Imperial Valley press., 1917-06-15
SOLDIERS
LIFE IN TRENCHES
MOST VIRILE OF ALL THE EN-
TENTE SOLDIERY.
DIVERSIONS OF WAR
Row TO OVERCOME BARBED
WIRE OF THE ENEMY.
french Raids on the Hirelings of the
Kaiser Described-Surprise
Is Great Element.

French Front, June l5.-lf the
morale" of troops may be based OF
the initiative they display in the face
of the enemy, then that of the French
soldiers at all points of the front
must be regarded as excellent. Three
years of the severest kind of warfare
has not jaded them. In fact, the
spirit of attack has, if anything, in
creased among them The recruits
of the younger classes learn quickly
to profit from the experience of
their comrades who have become vet
Grams and past masters in the art OF
furnishing surprises to the enemy,
and after their Incorporation into the
fighting units in the trenches, where
they rapidly acquire the routine of
continual watchfulness, they lose no
time in demonstrating their desire
t. carry out some act of individual
caring.
Living among them, as the writer
has done throughout the great op-
erations of the Somme, in the Ar
Gonne, on the Aisne, in Champagne,
in Alsace and around Verdun, one
GcquireS an unbounded admiratn for
tie unceasing activity and virility of
the French soldiers in all branches
of the service. Even during the in
tervals between great attacks and
lattles, when it would be expected
they would be only too eager to seek
repose and relaxation from the hard
ships and perils of trench life, there
are always to be found daring men
among them who voluntarily go out
toward the German lines in search
Of adventure, always with the hope
Cf bringing back some prisoners or
disturbing the enemy's plans.
One outlet for their overflowinG
activity is the organization of trench
raids, in which only few men COM
ose the attacking force. In these
minor affairs, whose effect on the
general situation at the front is more
important than at first would appear,
since they harry the enemy and keep
HIM constantly guessing and wor-
wing as to what may follow, the
French soldiers have become exper.
and they rarely return to their
trneches without some prisoners and
some valuable information as to con-
oitions in the opposing lines.
The commander of the army is not
consulted as to the carrying out OF
these raids. Each colonel of reg
,ment has the final word as to
whether his men shall take the risk
and the coonels take good care not
to discourage their men from display
ing their individuality.
The problem of overcoming the net
work of barbed wire protecting tht
front lines of the enemy's position!
presented difficulties at the beginning
| Cf the campaign, but artillery ha!
now acquired the mastery of that OBJ
stacle and as a consequence the enc
my no longer finds himself in secur
ity behind it. All the French colone
wants to know, when = raid is 'abou
TO be undertaken is the hour at Whicl
ii is intended to start. A few min
utes suffices to make penetration b.
1esolute infantrymen possible. Sud
cen outbreaks of artillery fire ar
so frequent that the enemy often pay
no more attention to them than t
return some shells, while the troop
manning his front trenches see
shelter in their dugouts until tn
shower Of steel has stopped.
The cnemy's uncertainty as to wha
IS to happen frequently leads to hi
rndoing, for before he has made u
his mind that the French guns hav
decided to cease firing and that
is safe to come out from the shelter
again he finds French soldiers leaI
ing into the trenches and thrown
grenades into the mouths of the dug
= cuts while calling on their occupant
to surrender. Refusal or hcsltatlo
means further volley of grenade
and almost certain severe injury
death to those inside. Therefore the
shout "Kamarade!" throw down the
arms and come out to be chased b
fore their captors back through II
broken network Of barbed wire TO II
rench lines.
In one division the regiments mac
q speciality Of surprise trench ran
and acquired almost unbelievable SIX
: in carrying them out almost wItho'
loss TO themselves. One regiment,
Z the course Of last month, had TO
. Ja a result