THE GLORIOUS "15th"

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2980, 18 January 1917, Page 6

THE GLORIOUS "15th"

WELLINGTON BATTERY SIGNALLER ON THE SOMME

A "GREAT DAY"

Tho following account of some personal happenings during tho famous "push" of September 15 is from a Wellington Garrison Artillery Signaller who went away with the Seventh lteinforcements.

Our great day here, of course, was September 15, and it is of what happened to mo just before, during, and after that day that I am going ■to speak. As you no doubt know, ourartillery shooting, of tho smaller guns at any rate, is principally controlled by an officer who goes to somo suitable place where he can see how tho shells burst, and generally where he can keep in touch witli the infantry. Ho has of necessity to keep in communication with the battery itself, and for that reason is accompanied by a couple of signallers, who attend to the telephones or got tho messages through by whatever means are used, and that is how "yours truly" comos into the yam.

On the ovoning of the 14th, this officer and two of us set but, and in anticipation of the advance had to leave our usual station and get well up forward to a point in our front line. It was just dusk when wo set out with the wires from tho old station to the new one, and wo got them laid and the telephone set up uneventfully except for tho sight of the country over which we passed. It bad been tho scene of a fairly recent advance, so Tecent, at any rate, that few, if any, of the dead had been buried. 'Die heaviness of the artillery fire may he judged when you know that the ground here was literally full of shell holes of various sizos; so full that, if you walked straight ahead, no matter what direction you took, you would no sooner bo up out of one bole than you would be in another.

The "Evening Hate." The next thing to he done was to set up a shelter for tho night. We knew it was no good trying to make anything in the shell-proof line in tho time we had, because if Fritz got an inkling of the attack shells would come over so merrily that you might just as well bo in tho open as in any dugout not twenty feet below the ground. We wanted something rain-proof, though, so I set out with my inato to look for some tools to dig a bit of a hole, and to get anything else that might be of any use. We had in mind an old trench back a bit and off we set. Just before wo got there,, or thought wo had got there, Fritz opened up a protty brisk shell firo in our vicinity, just by way of an Evening Hate, 1 suppose. Anyhow, we fairly slid down into this trench, and though it didn't appear to be the one we thought it was, it did us at the moment, and we hopped into separate little dug-outs to let Fritz have his little bit of fun without doing us too much barm. My dug-out was not too big, aud there already was one chap in there —a Hun, dead, and —well, we got away from there.

A Day of Days. Truly it was a day of days. The heavy barrages put up by both sides, the coming and.going of tho stretcherbearers, tuo wounded and the prisoners coming in, and tho hundred and one things made it so, but one was so busy that not much notice was taken of it all at the time. Wo could not possibly keep the wires going, and at dusk my mate and 1 were sent out with a bit, of tucker for tho chaps who relieved us, and with orders for them to como in. Darkness came on quickly, and the only chance wo had of finding them was to follow the wires and try w got hold of them that Way. Oif.we sot, hut at just about hall-way the line was so uadly broken that we could Jiot find the other end. There we were, not. knowing wliafc to do. Perhaps those chaps didn't know tho way homo, and. would have to stay out tnero in that waste ail night, with no word from tho battery, and with nothing to eat; perhaps, too, they had been hit. "We groped round for the wire again, but try as wo might we could not find it, and eventually we were forced to return home. On arriving there we found the fellows had como nome ou their own hook, and had preceded us by about an hour!

No Rest for the Weary. That relieved us altogether, and our thoughts turned to bunii and sleep; but no, tho battery was moving up to a new position, and it was a case of another night without sleep and all hands and tne cook to work. Just after daybreak, after we had got into position once more, lour of us wore sent out to lay now wires to our observing station—two to stay out ijjero and look after the 'phone, and M and myself to lay tho wires. Wo got out there all right, and just in time to seo Frit/, in Ins big counter-attack. They came over in fivo dark waves, .but never got far, before our artillery opened up on them, and I don't think many readied tho try conclusions with our infantry. We didn't sob this through, though, for our • station was well up in the "'supports," and Fritz opeuen up a heavy barrage .on us shortly alter iiis counter-attack commenced. This put us in a rotten corner. The only shelter wo had was a half-dug trench, and it became too hot for us. Orders came through to clear out, get in the infantry trenches, and report back at the guns as soon as wo could. Wo cleared all right, and made, a duck for tho next trench back. In we Hopped, before wo had time to see that it was an old German one, with plenty of dead in it, but that did not matter. Wo got along as best we could, trying to work olf to the fiank and get clear of the barrage. The shelling got hoiter and hotter, and we had to crawl if wo wanted to keep whole. It didn't ticklo our fancies too much, this trench, and soon wo made another break back to the next trench; and so on. 1 forgot to tell you that when wo made our first dive, one chap, instead of sticking with tho rest of us, dodged into a hole he thought pretty safe, and let us go on. Wheu wo got into the trench we naturally wondered what had happened to him. We waited a bit to see if ho would turn up, but no Jim. Two of ns waited while our corporal went back and looked for hiin, but he had no luck. A little longer and I went bade and had a look. There he was, sure enough, squeezed in the hole, and not wanting to como out much. Ho did get out at last, though, and wc got homo in the maimer 1 described. "A Hundred Years Hence." A good breakfast, a smoke, and then we sat down, and screamed as we talked it all ovor—how P would not crawl over the dead Hun; bow T _ let his cigarette go out threo times in that first trench; how L hurt himself doing a graceful glide into tho Hun trench; how J— — would have lost his German helmet if he had not tied it to his braces" first go off 1 These and a thousand other tilings. They aro great jokes for us after they are over, but not much when they aro on.