Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1918-08-14

two" howitzers pulled .. ...~-..-e
caterpillar engines.
When one of these caterpilIars would
pass me with its mighty monster in
tow. flush of pride would mount to
my face, because 1 could plainly read
on the name plate, made in q. s. A."
and would remember that If l wore
name plate 1t would also read. 'From
the U. S. A." Then / would stop to
think how thin and straggly that
mighty stream would be If all the
MADE in U. S. A." parts of 1t were
withdrawn.
Then would come hundreds of lin
bers and &c. 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 discouraging 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 pece
| Is always the same. No slower, no
faster, but ever 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 kllos 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.
BattaliOns that were to go 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 map of the trenches and Ia
location of the parts his battalion was
| to attack.
| In the American army noncommis-
stoned officers are put through course
| of map making or road sketching, and
! during my six years service in the
United States cavalry l 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
commander to be passed upon. and l
I was lucky enough to have mine select.
ed as being sufiiclentlyhuthentic to use
! in the attack.
/ No photographs or maps are allowed
/ to leave France, but in this case it ap-
pealed to me as valuable souvenir Of
| the great war and managed to snug
| gle it 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 1t in my possession l am mo-
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 it 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 a
/ great surprise in store for Fritz.
ITO BE CONTINUED)