Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1917-06-07
ARM WORK Goes
ON BEHIND LINE
IN WEST FRANCE
(Staff Correspondence of The Associat-
ed Press.)

(Staff Correspondence of The Associat-
ed Press.)
| BRITISH ARMY HEADQUARTERS
IN FRANCE, June 7.-While the grip
Of the Germans, clinging desperately to
lines they flung from Switzerland to
sea, slowly but steadily is being brok
en- each backward step means added
desolation to a beautiful part of
France. The coming of spring has en-
phasized anew how closely the pursuits
of peace tread upon the heels war.
Tidy French farms, economically pre-
else, reach up to very domain of the
guns and it is possible on many parts
of the line to see old French men and
women following ploughs or harrows
almost to the very edge of the heavy
battery positions.
Shells are tossed near them now
and then but they never seem to mind.
The war is nearly three years old now
ard shells and battle noises have be-
come the normal things of life, not the
abnormal ones. It is even possible al
ong older bits of the line in the north
TIC see farmers ploughing both sides of
the war zone. At the places less
harshly dealt with whence the Ge:.
mans were driven this spring. many of
the trenches already have been filled
and the ground is being put under cul-
tivation. Some of the newly sowr
fields, however, recently have been
ripped up by long ranged German
guns.
/ Fighting men who are relieved every
little while from front line duty come
for brief rest to the springtide beau
ties of the back country and the charge
OF surroundings from the cauldron of
war to the peace of blossoms and birds
is no greater than the transformation
of these English Tommies, themselves,
and their brothers from overseas.
These men who, under the red spell OF
battle, shoot, bayonet and bomb to
death all who stand before them, be-
come gentle as little children again.
One can see these soldiers with the
battle fatigue still heavy upon them
standing for hours in long lines out
side divisional canteens waiting their
turn to go in and buy as others stream
out laden with cakes and candy.
Grim and resolute in battle, Tommy
Iseems to have a certain simplicity
Iond kindness of heart which makes him
react quickly to the normal laws OF
manhood as soon as the fighting is
over. If he has to make journey by
train, he sits in the open doors OF
boxcars with his feet and legs swing
ling outside. If there is a movie
show" anywhere near, he gladly pays
fifty cents to go always, especially
when war scenes happen to be shown.
laughing heartily when shell, burst
ing nearby, appears to have upset the
equilibrium of the men working the
camera.
Today, while resting, squadron cav
airy was having water carnival along
pretty little French river. Their
band was playing gay airs and all the
women. children and old men of the
countryside came to see the swimming
races, diving contests and attempts 10
walk a greasy pole across a swift
running stream. There was a soldie :
clown, too, and a great air of merri'
tment all about. A German prisoner
taken sometime ago said he could al.
ways tell when the British were not
going to attack by the fact that the
Tommies could be heard singing, es-
, pecially ragtime.
There are no longer any songs about
how long it is from Tipperary but at
work or play or swinging along the
roads to battle, nowadays, the Tommies
!, sing about wanting to get back to
their home in Tennessee and about
having Kentucky jubilee, without the
slightest idea just where Tennessee or
Kentucky are.
If the American expeditionary force
comes into the British zone, the Amer
leans will find the bands playing and
the men singing many old familiar
tunes.