THE FIRST NIGHT
I arrived in France early in February, 1915, and for three weeks we were
put into the hands of an Imperial battery, the Warwicks. They had taken
part in the battle of Mons, and the tales of the veterans of this
world's memorable retreat, told in their own modest way, gave me my
first clear impression as to what the boys of the Imperial Army really
had endured for civilization in that campaign.
At first I thought they were trying to bluff us Colonials, but the first
night I was in the lines I realized in the largest degree of human
intensity the fearful truth of their experiences.
The tuition given us by these warriors could not be excelled. They took
us to Fleurbaix, where their batteries were located on the outskirts of
the town, in cellars in the back part of a building destroyed by German
fire. There they had skillfully transformed the cellar into a gun pit,
with a loophole four feet in diameter overlooking an orchard at the
rear. Each time the gun spoke it would first be shoved into the hole and
the brush and sandbags removed, and as quickly as the message was sent,
the camouflage was replaced.
The color of the sandbags was a rusty gray and this, in conjunction with
the brushwood, prevented the spot taking on a dark appearance, which,
next to white, is the most easily distinguishable to an airplane; the
air birds are always on the lookout for these dark spots, watching them
intently to discover if any signs of activity are there, and immediately
anything smacking of life appears, the exact location is wired to their
trenches and the place is whirlwinded with showers of death and
destruction.
When the Warwicks had completed our educational course, there was no
detail of handling the guns with which we were not acquainted, and
thoroughly so, and I had the honor of being in charge of my gun, due to
the accuracy in my work. I think my chest expansion increased a trifle,
but my cap did not get any smaller.
At the end of ten days we left Meteren, arriving there February 28. It
was on the way from Meteren that I received my battle christening; the
ceremony was performed by a bevy of six airplanes, two of them flying
low and doing the sprinkling honors with a fusillade of bombs, dropped
on the road round about us. They left twenty or twenty-five of these
calling cards, but two of the batteries of anti-aircraft guns handled by
the Warwicks greeted them so warmly that they quickly decided they had
overstaid their welcome and made a hurried departure.
When the battery arrived at its designated point, we proceeded to
camouflage the guns with the artistry we had derived from our
instruction, covering them securely with grass and brushwood.
It was at this time that I lost not only my increased chest expansion,
but also a trifle more, because I was ordered to take my gun to a
position known as the sacrifice gun position, three hundred yards back
of the front line trench. It derives its name, "sacrifice gun," from the
fact that rarely, if ever, in case of a heavy enemy raid, does the gun
or any of its crew escape. This "honor" I was destined to receive many
times throughout my career in the Great Adventure.
I was in charge of the gun and I installed it in a hedge. The only time
we were to fire was when the enemy broke through and when our men in
retreating were on a line even with us; and we could not fire until we
got orders from the officer commanding or from headquarters.
The idea of a sacrifice gun is this: if the enemy broke through on
either or both flanks, pushing our men back, we had to wait for orders
from the commanding officer or from headquarters before firing; All the
ammunition carried was fifty shells; it was all we could get in those
days. In daytime the gun was covered with brush and other means of
concealment to keep it from the ever watchful eye of the Hun. At night
the crew consisted of two men, one on each side of the gun, and three
more in a ruined building a hundred yards in the rear of the gun. Our
shifts were two hours on and four off. The purpose pursued by the
sacrifice gun is to surprise the enemy when in full view and exposed,
killing as many of them as possible, blasting gaps through their line
and enabling our men to dig in in the position to which they have
retired, we knowing all the while that there is not one chance in a
thousand that the men connected with the sacrifice gun will escape
either death or capture. Our orders were under no circumstances to leave
the gun as long as a shell remained and a man lived. Deuced pleasant!
The ground in front of us was well drilled with concealed holes all the
way from four to six feet deep, in each of which strands of barbed wire
had been placed and the opening carefully concealed with clumps of
grass, brush and the like.
Blaisdell and I volunteered to take first shift on the gun on the first
night, about 10 o'clock. We had to take a narrow path on the way, with
Fritz sniping us every step; he had registered the path and it was a
constant target for his machine guns and snipers. Our pet was well
hidden in the hedge, with its nose poking through a hole in the leafage
and so cunningly camouflaged that it was absolutely impossible to be
noticed.
While lying stretched on each side of the gun between the muzzle and
wheel, any talking we did was to whisper cautiously to each other, as
the very grass beneath our feet contained spies in those days; the
country-side round about was as thickly infested with them as cells in
a honeycomb; and thus we waited.
Presently we heard the crackle of a piece of brushwood immediately out
in our front. The intruder had gotten into our entanglement. "Halt! Who
goes there?" No answer. I repeated the challenge; still no answer. We
made our way cautiously through the hedge, unclicked our safety catches
and were just about to fire in the direction of the sound when someone
yelled, "Where's the Durham Light Infantry lying?" We ordered them to
advance until within ten feet.
"Who are you?"
"Durham Light Infantry."
In the darkness we could not tell who they were but they spoke English
like natives.
"What are you doing out here wandering around in this fashion?"
"Well," one of them answered, "we were taking a stroll and got lost and
we want to find our way back."
We directed them and when they were lost sight of in the darkness, we
resumed our places on each side of the gun and thought no more of the
incident for the time. We again installed ourselves comfortably and
were comparatively safe from the sniping in front, which was going on
more or less all the time we were there, and about thirty minutes had
elapsed when, in the silence of the night, I thought I again heard the
crackling of a twig. Blaisdell heard it too. "Hist! Did you hear that,
Grant?"
"Yes," I whispered.
We listened intently and heard it again, this time a little closer. We
jumped up.
"Halt! Who goes there?"
