Over The Top

formed me: "Empey, as a recruiting Sergeant you

nd other paraphernalia into it. I thought he would never stop, but when the pile reached to my knees he paused long enough to say, "Next, No. 5217, 'Arris, 'B' Company." I gazed in bewilderment at the pile of junk in front of me, and then m

the rescue. It was a marvel to me how quickly he assembled the equipment. After he had completed the task, he showed me how to adj

t and scabbard, and entrenching tool handle, this handle strapped to the bayonet scabbard. In the rear was my entrenching tool, carried in a canvas case. This tool was a combination pick and spade. A canvas haversack was strapped to the left side of the belt, while on my back was the pack, also of canvas, held in place by two canvas straps over the shoulders; suspended on the bottom of the pack was my mess tin or canteen in a neat little canvas case. My waterproof sheet, looking like a jelly roll, was strapped on top of the pack, with a wooden stick for cleaning the breach of the rifle projecting from each end. On a lanyard around my waist hung a huge jackknife with a can-opener attachment. The pack contained my overcoat, an extra pair of socks, change of underwear, hold-all (containing knife, fork, spoon, comb, toothbrush, lather brush, shaving soap, and a razo

rifle patterned after the Daniel Boone period, and

aken from him and he is issued with a Lee-

ell goggles, a balaclava helmet, gloves, and a tin of anti-frostbite grease which is excellent for greasing the

glish drill sergeants their business but it did not work. They immediately put me as

rder came through from headquarters calling for a dr

r physical examination. This was very brief. He asked our

ined, and had our trench rifles issued to us. Then in columns of twos

the ship. Then he ordered us to take life belts from the racks overhead and put them on. I have crossed the oce

there were a million German submarines with a torpedo on each

e ordered to entrain. I looked around for the passenger coaches, but all I could see on the siding were cattle cars. We climbed into these. On the side of each car was a sign reading "Hommes 40, Cheveux 8." When we got i

s, and machine-gun emplacements. We were given a smattering of trench cooking, sanitation, bomb throwing, reconnoitering, listening posts, constructing and

ommes 40, Chevaux 8." Thirty-six hours more

nt, we lined up on the road in columns

and asked, '"What's the noise, Bill?" He did not know, but his face was of a pea-gre

zzled Sergeant, properly fed up

going to rai

, "'Ow's it a'goin' ter rain with the bl

lad, and you'll get enough of 'em

wilt, and I squea

ed at our rest billets. In France they call them rest billets, because while in them, Tommy work

d out, and using my shrapnel-proof helmet, (shrapnel proof until a piece of shrapnel hits it), or tin hat, for a pillow, lay down in the straw, and was soon fast asleep. I must have slept about two h

mate? It's worked through my

answered, "That ain't

riends the "cooties" w

lice, are the bane

very seldom call them "cooties

an advantage in having fleas on you instead of "cooties" in that in one of his extended jumps said flea is liable to land on the fellow next to you; he has the typic

very often, or how many times you change your underwear, your friends, the "cooties" are always

rned in for the night. The next morning my shirt would be full of them. It is a common sight to see ei

nderwear of the vermin. A popular and very quick method is to take your shirt and drawers, and run the seams back and forward in the flame

advertised as "Good for body lice." The advertisement is quite r

hes long, and Tommy guarantees that a scratcher of this length will reach any part of the body which may be attacked. Some of the fellows were lazy and only made their scratchers

fed their horses, a general shirt hunt took place. The troopers ignored the call "Dinner up," and kept on with their search for big

for nine weeks or a change of clabber. If I tried to pick the 'cooties' off my shirt, I would be

e older men, until a couple of days later, in a torment of itching, he also has to resort to a shirt hunt, or spend many a sleepless night of misery. During these hunts there are lots of

overhead. The major was writing a letter; every now and then he would lay aside his writing-pad, search his shirt for a few minutes, get an inspiration, and then resume writing. At last he finished his letter and gave it to his "runner." I was curious to see whether he was writing to an insect firm, so when the runner passed me I en