niptnred by Ornunu patrols
nr re<j|inno!terlP« parties. l-uts of
breath Is wasted on the western front
giving silly cautiuus.
As soon as It vras dark, Wheeler and
I crawled to our post which was about
halfway between the lines. It was
ruining bucketfuls, the ground was n
sea of sticky mud and clung to us like
glue.
We took turns In listening with our !
ears to the ground. I would listen for
twenty minutes while Wheeler would
be on the qul vivo for German patrols.
We each wore a wristwntch, and be
lieve me, neither one of us did over
twenty minutes. The rain soaked us
to the skin and our ears were full of
mud.
Every few minutes a bullet would
crack overhead or a machine gun would
traverse back and forth.
Then all firing suddenly ceased. I
whispered to Wheeler, “Keep your eye
skinned, mate; most likely Fritz, has
a patrol out—that’s why the Boehes
have stopped firing.”
We were each nrined with a rifle and
bayonet and three Mills bombs to be
used for defense only.
I had my ear to the ground. All of
n sudden I heard faint, dull thuds.
In a low but excited voice I whispered
to Wheeler, “I think they are mining,
listen,”
He put his ear to the ground and
in an unsteady voice spoke into my
ear:
“Tank, that’s a patrol and it's head
ing our way. For God's sake keep
still.”
I was ns still ns n mouse nml was
scared stiff.
Hardly breathing and with eyes try
ing to pierce the Inky blackness, we
waited. I would have given a thou
sand pounds to have been safely In
my duffout,
Then we plainly heard footsteps and
our henrts stood still,
A dart form suddenly loomed up In
front of me; It looked as big as the
YVonlwnrth building. I could hear
the blood rushing through my vein-;
and It sounded ns loud ns Niagara
falls.
Forms seemed to emerge from the
darkness. There were seven of them
In all. I tried to wish them away. I
never wished harder In my life. They
muttered a few words In German and
melted Into the blackness. 1 didn't
stop wishing either.
All of a sudden we heard n stumble,
n muddy splash, apd a muttered "Iten
ner und p.lttzeu," One of the l’.oehes
hud tumhled Into a shell hole. Neither
of us laughed. At that time—It didn’t
strike us as funny.
About twenty minutes after the Ger
mans hud disappeared something from
the rear grabbed me by the foot. I
nearly fainted with flight. Then o
welcome whisper In a cockney accent.
"I s'y, myte, we’ve come to relieve
you."
Wheeler and I crawled hack to our
trench; we looked like wet hens and
felt worse. After a swig of rum we
were soon fast asleep on the fire step
In our wet clothes.
The next morning I wns ns stiff as a
poker and every joint ached Ukp a
had tooth, but I \vps stUI alive, no It
did not itmUer,
.*» \r
CHAPTER XVI.
Battery D 238.
The dn.v lifter this I received the
Chid tidings that I would occupy the
machine gunners’ dugout right near
the advanced nrtlllery observation
post. This dugout was g roomy affair,
dry as tinder, and real cots In It.
I Ttie-HP cots had been made by the
' II. E.'s who had previously occupied
the dugout. I was the first to enter
and promptly made a signboard with
my name and number on it and sus
pended It from the foot of the most
comfortable cot therein.
In the trenches It Is always "first
come, first served,” and thta Is lived
up to by
Two R. F. A. men (Royal Field ar
tillery) from the nearby observation
post were allowed the privilege of
stopping In this dugout when off duty.
One of these men, Bombardier Wil
son by name, who belonged to Bat
tery D 238, seemed to take n liking
to me, and I returned this feeling.
In two days’ time we were pretty
chummy, and he told me how his bat
tery In the early dnys of the war had
put over a stunt on Old Pepper, and
had gotten awny yyRfc It,
1 will endeaver to give the story as
for as memory will permit In his own
I
words:
“I came out with the first expedi
tionary force, and, like all the rest,
thought we would have the enemy
licked In Jig time, and be able to eat
Christmas dinner at home. Well, so
far, I have eaten two Christinas dln
I ners in the trenches, and am liable tf>
I eat two more, tl}e way things are
1 putting, fhot Is, If Frits don’t drop
a ‘whizz-bans' on me, and send me to
i Rllghty, Sometimes I wish I would
; get hit. because It's no great plchlc
out here, and twenty-two months of It
j makes you fed ujj, ---
“It’s fairly cushy now cornpnred to
what It used to be, although I admit
this trench is a trifle rough. Now,
we send over five shells to their one.
We are getting our own back, but in
the early days it was different. Then
you had to take everything without
reply. In fact, we would get twenty
“hells in return for every one we sent
over. Fritz seemed to enjoy it. but
we r.ritisli didn't; we were the suf
ferers. .Tust one casualty after an
other. Sometimes whole platoons
would disappear, especially when a
‘.Tack Jolmsop’ plunked Into their
middle. It got so bad 'hat a fellow,
when writing home, wouldn't ask for
any cigarettes to be sent out. because
he was afraid he wouldn't be there to
receive them.
