Evening star., 1917-11-04

when he's a mile or SO above 1t. He
learns to gauge distance. He studies ighe
effects and most Of all he studies shadows
the most effective camoufage in the
world to deceive him.
Inside of a month he will have have
to his attention. He viii be detailed to
fly there with a pilot. take series ot
pictures Of certain landmarks ana re-
turn. II he finds the place. taxes sue.
cessfu1 pictures and returns w1th1n an
allotted time. he is in line for active duty
x*
CamounaRe has now developed into a
science and there are many things to
fool the new hand at the game, some
of them of natural origin and some OF
them of Boche origin. The art Of cam
outage is being adapted to the camera
as well as to the human eye. 1t isn't
so long since canvas screens bearing
tive and deceived the keen eye OF many
a pilot. Now the best all around de-
vice consists of long nets, similar TO
the seine or a tennis net.
These are woven Of green cord
with strips of green and black cloth
strung to the meshes. The strips are
about one inch wide by ten or twelve
long. They futter in the slightest
breeze and give exactly the erect OF
a field Of grass. underbrush or trees.
according to the distance the observer
is away from them. Whereas the can.
vas-painted screens were still life. -
these nets are '1ive"-they live. they
look real. These nets are now used
universally to shield our sausage bal
looms. to cover gun batteries. ammu-
milton dumps, etc.
Aeroplanes and cameras. especially
cameras. have taught both sides the
value of shadows. natural shadows.
Nowadays you will scarcely find an
a barracks that is not situated at the
border of a wood or a line of trees
where but once a day it Will be un-
protected by the shadows. And this is
at noon. when the sun Is directly over,
head. casting only downward
shadow.
Long ago the aeroplane stepped
right up behind the artillery as a
means of preparation for the attack.
Concentration of aeros no less than
assault. Not only must the advance
work Of mapping be done. but the en-
emy's planes must be absolutely over
whelmed by force of numbers. Not a
hostile scout must be able to penetrate
above our lines to spread the news OF
what Is going on.
OF all the signs by which the Tom
my and the poilu know that an assault
is in preparation the arrival of great
numbers Of aeroplanes Is the most re-
liable. The crack groupes de combat
are withdrawn from other sectors and
sent to that in which the new hostili-
ties are to begin. There are also the
evacuation Of the wounded. the clear
ing out Of the hospitals and the send
ing of men only slightly hurt straight
back to those bases miles from the
front: there Is the arrival of tremen-
dous amounts of supplies; there is the
growing thunder of the guns; but
most reliable of all is the swooping
downrush OF squadron upon squadron
of battleplanes.
Two or three weeks before the date
set for the actual assault the mon
ster focks come soaring through the
sky. AS many as five complete
groupes de combat may be sent to
sault. AT daybreak the scouts go
whirring up in pairs and streak off
each pair to some appointed German
town.
~
They check up all the trains in
motion behind the lines, the length OF
each. the direction in which it is
going. etc: all troop movements. all
fires and all other military informa-
tion that comes to their notice. Within
half an hour after daybreak the staff
knows precisely what the situation is
behind the German lines and is able
to guess pretty shrewdly what the
Boche plans for the day are. The
actions Of our own troops are regulated
accordinly.
this which made possible the redemp-
ton of the forts at Verdun this sum-
mer.
The beginning of the last battle of
Verdun was really In Flanders 1t
was in July and the early part of
August the last attack went
through. We mapped the entire
country. the artillery kept up an in
cessant fire. day and night. "Hurri-
cane fire" gave birth to its name here.
and on the eighth day came the attack
It was a complete success. The
poilus. in conjunction with the British.
went through and over everything the
Boche had to offer. They more than
first day of the assault During the
night they set to work to consolidate
their positions and settled down to
wait for their supplies and supports.
Inen IL began to rain. Just a little
murkiness that hid the stars at first.
then a drizzle, and then a downpour.
1t rafned for three days. The planes
were useless; the army was blind and
couldn't move. For three days the at
tack was held up. We could not move
knew not where we were outnumbered
we could only wait.
On the fourth day the dawn was
clear. We started out on reconnois-
sance. laundering up in pairs at the
first streak of light like SO many huge
partrtdges. l was fortunate enough TO
be one of pair whose destination was
4 certain town. Thourout, that was a
strategic railway center.
While we hovered over that place
for an hour we counted fourteen long
trains that pulled into the station. Each
train disgorged Boches. Troops were
being concentrated there at tre-
mendous rate. We saw movements of
thing before unheard Of, for as a rule
all traffic moves only under cover Of
darkness in the war zone
By the time we had counted fourteen
trains the sun was beginning to climb,
and we started straight back to our
lines. We reached them without incl
dent. except for the usual salute Of
shrapnel. and reported what we had
discovered.
Although the day was fair, the at
tack was not prosecuted. It was evil
dent that the Boche was ready for us
The advance and the supports were left
to dig themselves in and hold what
they had won. but the whole mobile re-
serve was packed into trains and
started at top speed for verdun
Everybody knows now what hap
pened then, but not many of them
know what made it possible and why
tho attack uyaS switched m Uard,n