The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-07-07

III SH&f3Ss
No photographs rnur~-r~~~->-
to leave France, but in this case 1t APP
realed to me as q valuable souvenir OF
the great war and managed to SNUG
gle 1t through. At this time 1t carries
no military Importance as the British
lines, 1 am happy to say. have since
been advanced beyond this point, SO
In having It In my possession am not
breaking any regulation or cautions
of the British army.
The whole attack was rehearsed
and rehearsed until we heartily cursed
the one who had conceived the idea
The trenches were named according
to a system which made 1t very simple
for Tommy to find, even In the dark,
any point in the German lines.
These imitation trenches, or trench
models, were well guarded from obser-
walton by numerous allied planes
which constantly circled above them.
No German airplane could approach
within observation distance. A re-
stricted area was maintained and no
civilian was allowed within three
miles, so we felt sure that we had
great surprise In store for Fritz.
When we took over the front line
we received an awful shock. The
Germans displayed signboards over
the top of their trench showing the
names that we had called their
trenches. The signs read Fair,
Fact" Fate" and Fancy" and SO
on. according to the code names on
our map. Then to rub 1t In, they
hoisted some more signs which read,
Come on, we are ready, stupid Eng
lish."
1t is still mystery to me how they
obtained this knowledge. There had
been no raids or prisoners taken, so
1T must have been the work Of spies
in our own lines.
Three or four days before the big
push we tried to shatter Fritz's nerves
by feint attacks, and partially sue
ceeded as the official reports Of July
i show.
Although we were constantly bonn
harding their lines day and night. still
we fooled the Germans several times.
This was accomplished by throwing
an intense barrage into his lines
a curtain Of white smoke across No
Mans Land. completely obstructing
his view Of our trenches, and
would raise our curtain OF fire,
as If In an actual attack. ALI
down our trenches the men would
shout and cheer, and Fritz would turn
loose with machine-gun. rifle. and
shrapnel fire, thinking we were COM
ing over.
After three or four Of these dummy
attacks his nerves must have been
near the breaking point.
On June "a. 1915, at $40 In the
morning our guns opened up. and hell
was let loose. The din was terrific. q
constant boom-boom-boom in your ear.
At night the sky was a red glare.
Our bombardment had lasted about
two hours when Fritz started reply
ing. Although we were sending over
ten shells to his one, our casualties
were heavy. There was q constant
stream Of stretchers coming out OF the
communication trenches and burial
parties were a common sight
In the dugouts the noise Of the guns
ton as when riding on the subway you
enter the tube under the river going
to Brooklyn sort Of pressure on the
ear drums. and the ground constantly
trembling.
The roads behind the trenches were
very dangerous because Boche shrap-
mel was constantly bursting over them.
We avoided these dangerous spots by
crossing through open fields.
The destruction in the German lines
was awful and 1 really felt sorry for
them because realized how they must
be clicking 1t.
From our front-line trench, every
now and again, we could hear sharp |
whistle blasts In the German trenches.
These blasts were the signals for
bearers, and meant the
or killing Of some German in
the service of his fatherland.
{To Be Contfnued.)