No answer. Bang! Blaisdell fired, and these same fellows called, "Don't
shoot! We're looking for the Durhams." We emerged through the hedge.
"What in hell are you fellows doing around here again?" I asked.
"Well, we can't find the Durham Light Infantry."
"Well, you find some place away from here if you want to live to eat
your breakfast. If I find you around here again I'll shoot without
warning."
Again they asked us the way and again we directed them, and saw them
started on their way to the rear.
Once more we took our places on the gun between the wheels and were
hardly settled down when a sniper opened up on us from the rear, taking
a chip out of the wheel to my right. Ping! Ping! Ping! and the tree
standing ten feet in our rear was nipped. Ping! Ping! and the shield of
the gun got it this time. We were concealed behind the gun shield, which
protected us pretty thoroughly from the front fire and were
congratulating ourselves on our haven of safety when Ping! Ping! again
from our rear came the messages from a sniper hidden there. In glancing
back over my shoulder I noticed in the pitchy blackness the flash of a
rifle simultaneously with the report, and it seemed to come from a
haystack about 200 yards to our right.
"Blais, look back for a minute and tell me what you see."
Black darkness again for a few minutes, then another flare; we both
watched intently.
"By God!" exclaimed Blaisdell simultaneously with another report. "Right
out of the stack!" There was nothing for us to do but to lie there and
watch, and we absolutely confirmed our convictions that we were being
sniped at from this particular haystack.
When our watch was up I made my way to the ruin occupied by our relief,
woke them and told them to keep their eyes open for the haystack and
make themselves as small as midgets. Shortly after they started,
Blaisdell came in. He told me that the relief party had been sniped at
every step of the way to the gun. As Blaisdell entered, the open door
threw out a fitful glare of light from our flickering candle, and a
report from this particular haystack was followed by a bullet that
knocked off a chip of brick just above the doorway. Our friend was
certainly industrious, but I hoped to go him one better in the morning.
I grabbed the phone and called up headquarters, informing them of what I
had seen from the stock. The O.C. said the matter would be looked into
immediately.
There was no sleeping that night; we were too excited and chattered away
like school girls over our experiences, and to pass the time the
inevitable card game started. During the game the sniping was active and
continuous, the bullets chipping the building in all quarters. Our light
was from a candle jammed into a jam tin and set between a couple of sand
bags that we used for a table. Our mate, who had not yet taken his turn
on the gun-watch, was inclined to be rather skeptical about our story
of the sniper, declaring it couldn't be possible that Fritzie could be
carrying on such work in the very midst of our lines, and that our
imaginations had been running riot with us. We had been playing about
three-quarters of an hour when a gust of wind blew the door open,
throwing the faint gleam of the candle out in front. I jumped to close
the door, the light blowing out as I did so, and at the same instant I
heard a report from the same direction as before. I closed the door,
telling Blaisdell to light the candle. He fumbled for his matches and
lit it, and we were both stricken dumb for the moment; our chum was
lying stone dead with a hole squarely in his forehead. The gentleman in
the haystack was surely doing good work for his Kaiser.
Just before daylight we had a call from the O.C., accompanied by three
or four men; he had phoned us he was coming. He wanted all particulars
regarding my previous message. Under cover of the hedge we got to within
fifty yards of the stack and everybody was convinced of the certainty of
the information I had given, for, as we watched, two more flashes came
from the stack. Not a particle of doubt was left and the officer ordered
a bomb thrown into the haystack. Inside of a minute the red flames
began shooting out from all sides, in another minute it was ablaze, and
in five minutes we had the joy and satisfaction of hearing the muffled
shriek of the soldier who had so well served his Kaiser.
This ended for me a busy first night in the front line.
When the ashes of the fire were searched we found the charred body of a
man, the remains of a rifle and a complete set of telephone apparatus,
which was traced to our trenches, and from there to the German lines.
Wilhelm for a certainty lost an ace in the haystack. Besides our chum
and heavens knows what others, he had sniped the road along which relief
parties were passing up and down; and that same night one of the
soldiers of an infantry battalion of the Warwicks, winding its way to
the front trenches, got his death from a bullet squarely in the neck;
and the Germans having through him gotten an absolutely accurate range,
our gun was wiped out by a single shell, together with two members of
the crew.
Next afternoon, while resting in billets to where I had been ordered, a
shell struck the building, a splinter knocking out the eye of Ed.
Jackson, who was sitting beside me. He was not killed, but his wound was
a blighty, taking him out of the game for good. The unwelcome visitors
continuing to come, we were rushed to our battery of three guns in an
orchard near by; a curtain of sandbags was placed in front to prevent
the flash being seen. As soon as we started firing, rifle shots from our
left scattered the mud on all sides, coming at intervals of five or ten
minutes. Speculation was aroused and we set a man to watch, and
suspicion fastened on a farmer who was working his plow. Nothing was
found on him. Next day the same thing happened and again the watch was
set. This time our efforts were rewarded; the scout saw the farmer shoot
and throw the rifle down. He reported to the officer and we went over.
The horny-handed son of toil was very busy at the plow as he saw us
coming. He couldn't speak English. The officer sent to the nearest
French battery and presently a French soldier came who interpreted the
officer's questions and the man's replies. He knew nothing, whatever, he
said, about the rifle shots coming from his direction.
A search was then made for the rifle where the scout had seen him throw
it and not only one rifle, but several, including English, French and
German makes, were found in various parts of the field, partly buried in
the soil. When the guns were discovered the farmer threw up his hands,
wildly gesticulating and vehemently protesting that he knew nothing
whatever as to how they came there. His was a short shrift. He was tried
on the spot, tied to the pump of his own farm and shot.