Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-03-30
German Trenches Cut to
ShredS By British Shells
Men Doomed to Live in Ground
Plagued by Their Own Dead,
easily Sights Meet Eyes of
Correspondent
(From a staf Correspondent of the AS
ISOLATED Fress.)


(From a Stan Correspondent of the AS
ISOLATED Fress.)
BRITISH HEADQUARTERS IN
FRANCE, March 29.-(Via London. >
Now that the desperate episodes i'm the
war known in history as the battle of the
Somme have been definitely ended by the
German retreat from Arras TO the Aisne
ii has been possible more leisurely to in
vestigate the conditions which existed
along the German front just prior to the
backward swing to the so-called Hin
denburg line.
When the retreat first hagen more than
month ago, the British swept over
some old SOmme positions held by the
Germans and even the most hurried
glimpse of the evacuated trenches in
dictated how untenablc they had become
and why it was decided to run no risks
of another allied offensive in this sec
tor. Five miles of slOgglng along the old
German lines in the vicinity of Bapaume
today revealed a picture OF ghastliness
which may never be seen again in this or
any other war. The trent HE was a
long open, dilapidated, crumbling grave
which disappeared in the mud at times,
but could be picked up further on by
means of the bodies that marked the
way.
one realized with a shudder how the
men doomed to live in these trenches had
been plagued by their own dead. Such
ceremony as decent burial had been
wholly out of the question and there was
no means of conveying the bodies to the
rear. 1t had been like passing through
fieryey rain from hades to bring up food
and water to the living. So the dead had
simply been tossed out of the trenches,
only to be blown back again by an ex
ploding shell. Sometimes they came
back in fragments, for there were arms
and legs, feet and hands everywhere.
NO REST FOR DEAD
Occa sionally graves had been dug in
the sides of the trench itself, but the
dead could not rest there. At frequent
intervals the inevitable skeleton hands
and feet Protruded from the trench
walls.
Grim sights this war has had for the
men who passed up and down those
trenches during the long and bitter
nights of winter.
1t has been an enthralling thing 20
stand by the British guns, in the las
three or four months and wonder what
was the meaning of all their continuous
roar. There was no set battle in prog
ress and the gunners said il was mere
ly the daily hate" going on TO keep
Fritz unhappy. The hideous revel1-
tions of the German trenches, however
gives the gruesome answer to what the
guns were doing. In some places there
were veritable mangled masses of what
were once human beings. Neither by
day nor by night had the Germans rest
Their trusted barbed wire in which
they always placed such great reliance,
had been swept completely away over
thousands of yards, and they dared not
venture out to repair it.
All trace Of communication trenches
leading to the front lines were wiped
out and ii had been necessary TO bring
up supplies and relief at night over a
country blown into endless shell holes
many of which were filled to such a
depth with water that men were drown
ed i'm them White bits of broad tape
could be seen here and there attached
TO the iron posts. These were for The
purpose of guiding the men up to the
front line.
These pathways over the fields OF
death also were strewn. with fragments
Of human bodies. Some of the dead
had the looks of mummies. One of the
fallen soldiers had his right arm throw7
over his rifle if his last impulse was
10 protect this weapon Of defense But
there was no defense against the con-
slant Smelling. Some pieces of metal
thrown about by the high explosive
shells must have weighed at least ten
pounds: the result Of hitting a man
with a ten-pound bullet can easily be
imagined.
At one point in the trenches was just
the lower half of a German officer,
identified by The boots and leggings he
wore His Iegs were crossed tailor fash
ion. Trensh helmets of heavy steel had
great holes torn i'm them.
The front line. of course. was scanned
with the inevitable deep German dug
outs. but even these had not been i'm
mune There were hundreds of direct
hits on top of them, which must have
made life intensely miserable ana
hazardous within. Around the famous
butte de Warlencourt. the German
trenches have entirely disappeared. The
entire fury Of the Somme fighting once
swirled about this somewhat insignifj~
cant mound of powdered chalk. just off
the Bapaume road which is generally
believed to have been a prehistoric tomb.
The butte now marks the death place
not only OF one supposedly distinguish
ed prehistoric man. but thousands OF
young warriors.
The Somme battlefelds today appea"
like some great refuse dump. Litter is
strewn everywhere. The evacuated Ger
man back areas remind one strikingly
of the scenes around a deserted mining
camp in which the gold veins have
o~fv-