Read Ebook: Training for the Trenches A Practical Handbook Based upon Personal Experience During the First Two Years of the War in France by Vickers Leslie

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But whether men or women are in charge of this important department of an army, the duty will still devolve upon the officers to see that the cookhouses are kept clean and that the food is up to the proper standard. One case occurred in a camp near London where they were following the principle of allowing outside caterers to supply the food, in which the Orderly Officer of the day just managed to stop in time, the service to the men of meat that was diseased. The desire to make a little additional profit had blinded these unpatriotic people to the welfare of the troops, and they were punished with a fine and with the loss of their catering contract. That is mild punishment. Grafters of every kind, from those who put bad powder into shells or bad leather into boots, to those who risk an outbreak of sickness through supplying improper food, should all be treated the same way that certain other enemies of their country are treated--a Court-martial and a firing party. No condemnation is too severe for them. Officers will not always find it an easy task to detect these thieves, but they must be very much on their job for this purpose.

Then again good food sometimes is allowed to become bad food through the careless handling by the cooks and their assistants. Covers are left off dishes that contain meat, butter, cheese, etc., and they are ruined by dust or flies. Contaminated food is allowed to remain in close proximity to the food that is to be offered to the troops; cooks either use unclean utensils themselves or allow the orderlies from the various units to return dirty utensils to them; or they handle the refuse and then the food without ever a thought to washing their hands. One very knowing old rascal of a cook we had used to have his place in excellent condition at eleven in the morning when the Orderly Officer used to make his rounds, and one day when I came upon him suddenly it was to find that he was using one of the bread bags as a receptacle for his change of clothes--a filthy collection of shirts, socks, etc. He was fired, and cursed me for many a day as he carried his great weight of avoirdupois round the training field with a rifle over his shoulder like any other infantryman.

With regard to water, while the regular line officers must also keep an eye to its general purity, it is generally left to the care of the medical staff to test it from time to time to make certain of its fitness for human use. We experienced a good deal of trouble in making the men keep their wash lines clean and in making them refrain from throwing soapy, greasy water on the ground. It is the easiest method--for them--but the costliest in the long run, and they must be made to throw it into the proper drains.

Then, too, no camp will be complete without a thorough system of garbage disposal. The refuse should be collected into tins that can be closed to keep away the rats, etc., and then taken at certain specified times to the incinerator. The latter can easily be built under any circumstances and there can be no reason for a camp not being well supplied in this matter.

Latrines, also, must be thoroughly inspected by the officers of every unit. They should be established at some distance from the tent lines, and as far removed as possible from the kitchen. Sand and lime should be liberally supplied. The tasks of attending the latrines will normally fall to the sanitary squad who can be assisted by those who are convicted of the crime of failing to keep their lines clean. It is wonderful what a wholesome effect on a lazy man has the imposition of three days latrine duty! In the trenches this was one of the few punishments at our disposal for the slackers, for they welcomed any punishment that would send them away out of the firing line.

The same principles that have been laid down for tent life will apply more or less to life in billets. When the winter came all the troops in England and Scotland were moved into billets in towns where they could be accommodated. These were usually manufacturing towns that had numerous small homes that could each accommodate a soldier or two. From the point of view of training this is a system far from satisfactory for the men so easily get out of control. But it is the best system that we had at the time. Later on, extensive villages of huts were constructed, and the training proceeded normally.

Sometimes groups of men were assembled in large vacant houses. There was no furniture in them and the troops had to sleep on the floor. Cooking facilities were inadequate, but worst of all were the toilet facilities. These houses had been constructed to serve as the homes for average families of five to ten, and when fifty or sixty men were turned into them the result is imaginable. The same problems will probably be presented if ever American soldiers are housed in this way, and those who happen to be officers will have to exercise the greatest vigilance.

Then again we found that there are some men who have no idea of the risk they run in leaving food lying about a house or hidden away. After a certain group had moved away from Bedford, England, it was my business to go round the houses they had occupied to see if they were fit for occupation by the incoming troops. I found to my horror in one of the houses that some of the men, instead of taking surplus meat out to the garbage cans, had put it under a board in the floor! It had been there a few days when I found it, and examination of the other rooms disclosed the fact that all sorts of things from meat and bread and tins to old clothes had been hidden in similar places by these lazy fellows.

