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About The Alliance herald. (Alliance, Box Butte County, Neb.) 1902-1922 | View Entire Issue (June 27, 1918)
THE ALLIANCE HERALD, JUNE 17, 1918 Confessions of a German Deserter i ontinued from last week) CHAPTER XI. We were onee more kroesed at eleven o'clock that niRht. and Wfth tho atmost baste ninde ready to resume ear march. Tlx- Blgkt Ml pitch dark And the ruin continued. At dnybrenk are passed the city of St. Menehould. i Till had not MM hnrmedi From here V turned to the east, closely pressed by the French nnd In the afternoon we ached t'lermont-en-Argonne. Once sore we managed to get n rest of sev en! hours. Toward evening we pro eeeded 11 irRin nnd malntnlned n forced arch through the whole night. We Were now more exhausted thnn ever, jset coiil. I not hnlt. The rln had stopped hefore ten "clok In the morning nt whlrh hour we left the rond find made rnmp. There was n general sigh of relief, for this long continued, wearing retreat Bad brought our troops Into a state anw heroine unenduruble. We began m dig ourselves In. Before our trenches were even half completed a literal hailstorm of shrapnel fell Among us. Our losses were so great thnt It heenme Impossible to remntB We received orders to retire :it once We marched over the fields until dark when we began once more to dig la We were now near the village of Cer aay-en-rormols. It was pitch dnrk nnd henvy fog lay over everything. Of the enemy we knew nothing. With the j Utmost silence and speed we dug 01 elves In deeply, stopping frequent to listen as hostile raiding parties af pronched, only to dlsnppear quickly. Here we received our first ra enforcements. Thev arrived In long columns In the darkness. All were fresh troops most of them reserve j The majority wore hlue uniforms. Thai a well as the nature of their equip- j ment. Indicated to us that they had j keen hastily fitted out and transported None of them had ever heard the whistle of a hullet and many asked anxiously whether It was dangerous ere. They hrought numerous ma chine guns, and In an Instant we had everything prepared for defense. At daylight the French began the at tack. They made several onslaughta throughout the day but without suc cess, for our re-enforcements were large. No one realized at this stnge of the battle that It was the beginning of murderous, exhausting struggle for po sitions. We were to flght here from the same trench, month after month, without gaining territory. The wounded, who lay In No Man's Land between the tranches, were left to perish. The French tried to rescue them un der the protection of the Geneva flag. the emblem of the Red Cross, but we , only sneered at them and shot It to bits. The Impulse to shoot down the enemy surpassed every human feeling. The Red Cross flag had lost all Its value for us when It was raised by the French. Mistrust was nurtured among us. We were told that the enemy nils used the ftng nnd that we must shoot down the men that bore It. We repulsed all attac ks until they gradunlly ceased. We were now able to fortify our position, which we did with the greatest care, making It at mtt mm ...... II. .11- .1... VK . '"s (".- 'll'H . I lil tl I I IT" llllli IT" Bjalned on guard while the other half deepened and widened the trenches. A lively lire was maintained continuous Ill bj I otli aides. The losses were very lurge. Host of ihc men killed were shot through the head, the trench pro letting i ha remainder of their bodies. firing Increased in intensity as night fell, Although nothing could be seen are continued firing ail the time because we thought this would prevent the and iji from making any attacks. Xh rough the eight munitions and ma terial were brou. !u up and new men rrivi 'l. f rest ntt I ! sandhnga We e scut us. ivtlich were tilled and os'd '. i s a protection against bullet Tic- pioneers were relieved toward geoming and gathered in a farmyard behind ihe 0ajllg line. The farm bad been spared by the CenUOn. and even II th'' Stock remained. This booty wns soon to be consumed Several hundred soldi era came and a wild bunt ensued for ducks, chlcki ns, geese, pig eons, etc. About five hui.dred of these were caught, after which everybody began cooking. Not far away 80 cows nd heifers were seized and turned ever to the field kitchens. Hay and grain were carried away, even the etrawstacks and hams were torn down and the lumber used for firewood. In a few hours a beautiful farm hud be come a ruin and the proprietor a beg gar. I had seen the owner In the morning, but he bad suddenly disap peared with his wife and