New Britain herald., 1915-11-16
CHAMPAG BATTLE
 INTENSELY EXCITING
American With Ambulance Corps
 Tells of His Experiences

New York, Nov. 16.-The experien- ces of a number of Americans who
 were in midst of the great battle of
 Champagne last month when the
 French made their notable advance
 against the Germans, are related in
 a letter made public yesterday from
 Richard Norton, the organizer and
 commander of the American Motor Ambulance Corps.
 One point that is disclosed in MT.
 Norton's narrative is the fact that gas apparatus which was captured from the Germans, in the battle of Champagne was dated as far back as 1908, thus showing," he said, that seven years ago the Germans had de- clded to fight with gas.'
 The letter is dated at La CroiX, Champagne. October IA, and is ad- dressed to Elliot Norton, his brother in New York. He points out that it is just a year since the corps came into being, and that it has grown un- ti it now includes some sixty motor ambulances to which the St. Johns Corps and the Red Cross societies render any assistance that is requested.
 PreSentmentS of Battle,
 For some weeks before the battle began We knew from all sorts of evil dence that a big movement was on foot. The movements of troops by night and day, the great numbers of l aeroplanes and captive balloons and l general rumor all pointed to this. It l was not, however, until We were sent 1 from the region of Amiens to this 1 district that we knew where the at tack was to be made. And it was not until we had been some three weeks stationed within a few miles l of the line here that we had any ink ing as to exactly when or at exact y what spots the blow would be de- ivered
 When, however, we were sent for ward, our base became village of 4a Croix, where two large hospitals lad been erected. Seven of the am- 'ulances were stationed here, two 'thers at Somme Tourbe, five at La 'alle and finally two groups were ent to the woods, where we camped 'ut' in tents and dugouts and carried he wounded of the twenty-first ard divisions from trench $ Nos. and 5, which had been dug or the purpose of bringing them out f the firing line.
 Country Prepared
 ''The whole countryside had been 1ost carefully prepared One main oad had been cut from St. Jean over 1e rolling chalk hills to the villages ( Herlus and Mesnil, which were etween the French batteries and the ont trenches, and from which other pads ran further north. Besides this ain road there were many tracks nd trails over the chalk desert and lese as the days passed became ore and more clearly marked. But le instant the rain began to fall. hich it did the first day of the l attle, and continued off and on for lany days, they became as near ' npassable as could be. It was not nly the enormous amount of traffic hich made driving difficult, but the ightest rain turns this chalky soil ito a mixture so slippery that a IF standing quiet on the crown of le road would not infrequently idle gently but surely into the gutter hich was of course, deep in mud. t night we had to drive without ghts, which increased our difficulty. esides the making of the road men, oned, narrow guage railways had cen laid to carry munitions and ther supplies to the fighting line nd for miles the land was scored 'ith deep-dug trenches.
 'It was on the twenty-fourth that 'e received final orders to move up 1 Q the lines and to station our cars | t the field hospitals and the trench s. We sorted out the cars and men ccording to their various capacities
 took one group on the night of he tWenty-fourth up to the lines. The ther trench group was in charge of Gessrs. J. B. Harrington and J. H. 'helps.
 Packed With Humans,
 'Ihe country was absolutely 1 lacked; l can scarcely find any word l Iv>urv -M N W-VN[O[,~[@<~ |