The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-03-10
BY ELLIS AsHMEAD.eARTLErT.
british War Correspondent

| British War Correspondent
| New YOrk.-At the end of October
last the armies on the western front
sank deep into the mud. Except fol
the second French offensive at Verdur
in December and the successful ad
vance of the British north of the Ancre
there has been very little movement
since then. All the combatants are
preparing for the coming spring.
Could we have put back the clock
for three months / am convinced that
the struggle, as far as the western
front is concerned, would have been
over before Christmas. But we had
not the powers Of Joshua at Ajalon,
and therefore the final issue has been
delayed. 1t was the mud and wet
which alone prevented the allies from
pressing home their successes. In ev-
cry engagement more positions are
won and more prisoners are taken, but
the present state of ground renders OPP
erations at all times difficult and very
often impossible. Those who have not
been on the Somme or before Verdun
can have no conception of what the
mud is like.
1t may be argued that there has
been mud in every war. and the great
Napoleon after his experiences in Po-
land described It as the "fifth ele-
ment." But no general who ever led
an army either "B. c." or "a. D." ever
had to face the problem such as ex-
lists now. 1t is new factor which
has not been experienced before. The
terrible mud of the Somme and Yer
dun is created by modern shell fire.
In normal times the roads might be
muddy and the fields heavy, but this
would not stop an army. 1t is the con-
centratiOp Of modern shell fire on re-
stricted areas which brings about
these abnormal conditions.
Torn by Artillery Fire.
Modern artillery fire leaves not a
yard Of 4O-acre field untouched. The
shell holes overlap one another, for
each cannot find an Independent bed.
They make craters six to twelve feet
deep. according to the caliber of the
shell. The terrific explosions scatter
the surface soil and bring the under
stratas to the top.
All this ground on which the armies
are now fighting will. according to the
agricultural commission that visited
the front, be utterly useless for CEN
turtles after the war. The surface soil
has been so utterly destroyed that no
crops of grass will grow there until
time and nature eventually provide a
fresh deposit.
AS soon as the rain falls these era
ters become filled with thick mud and
water to depth varying from four to
eight feet. 1t is over ground In this
state that all infantry attacks have
now to be made at this season of the
year.
The artillery smashes the enemy's
to mud and pulp. Your in
'antry are then launched to the at
-ack. Then they reach their objective.
What do they find? Simply the bat
,ered outline of what was once q line
If trenches and hundreds Of these gi-
int holes filed with mud and slime.
They must lie out in the open or on
he edges Of these craters, exposed to
he merciless fire from the enemy's
runs, which have the exact range, un-
IL some kind of fresh trench has
,een dug amidst the ruins of the old. |
Consequently In all these latter at
acks it has cost very few men to take |
| position In comparison with what 1t |
losts to hold it afterwards. Many |
hundreds of men have been drowned |
n these latter advances. For In
tance, 1t cost the French under 1000 |
men to retake the positions Of Douau-
mont and vaux apd the quarries of |
but they suffered twice
IS many casualties from shell fire,
leaths by drowning and frostbite be-
ore the positions were firmly CONSOLE
lated. Think of the fate of some of
he unfortunate infantry. They ad-
'ance to the attack carrying a dead
weight Of over 60 pounds.
Sinks TO His Death.
There Is a natural inclination to
i've for cover when the Smelling be-
ONES heavy. A man drops into the
earest hole. He finds himself In five
r six feet Of mud. He cannot extri-
ate himself, and slowly sinks to his
cath as IL he were in quicksand.
1t is almost impossible to attempt
D describe the battle of the Somme;
he task is hopeless; its dimensions
ave become too monstrous, its same
ess is as wearying as "a twice-told
ale vexing the dull ear Of a drowsy
ian," and its manifold horrors will
OF bear constant reiteration. 1t is
ivided into various subdivisions of
organized slaughter. It
almost impossible to see or to de-
cribe what happens on the many ssb-
visions of this huge battlefront.
Tut day after day, nightSafter night,
our after hour, the grim work of
radual attrition goes on.
The whole extent of the front is
went by two vast semicircles of ar
Ilery fire. You cannot lose your 1,
'ay to this international holocaust, for
Oh are guided "by a cloud of smoke 1
' day and pillar of fire by night" /,
lies from the front the air vibrates,
y,,ir+ fs,o Y.rIynhlinp and rnariuv nnvar t,