children, and aobody knew where lie was. The next night we were sent into the trenches again. There waa little to do, so we talked with the men who bad re-enforced us from the interior ef Germany. They knew absolutely notblng of our retreat from the Marne and were astonished when we pictured to them the events of the last few days. The following morning we left the trench before daybreak and went into carters at Ceraay-en-Dorniois. Wt were billeted in the middle of the vil lage In an abandoned house. Our field kitchens failed to arrive, so we pre pared ourselves a meal of fowl and whatever else we discovered. When ever anyone espied a chicken there were twenty men racing for It. ToMrf evening long firovlslon trains arrived as well as fresh troops. They went to the frotit In long columns and re lleved the exhausted men. Soon ttie whole village wns crowded with soldiers. After a ret of two days the regular nightly pioneer service was resumed. Kvery night we were sen! to the front line trenches to build wire obstacles. The I rench found us out by the noise required to set up the posts, so that we had fresh losses almost every night. We completed the task of setting up barbed wire entan glements In the sector assigned to us In about fourteen days. During this period we rested by day, but at night we went out regularly. Rut our rest hnd many Interruptions, for the enemy artillery bombarded the village regu larly. This always happened at cer tain hours, for Instance, In the begin ning, every noon from twelve to two o'clock, fifty to eighty shells fell In the village. Sometimes they were shrap nel, sent over by the field artillery. We soon grew accustomed to this, despite the fact that soldiers of other detach ments were killed or wounded dally. Once or twice during this noon bom bardment a shrapnel shell fell into our room and burst without doing much damage. The room would be filled with dust and smoke, yet no one would think of having. This firing was re pented dally with ever-Increasing violence. CHAPTER XII. The Inhabitants of Cernny who hnd remained, mostly old people, were nil gathered In n barn because of the fear of spies. Here they were guarded by soldiers. As the enemy bombnrdment always occurred at a certain hour, our commander thought that somebody In he village was In communication with the enemy by means of a concenled telephone. It was even discovered that the hands of the church clock had been turned and at one time stood at six and shortly after at five o'clock. The spy who signaled the enemy by means of this clock was not discov ered, neither nnyone using n concealed telephone Instrument. In order to "ntch the right one all the civilians were interned In the barn. These Civilian prisoners were supplied In the lame way the soldiers were, with food tnd drink, but were also exposed, like the soldiers, to the dally bombard ments, which In time destroyed the Whole village. Two women and one child had been killed In this manner tBd yet the people were not removed. Almost dally houses enught fire In the village and burned down. The shells v re tiow falling regularly at eight 9'clock In the evening. They were of beavy caliber. At eight o'clock prompt y, when the first shell arrived, we left 'he town. There followed. In short In tervals, fourteen to fifteen shells, the 'Iron ration." We believed that the French cannon sending these shell were brought Up somewhere nt night. When we returned from our prome mdo, ns we called the nightly excur don. we were sent to our places In the Tenches, There we were used Ur ev ry kind of duty. One evening we vore called up to fortify a farm taken from the French the previous day. We lad to build machine guns and place 'hem. Our camp nt Cernny-en-Dermols was ontlnually under heavy bombardment. Finally rest became Impossible The ; leavy-callber shells struck the roofs j f tin1 houses -irid penetrated to the j ollnrs. The civilians were taken away ifter several bad been killed by shells, j fter about ten weeks in this country ' vo were sent to another part of the "runt Our destination wns kept from 'is. At the depot nt Ohnllernnge we en erad a train waiting for us. It con dSted of second and third class inches. The train rolled slowly through the beautiful country, and for be ti t time since the war began we ' -aw the light behind the front. All the lepotSi crossings ami bridges were 0C- upied by the military. Everywhere as activity. Long trains loaded with agricultural machinery of every vnrl , sty stood at the larger stations. Tin I -rew of our train consisted Of officials j -if the Prussian state