The attack had taken place――thousands had been killed and wounded on
both sides of the lines, but the French had taken many German
prisoners. They had advanced their lines――they had gained important
hills. The Germans had been driven back. The attack had been a
success.
But still no relief came for us, we must stay on, “just for three or
four days longer,” through the counter attack of the Germans. We
stayed on through the counter attack. Events were happening fast to
us. A couple of our men had taken sick――had broken down under the
strain and been sent in to Paris. Gamble had broken his arm cranking
his car and he was sent in to Paris. Oller developed appendicitis and
was sent to a hospital a little further back from the lines for an
operation. The hospital where he went was shelled and some of the
occupants were killed. Oller had stayed on much longer than most men
would in his condition. Holt was gassed――Buhl was gassed――Patterson
was gassed; but they stayed on. Drivers were all having narrow
escapes.
Young Tapley had just loaded his car with wounded when a big shell
came shrieking in. Tapley threw himself on his face as the shell
struck and exploded close to his car. The sides of the car were blown
out and all the wounded were instantly killed. White was lying on his
face close to him. Another car was squarely hit and completely
demolished. Fortunately no one was in it at the moment. Cram, while
driving at night, wearing a gas mask, drove over a twenty-foot
embankment――he rolled out of the car on a dead horse――he fell into a
trench on a dead man. A gendarme on horseback, shot in the breast by
shrapnel, toppled from his horse directly in front of Purdy’s car.
There was not a single car in the Section which was not hit at least
once. “Red” Day, who had succeeded Pearl as mechanician, was kept
working night and morning and his untiring toil helped to save the
Section and keep it rolling.
We had been relieved from the run to Houdremont and were now centring
our efforts on the posts as far as Fort Douaumont; and that was worse,
because the roads were exposed to view most of the way. The country
was laid absolutely barren and along the way, men burrowed holes in
the ground and lived like rats――and with them. In the day time we
might drive along those roads and see scarcely a human being, and yet
thousands of human beings were all about us. As we drove along, rats
would scurry across the roads. Once I saw a dead rat in the middle of
the road and it made me pessimistic. Dead horses were lying about
which long since should have been covered over had time permitted.
Sometimes wounded horses were staggering about the road, suffering
pitifully and impeding traffic. On one of these occasions, our French
Lieutenant Reymond drove out and with a revolver shot several of the
wounded horses and then had them cleared from the road. Under fire
Reymond was calm, he was magnificent. Back at Louvois I had liked
Reymond, but at Verdun I admired him.
Along the roads I sometimes saw big shell holes, enormous craters
which made me very thoughtful. We were under fire day and night,
whether on or off duty. Overhead, we daily watched the air duels of
the avions. Sometimes a German plane would come across, flying
straight, swift and low to attack an observation balloon and as it
opened fire, we would see the man in the observation basket shoot
straight down through the air, then his parachute would open up and
perhaps he would land in safety. On one occasion I saw a French plane
collapse in the air and come swirling down like a dead leaf――down,
down, crashing to the ground, and I drove on not feeling a single
sensation. I was dead tired and had passed the stage of feeling a
thrill even of horror.
At night the avions were always overhead, dropping bombs――sometimes a
munition plant would be hit and explosion after explosion would light
the sky for several hours. Still we stayed on――the relief did not
come.
And while we were voluntarily and willingly, yes even very cheerfully,
under fire for the cause, it was most shocking to read in the papers
that disloyalty went unpunished back in the United States. Our troops
Over There are entitled to the assurance that it is not safe for
anyone at home to stab them in the back.