Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-09-10
CHAPTER IV-continued.

4
B
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 shell
should find the trench, there would be
fewer casualties in an open formation
than In q closed The German artil-
lery is keen on communication
trenches, and whenever they spot one
they stay with 1t a long time. Most
of them are camoufaged along the top
and sides. so that enemy aviators can
not see anything but the earth or
bushes, when they throw an eye down
on our lines.
We took over our section of the
front line trenches from French line
regiment that had been on the job for
"a days. That was the longest time
I have heard of any troops remaining
on the firing line.
Conditions at the front and ways of
fighting arc changing all the time, as
each side invents new methods of
butchering, so when l try 20 describe
the DlXmude trenches, you must real
lie that 1t Is probably just history by
now. If they are still using trenches
there they probably look entirely diff
ferent.
But when l was at Dixmude they
were something like this:
Behind the series of front-line
trenches are the reserve trenches; In
this case five to seven miles away, and
still farther back are the billets. These
churches-any place that can possibly
be used for quartering troops when
Off duty.
Troops were usually In the front
line trenches six to eight days, and
fourteen to sixteen days in the reserve
trenches. Then back to the billets for
six or eight days.
We were not allowed to change our
clothing In the front-line trenches
not even to remove socks, unless for
inspection. Nor would they let you
as much as unbutton your shirt unless
there was an inspection of identified
ton disks We a disk at the
wrist and another around the neck.
You know the gag about the disks, OF
course: If your arm is blown off they
can tell who you are by the neck disk;
II your head Is blown off, they do not
care who you are.
In the reserve trenches you can
make yourself more comfortable, but
you cannot go to such extreme lengths
of luxury as changing your clothes en-
tirely. That Is for billets, where you
spend most of your time bathing,
changing clothes, sleeping and eating
Believe me, a billet is great stuff; it
is like a sort of temporary heaven.
OF course you know what the word
will never know what the coolies
themselves mean. When you get in
or near the trenches, you take q course
in the natural history of bugs, lice,
rats and every kind of pest that has
ever been invented.
1t is funny to see some OF TIE new
Corners when they flrsf discover a
cootie on them. Some of them cry.
If they really knew what 1t was going
to be like they would do worse than
that, maybe.
Then they start hunting all over each
other, just like monkeys. They team
up for this purpose, and many times it
Is in this way that a couple of men get
TO be trench partners and come TO be
pals for life-which may not be long
time at that,
In the front-line trenches it is more
comfortable to fall asleep on the para
pet fire-step than In the dugoutS, be-
cause the coolies are thicker down
below, and they simply will not give
you minutes rest. They certainly
are active little pests. We used TO
make back seratchers out of certain
weapons that had flexible handles, but
never had time TO use them when we
needed them most.
We were given bottles of liquid
which smelled like lysol and were sup
posed TO soak our clothes in it. 1t was
thought that the coolies would object
to the, smell and quit work Wen,
a cootie that could stand our clothes
without the dope on them would not
be bothered by little thing like this
stuff. Also, our clothes got so sour
and horrible smelling that they hurt
our noses worse than the coolies. They
certainly were game little devils. and
came right back at us.
So most OF the poilus threw the
dope at Fritz and fought the coolies
hand to hand.
There was plenty of food In the
trenches most Of the time. though once
On a while. during heavy lombard
ment. the fatigue-usuaiiy corporars
guard-would get killed in the COM
munication trenches and we would not
have time to get out TO the fatigue and
rescue the grub they were bringing
Sometimes you could not find either
the fatigue or the grub when you got
to the point where they had been hit.
But. as l say. we We're well fed most
of the time. and got second and third
helpings until we had to open our
belts. But as the Limeys say: "Gaw
blimey. the chuck was rough" They
served thick soup of meat and vege-
tables in bowls the size of wash ba-
sins. black coffee with or without
sugar-mostly without land plenty
of bread.
Also, we had preserves In tins, just
Ike the Limeys. IL you send any par
GELS over, do not put any apple and
plum jam In them or the man who gets
II viii let Fritz shoot him. Ask any