El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-07-04
AFTER TORRENT
Of SHELL, PLAY.
Horrors of Ypres Salient
Cannot Destroy Canadian
Youths Love of Sport.
BY FREDERICK PALMER.


Headquarters OF the British Army in
! France. July Through the horrors
they endure in the trenches around
Ferdun, the Canadians retain their love
of sport Five hours under a concen-
+ trated German shell fire exhausted only
temporarily the sturdy youths from
across the sea It was the greatest bat
tie in which the Canadians have yet
engaged. 1t was the worst torrent Of
shells that yet has been poured from
German guns upon the British trenches.
Mud-stained. blood-stained. they had
come away from the bloody piles of
dirt which had been their trenches and
after long sleep they had wondered
why they were alive and started to
play baseball to pass the time till they
should 80 into the trenches again
They had been in the thick of it from
500 a m. till 1870 p. m. On June .
right in the apex OF the Ypres salient
that bend in the line which had struck
out as invitingly to the Germans as
I the Nerdun salient for more than a
year
German Guns Placed Fnn shaped.
The Germans could arrange their,
guns IN 2 fan-shaDe around IL as they
. could at Nerdun; and they did When
I their guns began TO speak the British
guns spoke back. and even the old in
hahitants Of the Ypres salient agreed
that II was the worst ever. Nobody on
the spot ever supposed that there were
so many guns in either the German or
4. the British army
But the officer inside the farm house
sitting at the farmers dining room
table could tell all about this small
uart OF it. He and his men had been
IN and out Of the trenches on their
shifts till they were quite used 10 the
n =
caily Wastage- The morning of June
: was very quiet 4 general who was
taken prisoner aftarward was making
an inspection. An occasional crack OF
a bullet over head and an occasional
shot in answer At $50 the inferno
broke without any more warning than
. boiler explosion. They always do
British. or French. or German.
knew What Was Coming.
officer.
Anybody with any experience at the
front would know At any time either
side wants to concentrate its artillery
on a certain frontage OF trench. that
frontage is bound TO go down: and the
attacking side can rush it's infantry in
an --'-e rhr roh-is The dsF~-~-fffv is
to hold It This time the shells were
coming from the front and both sides.
According to the usual system they
were laid on both the front and the
support trenches with Z curtain OF fire
between the two.
You know the kind Of country It
Is, this quiet young officer from To-
ronto went on
against the soldier. II he digs a
trench water fills it. Mostly he must
depend on sandbags-rOOfs and wall or
sandbags. He cannot dig cellars 20
feet under the earth and crawl into
them when the "cloudburst Of hell"
descends as in billy and mountainous
country. So nobody ever has a good
word to say about the Ypres salient !
except the peasants The soil Is rich. /
We had no orders to 60" said the j
officer. we stuck
Rifles Useless.
They could not fire back at those I
guns thousands Of yards away with I
their rifles. No one was showing his
mead in the German trench opposite. .
If man leaned over a section OF D. "a +
pet remaining to fire he and II might
De clown away b. another she'll The
only thing 20 do was for each man
TO find any kind Of cover he could in a
fresh sheil-hole il no parapet remained
and wait Messengers in such in
stances, be II the British or German Z
side. have one chance Of five in sur
wing II they try to 90 or come from
the-rear
Five hours Of this, Then at 100 IN
the afternoon orders TO retreat did ar
rive
That officer from Toronto gathered
The remnants OF his command under
he showers Of shrapnel bullets and
n the midst OF Eeysers from the high
explosives Just as he was starting
he tornado suddenly ceased This
meant the German infantry charge
- the Canadians started taking what
over they could in a half Obliterated
communication trench. they had a
Glimpse over their shoulders Of the
Germans arriving. German rifle and
Machine gun fire followed them on
heir way back TO the support trenches,
aking a final toll: then the British
Guns turned their tornado on the Ger
mans in their new positions and the Z
-upport trenches blaZed their rifle fire
ntO German charges
"SOme LueS.7 Thinks officer.
Another officer in another farm .
.Ouse. this one from British COlum bia T
Ie is pleased with the coat he wore Z
when he went through a curtain OF .
ire a piece Of shell had cut a big
ent 11nder the army without even +
e1etrating throuCh his undershirt
some luck, ehi" he said. 7 had a +
lunch that 1 would come through all (
iEht when I started"
HIS orders were TO 20 up in rein /
orcement He went one she'll struck .
n the midst Of platoon and got only
ne man That was some luck too ,
fen fell but the command went on 10 I /
he counter attack
Those who are in the thick OF II
ertainly get It hot" said another Of !
icer. Each company in the thick Of !
thinks for the time being that IL Is !
ighting the whole war. Its casualty J
list looks pretty bad But when YOU r
axe the losses Of a division as whole ,
ou are. surprised at the small per-
entage-"