Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1919-01-07

| dug about thirty kilos behind our
lines The layought of the trenches
was taken from airplane photographs
submitted by the Royal flying corps,
The trenches were correct to the
foot; they showed dugouts, saps, barb
ed wire defences and danger spots.
Battalions that were to go over in
the first waves were sent back for
three days to study these trenches,
engage in practice attacks and have
night maneuvers. Each man was re-
Quired to make map of the trenches
and familiarize himself with the
names and location of the parts his
battalion was to attack
In the American army noncom-
missioned officers are put through
course of map making or road
sketching, and during my six years
service in the United States cavalry
| had plenty of practice in this work
therefore mapping these trenches was
comparatively easy task for me-
Each man had to submit his map to
the comanp commander to be pass
GU hBOif anu Nbo lUAhN tnOu6n "
have mine selected as being suffi-
GENTLY authentic to use in the at
tack.
No photographs or maps are allow =
ed to leave France. but in this case
il appealed to me as a valuable SOU
venir of the great war and l man
aged to smuggle it through AT this
time it carries no military Importance
as the British lines, i am happy to
say, have since been advanced be-
yond this point, so in having it in my
possession | am not breaking any regu-
lation OF cautions of the British army.
The whole attack was rehersed
and reshersed until we heartily ours
ed the one who had conceived the
idea.
The trenches were named accord
ing to a system which made it
very simple for Tommy to find, even
in the dark, any point in the Ger
fan lines.
These imitation trenches, or trench
models, were well guarded from OBJ
servation 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 allawed within three
miles, so we felt sure that we had
great surprise in store for Fritz.
When we took over the front line
we received an awful shock. The
Germans displayed signboards over
the top of their trench showing the
names that we had called their
trenches. The signs read Fair
Fact Fate" and Fancy" and so
on, according TO the code na5Aes on
our map. Then to rub it I they
hoisted some more signs whitehead, |
Come on, we are ready, stupN. Eng
Iish'
1t is still a mystery to me how
they obtained this knowledge There
had been no raids or prisoners taken,
so it must have been the work of
spies in our lines.
Three or four days before the big
push we tried to shatter Fritz's nerve
by feint attacks. and partially sue
ceeded as the official reports of
July l show.
Although we were constantly bonn
harding their lines day and night,
still we fooled the Germans several
times. This was accomplished by
throwing an intense barrage into his
ines-then using smoke shells we
would put a curtain of white smoke
across No Mans Land, completely
obstructing his view of our trenches,
and would raise our curtain of fire
as if in an actual attack. All down
our trenches the men would shout
and cheer, and Fritz would turn loose
with machine-gun, rifle, and shrapnel
fire. thinking we were coming over.
After three or four of these dunn
my attacks his nerves must have been
near the breaking point.
On June "a, 1916, at $40 in the
morning our guns opened up, and hell
was let loose. The din was terrific.
a constant boom-boom in your ear
Our bombardment had lasted about
AT night the sky was a red glare.
two hours when Fritz started reply
ing. Although we were sending over
ten shells to his one. our casualties
were heavy. There was a constant
stream of stretchers coming out of
the communication trenches and bur-
ial parties were a common sight.
In the dugouts the noise of the
guns almost hurt. You had the
same sensation as when riding on the
subway you enter the tube under
the river going to Brooklyn-a sort
OF pressure on the ear drums. and
the ground constantly trembling.
The roads behind the trenches were
very dangerous because Boche shrap- |
mel was constantly bursting over them.
We avoided these dangerous spots by
crossing through open fields.
The destruction in the German lines
was awful and l really felt sorry for
them because realize how they must
be clicking it.