e only
from ten to twenty feet apart, but I assure you it seemed quite far
enough. We made a quick sprint for the first one and landed in on the
backs of three or four Germans; they were lying facing our lines, and
hadn't expected any one from the rear. We had them finished before
they got over their surprise and none of us were hurt in this scrap--so
we made a bolt for the next hole. However, we were not so lucky this
time, and before we reached the hole two of our boys went down; we
dared not stop to see how badly they were hurt, but plunged into the
shelter of the hole. Here we were outnumbered two to one, but our
attack from the rear gave us the advantage; still it came near being my
finish, for my revolver jammed, and a big Boche made a lunge at me with
his bayonet--I dropped my revolver, escaped his bayonet by making a
quick side-step, grabbed his rifle, and hung on for dear life. We
rocked to and fro, and all at once it occurred to me to use my feet--so
I lifted one foot and let him have it right in the stomach. He let go
his hold on the rifle and sat down as suddenly as if he was shot, while
I lost my balance and went sprawling in the other direction. I don't
know which of us would have recovered first, but one of our boys
settled the combat by blowing the big Boche's head off. Our three lads
had cleared up all the others and we had time to think of our own
condition. We were a very sorry-looking outfit; we all had wounds and
bruises which we hadn't felt at the time they were received; our tunics
and caps had been left in the sap, and the few clothes we had on were
torn and plastered with mud, our faces were streaked with dirt and
blood, and we were "all in." I hadn't known any of the boys before
except the Corporal and Nobby, and poor Nobby was the first one shot.
Well, we looked after each other's wounds, and then we rested for
awhile; when our strength came back a little, we started out again. We
would have stayed longer only we had no idea how far we were from our
lines, and we felt sure that German reinforcements would come up at
dark. We went out in single file and not too close together, but our
next hole was farther away and just before the first one reached it a
shell burst directly over it; two of the boys were killed and the
Germans in the hole were blown to atoms; the officer and myself were
thrown a little distance and badly stunned, but finally we managed to
reach the hole. We were the