railways. The! : bad traversed this country often end told us thai there was no agricultural machine In till occupied territory. The same thing happened with all machir. cry of Industry that could be spared. Kvervw here we -;iw the finest kind of machinery et) route to Germany. In the evening we pnssed Sedan Early the next morning we arrived at Montmedy. Here we had to leave the train and were permitted to go to the city for several hours. Montmedy Is the principal base of the Fifth army commanded by the crown prince. Enor mous stores of war materials were gathered here. Added to this there was the army field post Institute and the executive offices of the railways as well as a number of hospltala. It was very lively in Montmedy. Many wounded men were seen strol llng through the city and an especially large number of officers all at home were attached to single etapes. In faultless uniform, carrying riding whips, they strolled around. This point was about thirty-five kilometers behind Verdun and one hundred kilo meters from our former position. As re marched away shortly after noou we suspected that we were being taken to the neighborhood of Verdun. reachei) the town of Jnmetr.. Here everything was offered us by the In habitants. We were treated with cof fee, milk and meat. We went on early the next Morning nnd In the evening arrived at Oamvlllers, where we heard that we were about five kilometers be hind the firing line. The same evening we advanced to the little village of Wavrllle, which was our destination. We took up our quarters In n house which had been abandoned by Its In habitants. We were attached to the Ninth reserve division and the nt t morning went to our position. Fifteen of us were assigned to duty with an Infantry company. On the entire line, ns far as we could see, there was no musketry fire. Only the artillery on both sides kept up a weak action. We were not accustomed to this quietude In the trenches, but the men who had been there for some time told Us that frequently not a single shot was fired for days and that no activity was ahown. Enormous forca of artillery were being mobilized. New guns continued to arrive every day and were Installed without going Into action. The trans portation of munitions and material was also vary brisk. We did not sus pect at this time that this wns the first preparation for a great offensive. After four weeks in this vicinity we were sent to another part of the front, once more without being told our des tination. We marched iway and in th afternoon we arrived at Oun-sur-Meuse. Hardly hnd we entered the town when the German crown prince, accom panied by several Officers nnd a large pack of hunting dogs rode by. "Good morning, pioneers!" he called out to us. Then he Inspected our unit closely. He spoke to our captain, after which one of the officers of his, staff took us to a Red cross establishment whewl we were bampieted and given wine. The headquarters of the Hohenzol lorn heir were located nt Pun sur Mouse. The ladies of the Rod CrOM treated us cordially. We nsked then if nil passing troops were as well treat ed as we had been. "Oh, yes," a young woman answered "but only a few come here. The erowr prince, however, has an especial at tachment for the pioneers." We were quartered over night. Sol dlers told us that Dun-sur-Meuse wa the headquarters of the Fifth army There were gay times In the town, witt un open-air concert every day. The off! cers often received women visitors from Germany. After a hard march we arrived at the front positions. In a verltahb labyrinth of trenches, filled with water we had the utmost difficulty flndinj; our way about. Finally we arrived at the very front. The French were only ten meters away and before we bar been there two days we took part In t I hand grenade encounter. Some distance back we established 1 1 pioneer depot. Twenty-five of our met did nothing but assemble hand gre nades. We were soon settled and ready for an emergency. In camp we were divided among vnrlous troops. They showed us how the warfare waged at this front re quired every Imaginable kind of fight lug. There was mining, sapping, band grenade throwing, mine throwing am' light patrol battles. This went on day after day and night after night, witt 48 hours In the trench and a 12-hout rest. The shortage of men made s less strenuous schedule Impossible. the enemy's machine guns and 18 of Its men were killed after they hnd only proceeded a few steps outside the trench. Dead and wounded men lay among the hrnnches and the trees everywhere on the ground. Every man who waf able to rtm sped forward