Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-08-08

tiea M ffsaenas essoeAa oaAsna
note e( unusual occurrencea. aod ~
rsstiag aayoos W. shesld, = ~ %,
pear to b aetiae 10 Q suspicious nan.
net. VI dept during IL day.
Behind tie liaes there Was great e.
tivity. supplies and annunition pour
Ing u. and leag columns e troops COO.
stantiy passlag. We were preparins
for he big offensive. the f~oeerunneR
Of the battle Of the somms o. Big
Push"
The never-ending stream e men.
supplies. ammunihoa and guns pour.
Ing into the front lines made q mighty
spectacle. one that cannot be de-
scribed. II has to b witnessed with
your own eyes to appreciate Ito vast.
less.
At our part Of the line the influx Of
supplies never ended. L looked like
q huge snake slowly crawling forward,
never q hitch or break. q wonderful
tribute to the syAem and efficiency Of
Great Brltain's Contemplate little
army" Of ave millions Of men. .
Huge ifteen-inch guns snaked along.
foot by foot, BY powerful steam tract
tors. Then . long line Of -four point
five" batteries. each gun drawn by six
horses. then . couple Of mine point
two" howitzers pulled by immense
caterpillar engines.
When M Of these cuterpillars would
pass me with Its mighty monster In
tow. a flush Of pride would mount to
my face. because I could plainly read
on the name plate. shade In U. 8. A."
and l would remember that II l wore a
name plate It would also read, "Frcm
the U. s. A." Then I would stop to
think how thin and straggly that
mighty stream would be il all the
"Made In U. s. A." parts Of It were
withdrawn.
Then would come hundreds Of lin.
bers and g. s." wagons drawn by
sleek, well-fed mules, ridden by sleek,
well.fed men. ever smiling, although
grimy with sweat and covered with the
fine, white dust of the marvelously
well-made French roads.
What a discouraglng 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 e onward. ever forward.
Three weeks before the big push Of
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.
Battallons that were to 20 over in
the first waves were sent back for
three days to study these trenches, en-.
gage In practice attacks and have night
maneuvers. Each man was required to
make q map Of the trenches and TO-
miliarize himself with the names and
location Of the pats his battalion was
to attack. as~
In the American army noncommis
stoned officers are put through a course
Of map making or road sketchtng, and
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
to be passed upon, aud l
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 ap.
pealed to me as a valuable souvenir Of
the great war and l managed to Snug.
gle 1t through. At this time 1t carries
no military importance as the British
lines. ] am happy to say. have since
been advanced beyond this point, 80
n having 1t In my possession l am not
breaking any regulation or cautions
of the British army.
The whole attack was rehearsed
and rehearsed unit! We heartily cursed
the one who had conceived the Idea.
The trenches were named according
q system which made It very simple
tor Tommy to and. ever In the dark,
any point In the German lines.
These imitation trenches, or trench
models. were well guarded from obser-
BY numerous allied plaues
which constantly circled above them. |
No German airplane could approach
observation distance. A re.
stricted area was maintained and no
was allowed within three
miles, 20 We felt suru, that We had .
great surprise In store for Fritz.
CO BE CONTTNI1En,