My reader will soon realise that the officer of to-day has to keep his eyes constantly open to preserve the best conditions for the training of his men. And while I am on this point I would just add this word. Not only must the officers see to it that the food and water are good and the camp kept clean, but he must also have the men's health constantly in mind when he is planning their schedule of training. Moderation is the word. It is possible to be too enthusiastic and do the men more harm than good with hasty training. Exercises should be graduated. It must be remembered that many of the men who will constitute civilian armies are not used to out-of-door life and their training must be gentle. It is not fair for an officer to expect his men to be able to march twelve or twenty miles on a hike while he rides comfortably with them on a horse! It is a good thing for him to share the fatigue of his men that he may be the better able to direct their training. I have found that a good many of these hikes were planned by the higher officers who never walked and never understood when men began to fall out from fatigue. Rests during marching should be fairly frequent and the men should be taught the advantages to be gained by loosening their packs and throwing themselves down flat on the ground to relax all their muscles. Singing and whistling should be encouraged on the march, for there is nothing like it to make a long road seem short, but smoking should be reserved for the rest periods.

The principle of "plenty of rests" should also be followed during physical exercises and a man should never be asked to hold his arm long in any uncomfortable position. A thoughtful officer is soon rewarded by the increased efficiency of his men. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"--will bring big returns in the army.

COVER AND TRENCHES

This war is being fought out, not in great open battles, but in successive conflicts from the security of trenches in what "Papa Joffre" has called the "nibbling process." It is not simple work but such as calls for healthy bodies, trained minds, and steady nerves. Quick action is often necessary. Independence of thought, ingenuity and personal courage, combined with implicit obedience, make up the ideal soldier.

The training through which a civilian must go, then, will be such as to develop these qualities. Every syllabus of training must be drawn up with this in view, and all the time the attention of the officers must be kept on the fact that the training must be such as to make soldiers who will be efficient in the kind of war that is being waged. Much that has been written in the text books for armies has had to be discarded as out of date. It is no exaggeration to say that the British knew very little about modern warfare when we went to France, in spite of the fact that we had, during this century, waged a war in South Africa, not to mention the numerous border engagements in India. We did not know the tremendously important part that artillery was to play; we knew practically nothing of the use of bombs; we had never made gas and did not know its constitution; and in the work of trench construction we were in the kindergarten class. Our enemy taught us many of these things and we learned them slowly. Now we have reached his standard and gone past him as the Tanks testify. But in pure frightfulness we can never compete with him and never intend to.

Eight hours a day of hard but varied training was our rule with frequent evening lectures. Conditions were arranged as much like those on active service as possible, even to the use of "live" bombs. Men are very reluctant at first to handle these explosive little instruments of war, and they must be given confidence in themselves long before they reach the firing line. There they are used as freely as a mechanic uses a machine.

It is said that one general who was training his men in the Midlands of England had a difficulty in getting them to keep their heads down. They could not see the necessity for it and always wanted to see all that was going on. Now in actual warfare the individual soldier is able to see very little of what is transpiring round about him, and he has to be content to come through with a whole head. Accordingly the General served out to a few trustworthy men a number of live, ball cartridges. During the manoeuvres the men who would put their heads up heard some of these missiles singing round their ears, and soon learned that it was unwise to be too curious. I am not sure that I would recommend this method--for were an accident to happen it would bring disgrace and dismissal to the officer who had employed it--but it is certainly an effective means.

One of the first things to be insisted upon in training a man is that he learn the use of COVER. He must learn not only that cover is necessary, but also what constitutes effective cover of various materials. The most common form of cover is that afforded by piled up earth. A rifle bullet fired at short range will pierce about forty inches of earth so that nothing less than thirty-six inches can be considered as giving protection from ordinary bullets. Where sand can be obtained ten inches less will suffice. Ordinary turf is not nearly so good and nothing less than five feet in thickness is sufficient. Bricks are effective. If they are placed end on giving a thickness of nine inches this will be found sufficient so that a man can feel fairly secure from rifle bullets standing behind an ordinary brick wall. Where wood is used much depends on its degree of hardness; thirty inches for hardwood and forty-five for softwood can be taken as affording complete protection. Any of the harder substances such as iron and steel, etc., are preferable, but they can seldom be obtained. Of ordinary iron plate three-fourths inch is necessary and less for the different varieties of steel. Usually several of these media must be used. Boards can be arranged with stones and sand or litter, etc., between them. The point to be remembered is that the required thickness must be obtained, not at the base of the cover but at the top, to support which a much larger base will usually be required.

When a man has learnt what thickness of materials he needs to have to protect his life, it will be a good thing to take him out and let him see how far bullets are able to pierce these media by actually firing at them from point blank range. That will give him a respect for bullets and impress the lesson on him.

