Page:Ambulance 464 by Julien Bryan.djvu/216

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July 6th.
Tirage at Suippes.

Mike O'Connor and I have been out here all day and only had one run apiece. The post here is a "tirage," where all the blessés from the other posts are left and then taken by the men on duty there to the hospitals at Cuperly and St. Hilare au Temple. If these become overcrowded they are sent on to base hospitals at Châlons or Bar-le-Duc; and from there any cases which require special attention or a long period of recuperation are sent into Paris by train. Like all the other towns near the front, Suippes has been shelled considerably and occasionally even now the Boches drop in a few obus. They take particular delight in banging away at the railroad station, for though the inhabitants have been forced to leave the village, all the military supplies for this sector are brought up here by train. A poilu was killed here only yesterday by a "210." Mike and I got permission for a few minutes off about noon. We walked over to the church which was unharmed, with the exception of the belfry which had been torn away. The four bells were lying where they fell, in front of the altar, and the statues of two angels, kneeling

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