“‘Don’t give a damn, take it off,’ he commands.
“I tipped my hat to him, bowed, and says, ‘Yes, sir.’ We moved on. ’Bout thirty minutes later he blows by again and sees the hat on me.
“‘Didn’t I tell you to take that hat off?’ he yells.
“‘Yes, sir,’ I yelled back, and tipped my hat again.
“Never saw that gink after that, but it just goes to show you how some of them guys fought the guerre, runnin’ ’round in Fords tryin’ to get salutes and make things, O. D. You never see any of our officers doin’ that kinda stuff. They know that it’s all bunk after bein’ with the boys in the lines.
“Beauvardis, or just beyond it a few kilos, is where Cap. Davis got it. We was ’way up close to the front lines there. Had us in front of the light pieces. There was a regiment of seventy-fives right behind us. We went into position in a place where the Boches must have had a gun position, as the place was littered up with their equipment and beaucoup dead Germans. I didn’t get in until late in the night, right in the middle of a barrage that the seventy-fives was puttin’ up. The woods was ringin’ with a noise that sounded as if the devils themselves was shoutin’ and yellin’ down in hell and we was gettin’ a loud echo of it. Before us the whole country was lit up by a big fire from a burnin’ German ammunition dump. Sure was weird in them woods. I asked where I was to cushay, and Frank Reynolds, top-kick, says, ‘Anywhere ’round here.’ Bickford and I drops our load, spread the blankets, and tried to cushay. No human bein’ could sleep much in that place. But we managed to cork off a little now and then. The woods smelled rotten.
“When daylight came I looked over my head and saw an arm pointin’ right down at me. There wasn’t no head or body. Just that one arm. I got up quick as hell. Found out I had been restin’ my head against a dead Boche all night. Felt like runnin’, but was afraid I might run right into the German lines. They was only a few yards away over a little hill.
“That mornin’ we got more movin’ orders. Our doughboys had already been relieved by the Forty-second Division infantry, as they were all shot to hell. I’ll bet that there wasn’t a full battalion left in any regiment. The Rainbow doughboys can fight, now, buddy, I ain’t jokin’. They made us artillery hump to keep up with ’em, too. But guess we did, as most of ’em said our barrages was as good to go over under as an umbrella is in the rain. There ain’t much use tellin’ much more. Course, as I said, Cap. Davis got picked near Beauvardis. He was steppin’ out of his P. C. when a shell fragment knocked him cold. Funny how all good men get it so quick. He was only a kid, but, believe me, he had guts and could handle a battery.
“We got up to Sergy Plateau and cleaned the Germans off that place and they relieved us. We had been in the drive from July fifteenth to August fourth—that’s a long time to battle, O. D. Accordin’ to reports, we gained ’bout twenty-five kilometers against the Boches. Not bad, eh?” concluded Jimmy, starting to stretch.
“Gee! you had some war experience, Jimmy. They sure must have given you a long rest and furlough after all that time at the front.”