"After the drive to Paris was turned
I nek, trench warfare started. Our
general grabbed a map, drew a pencil
»eross it. and said, ‘Dig here.’ Then
ne went hack to his tea, and Tommy
rirmol hintself with a pick and shevcl
and started digging. He’s been dig
ging ever since.
“Of course we dug those trenches at
night, hut it was hot work, what with
the rifle and machine-gun tire. The
stretcher bearers worked harder than
the diggers.
“Those trenches, bloomin' ditches, 1
call them, were nightmares. They were
only about five feet deep, and you used
to get the backache from bending
down. It wasn’t exactly safe to stand
upright, either, because as soon as
your napper showed over the top a
bullet would bounce off it. or else come
so close it would make your hair stand.
“We used io till sandbags and stick
them on top of the parapet to make it
higher, but no use; they would in'
there about an hour and then Fritz
would turn loose and blow them to
hits, My neck used to be sore from
ducking shells and bullets.
"Where my battery was stationed a
hasty trench had been dug, which
the hoys nleknnmcd ‘Suicide ditch.
and. believe me, Yank, tin's was the
original ‘Suicide ditch.’ All the others
arc imitations.
“When a fellow went Into that
trench it was an even gamble that !\v.
would come out on a stretcher. At one
time a Scotch battalion held It, and
when they heard the betting was evej>
money that they'd come oyl* on
stretchers, they grabbed rj) the bets
In sight. Like a lot of holly idiots, sev
eral of the battery men fell for their
came, and put up real money. The
'Jocks' suffered a lot of casualties, and
the prospects looked bright for the
battery men to collect .some easy
money. So when the battalion was re
lieved the gamblers lined up. Several
‘Jocks’ got their money for emerging
safely, hut the ones who clicked it
weren’t there to pay. The artillery
men had never thought It. out that
way. Those Scotties wore hound to
he sure winners, no matter how the
wind blew. So take a tip from me.
never Pet with-® Seottle, '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
wooden signpost with three hnnds or
anna on It. One of the hands, point
ing to the German lines, rend, ‘To Ber
lin;' the one pointing down the corn
munlcatlon trench rend. ‘To Blighty,’
while the other said, ‘Suicide Ditch,
Change Here for Stretchers.’
“Farther down from this guide pose
the trench ran through an old orchard.
On the edge of this orchard our bat
tery had constructed an advanced ob
servation post. The trees screened It
from the enemy airmen and the roof
was turfed. It wasn't cushy like ours,
no timber or concrete re-enforcements.
Just walls of sandbags. From It a
splendid view of the German lines
could be Obtained. Tills post wasn’t
exactly safe. It was a hot corner,
shells plunking all around, and the
bullets cutting leaves off the trees.
Many n time when relieving the sig
naler at the ’phone, I had to crawl on
my belly like a worm to keep from
being lilt.
"It was nn observation post sure
enough. That's all the use It was. Just
observe all day, but never n message
back for our battery to open up. You
see, at this point of the line there
were strict orders not to Are a shell,
unless specially ordered to do so from
brlgude hend<iunrters. Bllnie me, if
anvone disobeyed that command, onf
I
general—yes, It was Old Pepper—•
would have court-martialed the whole
expeditionary force. Nobody went out
of their way to disobey Old Pepper in
those days, because he couldn't be
called a parson; he was more like a
pirate. If at any tline the devil should
feel lonely and Righ for a proper mate.
Old Pepper would get the first call.
Pacing tl>e Germans wasn't half bad
compared with an interview with that
old firebrand.
‘‘If a company or battalion should
give way n few yards against n su
perior force of Boehes, Old Pepper
would send for the commanding offi
cer. In about half an hour the officer
would come back with his face the
color q£ a brick, and In a. few hours
what was left of his command would
be holding their original position.
“I have seen an officer who wouldn’t
guy ,1-n for a thousand quid spend
live minutes with the old hoy. and
when he returned the flow of language
from his lips would make a navvy
blush for shame.
“What I am going to tell you is how
two of us put it over on the old seump.
and got away with it. It was a risky
thing, too, because Old l’epper wouldn’t
have been exactly mild with us If he
had got next to the game.
“Me and my mate, a lad named Har
ry Cassell, u homburdier iu D 238 hat
tery. or lance corporal, as you call It
In the Infantry, used to relieve (he
telephonists. We would do two hours
on and four off. I would be on duty
in the advanced observation post,
while he would be at the other end of
the wire in the battery d.ugout signal
ing stntlon. We were supposed to send
through orders for the battery to Are
when ordered to do so by the observa
tion officer In the ad vanned post, nut
very few messages wars sent. It was
only In ease of an actual attack that
we would get a chance to earn our
‘two and six’ a day. You see. Old Pep
per had Issued orders not to fire ex
cept when the orders came from him.
