South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-11-12
MEN LOCKED IN
GERMAN TRENCHES
Frederick Palmer Relates Story
of Grip to Positions
Taken by Allies.


This time we are going 10 show you
a field OF victory-lines Of trenches
which we took from the Germans"
Not all the spoil had yet been re-
moved from that section 10 miles
long and from one TO five in breadth
on Sept. % and &c the French had
broken back the siege line OF the
Germans with the concentration Of
infantry and the expediture OF mill
lion shells.
As we approached the field what
looked like a man OF war turret on
wheels was being drawn along the
road. The cupOla OF riveted armor
was denied by shell fragments 1T
had an opening for the swing OF a
small gun and a door for the exit and
entrance of the crew which could be
fastened by a bolt and a heavy chain.
Three men were found inside
locked in" said an officer. The tur-
ret was set in the parapet OF trench
at an important point OF the line.
All the German soldiers in the
neighborhood had either been killed
or buried alive. We had TO break
the lock TO take the crew out All
three were alive. but stunned. They
had gone on firing their gun as long
as they could"
Freely the correspondent moved
between the old first line French and
German trenches, which for many
months had been a zone Of death Tor
whoever showed himself. In front of
the first line trench the Germans had
barbed wire entanglements five or six
feet broad. rabbit could not have
gone through without being caught"
Chopped TO Bits.
In places now you had to search
70 find any wire. 1t had been chop-
ped into bits by the burst Of shrapnel
bullets from the "sOixante quinze"
guns and then kneaded into the earth
by high explosive shells. Those guns
had been firing from range OF any
where from two thousand to five
thousand yards. yet with such &C
curacy that they could hit this rib
bon of wire six feet broad.
on such accuracy depended the
success Of the infantry in reaching
the German trenches. There must be
guns and shells enough to destroy
wire over a front Of 10 miles.
If the Germans in the trench with
their rifles and machine guns and
hand grenades could go on firing IL
meant murder for the Frenchmen ex-
posed in the open as they charged.
So 10 or 20 yards beyond where
wire was being cut more shell fire had
TO Kill the fire FROM the German
trenches Some blasts Of shrapnel
bullets here, too. enough to make any
man in the German trenches want to
keep his head down if he was not
buried or evi7cerated by high explO
sive shells.
For hundreds Of yards N some
places there was scarcely any SEM
blance Of trenches after the French
guns had prepared the way for the
French infantry. 1t was as if the
trenches had been dynamited system
atically with charges plotted out
checker-bOard fashion.
At other places. where the destruc-
ton had not been so complete, 1t was
possible 10 see what the German
trenches were like and with what
amazing thOrOughnesS and care they
had been built.
Seemed ImpreSnablc.
To q layman they seemed impreg-
nable. Down these slanting shafts
under the parapetS We're caves 90 and
30 feet deep, for refuge in a bonn
bardment- In many cases the open
ing had been closed by the descent
of ton or more or earth from the
parapet from the conclusion of
large calibre hOwitZer shell, and all
the men within were buried alive.
The fate Of those who were in the
trench itself was often TO be buried
in fragments of flesh and bone blown
into the soil by the explosives. The
German guns could not fire on the
barbed wire for fear OF hitting men
in the trenches and the French fire
stopped for fear of hitting the
French. Where an inferno of explo-
sions had ragged peace resigned over
the wreckage wrought by French
gunner as the French soldiers sprang
over the remnants OF parapets to face
with bayonet and datger any German
that had survived and was in pos
session Of his senses.
Even those who were" said a SOL
der "often yielded. What would
YOU? We swarmed around them
We summoned those alive out of
their dugouts. Thus we took our
prisoners. That is. we took those
who were alive. The dead and the
wounded-Ah, Monsieur. they were
more numerous than the prisoners /
IL was terrible, Monsieur, and it all
happened very fast. Monsieur. The
blood was hot. We had waited many
months. It was victory.
How good the hOugh-hOugh Of the
soixante quinze sounded behind usi
How good the scream of our big
shellsl Then there were the mines
We exploded. Have you seen the
craters? So big you could almost put
the Arc de Triomphe into one of
them.
Charged Wall Of Smoke.
I'VE charged into wall Of smoke
and dust from the shells and the
smoke and dust were still thick when
we reached the German trenches.
And what did you think OF when
YOU charged ?"
"Of nothing. Monsieur. except to
get there. We ran as fast as we
could The sooner we got to those
trenches the better-the less time
the Germans had to recover from the
shell fire and begin firing at us"
Did YOU get as many Germans as
they got of YOU? 20
More In the first line trenches
many more"
The question asked a score OF times
OF officers and men always brought
the same answers.
Il was against the second line of
trenches that the French suffered