Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-28
British Soldiers Loud in Com
mendation of the Artillery
and Air Machines.
ROAR OF WAR PRECEDING
HEROIC CHARGE AT LOOS
No Interval Between Reports of
Shell Bursts-"Wave of Men"
in Team Play.
of the Associated Press.

all the army is singing the praises of
the guns and the planes. No such bonn
bardment had ever been heard on the
British front as that which preceded
the attack
There seemed no intervals between
the reports of the guns: not even those
of the beat of snare drum. The roar
had the power and continuity of
Niagara Falls. House windows in the
surrounding country kept up con-
tinuous rattle.
1T is the sweetest sound in the
world" said one of the surviving vete-
rams of the retreat from Mons. at
means you will get into the German
trench and have a fair fight of it and
you won't charge into the play of the
machine guns or be hung up in the
barbed wire. year ago when we
held the Germans back from the chan
mel ports we were doing it with flesh
and blood against the outnumbering
German artillery. The most comforting
sight in the world is an eieht-inch
howitzer: and next to that is a motor
truck loaded with high explosive
Shells"
Wave of Men Rises.
AS morning approached after the
British front were looking at their
wrist watches. In front of Loos the
figure six marking the half hour
s:30-was the goal Of the creeping
minute hand. At that moment wave
of men rose from the first line British
trenches. and the volume of shell fire
was lifted from the first line German
to the second line the stream from
q hose is lifted from one flower bed to
another Meanwhile in ha
charge tried to outrun every other
man. The sooner they were in the
German trench the less likelihood of
the Germans coming out of their dug
outs and recovering their senses after
the bath of shells and firing on the ad-
vance If only one machine gun can
be manned before the charge goes home
the charge may be stopped in that i'm
mediate section 1t is all matter of
wrist watches. Of speed, team play and
of seconds.
With the first flush of dawn the birds
Of war had come from their aero
dromes- The shellfire and the planes
wore all that the onlooker might see
II should think that we had eight
planes that day to one of the Ger
mans" said an aviator. I'VE had con-
centrated planes as well as guns"
Only when the secret of the point of
concentration is kept can such an at
tack succeed against modern defen-
sive position. The Germans had learn
ed that the British were preparing an
attack, for their soldiers called out from
their trenches to the British: When
are you coming?" to which one Briton
replied: III let you know as soon as
Sir John French tells me-"
Attacks were made that morning at
several places, but the Germans ex-
pected the real attack elsewhere than
Loos.
g Element of Surprise.
ssrhare has haap , 1ood do,1 80 .,1I.
said staff officer. ito the effect that
the element of surprise has disappeared
from war. 1t is vital as it ever was
Only concealment was never SO diff
cult
Troops and guns had to be moved at
night when the German planes might
not note the concentration. British
planes must ward off German planes
by day.
Infinite labor and pains in detail are
required, of hundreds of thousands of
men for such an attack. That of the
Medical Corps alone is stupendous. On
the morning of the attack beds were
ready, and the countless ambulances
and the clearing stations and all the
intricate organization for caring for
the wounded ready.
AS the attack proceeded a veritable
flock OF planes was cutting circles and
dipping and turning over the cattle
neiu as if in an exhibition OF airrnan-
snip They appeared to be disconnect-
ed with the battle, but no partici pant
was more busy or intent than they All
the panorama of action was beneath
them; they alone could really see" the
battle If they chose. But each aviator
stole only passing glimpses of the
whole, for each one was intent on his
part, which was to keep watch of
whether the shells of the battery to
which he reported were on the target
or not.
Unable to Distinguish.
To distinguish whose shell burst was
whose in the midst of that cloud of
dust and smoke over the German posi-
tons seemed as difficult as to separate
the spout of steam from one pipe from
another when a hundred were making
wall of vapor.
Every youth in England, apparently
wants to get into the aerial service. So
the corps has its pick. Promotion is
rapid: the romance and the excitement
Of the work appeal 1t Is easy to learn
to ny In the very stable latest types OF
machines. which. the saying goes
are foolproof" IL takes only two
months to train a man with aptitude 10
do the routine work of reconnaissance
But he must be young. Men do not
learn readily after they are thirty
with few exceptions, and they are very
poor pupils. indeed, after they are
thirty-hve. 1t is not dificult to spot
shells when only few batteries are
firing. but when perhaps a hundred
guns are dropping shells on a half-mile
front of trench highly trained eye is
required. Occasionally a plane was OBJ
served to slip down like hawk which
had located a fish in the water. Al al
hazards that intrepid aviator was
going to Identify the shell bursts of the
batteries which he represented. The
Germans might have hin. in rife range
but they were TOO busy trying to hole
back the English infantry to fire al
him.
Smelling of Trains and Bridges.
Other planes were dropping shells OF
railroad trains and bridges, to hindel
the Germans, once they had learned
whore the force of the attack was Il
be exerted from rushing reinforcement!
to the spot. For that kind of work, a.
for all long Reconnaissance, the ayia,
tors like low-lying clouds They eli,
down out Of these to have a looi
around and drop a bomb and then ris,
to cover before the Germans can brint
their anti-aircraft guns to bear
The nrst thing was to hold what wa;
taken in this advance. All the tho
OF turning the wrecked German int.
British trenches, of making new dug
outA traverses and parapets and Law.
Our Advice Is:
When you feel out of sorts from cons.;-