Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-02-20
GREAT ARMIES TO
MEET IN SPRING
WORD FROM BRITISH FRONT Is
THAT BETTER WEATHER WILL
SEE DECISION.

British headquarters in France, Feb
10, via London, Feb. 17.-(From stan
correspondent of the Associated
Press)-The cold which has held the
western front frost bound for nearly
a month is gradually moderating and
it is easy to sense all along the battle
line an unmistakable quickening which
tells of the approach of spring and
foreshadows the coming to grips of
the greatest armies yet assembled in
the worlds war. Already these armies
are reaching out toward each other,
testing various parts Of the lines and
attempting to discover the most likely
point of contact for the beginning of
the titanic struggle that is expected to
make this the decisive year Of the con.
f1ict. In anticipation Of eventualities
the Germans have removed the civil
ian populations from the cities and
towns in proximity to their line but
no such precaution has been felt nee
essary behind the allied front.
Sounds Like Storm.
Never silent, the British guns ar,
beginning to roar more and more
steadily. Tonight they are booming
of the Somme. From distance the
bombardment might easily be mistak-
en- Tor the <-umbling ecnoes Of pass.
ing summer storm. The chorus Of
guns rises and falls like great peals OF
, thunder and there are flashes In tho
darkened sky like the play OF light
ming along the horizon.
New groups of divisions have been
recently identified along the German
lines, bearing out reports Of great
troop movements now going on in
Germany British officers. however.
| say that this concentration is not as
formidable as it appears at first sight.
They say that many Of the so called
new divisions of their opponents are
merely rearrangement of old divi-
sions. These statements are based on
information carefully collected during
the continuous trench raids. In raid
undertaken this week an apparently
new Bavarian division was located. 1t
was after discovered that this corps
had been made UP from regiments TAX.
en- from older divisions, namely, the
| fifth. sixth and seventh. Another
manuever carried out by the Germans
has been a combing out of regiments
and divisions by which groups Of TWEEN
ty-five of the youngest men were taken
from each company in the line and
sent back to Germany to form new
units or corps d'elite that Field Mar
shall Won Hindenburg is placing his
greatest reliance.
Regiments Grow Smaller.
According to the information obtain
ed here the gaps in the companies
have not been filed and the diminution
in numbers has been covered in some
instances by reducing infantry regi.
ments from four battalions to three.
One infantry company was recently
encountered with rife STRENGTH Of
seventy-two out of a regulation COM
plement of IT'S. Landstrum regiments
have recently been identified ON the
front here. They had formerly been
employed in patrolling the Dutch from
tier and protecting lines Of commune
cation. According to prisoners the
picked men Of the landsturmers are in
the trenches while those who are un-
fitted for the hardships of the firing
line are or duty at the depots in the
rear. Utilizing the landstrum battal.
| ions in this way permits the organize
ton of the young men divisions in
! Germany and 1t Is these latter, British
officers say, whose movements are now
reported and who are depended upon
to withstand the shock Of the coming
battle Many boys of II and IS have
also been found in the Germsd
| trenches by the British raiders.