to reach the enemy trench as quickly as possible. A port of the enemy defended Itself des perately In a trench filled with water and mud. A terrible hnnd-to-hnnd flght resulted. We stood In water up to our knees. Men. severely wounded, lay In the mud, holding their mouths and noser above the water. During the fighting they were trampled more deeply Into the dirt under our feet for we could not see where we were going; we could only "roll up" the entire trench. The section won wns fortified with nil possible haste. Once more we hnd acquired nt a henvy cost In human life a few meters of the Argonne forest This trench, which we took, hnd changed hands ninny times and even now we were preparing for the usunl counter-attacks. Presently the ".inckasses" went inti action. The "jackasses" are the gum of the French mountain artillery. They were so named because they were drawn by mules. They are guns of flat trajectory, kept from 60 to KM) meter? behind the enemy Hues. The shell from these cannon flew directly ovei our heads and out their way throng! the branches nt a high rate of speed Because of the high velocity of Um shell and the short distance It travels the detonation when the shot Is tinr ami the noise of the explosion, sounc almost nt the BUOM Instant. Thesi "jackasses" arc greatly feared by tiu German soldi, is heCflUSe they are kep working day and nlLilit. It was winter nnd very cold. Tht trenches had been filled with wutei and were now nothing except dee ditches of mud. Under these condi tions, through the Ice-cold nights, out routine consisted of- 48 hours duty and 12 hours rer-t Every week a storm Ing attack was mode, the success of which wns entirely oit of proportlot to the enormous losses. In all of th four months I was In the Argonne for ests we gnlned 400 meters. The fed lowing data will indicate how heavy a price was paid In lives for this little piece of France. Each regimant hnd Its own ceme tery. There wns the One Hundred am? Forty-fifth Infantry regulnrs, the Sixty seventh, and One Hundred and Seven ty-thlrd Infantry regulars and th One Hundred and Fifth Hlrsch berg battalion. On the day we were re lleved from duty In the Argonne for ests there were more dend in thesi cemeteries thnn there were survlvon of the several regiments. The Sixty seventh regiment hnd more than 2,0(X dend. All the victims were niemhen of thnt unit except a few ploneera who hnd been assigned to duty wltr It. There was never a day without some loss of life, and on the days whet the storming nttacks were made, deatr had an extremely large harvest. Announced CHAPTER XIII. After a march of IS kilometers wc CHAPTER XIV. The entire forest of Argonne was blown to pieces when we arrived Everywhere wns artillery, which main tntned a fire on the villages behind th enemy's positions. One of the many batteries which we constantly had to pass on our march from the camp to the front, was in ac tlon when we reached it. I asked one of the gunners what his objective wns and he replied that It was any village within range. A substitute first lieutenant. In charge of the battery, stood nearby One of my comrades asked him If hi! did not think there might be women nnd children In those villages. "Thnt would make no difference," the first lieutenant replied. "Women und children are French, so what does it matter? This breed has to he ex terminated in order that this nation shall not think of war again for a can tury." ThN dny wns dcslgr.i.red for a forming attack and we were obliged to be in our positions at seven o'clock In the morning. Promptly at 8:H0 regi ment No. fl" was ordered to attack. Pioneers led the way. They were sup plied with hand grenades. These week ly attacks were opened half an hour before the Infantry went over by a storm of artillery fire. The artillery action required very careful calcula tion because the distance which sepa rated our position from the enemy" was very slight. It varied from three to one hundred meters; never any more. At the point where we sttacked the distance was 20 meters. Promptly f eight o'clock the artil lery started. 