Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-09-29

! the devil and as far as the boys could
'out to lunch" sign and had quit us
which was not very encourag ging for
new troops in their first attack.
Now you who have not seen an active
! sector will wonder why the gunners let
the poor mistreated Doughboys get so
far ahead: why didn't they hitch up
and drive up closer where they could
still reach the Boche with their Shells
But dear reader, even the little 75
weighs about ton and a half and so
do its caissons and limbers of ammuni-
ton. Consider that for miles the whole
country in front is torn up by trenches
bitches varying in width at the top from
to 10 feet and from TO IL feet deep
Before a gun car cross they must be
either bridged or filled in In addition
the whole surface of the ground is torn
to pieces by shell fire. The shell holes
every where overlap each other and are
from three to twenty feet deep, sepa-
rated only by knife edge walls which
crumble down and collapse wnen even
man trieC to walk them. 1t is simply
impossible TO drive a gun or any kind of
a vehicle through the maze until the
walls between holes have been broken
down. And since many of the holes
have several feet of water standing in
them that Just adds to the difficulty
On top of all that are miles. literally
miles of tangled. rusty barb wire
through which gaps must be cut with
wire cutters, strand by strand and the
wire bent back out of the way. These
entanglements are not fences but jungles
of wire-much heavier than ordinary
commercial wire-with barbs an inch to
a inch and n half Innp Ia in
fantry pass on over No Mans Land
and the B Jche trenches, thousands upon
thousands of engineer troops appear on
the scene, equipped with picks and
shovels, with wire cutters and with
dynamite and 'rack-a-rock." Day and
night fresh relay after fresh relay,
under constant shell fire. these engineers
worked clearing passabe roads for the
guns and their ammunition caissons.
And as usual it had been raining, so
hundreds of truck loads of crushed rock
had to be brought up and dumped into
holes and soft places in order to get
enough of a road bed for the wheels
of the heavy guns to ride on without
going axle deep in the mud and stick
ing tight. Remember, too, that each
gun was supposed to have six horses 10
pull it but none had more than four
AMI some were trying to get alcng with
two. Without a pause the engineers
worked on all day. all night, all the
next day and during the second night
few guns began to filter through the
desert and got up where they could
help out. But meantime the victorious
and interesting advance of the infantry
had ended. On the second day 1t was
only at the expense of the utmost de-
termination and heavy losses that any
c-rnupd of could he pained E,yan
the four Inexperienced divisions made
desperate efforts to advance, though
this was hardly to be expected.
But one thing was accomplished dur
ing the 27th and that was the compile
ton of the signal corps lines of commu-
nication. Under intense enemy fire, fire
that was constantly increasing in ac-
curacy and severity the men of the
signal battalions brought up their
wires. their instruments and their ma
terial. Everything had to be carried
on mems backs as No Mans Land was
still an impossible desert. And the
signal mems troubles had just begun
when they got their lines installed.
Constant breaks occurred in the wires,
merely laid along the ground. A shell
would hit nearby and tear out 20 or
80 feet of wire. Infantry reinforce
ments coming up would trip over the
wire and break it. Each time n break
occurred a lineman had to go out with
a length of spare wire and his insulat-
ing tape and repair the break. 1t did
not matter how intense the barrage
might be. day or night. the wires had to
be kept open and it took men to do It,
/ take my hat off to the linemen of the
field signal battalions.
On the 27th the problem of supply
had not reached an acute stage as all of
the boys who went over the top the day
before and carried with them two days
rations Carrying details brought up
enough ammunition for the machine
guns to give them a partial supply in
case of heavy counter attacks by the
enemy Those units which had been
careless and wasteful with their am
munition the day before suffered on the
27th. The obtaining of sufficient water
for actual drinking needs was becoming
matter of difficulty for most of the
attacking troops That country would
ordinarily be considered a well watered
country--too we'll watercd as far as
rams are concerned. Consider any
piece of country right around here and
think of what water there Is available
There is perhaps farm with q well