The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-07-08

and allied occupations.
 The first five weeks of the engi- neer's training are devoted to soldier ing. The sapper is usually near the front; he goes over the top with the first or second wave of an attack; he is always in close touch with a raid. As result he must be able to do sol dier's work, not merely in self defense but as part of the offensive. He is therefore trained in handling the rifle. in the proper use of the bayonet, in throwing bombs and in preparation for gas attacks. He learns the essen tial of drill and of discipline He learns the elementary tricks of trench war fare
 Time after time since the war stiff fened into the zigzag lines of France and Flanders. this knowledge on the part of the sapper has been the de- cisive factor in a minor engagement. When a detachment has been shot to pieces and reserves have been held Up by barrage, the sappers have come Tn and held the bit of trench until help came.
 So the sapper not only does the work which no one else can do; he always can do the work which every one else has been taught. He goes over with a bombing party and if the first and second throwers are knocked out the sapper may turn from his very important work of constructing barrier and begin to throw bombs. He may take a hand at sniptng, be- cause he gets course in musketry in addition to his regular soldiers train ing. He Is an all-round man and a very well finished product
 SAPPER'S VARIED TASK
 The main portion of the sapper's four months training Is in field work. For the past two years this has meant trench work and it will continue 10 include trench work for sometime to come-probably until long after the American army has come over. Stra- tegists are pretty well convinced that the greatest allied success must be won by pushing the Germans back from one system of trenches to an- other at cost which eventually the Germans will not be able to pay. As the Germans take up new positions, the engineers advance with the in- fantry and help to construct a se- ries of trenches to face them. or re- construct what is left of the old Ger man trenches
 To the civilian and to the casual soldier the trench is only a very un- comfortable ditch, zigzagging from point to point. To the sapper a trench system is a work of art. have vis- ll6O the CnloI SCnOOlS Ol military ing in England and have walked through miles of front line and re- serve trenches in France. But never have seen such elaboration of trench work as at the School of Milf tary Engineering. Two systems. "ours" and ''boche," face each other. Both are perfect.
 The sapper designs trench for two purposes, fighting and living. The L. l. the living leaves off and the fighting begins. He may build a dugout 95 feet deep for the company commanders office and that dugout may be smashed to bits in bombing raid the next night. Or he may build a front line trench with fire step and concealed gas tanks and all the paraphernalia of defense, and that section of trencs may remain unscathed for three months. He has to build for safety and he tries to build for comfort. He knows, and everyone who has been there knows. that at best the tren,l. is rotten, dirty, inhuman place; he knows that 1t is bitter necessity just now and he tries to make 1t liv- able. The result is so intricate that any soldier may get lost in his own trenches and needs signs at every corner to tell him where they are
 
 Hyde Park Corner" Leicester Square" are not merely the signs of British playfulness. They are abso- lutely essential. If these names were not used others would be essential.
 MODERN TRENCH SYSTEMS
 The perfect trench system of the present time Is based on three lines: The firing, or front line trench, the communication trench and the base f,,a i,,to fna fra and walk down. You are about five feet underground. You are walking on fairly dry boards (called duck boar.M3 on which your feet get good pur- chase with the help of wire netting. As you walk you brush the sides of the trench and you notice the soloNty of the walls. No trench is perfect with out "revetting." or wall support. The walls are held firm by a variety of materials, plain boards, expanded metal, ordinary wire, boughs of trees, mating, anything which will hold loam and sand against the effects of rain and thunderstorm.
 Ten feet from your starting point you turn to the right; a moment later you turn sharply to the left and are in a continuation of the trench you started on. You have rounded trav- erse, where the earth juts into the trench like an arrowhead. If Germans were coming down one side of the traverse you could drop behind, on the other side, and pick them off when they came near enough. The traverse is also an ideal place for bombing, because if an enemy bomb falls on your side of the traverse you have time to slip round the corner and wait for 1t to explode.
 Continue your walk twisting and turning as the trench line dictates. There are not many dugouts in the front line, but here and there you set underground lines juttng out toward the enemy trenches. These "saps' are very deep and frequently they are covered over so that you walk in a tunnel Fifty or a hundred feet out in No Mans Land they come to an end and there you will find a listening post. an observation post, or even an | advanced firing line. As you return you will see the places where the l royal engineers have worked out their 1 drainage system, carrying off all the | water of the wet earth into No Mans Land.
 l When you get used to the twistings | of the front line trench you will have | time to notice details. You will see 1 the arrangement by which warning of