Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-12-31
Neither Side Us Able to Cross the
Narrow Strip Without Being =
Crumpled by Terrific Fire.
WOUNDED ARE LEFT UNAlDED
Craonne, Smashed by the Artillery, 4
City Of the Dead-corres pondcnt
pescribes What He Saw Of tho
Bloody Conflict. f..
~ JAMES TuoHY.

a position to describe the details OF the
pr,otracted and momentous battle OF
the Aisne. 1t principally concerns the
bulldog-like resistance Of the British
troops against the constant ferocious
attacks by the Germans holding the
center of the long battle line while the
French troops were engaged in push
ing back the right flank Of the Ger
mans. '..
Sir John French, the British com
mander, undertook to hold this vital
point of strategic necessity where the
Germans we're gathered for 8, second
plunge toward Paris. ~ a -.a
With an army Of less than 10C,0OO
under his command tho British gen
eral succeeded in holding his position
on a fighting line Of 20 miles for five
weeks, until the French had. swept
the thanking movement SO far to the
north, that the immediate danger OF
German success had passed. .n4
With this accomplished both the
French and English assumed the az
tgressive. \ u
official Reports Not Complete.
No battle In modern times was more
flercely fought than Has been that OF
the Aisne day after day and referring
to which official COMMUNICATIONS gave
but the barest information that opera.
tions were progressing satisfactorily.
The official statements conveyed an
incomplete idea OF the tremendous un'
dertaking Iof the British and French
troops, The statements did not give
the real picture of how the British
held against the onslaughts Of the Ger.
mans a battle line 20 miles long and
for 80 miles on both ends of 1t the
French held up their end.
They did not tell how the battle was
raging day and night, turned into a
continuous nightmare to the men who
we're engaged in it, every one of whom
knew that upon the issue of it rested
one of the great deciding factors Of
the war. The statements dealt only
with general issues, not with the men
inSthe trenches. Yet these men count
ed in the result. Every mar knew
that If the allies could hold the Ger
mans in check along the Aisne they
would be able to hold them In the fu,
ture. And every man acted accord,
'fngly..
,>~ Neutral Valley Of Death.
Between both lines of battle there Is
a narrow strip, varying from 70 yards
to a quarter Of a mile, which is a leu.
trail valley of death. Neither side is
able to cross that strip without being
crumpled by fire against which no
army, no matter how great, could
stand. -ts ~ * ",-.
The Germans have attempted to
break through the British and French
forces hundreds OF times, but have
been compelled to withdraw, and al
ways with severe losses.
A number of small towns are dis.
tributed in this narrow strip. The Ger:
mans and French have reoccupied it
six times and each in turn has been
driven out. The streets of Craonne
are Uttered with the dead of both
armies. The houses, nearly all Of
which have been demolished by explod.1
ing shells, must also be full Of bodies
Of men who crawled into them to get
out of the whitening fire and have
there died. Many of these men died
Of sheer exhaustion and starvation
while the battle ragged day after day.
craonne City Of Dead.
Both armies apparently andoned
the struggle to hold Craonne perma.
and it IS now literally a city Of
the dead. I had an opportunity to look
upon the horrors of it from a point Of
vantage on the outskirts.
1t is a typical French village of an.
cient stone structure; the tiny houses
all have, or had, gables and tiled roofs.
These have mostly, been broken by
she'll fire. Under the shelter Of its
buildings both the Germans and
French have been able at times to res.
cue their wounded.
This is more than can be said of the
strip of death between the battle lines.
There the wounded lie and the dead 60
lnburied, while, the opposing forces di.
rect their merciless fire a few feet
above the field OF suffering and
carnage. l did not know until l looked
upon the horrors OF Craonne that such
could exist in modern war
fare. ~g 49, IS
l thought Of course that frequent
would be negotiated to give the
opposing armies an opportunity to col,
lect their wounded and bury theil
lead. l had an idea that the Red Cross
had made wal less terrible. The world
so yet, perhaps, but the condi
ions along the Aisne do not justify
hat belief. II a man ID wounded in
hat strip between the lines he never
gets back alive unless he is within
,hort distance Of his own Tines or II