1 first three shells struck a ditch, tr.t the following ones hit fslrly. thnt is, right In the French treachee Once the artillery had the proper range whole salvos of batteries descended upon them with admirable exactness. The cries of the wounded were heurd once more, a sign that many had been hit. An artillery officer acted as observer In the foremost sense and directed the fire by phone. Promptly at 8:S0 o'clock the artillery tires stopped and we at tacked. The eleventh comptiny of the 81xty-seventh regiment, of which I poke before. e under the fire of CHAPTER XV. Each day In the Argonne levied its toll of victims, sometimes many, some times only a few.. It is only natural that the morale of the soldiers should not be at Its best under these clrcum stances. With the same Indifferenct that the men had once' gone to theli work to support their wives and chll dren they now went Into action. Thli business of killing had become dally routine. Whenever we discussed out situation, the crown prince and tht commander of the Sixteenth armj corps, Lieutenant General von Mudra fared worst. The troops in the Argonne forest be longed to the Sixteenth corps, the Thlr- ty-thlrd and Thirty-fourth divisions. Neither the crown prince nor Von Mud I ra hod ever been seen in the trenches One oi the members on the crown prince s staff was the old field mar shal, Count von Hneseler, former com mnnder of the Sixteenth corps, who. before the war, was considered a hu man fiend. These three called Clover Leaf by the soldiers, were far more de spised by most of the men than wers the French cannon, which sought onr miserable lives. The Hohenzollern heir did not find life hard at his headquarters several kilometers behind the battle front. It was eusy for him to make himself popular with his order to go uhead at the cost of thousands of lives. He was Very well liked among the high officer with whom he sat behind a stove al though the progress was not fist enough for them. He honored Von Mudra with the or der "Pour la Merire," but of the sol diers he never hud thought. They had not seen a bed for months. They were never given a chance to re move their clothing. They received only shells and steel and were almost eaten up by vermin. They were covered with lice. There was scsreely enough water for drink ing purposes, to say nothing of water for washing their clothes. Our hnlr und beards were long and when we were given some hours of rest the lice would not let us sleep While we were in the trenches the bul lets did not do much damage but daily men were killed by Indirect fire. The thousands wbli h w hlzzed through the air every minute flew over cur heads. Thaf struck trees or branches and glanced off. striking the men In the trenches. Falling to pierce their ob )ect directly they tore terrible gaping wounds as they entered the men's bodies sideways. Whenever we heard charges concerning duin dum bullets, we thought of these cross-shots, al though we nevei- doubted the existence of the dam-dams. Whether f dum-duin bullets (To be continued) Famous Sciktth Tenor Soloist I J. Coaly Lockhart as a Chautouaugi Attraction for this - &jmm MalNbtjS B&affi BU i w Jrti aLl mL ' '$t- leaa lei Srs ipHt JhR ssr OStXSSKSXCPeC-XviaBBSlBBBBBBBrW v XAV?&ttmW " Mil MH Chautauqua Begins July 10 and Lasts $ix Days. W 1 sj' saw' "jraar ssCCJnLXjL ROAD KI 1&7 A MUNAKLH in quality a aemf X. crat in service. Thedk vet have AJAX Shouldera Strength built in to support the tread whtfre strain is greatest. Giveyoumuch more mileage be cause of More Tread on the Road Aiax Shoulders Martin King Garage "While Others Are Claiming Quality, We Are Guaranteeing It" BijskEsr sSlu etttBs sV ssBr wrrj bbb x The Heavy Hand of Justice. We rend recently uf ;i butcher wle a-as discharged for being lichr Bngefed 41s hand probably did not weigh mougb to make it retail profitably. fargo Courier-News. !.,T0P CATARRH! OPEN I NOSTRILS AND HEAD f i Says Cream Applied in Nostrils Relieves Head-Colds at Once. Rheumatism Arrested If you suffer with lame muscles or stiffened joints look out for impuri ties in the blood, because each at tack gets more acute and stubborn. To arrest rheumatism you must improve your general health and purify your blood; the cod live? oil tn Scott's Emulsion is Nature's great blood-maker while it also strengthens the organs to expel the impurities. Scott's is helping thous ands who could not tin I other relief. Seott a Bowu. Bleonfeid. N.J. If your notitriU are clogged und xour head is stuffed and you seal hn.ithn Freely because of n com r eetarrY lust H a hinall bottle of F.ly's Cream Pilm it any drutr store. Apply a litt). "t this fragrant, antiseptic eresBi into your nostrils and let it Bsaetrste tsraegh every it i r pucaajre of your BllSlt, soothing and healing tin- . lllained. swol len mucous membrane au- you get in stant relief. AH! how pood it feels. Your nos trils are oeii, your head is clear, no tore luiwkiiip, BBilMlsjg, blowing: no ota headache, dryness or struggling for breath. Sty's Cream Halm is just what sufferers from head colds and ca tarrh need. It's a delight. THE HERALD FOK PIUNTING.