Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-21

~ Somme In July, 1915 our division was
halted about halfway along the journey
| for f1ve.day period We. were to refresh
our memories with extended order and
other movements calculated to add confu-
sion to the Hun when we got him IN the
| open and on his way back to the Rhine.
One little item out of the many which
served to imprint those f1ve days forever
on the memories of men grown weary Of
months and months OF monotonous grind
| in sodden trenches is perhaps worthy Of
| some notoriety.
7NHE scheme for these ,ve days maneu-
| i vers was in the main attack and defense
| tactics. with our division acting in the
| capacity of the attacking force against a
| disn ounted cavalry division. our DISPOSE
| tiors being made quite in conformity with
what might be expected in the real thrg.
| This. to a large extent, placed the engi.
neers at the disposal Of the infantry, and
| together with all our equipment We re.
mained temporarily attached to them until
| the battle was over: and In passing I
should like to remark that those of our
arm of the service who were thus privi-
| legged will be forever grateful to the powers
| that be for a fret pew in one of the most
| complete pantomimes it has ever been the
| fortune of troops TO behold.
| WITH the exception of one small phase
w shall not go into any details con-
| cerning the progress. the aims or the ulti-
mate outcome Of the battle. My reason for
| adopting this attitude is simply this: When
| the SHOW" was over we of the attacking
| force were unanimous in the opinion that
we had, in very efficient manner, accom-
plished the tasks set us; while the cavalry,
| on the other hand, contended that we had
failed miserably all along the line, and tnat
to them therefore belonged the honors In
the face Of such a difference of opinion,
and in the absence of the other sides ver-
sion, would perhaps be resorting to ques-
| tonable taste IL making any comments
liable to bias your Judgment
| ABOUT noon of the fifth day the battalion
| n to which my section was attached OBJ
| tanned one of its important objectives, i'm
| mediately after which it assumed defensive
tactics and spent considerable effort In dis
| couraging counter attacks. The latter are
| as certain to occur as sunrise, and as
consequence an objective cannot truly be
| said to have been won until all the enemys
| attempts to retake 1t have been frustrated.
| In accomplishing this end We could for
| obvious reasons, look for no assistance from
| that indispensable ally, barbed wire. 1t
could. of course be assumed that an en-.
! tanglement was prepared in front OF us,
| but the cavalry had already demonstrated
its lack Of imagination so forcibly that
| more realistic measures were not only de-
| sirable but imperative. After an exhaustive
| consultation by the STAIR it was decided
| that a dummy barrage would greatly
| enhance the possibilities Of our successful
tenure and this once in the annals of bat
| ties it was the engineers and not the artil-
! lery who furnished this cminently gunner
| commodity
| TN OUR toolcart was a supply OF gun.
cotton, detonators and fuses. What
| better representation of bursting shell
| could be wished for than a slab Of gum
cotton? And as a result of this ingenious
discovery three sappers were forthwith
dispatched for the camoufage, and then,
| armed with about dozen slabs each, to.
| gether with necessary accessories were
| detailed to sally forth to a ridge about 300
or 400 yards in front Of us and lay their
charges These were to be prepared in
such fashion that, as soon as the enemy
was seen approaching with evil intent the
mock shells were to be touched Off" this
Grand display of fireworks being calculated
not only to discourage the "enemy's" de-
| sign but on account OF the novelty OF the
| enterprise to create very favorable I'M
- tI,n, nil
rNHESE umpires consisting Of three or
i four portly generals. borrowed for the
occasion, had all through the operations
been galloping about. constantly in touch
with every movement and endeavoring 10
decide which side in their judgment car
ried out it's tasks in the most sodierly lash-
ion; and might again remark In passing
that il any one of those umpires arrived at
any lucid conclusions with regard to those
Ave days operations he surely merited MS
rank of general Our position ana next
moves were evidently in the eyes OF the
umpires. of some Importance. for shortly
after our "barrage" had been planted they
ealloped with a grand flourish into our
| neighborhood. taking up positions on the
| aforementioned ridge to watch develop
| ments. This contingency had not been an
| ticipated and as 'orders were ORDERS, the
sappers religously carried out their instruc-
| tions as soon as they received the signal
| that "the enemy was approaching. The
| scene which Immediately followed can per-
| hans he better imagined than described
| we,Ifed and spirited steeds Immediately
| took charge of the umpires and proceeded
| .. oavspce retire do anything, in fact, to
get away from the vicinity OF those op'
noxious detonations. A horse would start
madly off in one direction only to be con-
fronted and turned by another upheavai'
while all directly concerned were rapidly