The Washington times., 1917-12-23
TWELVE MEN
LETOHOLD
BACK HEAVY
TROOP DRIVE

The most striking feature Of the war
On the western battle front during the
past twelve months IL the pilIbox system
of defense employed by the Germans,
according TO an article in the Scientific
Arleriean. entitled The Trench System
Of Defense va The PfIbox System" and
an interesting comparison Il drawn be-
tween the old trench system and the 1911
''nsxibls" system Of German defense.
The need for the piIlbox system was
made evident when It was seen-that even
the most pretentious forms Of dugouts
AID subterranean camps, says the writ
~ proved Vulnerable to allied artillery.
aerial supremacy and preponderance Of
Eunhre. which rented with the entente
cSrces during the battle Of the Somme.
annvinced the Germans that the old-time
aty.enl Of serried lines Of trenches was
no lonlker an efficient means Of defense
Aerial supremacy" which made pos
aible the laying OF accurate artillery
Ars on the plainly delineated German
trenches; prepondernnce OF artillery,
which made possible the obliteration Of
trench systems and the destruction OF
7defenders; perfected barrage fire, which
lsspt German dugout garrisons below
,Eround until Il ives too late for them
70 emerge except 10 surrender-all these
lfactors spelled the doom Of the inten-
iasFs trench system. according to the
German military leaderA
The early days Of 1917 witnessed
n nsw system of defense which the
Germans sometimes refer 20 as the
lHdexibIe' system, and the British as
;1he 'pilIbox' system Instead OF a
J series Of parallel trenches connected
| by communication trenches, in their
iasEmpaign Of this year. the Germans
have made use Of large numbers Of
ffsolated concrete biockhouses, scat
tered to q considerable depth over
I the territory to be defended. Re-
fServe troops, for launching counter
cffensiVes, are kept several miles in
back Of the piI1box, or defensive
area, starting with feeble forces near
sr the enemy and gradually increAs-
ing the numbers until the whole di-
I, visions are held In readiness in the
: villages at the rear.
2 To Lever Jossea.
Theoretically, the pIlI-box defense
IA supposed to come ent' % TIE bonas
bardment with less than 80 per cent
aoss. Each. pin-boz II constructed OF
fS-snforesd concrete. and nothing short
sef q direct hit by q big shell can
wreck II. The usual pill-box has =
GarTison OF twelve men, and IL arm
ed with two or more machine guns,
.SEhiie more powerful blockhouses
known a. 'mebus' are garrisoned by
hS many. a. sixty men. The barrage
fire passes over the pfll-boxes and
1nebus without destroying any except
those directly hit; and with shells
Cropping 1t every thirty feet apart
rhe percentage OF German defenses
eft intact to face the infantry is
considerable. As the enemy infantry
Jnakes its way through the maze of
apill-boxes II Is subjected to enfiIad-
1nE machine-gun fire from all sides.
and becomes weaker as Il penetrates
Beeper.~ Finally, when IT has passed
Through the defensive area II is sud
denly confronted by fresh German
Troops pouring out from points far
TO the rear, which oYerwhelm the
weakened allies.
But in practice the Germans have
Deem sadly disappointed, in some re-
Bpects at least While II Is true that
- fair percentage OF the pill boxes
~--AeABA NAAG gDAA9%ANhAcll Will
out damage. their garrisons soon find
themselves isolated and besieged by
little bodies OF especially-traIned al
lied infantry which are left behind for
Just this purpose, while the main body
pushes on. And although the losses
Of the attackers are considerable, q
.EurpTtsinEly large number penetrate
SGr enough into the defensive zone 70
make the gain worth while. Mean
,yShile the German support troops, not
knowing exactly what has taken place
~ the control OF the air does not rest
with them. are rather slow in counter
attacking, and when they do counter
attack they are C3liEed 10 cover a con-
Siderable distance only to md the at
tackers firmly entreBched and ready
10 receive them
= Men Held In Cheek.
: "rhe allies have made Il q point in
fheir 1917 offensive TO hold their men
N check; each attack is clearly work
ed out and the objeetiYss limited be-
fore the men ''Eo over the top" This
Dtrmits the artillery IRE TO protect
stbe attackers even after they have
saehed their objectIyes. SO that the
German troops coming across open
Eround In the counter attack are sub
-3ected to q hurricane Of nre Just as Il
ihey were the original attackers"
: The writer. however. argues that
here are some flaws in the pill-box