New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-20
Germans Isolate
Trenches to Foil
Foes Observers
Abandon Long, CONSOLE
dated Systems for Wide
ly Scattered Pits
Old Defences Levelled
Foremost Troops Now Thrown
Over Vast Depth in Sep
arate Strongholds
Old Defences Levelled
ny Ire Associated Press!


EN- France and Belgium. The eont'nu-
Gus lines % wonderfully constructed
forward trenches. with the!r deep dug
outs, in which lived and tough: great
numbers Of men. are fast passing into
the discard
The enemy is adopting the system OF
scattering MS advsnc, fcrces over
great depth. Curning.y constructed
strongholds among the myriad o. shell
holes along ~. front now conceal in
r.merabls small and more OF less $50
lated garrisors ot men who formerly
fought shoulder to shoulder along
rrea. stretches Of picturesque bitches
through which communication was not
broken for miles.
This alteration has neen brought
about by the ever-growing prePondeT-
enc. % British artillery, which has
buried the German from; line trenches
under e- avalanche o. shells and has
left ~ defences nothing but heap'd
arrows % earth. and has rendered the
famous dugouts man traps in which
countless thousands have lost their
Ives without a chance o: fighting back.
Unable to Repair Them
The continuous deluge Of breaking
steel made repair work on the trenches
impossible. and as the Germans we're
gradually pushed back they Of neces-
sitv we're forced 20 invent another
mode Of stemm;ng the ever-advaneing
tide
So +, has come to be depth Of de-
fences upon which the German de-
pends in mary places, rather than the
strength Of his frst-line trenches. The
recer. Allied offensive east and north
Of Ypres disclosed many examples Of
this new scheme Of fighting, which
bids fair 20 take the place OF the tao
ties Of the last three years.
Wherever the German front-line
trenches have been made untenable, or
where g British attack is expected, one
finds the new order Of things. J ne
first German lines now often consist
Of strong outposts concealed In shell
crsters or copses, and considerable
| distance apart. Back Of these outposts
/ are chains Of shell-hole nests, each
nest consisting Of two or three craters
/ connected by underground passages
/ that often lead to duCouts.
Plan to Foil Observers
As the entire territory IS pitted
with holes. this is easy OF accomplish
ment, and it may be presumed that
/ the Germans figure i viii be hard for
the Allied observers TO pick out the
defended she'll holes from the thou
sands OF others scattered about.
Where time has allowed, the Ger
mans have made the shell-hole de-
fences with elaborate care. Each nest
is heavily protected by bsrbed wire,
and the chambers beneath arc rein
forced with timbers and concrete. In
these the infantry Turk, with machine
guns and rifles, ready 70 rush out and
/ begin firing II an attack is launched
against them.
The defences within Lens and sub
urbs are striking examples OF the Ger
man tendency 20 depend more and more
upon large numbers Of seml-isolated
. EaTT1eOnE
+ in trenches, where they would be a.
+ the mercy Of the British artillery.
Lens IS q city Of concrete and the
/ ground beneath is honeycombed with
/ tunnels. Almost every building has been
/ destroyed by the Germans. and the
/ ruins have been fortified with machine
! gun emplacemerts.
Old Methods Useless
So long as the Germans remain on
the defensive II is improbable that they
will return 20 the methods Of warfare
.rsugurated when they swept forward
anc were pushing the Allies hard. The
lighting among these new German de-
fences has given rise 20 many thrilling
I incidents. In the battle about LANCE
narck. on the opening Of the latest
offensive, a young officer and twenty
{ Somerset mcr had got through LANCE
marck and were forging ahead along
the road 20 the north when they en-
/ ccuntered two strong concrete redoubts,
one behind the other, which were still
/ firing into the town.
The Somersets surrounded the first
rcdoubt. and, although under a cruel
FIRE. assaulted 10 with bombs and ma
chine guns and forced the garrison Of
thirty Germans 20 surrender. They
then started for the second redoubt.
One By one they fell, and when, finally
the stronghold was reached there re
NAMED only six men and the youthful
leader.
The officer hurled the bombs through
narrow opening into the redoubt and
threw two more against the steel door,
br. without effect Rushing up TO the
door. he hammered with his fist and
called out fercely for the Germans 20
surrender. Thereupon followed re-
rrarkable scene, the door being thrown
o,en and forty-two Germans Sling out
with hands raised. With them was
yorkshire man. who was wounded and
taken prisoner two or three days be
fore. 49,, 81,
The remnant Of the little British
hand collected its seventy-two prison
ers and returned 20 its own INES.