Crawfordsville High School - Athenian Yearbook (Crawfordsville, IN)

Page 17 text:

THE ATHENIAN St Mahitel BY LIELTENANT BYRON MANSON 'ZQJ 'qs T x as the n1ght of September llth Inslde a dugout at the edge of dj-,ge the llttle rulned town of Beaumont an artillery offlcer sat at a rough ' l table upon x hxch lax a number of maps books and miscellaneous papers fhe other occupants lay asleep on the bunks built IH at the ,ie f 9 end opposlte the table The held phone buzzed and the offlcer took 'PX 01 ' up the comblnatlon recener and transmltter Command Post l..aRoche One une speaking he sand latest weather report All rlght let s have tt lemperature I3 Barometer 734 Wind at ground dlrectlon Z6 weloclty 4 at IO0 meters 26 D at 200 meters 23 D at 300 meters 21 7 That s as far as It was Unen slr All rlght Thanks ones A the ofhcer land dos n the phone he glanced at his watch on the table beslde htm make the necessary corrections on the hrlng data which he had already calculated Any changes ln atmospherlc condltlons mean changes ln the pomt of Impact of the shells and durmg an attack when the lnfantry follows closely the lme of bursting shells even a slight varlatlon ln the range mlght mean losses to our own men At last he completed hls hgurmg and checked the corrections for the hrst hour s hrlng As he dlo so the phone buzzed a second ttme Command Post l..aRoache One une speaking he repeated Correct time slr It IS now twenty four thlrty wo I2 32 a m All rlght Thanks Tell Sergeant to report at the Command Post Yes slr T e ofhcer stood up yaw ned stretched and walked owen to the nearest bunk H shook the sleeptng occupant Hey Hull come on roll out Come on LaRoache rlse and hlne lt s twenty fue tlll one e sleepers threw off the blankets rubbed their eyes swung their feet out onto the floor and dressed for golng out by simply putting on sllckers gas masks and tm als Heres the correct time sand the hrst ofhcer as he pointed to the watch on the table and here s your data for the firing from one tlll one forty I ll have the new data out by the time vou are ready for It While the ofhcers were svnchronlzlng their watches some one scratched on the gas curtaln which hung ox er the dugout entrance and wtthout w altlng to be mvlted stepped mslde It was the sergeant Hate you tested both llnes between here and the Executive post sergeant3 3 es slr Both are all rlght Good It IS ralnlng pretty hard outside and we may get some mustard gas thrown oxer on us as soon as the show opens so you had better hate the men p.1t on their gas clothes and boots Send both runners here and have all the gun crews turned out Put Carson on the phone for Lleut Hull at the evcecutne post too Vers well slr replied the sergeant and turnlng he hfted the heavy curtain and xamshed lnto the darkness outslde I5 fi o 0 , ' , ' rr E . Ls' - Y-Q , s' ' . I Qui: gf . , . I E, . L 5 Y n 1 U I vt 1, ' .Q x U , , g- .- Z' 1 ' . 1 ng . ,. In . . - . H Qefggmg CJ ' ' A' - . ' , sir. s ' v . ' ' ' ' . It showed 23:50 tl l :50 p. m.D. He picked up his range table and set to work to . .I A . ' , '. ' '- - , ' -t ' C : . lt . ' , . , ' - C S . y - . Y A V . Th . ' ' , ' ., ' ' h

Page 16 text:

THE ATHENIAN and to all sides to ayoid collision But the drizzle persisted in cloudlng my goggles and obscuring the yision It was necessary to remain within fiye hundred metres of the ground in order to see the course And skimming along at that height would afford little opportunity to select a landing ground in case the motor failed Already one bus was circling back in an attempt to limp to camp with crippled engines and the others w ere hopelessly scat tered Under such conditions we would be unable to pick up the escort of chasse planes which were to meet us before reaching the lines lhe prospect of a trip oyer enemy territory without such protection w as not encouraging Almost at the Piaye another plane was forced to drop the race due to misbehay mg motors It had plugged along gallantly with one engine failing from the first but when a second failed it had to seek refuge Skimming over unfriendly country with a full load of bombs when the motors are apt to expire at any moment is worse than running the anti arrcarft But ten other machines continued It was an anxious evening that we spent on the field while aw aiting the return of the other w anderers or at least the news of their fate just as darkness w as settling one bus fluttered into camp with a spar shattered by shrapnel and part of the controls Jammed It had reached the objective bombed the bridge and machine gunned the troops on the road but in descending too low it was caught by an archie How the boys eyei accomplished the return trip is a mystery A heayy night fog creeping in from the sea obscured the camp and we feared for any belated crews caught up there ln the darkness in their efforts to reach home rl hree large searchlights turned their beams into the sky but the futile rays lost themsely es in the mist Flares were lighted oyer all the field rockets and Verey pistols were discharged into the air in an effort to attract any derelict seeking safety Presently we heard the blll0I'l The efforts were not in vain for the ghastly white object came gliding through the mist and ettled ln the glare of the searchllght It also had reached its objectiye but almost came to grief at its own lair The pilots reported that while circling aboye and endeayormg to locate the field a dark jagged mass suddenly loomed up ahead and only by banking up dangerously did they avoid crashing into the crest of one of the mountain hills that girdled the camp Night w as now on and four crews had failed to return It w as useless to continue the rockets because the gasoline supply of the machines would have been exhausted long ago so we gathered at the squadron mess hall still cherishing the hope of receiylng some message concerning the safety of the others It was a silent meal that eyening with so many places yacant The usual bolsterousness seemed to be dampened somehow Fyen those who had returned scarcely mentioned their experience Before long howeyer the gloom was relieved by telephone messages with tidings from the stranded outfits One plane had been forced to descend at Padua on the return trip another had lost its course and landed near Venice and a third came to earth at an enemy ayiation camp which only the day before w as occupied by the Allies Before the eyemng w as oy er messages were TCCCIN ed from all the crews and strange to say not a casualty had occurred Only three planes out of the nine reached the OlJjE'CllYC' but they had accomplished the work and best of all the expected sacrifice of comrades had not been required The operations for the next day would be sorely crippled with so many machines stranded out of camp but at the front the completion of a day is sufficient the morrow will take care of itself I4 v' I I , v y - V ' , . ' ' ,- V I , I s Y ' .. . . Y U V - , ' I V I V U ' V V . - , drone of a machine circling aimlessly over head, and we redoubled the pyrotechnic exhi- ' ' , ' 9 Y n v V 1 V X ' ' ' , V , . ' ' 3 . . ' . 5 . 1 y. . V . , . ' ' V ' , , V ' V V ' x C L V' K 'V 1 ' V . C -. K 'S V V' , . ' . A . I Hr v 1 'Q ' v. K ., I L Z i t .' '. . I 3 ' Y. ' . .