And with Old Pepper orders Is orders,
un<l made to obey.
"The Germnns must huvo known
about these orders, for even In the day
their transports and troops used to
expose themselves ns If they were on
parade. Tills sure got up our nose,
sitting there dny after duy, with fine
targets In front of us but unable to
tend over a shell. We heartily cussed
Old Pepper, his orders, the govern
ment, the people at home, and every
thing In general. But the Boches
didn't mind cpsslDg, and got very care
less. Blime me, they were* bally In
sulting. Used to, when using1 n certain
road, throw their caps Into the air as
a taunt at our helplessness.
"Cassell had been a telegrapher In
civil life and joined up when war was
declared. As for me, I knew Morse,
learned It at the signalers’ school hack
In 1910. With an officer In tin? obser
vation post, we could not carry on the
kind of conversation that’s usual be
tween two mates, so we used the
Morse code. To send, one pf us would
tap the transmitter with his finger
nails, and the one on the other end
would get It through the receiver.
Many an hour was whiled awia.v in this
manner passing compliments.back and
forth.
“In the observation post the officer
used to sit for hoars with n powerful
pair of field glasses t<V Ills eyes.
Through a cleverly conrerllod loophole
lie would scan the ground behind the
German trenches, looking for targets
and finding many. This officer. Cap
tain A- by name. had a habit of
talking out loud to himself. Some
times be would vent hlR opinion, same
as a common private does when he's
wrought up. Once upon » time the
captain had been on Old PtgipcV's staff,
so he could cuss and blind,, In the most
approved style. Got to Ax; sort of a
habit with him.
"About six IhousanjilVyards from us,
behind the Gennnn Jlijes, was a road
in plain view of our post. For the last
three days Fritz had brought compa
nies of troops down, tftils road In broad
daylight. They wrfe never shelled.
Whenever this happened the captain
would froth at the hnouth and let out
a volume of Old Pepper’s religion
which iiaed^ to makefile love him. __
I ‘‘Every battery has a range -chart on
which distinctive landmarks ard noted,
with the range for each. These land
marks are called targets, and ore num
bered. On our battery’s chart, that
road was called Target 17, Range
6000, 3 degrees 30 minutes left.’ D 239
battery consisted of four ‘4.5’ howit
zers, and fired a 35-pound n. E. shell.
At you know, H. E. mtfohs ‘high ex
plosive.’ I don’t like bumming up my
own battery, but we had a record in
the division for direct ’hits, und onr
boys were just pining away for u
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
our posts ns usual. Fritz was strafe
lng us pretty rough, just like he's doing
now. The shells were playing leap
frog nil through that orchard.
“f was carrying on n conversation
in our 'tap' code with Cassell at the
other end. ^ ran something like this:
“ ’Say, Cassell, how would you like
to be In the saloon War of the iKlng’?
Arms down Itye lane V’lth % bottle of
Bass In front of you, and that blonde
barmaid walling to fill ’em up again?’
“Cassell had a fancy for that par
ticular blonde. The answer eame4>nck
in the shape of a volley of cusses. I
changed the subject.
“After h while our talk veered
round to,the way tlie Bodies had Jteeu
exposing themselves on the road (town
on the chnrt as Target 17. Whnt he
said about those "Bodies* would never
have passed the reldistag, though I
believe It would have gone through
our censor easily enough.
"The bursting shells were making
such a din that I packed up, talking
and took to watching the captain. He
was fidgeting around on an old sand
bag with the glass to his eye. Occa
sionally he would let out n grunt, and
make some remark I couldn’t hear on
account of the noise, but I guessed
what it was all right. Fritz was get
ting fresh again on that road.
“Cassell had been sending in the 'tap
code’ to me, hut I was fed up and
didn’t bother with it. Then he seut
O. 8., and I was all attention, for this
was a call used between us which
meant that something Important was
on. 1 was all ears In an Instant. *Then
Cassell turned loose.
"‘You blonkety blank dud, I lutve
been trying to raise you for tjjWken
minutes. Wliat's the matter, ar«Sfy°'t
, asleep?’ (Just hr If (invent* could
have slept In that Infernal rft<$et!)
‘Never mind framing a nasty nn|wer.
Just listen.’
'“Are you game for putting some
thing over on the Boches and Old Pep
per all in one?’
“1 answered that I was game enough
! when It came to putting it over lh>*
Boches, hut confessed that 1 had k
weakening of the spine, even hi the
mention of Old Benner's ranie.__
((.otiiinutd Next Week.)
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