Our
shifts were two hours on and four off. The purpose pursued by the
sacrifice gun is to surprise the enemy when in full view and exposed,
killing as many of them as possible, blasting gaps through their line
and enabling our men to dig in in the position to which they have
retired, we knowing all the while that there is not one chance in a
thousand that the men connected with the sacrifice gun will escape
either death or capture. Our orders were under no circumstances to leave
the gun as long as a shell remained and a man lived. Deuced pleasant!
The ground in front of us was well drilled with concealed holes all the
way from four to six feet deep, in each of which strands of barbed wire
had been placed and the opening carefully concealed with clumps of
grass, brush and the like.
Blaisdell and I volunteered to take first shift on the gun on the first
night, about 10 o'clock. We had to take a narrow path on the way, with
Fritz sniping us every step; he had registered the path and it was a
constant target for his machine guns and snipers.
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