Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1916-12-11
Correspondent Tells of Trench
Warfare Conducted by
Raiding Parties of British
and Germans,
HAND T0-HAND GRAPPLES
FREQUENT OCCURRENCES
Canadians Frequently Crawl
Across mo Mans Land"
and Attack Teutons by
Indian Methods,

Copyright 1915 by the Associated
Press)
with the British Armies in France,
Dec. Z (via London, Dec. l0)-(From
a staff Correspondent Of the Asso-
ciated Press THE present phase of
the fighting along the British front
may be classed as essentially imper-
sonal by day, but Intensely personal
by night
During the short winter daylight
big guns back Of the fighting lines
hurl tons of high explosives against
the German positions. Targets arc
far far away, and on thick, misty
days the results of this continuous
harassing fire, are conjectured rather
THAN seen. This is the impcrsonal
side.
Primitive Fighting AT Night.
With the coming Of night, however,
all is changed. Then men meet face to
face, and hand-to-hand and primitive
methods OF mortal combat come again
into play in the midst of all the genius
of war The long, dark nights arc
ideal for trench raids.
Few of them ever gain the distinc-
! tlon of mention in the official com
Imunicatons, but in the aggregate they
lyield most satisfying military results.
/ Not only is there q cumulative effect
Ion the German casualty list, but many
prisoners are taken and useful infor-
nation obtained.
styles Change Frequently
styles in trench raiding change
from time to time, Just now the
popular method seems to be TO bonn
( bard a given section Of a trench and
ithcn set up n barrage or curtain Of
shells, behind which the ralding par
, ty crosses that perilous strip Of she'll
ploughed ground known as mo Mans
Land"
The raiders dash into the trench,
clear it of its defenders in any way
the exigencies require, and then dash
home again for shelter from the iney-
liable retaliatory shell fire from the
Germans
It is one of the strange psycholo-
.gies Of this strange war that while
grim death. rushed swiftly and surely
into the German trenches with the
raiders, these same English Tommies,
or Canadians or Australians, few
minutes later. may be sharing their
hot midnight raUons with the very
men who, by good fortune or quick
decision, escaped the fury Of their
deadly onslaught Later, these pri-s
oners are passed behind the lines to
join their brethren from other raids.
Hammer Is Favoritc Weapon.
There was q time when the Cana
dams carried out raids in true AmeH-
can Indian fashion. Small parties
would creep sSakelike over No .Man'-I
Land" cut their way through the
barbed wire entanglements, and lie in
wait just behind the parapets of the
trenches where they could hear all
that was said and all that was going
on within. often It would take two
or three hours to get across mo Mans
Land" There have been many in
stances whore, after work Of this
character. hot cocoa has been sent out
TO raiders lying under the German I,
to warm them and refresh !
them for the attack.
on raids Of this sort, men are al (
lowed to choose their own weapons 1
Few take revolvers and none rifles. I
Rather terrifying trench knives have |
been invented for the work, but ham
mers prove the handy and popular /
weapon. There are often cases whjNe |
raiders reach over grab some half .
asleep German by the back Of the
neck, haul him out and hustle him to
the home line without disturbing the
peace Of the Silly night The captured
men have been too startled to utter an
outcry until means have been taken
TO prevent them from doing 30.
Wcirdly Picturesque War.
Night life along the front line is
picturesque. There are flares 10
flares, flares, as far as the oye can I,
reach bursting into brief brllianccs,
hen leaving the night darker than
aver. The slightest unusual move IA
uent or suggested alarm sets vari- ,
'olored signal rockets Kissing from
he trenches Then comes the sput-
cring voice Of the vicious machine
gum spraying stcel-iacketed pellets Of ]
ieath with reckless fury ID
When driven. back to new positions, \,
he Germans endeavor to take advan- I
age OF dark nights TO "wirc them
selves in."
They are great believers i'm the eff
'acy OF barbed barriers. They some
lines build them eight feet high and
10 q depth of many feet the entangled
mass being fixed 10 iron posts.
Sometimes the British also have
working parties out There have been