ready scrambled into
the door of the nearest dugout. And it was only an average size door at
that. This was the first real shelling most of the twenty-two men had
experienced, yet they took to cover as if they were used to doing it. On
another occasion a sudden bombardment caught Lt. Speck and Lt. Martin
unawares. A three-inch shrapnel ushered them around a corner and into a
dugout in record time--the one ahead trying to keep ahead, and the one
behind, trying his best to get ahead.

The ruined town of Metzeral was the foremost point occupied by any of
our litter squads at Mittlach. It was in the main valley to the south
and east of Mittlach. The American trenches ran zig-zag through the
town--along tumble-down walls, into old cellars and basements, through
neglected gardens, and around the corner of the ruined church itself.
One ducked instinctively as he passed some of the low places in the
walls, for the German trenches were visible a few hundred yards away on
the eastern slope of the valley.

The ambulance work at Mittlach and Larchey was done partly by the mule
ambulances of Ambulance Company 140 and partly by the Fords of the S. S.
U. outfit. From the various advance aid stations, the patients were
transported by ambulance to a relay station called Treh, situated about
five kilos back of Larchey. Lt. Hancock, of Ambulance Company 137 was in
charge at Treh, having two motor and two mule drawn ambulances ready to
receive and transport the patients back to the various Field Hospitals,
which were located at Kruth and neighboring towns, well out of range of
the German guns.

On the whole, the time spent in the Wesserling sector was a period of
training for our company, and in fact for the whole Sanitary Train. We
learned something about maps and trails, and especially that trails on
maps and trails on mountain sides are two very different things. We
learned also to respect our gas masks and helmets. They became our
constant companions. Indeed, the sight of school children six and eight
years old going through gas mask drill in the streets of Mittlach was
enough to make anyone think about his gas mask. All the civilians there
carried masks as they went about their daily work. We learned too, the
value of camouflage along the sides of roads, and also the wisdom of
keeping behind it. The litter bearers learned to handle patients in all
sorts of tight places, and they did their work creditably. We saw a
little example of