Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-09-18
/. WARS DRESS
REHEARSAL IS
/ INTERESTING
Writer Watches Great Prep
arations From Seat in
ss Battleplane.
Soldiers Trained in Every
Feature Of Life in the
i Trenches.
BY Kenneth w. Payne.
ktStaff Correspondent Of the Herald.J
3(Passed. by British Censor.1

{Passeds by British Censor.)
Aldershot, England, Sept. H.
From q b~attleplane q thousand feet
Above the trenches I have just been
swatching the dress rehearsal OF war!
The successive patches Of Ameri-
Twill be- put through trench war
iasscf0ols, where battle conditions are
realistically rehearsed, before they go
AsSinto the firing line.
One of the most marvellous war
schools of this kind is at Aldershot
where American troops are already In
Stratning. To learn just what kind Of
schooling in war the Americans re-
gosiye / visited the Aldershot battle
area.
The hills and valleys have been
made Into d faithful reproduction Of
tiny section Of the real front in
France. Here is g whole German
and actually Inhabited by soldiers in
ABoche uniforms! Confronting II is
Sthe British system, and In between a
careful reproduction Of No Mans
Land, complete down to the last de-
tall OF barbed wire, battle debris.
ssaps, mines, shell eraters, and part OF
Ssmashed-up aeroplane crushed
4 against the barbed wire.
Across this realistic battlefield
! stffri11ing battles are fought by the
men In training. A Royal Flying
sGorps pilot carried me over The bat
stlefield where belligerent activities
were in progress.
THE soldiers were being taught how
Ito capture an advanced trench. A
sbarrage-"quite like the real thing
said an officer afterwards-wae
sSthrown over the hostile trench. When
at ceased, q host of brown midgets
scarie oyer the top Of their trenches
sand rushed forward through the bat
tered wire. Trench mortars were
hurting bombs owe their heads into
Sthe strong points beyond. Colored
rocket signals whizzed through the
sSair. The roar was quite suggestive OF
saSr real battle. The attackers, with
Lewis machine guns rafting their
Sfanks. plunged bayonet first Into the
&&German" trenches, and proceeded &c
mop them up" bayoneting the de.
TENDERS who were represented by
sacks stuffed with straw.
When they finally had possession. Of
gsthe trench, an isolated mime crater
gust beyond them still held out, har.
boring theoretical Boche machine
war pupils who so valiantly had cap.
atnred the trench to bomb the mine
e gcraters tAnd the rain Of hand gren'
aades which instantly fell thunderous'
n iy into hat crater would certainly
have. sexterminated it's defendersS-hat
y they. been Of flesh and blood.
This dress rehearsal Of battle is nj
aasinnocuous picnic. Real bombs ant
hand grenades are used, flying in al
sdirections. And any OF them
1fi1tffrow n or Nspreffaturely exploding
might wipe out a whole group Of tn
actors or the audience.
e6Thissis only one phase of h train
ing through which tens Of Thousand
\ OF men are goingsin this school.
In another district / saw q real ga
attack. The men were sent into tn
trenches, and from cylinders conceal
ed In the bushes a vast mass Of ga
i clouds was suddenly sent whfrlinl
across them insthe breeze. Their look
outs set off the gas alarm Ind tn
men gave a. demonstration OF ] hoy
quickly. o gas mask an be dome
when It Is a matter Of life and deatf
The gas here used is not quite power
full enough to kill, but would max
the man who failed to adjust hi
mask feel unhappy for q while.
Some distance from the gas schoc
IL the snipers' school. AS VIZ crosse
the field our officer guide suddenl
cried, "You are covered by the rifle
Of, Shippers within thirty yards q
your And not n Of u party, eve