Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1917-04-21
kANeARoos LIKE OPEN BATTLE
Australian Soldiers Happy Over Pass
ing Of Trench Warfare.

tASSuClateu f>feSS 1oIItSPoIlueiit.I
Australian Headquarters in France.
April 2l.-After these many months Of
trench warfare there Is keen delight
for the Australian soldier in this new
land warfare which the German re-
tirement has opened up. The fighting
Is now over rolling country. 1t is really
most of it wheat or turnip land which
has not been cultivated for year or
two The, country Is as open as the
Australian central plains.
1t Is quite new sort of battlefield
for these Australians. They march
thru valleys almost like valleys in the
peaceful parts of France. There are
whole acres in which one can not see
she'll hole. Back across the green
country came parties of men. in twos
or threes, sauntering as one might
find them on country road on Sun
days. They are the wounded helping
one another back to the rear. 1t is no
longer meritorious for an unwounded
combatant to leave the field and help
wounded comrade to the rear.
Nearer the front the country is more
feverish In tint. Angry bursts Of
tawny colors are seen in haphazard
the countryside. Here and there are
Australians il: great coats standing
behind mounds of earth with theiC
rifles over the top. bayonets always
fixed. Frequently when there is no
other shelter there are hastily scooped
trenches. A quarter Of a mile away
another party is lining a roadside, flat
on their stomachs in the ditch. Shells
are whizzing by, two or three a min
ute. High explosives are bursting be-
hind their backs about as far away az
the other side of cottage parlor. y
Lagncourt City Of Death.
To the right is sleepy French viii
lage. Not a thing is to be seen moving
in its streets. Bricks of tumbled walls
lie here and there just as the shells
knocked them. Thru them may be
seen the bodies of dead Germans ut
corners in thesangles of crumbled
houses. a courtyard visible thru a
shattered bricf wall. two Of them in
the bottom Of q big crater such as the
Germans blew at every cross roads to
impede the enemys advance. Nothing
stirs in tho whole village and the only
sound from this abode Of death Ia the
OCCuSAOuAA Ahu VI d. lnC O1 SOIuc uSuIiS
thrown skyward by shell. It is the
village Of Lagincourt
Once in while one meets a prisoner
being escorted to the rear. There Is
.something q bout t3shese little 3prooAs-2
'sions OF two men, prisoner and escort.
The prisoner. usually yoiinE German
private in gray uniform and steel he'll
met, walks In front. After him, grasp
ing his rifle with both hands across
his chest, his weather-beate brows
puckered, comes living embodiment
Of the Australian back country. Nine
cases out Of ten, somehow, the soldier
who escorts a prisoner seems to be a
bit of pure Australia, either Western
Australia or South Australia the
Warrego or the Burdekin. He is an
earnest man. intent on executing his
errand with dispatch and exactitude.
Can you tell me the way to head
quarters?" he asks as he passes. Then
he disappears up the street on the
heels Of his silent companion. These
Australians are just /as good fighters
in this new warfare as they were at
Gallipoli or in the trenches, perhaps
even better. They had their first en-
counter with German cavalry the 9TH
er day, but 1t was only q feint at a
flank and lasted only a few minutes.