The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-01-10
NO MONOTONY Of
LIFE IN ARTILLERY
German Soldier Writes From
Front About Conditions
HUDDLED IN A CAVE
Waited for Shell to Blot Out Lives.
Men Not Allowed to Return
Fire of the Enemies
Batteries

Munich, December 27.-(Correspondence
of the Associated Press. Life in an ar
tillery emplacement is exciting Men so
stationed are subjected to gunfire which
never before has reached such an aver
age of accuracy, and at times must pro-
tect themselves against the attacks of
the enemys aviators s.
In letter just published here this is
well illustrated After dwelling on the
comfortssof the bomhproof cave in which
the men of the battery dwell--in which
they have even tables. chairs, lockers
and a stove--the writer continues as fol-
lows, the shifting lenses being his:
"A tremendous black column of earth
rises from the ground as the shells strike
near us. The clock in our cave strikes
as IL scared out of its wits. and then
stops. Everything trembles and shakes.
The dry earth on the sides of the bomb
proof peels off and falls
I'VE sit quietly--waiting for the shell
that will bury us. One after another falls
close by. but the one we wait for does
not come. The enemy's battery has fired
five shots and now stops.
"An hour later the bombardment start
On the table cigar burned a hole into
glove. Nobody had sense or ambi-
ton enough to prevent it.
Everybody Feels Tired
when the bombardment was over
everybody felt a peculiar sort of fatigue.
All conversation ceased. One of the men
left his seat and YEARLY threw himself
upon the straw bed Before he went to
sleep he turned over and whispered
Call met
1.-The worst of it was that we were
not permitted to return the fire. No doubt
the division staff had its good reasons
for that Things would be different had
we been able to return shot for shot We
would have been of the best spirits in
that case. But to sit there, like dumb
brutes. and wait for orders under such
a fire, was bad experience.
1.-The day passed in this manner. The
enemy's fire ceased at in the evening.
and after a meal of bacon, bread and
coffee made of cereals we felt better. A
partridge pie which my mother had sent
me helped to cheer us up.
Next morning at the order: Ready
for fire. came by telephone. Man the
guns-distance 2l00 yards-shel fire. said
the voice at the other end of the wire.
Though it was still dark, we heard from
the distance the thrashing of infantry
fire.
Our shells shrek and whistle across
the plain. Shot well placed-battery
salvos--every 10 seconds one-distance now
1900 yards telephoned the observation
officer
Is Hard Work
The fun commences. 1t is hard work.
Precipitation rolls off us like the rain,
which has just commenced to fall.
but the enemy's motor battery also
starts again. The first shell hits near
our position. The second one hits the
bombproof-we had been located. A
veritable sea of explosions surrounds us
lightning detonations, crashes, shrieks,
smoke and powder stencil give our en-
vironment the appearance of the crater
of volcano. We are covered with mud
which the enemy's shells throw up and
which descends on us like hail.
:" 'Twenty-one seventy -five" / shouted
at the gunner. But he did not move.
Fischer was my next shout. At
that moment the body OF the gunner
slipped between the seat and the sighting
mechanism noticed that fragment of
a shell had entered his forehead.
Gently We placed the body to one side
and another gunner took the seat We
continued our fre-calmly-ste adily-in
our minds saw the destruction wrought
by our shells in the lines of the enemys
infantry
$50 it continued for sometime, then
came from the observation station the
command: Cease fire for a while
In the afternoon another shell hit our
position, and another man had to be laid
aside. He was a loveable old fellow
Later we buried the two.
Rain fell throughout the night and
next day. BY noon our bombproof was
filled with water. We waded around in
that up to our waists. Later in the day
the bombproof caved in and we saved
nothing but the telephone instrument,
our carbines and coats. We then spent
sometime in the cellar of nearby farm |
house and tomorrow we go back for a |
rest. Our place will be taken by re- |
serve regiment with wonderfully clean
uniforms and brand new brown boots. |!
Our uniforms have all the colors of the
rainbow on "A mud-yellow background"