It was usually Fritz's intention to place a harassing barrage on any
section of the line where he knew that a relief was being effected. But
he was less watchful than usual when we went in.
[Illustration: _U. S. Official Photo_
_"Hotel de Barn"--Showing Barber Shop and Reading and Writing
Rooms_]
The enemy awoke, however, three days later, on the morning of Monday,
June 24th, and attacked our regimental outposts. In order to effectively
prevent any assistance being rendered by the platoons stationed in St.
Maurice, a heavy barrage was laid on the town beginning at 3:30 A.M.
During the early part of the shelling the continual use of H. E.'s
(high explosive shells), with an occasional gas shell, served to keep
the men not only penned in their bomb-proof cellars, but also forced the
continued use of gas masks. Gradually the H. E.'s were interspersed with
gas shells until a point was reached where far more gas shells than high
explosives fell into the town, resulting in a heavy blanket of phosgene,
mustard, and lachrymatory gases settling over the position.
The barrage did not lift until 6:00 A.M. and when it did the platoons
were forced to take a defensive position to guard against any possible
success of the enemy.
During the night before the attack, the men had been digging until a
late hour on a system of trench defense. This entailed a lack of sleep
which, together with the continued wearing of the gas mask and the
exposure endured immediately after the barrage, weakened their
resistance to such an extent as to make them easy victims to the
poisonous gases.
Seventy-nine men were forced to the hospital by the effects of the
combined phosgene and mustard. Among them were our first sergeant,
supply and mess sergeants, all but one of our cooks, and both mechanics,
which left us decidedly crippled.
The shadow of our losses was deepened when we heard that Cook George
Alberts, always popular, had died from gas inhaled while trying to
prepare the company breakfast in a gas-filled kitchen. He was our first
loss by death.
[Illustration: _U. S. Official Photo_
_Shell-Proof Dugout--A Shelter in St. Maurice_]
An immediate result of our losses was the extra work shouldered by those
who had escaped any of the serious effects. The men left in St. Maurice
remained on constant guard until the Company was relieved several days
later.
During the short rest period that followed, a reorganization of the
Company was accomplished and we again entered the lines in July, taking
over P. C.'s Hameau and Montreux, as before.