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THE A THENIAN Comrng out to see the blg show start3 asked the executrve officer as he turned up the collar of hrs sllcker and wrth hrs Hashlrght ln one hand and hrs data sheet rn the other he lifted the gas curtam You bet We II be out ln tlme but there s no hurry and we want to take another look at the map first For a few mrnutes the two remalnlng offrcers leaned over the map whrle the first offtcer pomted out the barrage lmes and the special polnts upon whlch the battery was to concentrate nts fire At two mrnutes tlll one a m the first officer put on hrs tm hat and slrcker and the two stepped outside It was ralmng hard and no matter In what dlrectlon you looked not a glrmmer of lrght could be seen Save for the noise of the fallmg ram and the srghmg of the wmd through the trees not a sound came to their ears The stillness and darkness was oppresslve and both men rnvoluntarrly shuddered as they thought of the boys ln the trenches up ahead The flrst officer held hrs watch up close to hrs face The luminous dual showed one a m l wonder whats wrong with But the sentence went unfinished From the woods far back to the rear there was a brlght flash of llght followed almost Instantly by the deep rattlrng roaring rushxng sound of a bug shell on rts way to the German llnes Then came the dull hollow boom that told them It was a long range rifle which had opened the program for the hrst performance staged by the First American Army That flrst shot was a challenge taken up by every battery wlthrn srght or hearing along that front In an Instant the low hangmg black clouds the trees the ruined vrllage the whlte road ID fact everything was lighted up as brlght almost as day by the flashes from the hundreds of guns The earth shook under foot and the constant roar and rumble made talkmg an rmposslblllty The mighty overture had started wrth the song of the guns They spoke they roared they sang they cursed Human ears had seldom lf ever heard such a sound When the guns spoke nearby the flash left one blind for a few moments and the blast of alr struck one lrke a gust of wmd For four hours the shelling continued Then just as the watches showed five a m and as the hrst grey streaks of dawn were cllmbmg the eastern sky the doughboys up front went over The first act had started The clouds began to break and here and there patches of blue began to show through The roar of the guns now became louder and there was a different tone to It all For four hours the artillery had been flrlng on cross roads strong polnts barbed wrre entanglements towns and woods It was how ever just a spasmodlc harassing fire But now came the drum fire the steadv syn chronlzed harmonized barrage behind which the tanks each followed by a strung of doughboys started their creepmg march towards Bocheland From the boche lmes there came an mcreaslng number of star shells and signal rockets lrghtrng up the drlftxng clouds and crymg to their srlent artillery For God s sake give us everything you have But the cries for help avalled them nothlng The four hours preparation had given our artillery a chance to sllence their guns Then as the mornmg broke through the ever growmg rlfts ln the cloud canopy our avtators could be seen dartrng down upon the retreating columns of boches machme gunnlng men and horses and bombing the fleeing artillery and ammunltlon tralns The Flrst American Army had started rts first show There was only one act In a little over twenty four hours a drvrslon commg from the south and a dlvrslon coming from the west had met and clasped hands The St Mlhlel salxent was no more H . - Y 11 r ' V . 1 L 1 , . u 1 ' - 1 V ' - 1 11 , . 1 1 - - - 41 - 11 - 1 - 1 1 1 . v ' 1 1 11 1 - 11 1 1 1 1 ' 1 ' 1 1 - , 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 , . ' 1 1 . , , 1 A 1 1 . , . . - - ns 1 11 - - 1 1 1 , - 1 1 1 ' 1 1 1 ' 1 , 1 ' 1 . 11 11 - - u 11 , . 1 - ' an 11 - . . . . . . . . H 1 1 1 . . ,, . . . , . . . . . 1 1 ' . , ' , . - ' ' 11 11 1 1 . - . ,