The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-05-27
Wounded British Officers
and Men Tell Of Tremen-
dous Advance.
SOLDIERS HEARTENED
Morale of Troops Improved
by Victory; Men Foresee
Route of Foe.

of the tremendous fighting on the Ar
ras battlefield are related by wounded
| officers and men who have returned
from the British front in France. That
| these men are absolutely satisfied with
| the progress the British troops are
| making Is quickly evident. They are
pleased with every aspect OF the fight
ing. 1t Is difficult to extract grum-
| BILE even from the most exacting critic
! the "old soldier
| II is pointed out here that this stu
| alton gives the soldiers confidence, the
surest foundation of perfect morale,
and that this, backed by abundant ma
terial. leads to victory.
Asked If there were no mistakes,
oversights, checks or blunders. one
young officer who had been wounded
in the head and left hand with shrap-
| mel, and whose life had been saved by
one Of the British army's So called
tin hats" replied:
Hindenburs's eIunders.
"Oh, yes, there were checks and
blunders, all right: only they weren't
on our side of the fence. They were
all on the other side of the granite
WALL Mister Hindenburg's side, YOU
know. I guess he will be issuing an
other order to his armies, as he did
over the December show at Verdun,
demanding stricter training. and re-
GREETING faulty morale. All those guns
you know, and the thousands of I'M
| wounded prisoners. and the German
| barraee that didn't get going until our
| fp,cth
| They'll have to vamp up something n
bit more convincing to soothe the
| Fatherland over this show, won't
they?"
| One little man who had tried con-
illusions with a German grenade and
had left the ground with fourteen
wounds. but in remarkably high spirits,
expressed the conviction that the Ger
man grenade was mot bloomin'
patch on ours" He and comrade
told a story of visiting "cave of the
dead" so circumstantial in its details
as to leave no doubt of its truth.
4 While exploring a huge shell crater
+! they discovered n cavity leading out
of one size of it. and, entering the hole.
found 1t led to what once had been an
exceptionally large and deep dugout,
probably a battalion headquarters.
| Floor Of corpses.
BY the light of their electric torches
they explored the dugout and became
convinced that one of the British
heavy shells must have penetrated it
and exploded therein. The floor of the
dugout, they asserted, was positively
crowded with dead Germans of whom
a large number were officers. None of
the buddled bodies showed any signs
Of a wound. The terrific conclusion Of
the great shell exploding in the con-
fined space apparently had killed all
of them. One German had a telephone
receiver in his hand.
A Canadian corporal. whose story
was confirmed by an officer who fig
ured prominently in the incident, de-
scribed how four men captured 100
Germans In n dugout after the British
advance has passed beyond them. The
corporal, who was wounded, first drop
ped a bomb into the dugout and then,
hearing no response, led the way down
a long flight of steps leading to a con-
siderable cavern. Hearing voices in
|
more bombs while on the way down,
and, on entering the cavern, lighted n
candle.
Germans All Surrender.
At this murmur arose from a group
of Germans huddled at the far end of
the dugout, standing with their hands
above their heads. The candle went
out and the British officer shouted that
If any man moved he would bomb
| them all to glory" The candle was
| relighted and one man of the four
| Britishers was sent to the entrance of
the dugout while he ordered the Ger
mans to advance in groups Of three
and pile up their arms, warning them
that he would hurl bomb into the
crowd if any man made n hostile move.
II BY threes they We're all marched up
into daylight and dispatched to the
rear. the orderly at the entrance keep
ing watch of them to see that they
moved in the right direction, warning
| them that he would shoot them if they
undertook to escape. In the end the
il whole lot of prisoners was safely dis
patched on the road to more certain
captivity.