Connecticut western news. [volume] (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970, 1918-08-08

fellas." We counted fourteen prison
ers In the bunch. Pat sure thought he
was rolling in wealth.
After we were rested up we were
issued rifles, shrapnel helmets and
belts, and then started down the COM
munication trench. These trenches
are entrances to the fighting trenches
and run at varying angles and vary
ing distances apart. They are sell
dom wide enough to hold more than
one man, so you have to march single
file in them. They wind in and out,
according to the lay of the land, some
parts of them being more dangerous
than others. When you come to a
dangerous spot you have to crawl
sometimes.
There are so many cross trenches
and blind alleys that you have to have
a guide for long time, because with
out one you are apt to walk through
an embrasure in a fire trench and
right out into the open, between the
German front line and your own.
Which is hardly worth whilel
If any part of the line is under fire,
the guide at the head Of the line is on
the lookout for shells, and when he
hears one coming he gives the signal
and you drop to the ground and wait
until it bursts. You never get all the
time you want, but at that you have
plenty of time to think about things
while you are lying there with your
face in the mud, waiting to hear the
sound of the explosion. When you
hear it, you know you have got at least
one more to dodge. If you do not hear
it-well, most likely you are worrying
more about tuning your thousand.
string harp than anything else.
In the communication trench you
have to keep your distance from the
man ahead of you. This is done SO
that you will have plenty of room to
fall down in, and because if a shell
| should find the trench, there would be
fewer casualties in an open formation
than in a closed. The German artil
lery is keen on communication
/ trenches, and whenever they spot one
they stay with it a long time. Most
and sides, so that enemy aviators can
not see anything but the earth OF
bushes, when they throw an eye dOwI
! on our lines.
We took over our section of the
front line trenches from a French line
regiment that had been on the job fol
"a days. That was the longest time
1 have heard of any troops remaining
on the firing line.
4 Conditions at the front and ways o.
fighting are changing all the time, a.
each side invents new methods Of
butchering, so when I try to describe
the Dixmude trenches, you must real
lie that it is probably just history b!
now. If they are still using trenches
there they probably look entirely diff
ferent.
But when l was at Dixmude the,
were something like this:
Behind the series of front-1in
trenches are the reserve trenches; il
this case. five to seven miles away, AM
still farther back are the billets. Thes
may be houses or barns or ruine
churches-any place that can possibl
be used for quartering troops whe
+ off duty.
Troops were usually in the front
line trenches six to eight days, an
fourteen to sixteen days in the reserv
trenches. Then back to the billets flo
six or eight days.
We were not allowed to change GU
clothing in the front-ltne trenches
, not even to remove socks, unless fo
! inspection. Nor would they let 20
, as much as unbutton your shirt, unles
, there was an Inspection of identifies