The Fight for the Argonne: Personal Experiences of a 'Y' Man — John Shaqi
The Fight for the Argonne: Personal Experiences of a 'Y' ManWest, William Benjamin
History
The Fight for the Argonne: Personal Experiences of a 'Y' Man
West, William Benjamin
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
Returning one evening after a wonderful but terrible day with the boys
on the front, we worked our way along a ridge where our 75's were
belching fire into the ranks of the enemy. We were giving out the
last of our supplies to the crews who were manning these guns. I
stopped to speak to an infantry major who was directing the movements
of his men by telephone and messenger from a former German dugout
where he had taken up temporary headquarters. When I came up he was
standing by a gun looking out over the battlefield and watching the
stretcher bearers returning from the "line." He had tried in vain to
get more artillery sent forward to support his men who were being
mowed down by the merciless fire from the Boche machine guns and
cannon. At first his voice choked with emotion, and then revenge took
possession of him as he cursed the Hun for bringing upon the world
such slaughter. It seemed as if his great heart would burst as he
realized the suffering and the sacrifice of _his boys_ whom he had
ordered to _hold_ at any cost. His voice choked as he cried, "My God,
but they are punishing my boys."
As we walked on in a driving rainstorm and through mud and underbrush
and wormed our way amid wire entanglements, we came upon a field
kitchen and were invited to supper. We gladly accepted and sat down in
the rain to potatoes and meat, bread, butter, and coffee, with a
dessert of pancakes and syrup. It was a meal fit for a king, and no
food ever tasted quite so sweet. It was about fifteen miles to our
hut, and darkness had overtaken us. While we were eating, an empty
ammunition cart drawn by four horses came along, and the sergeant in
charge offered us a ride. The offer was gladly accepted because we had
no guide, and for two hours we bumped over the rough forest trail.
On the way we overtook many of our wounded, who after receiving first
aid had attempted to walk back to the camps in the rear. Wherever we
found them we gave them a lift to the nearest rest camp or ambulance
station. Some whom we were privileged to help seemed completely
exhausted and unable to drag any farther.
When at last the forest trail opened into the highway the going was
faster. When within three miles of Avoncourt we were stopped by a
tieup in traffic. After a few minutes' wait, seeing that there was no
sign of advancing, we decided to walk on. For two solid miles the road
was blocked, the rains having made the roads almost impassable. We
worked our way in and out past ammunition wagons, Red Cross
ambulances, officers' cars, and army trucks. Just before midnight we
reached our huts at Avoncourt, where hot chocolate was being served to
never-ending lines of tin-helmeted, khaki-clad wearers of the gas
mask.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account