Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1918-09-14
tisn ana front-iins trenches, maxim,

note of unusual occurrences, and ar.
resting anyone who should, to us, APP
pear TO be acting In suspicious man
ner, We slept during the day.
Behind the lines there was great ae-
tiylty, supplies and ammunition pour
ing In, and long columns OF troops CON
stantly passing We were preparing
for The big eraa e, the foferunner
Of The batae III tAe somme or "Bg
| Push"
The neyerending stream Of n,
supplies, ammunition and guns a.-
Ing into the front lines Nude a mighty
spectacle, one that cannot be de-
scribed II has 10 be Witnessed with
/ your own eyes to appreciate its vast
/ ness.
At Our part Of The line the inlax Of
/ supplies never ended Il locked like
"a huge strike slowly crawling forward
never g ditch eE bea#F wonderful
/ tribute "a ilo syaam agd eiAcIenay Qf
Gaaat BlitaiHs eee63aHHsible littla
afuF8 as ate millions Of man.
kAlsa ilEleeH-ifRA guns saaked along,
fpe hg foqit a8 powerful staam traei-
t2g fbeh e Tong line Of -four point
ilye' batteries, eaea gun drawn bY six
liaf tlan a caupfe of sniae nalgt
l&9 tte#tt4efs Quilted by immense
eateflHiiaf eesihes
@heH one q thesa eatefplilars would
Pas ine &ith IT'S mighty monster in
! td# q flush az pride @esld mount t0
Pay lace, neeaise ! could plaialg read
ora file name platte Masie "A y. n. Az
aud ! Wouid remember chat Il ! wore q
name plate u would also road, FROM
tiie q, s. Az Then would stop to
tAiHk how thin and straggy that
mighty stfean would DO II all the
Made 10 u. ). A. parts Of II were
Withdrawn.
Then would come hundreds Of nm.
befs and &c. ST. wagons drawn BIZ
sleek, well-fed mules t1dden by sleek,
well-fed men, ever smiling, although
grimy with sweat aud covered with the
fine, white dust of the maryelously
well-made French roads.
What d discouraging report the Ger
man airmen must have taken back to
their division commanders, and this
stream Is slowly but surely getting big
ger and bigger every day, and the pace
is always the same. No slower, no
faster, but ever onward, ever forward.
fr,lomo. ,vva.Iv,, l.e.,.. A. . L.. .s....t. . 4
July las the battle Of the Somme has
been called-started, exact duplicates
OF the German trenches were dug
about thirty kilos behind our lines.
The layout of the trenches was taken
from airplane photographs submitted
by the Royal flying corps. The trench
es were correct to the foot: they
showed dugouts saps, barbed wire de-
lenses and danger spots.
Battalions that were to 20 over in
the first waves were sent back fot
three days to study these trenches, en-
gage In practice attacks and have night
maneuvers. Each man was required to
make map of the trenches and IA
miliarize himself with the names and
location of the parts his battalion was
to attack.
In the American army noncommis-
stoned officers are put through course
Of map making or road sketching, and
during my six years service in the
United States cavalry had plenty Of
practice In this work, therefore map
ping these trenches was a compare
lively easy task for me. Each man
had to submit his map to the company
commander to be passed upon, and |
was lucky enough to have mine select
ed as being sufficiently authentic to use
In the attack.
No photographs or maps are allowed
to leave France, but In this case 1t APP
peaIed to me as valuable souvenir of |