Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1916-12-15
SOLDIERS BRAVE
COLD AND RAIN
FIGHTING ENEMY
British PrivateS Eat Five Hot
Meals Daily and Are Given
Warm CIotheSi Germans
Fare Worse,

fnY MORNING JOURNAL SPECIAL LEASED "iRFl
with the British Army in France
(via London, Dec. 14)-Several hours
Of glorious December sunshine this
morning brought glad relief from
week of dreary days, and sent scores
of airplanes and observation balloons
aloft and quickened the pulse of the
entire British army organization on
the western front But before the
daylight mad ended Ieaden clouds
had again shut in, the rain had be-
gun to fall and there was a some
what gloomy return to the winter
Weather-beaten warfare.
The fighting is fraught with mani
fold harships and calls for bravery
and determination far above that or
dinarly required to face the shot and
shell of battle. It il bravery again
unceasing attacks Of the elements
against the numhing influence of the
frost, against the bleak blasts of rain
laden winds, and against the cling
ing, holding mud of the shell plough
cd battlefields and oftentimes water
soaked front line trenches
It is difficult for ono who has nor
seen the conditions that apply to a
winter advance over ground that has
been the theater Of some Of the bit
terest struggles of modern warfare
to appreciate the conditions which
the entente allies on the western front
have overcome and still are conquer
ing. TO drive the Germans from
their deeply entrenched and tumblcd
positions along many sectors, it was
necessary for the entente forces to
blast the earth from above and be-
meath them, transforming villages,
roads and mdulating farm lands into
VCritable primoval wastes.
But the task of carrying on" over
this overwhelming stretch Of what
once was appropriately called mo
Mans Land, when it lay between the
opposing front lines, has been accom-
plshed and the problems Of trans
port have been solved more satisfac-
torily until now attention is being
largely devoted to ameliorating the
iron-hard conditions of the British
troops in the winter fields and trench
IS. Heavy sheepsllin and leather
coats and jackets have been issued to
the men and warm dry rest billets
provided for those in the support re-
serve pOSlubllN.
Five Hot Meals Daily.
Best of all, however, Tommy in the
front lines gets five hot meals daily.
There is breakfast at Z, dinner at II,
tea at 8 and soup or stew at and
again at o'clock in the morning.
From reports received from German
prisoners and observations made
during raids the British have con-
sidered that conditions on the Ger
man front are very different. Along
most of the new lines formed by the
! battle of the Somme, the German
/ front trenches are merely broken
stretch Of linked-up shell holes, with
no deep dugouts and only a few inn
proWsed hiding holes where two or
/ three men can take cover from the
! shrapnel.
/ British reports from the Somme
| section say the German communica-
/ ton trenches are impossible from
mud and the Smelling of the British
guns, so that all the carrying of sup
! plies and the bringing up of reliefs
/ have to take place over the open,
without cover of any kind. That IS
} why the British guns continue to
/ hurl shells back of the German lines
1 in the fog and rain often the shells
or bombs from the British side throw
/ up fountains of water high in the air
from the German trenches There
are no floor boards or other trench
comforts available for the Germans,
/ owing to the unceasing fire Of the
/ British artillery.
Thus far this winter, German pris-
oners say their troops in the west
! have not been supplied with any
sheepskin, leather, or fur coats. They
/ have received only wooden vests, body
bands and mittens. Normally, pris-
| oners say. they are supposed to be
| in the trenches not more than from
Ia to is days, but some divisions late
! " have remained there forty GAYS
and over. without relief. The rations
consist almost wholly of timed meat,
/ sausage, herring, sardines, rice, rye
bread. coffee and mineral waters. Re
Gently a daily ration of brandy has
been issued to the men in the front
line. For rest, the men often are
crowded into damp clothes
Despite the freedom with which
some of the prisoners state the con-
ditions from which they are glad to
be freed. all the Germans recently
taken assert that they and all other
comrades are thoroughly convinced
that they are at the outposts defend
ing our sacred frontiers against COW