But he must also be told that cover that protects is only half what is required. It must be such as to allow him to become offensive while giving him defence. The problem is a simple one in actual trenches, where he has no alternative but to build them continuously and then fire over the top or through loopholes of steel. But when more open fighting develops he must learn that his business is not only to get reasonable protection for his own body but to be able to bring his rifle to bear on the enemy. This necessitates a certain amount of exposure. Certain devices have been developed during this war to allow a man to fire his rifle from beneath the parapet of the trench by means of specially adapted periscopes. These are of great use for snipers but cannot be used by all the men.

In open fighting men often make the mistake of seeking cover in what is obviously the most protected place from rifle bullets, but equally obvious to those of experience as the most likely place for the enemy to choose as marks for his artillery. Orchards, woods, houses, etc., come within this category, and it is only experience that will teach a man what places to choose and what places to avoid. Wherever the enemy can view the approaches to these shelters, either by direct vision from their positions or by means of aeroplanes or observation balloons, they become dangerous as cover.

Modern trenches are intended to give cover from fire and from view. They are seldom roofed over, so that, as a matter of fact, they can be seen from the air, but it is not by any means an easy task either for an aeroplane to drop bombs there nor yet for the artillery to hit them. But we seldom are able to inherit trenches--they usually have to be dug under cover of darkness while the enemy is sniping. For this purpose each man in the British army carries a small entrenching tool on his back, as well as two sandbags. Every man is trained in the use of this valuable little tool, and soon learns never to be without it. When, during an advance, he needs to provide cover for himself, he throws himself down on the ground placing his rifle at his left side, and begins to dig away the earth at his right side, throwing the loose earth up in front of him. Just as soon as he can he takes the sandbags from his back and fills them, placing them in front of him. Under this imperfect cover he proceeds to deepen the hole till he can roll his body into it. This miniature trench should be two feet wide and three feet long. Then if time permits he should add small comforts such as a recess for his feet, drainage for water, etc. He will find that he needs to dig down to about two feet, all the time throwing the earth out in front and occasionally pushing it out a little so as to make it of sufficient width, for, of course, he will be seeking to get a parapet of about a yard in thickness at the top. If he has an opportunity of firing he should do so, not over the top of his cover but round the right side of it. To fire over it is to ask for trouble. The body and legs should be placed in such a position that they are covered as much as possible by the earth thrown up in front.

If an advance has to be made from this position, the small trench will have served its purpose in giving temporary shelter. But there are times when troops have to consolidate positions won in this way, and on the site of these primitive trenches, more elaborate ones have to be made. At the battle of Neuve Chapelle the troops took up a certain line, dug themselves in in a rough way, and then during the night they set to work to construct the very trenches that still shelter them to this day. But it was due to the entrenching tools and the few sand bags that they were able to hold the line during the hours of daylight, and when the next morning dawned they had a fairly adequate protection.

While the question of cover is very important, I do not wish to convey the impression that men should have this subject always in their minds. To use a rock or a tree or a mound of earth as a temporary shelter is one thing; but to continue to hide behind it at the time an advance is needed, is another. The man who hesitates to go forward when he has recovered his wind, but who takes care of his precious skin by remaining under cover, is worse than useless. The object of all troops must be to get into touch with the enemy and drive him out with the bayonet. Cover will help to keep a man alive for a little while to be able to do that work.

When through adverse circumstances--usually the presence of the enemy in superior force--an army has to go to ground, it sets to work in dead earnest to build its trenches. We have learned that the best fortifications that can be got are those that are constructed in the earth. The guns of Verdun have practically never been in operation--indeed at the present time there are no guns in the old forts--and the reason for this is that earth works of such strength were thrown up at a distance from the forts that the Germans were never able to get their heavy guns to bear on them. The forts of Li?ge, and Namur, and Antwerp all fell before the great howitzers, but the earth works of Verdun were too much for them. It is doubtful if large forts will ever again be used in inland places, for the earthworks have proved their great superiority.

Trenches are laid out and dug as shown in the accompanying diagram . They do not consist of one long straight line, but what may be described as a succession of little rooms, about twenty feet long, seven feet deep and three feet broad. They are seldom roofed over. Each little room is connected to the ones on either side by a trench that runs behind the four-feet-square traverse that is of solid earth and which serves the purpose of localising the effect of shells, bombs, etc. If the trenches were in one straight line, a shell that fell there would be liable to injure a great many men; whereas under the present system the traverse acts as a buffer and limits the radius of its explosive force. The trench itself is dug about three feet deep, care being taken to lift off the top layer of grass and keep it aside to place over the front of the earth on completion of the trenches, to render them less visible. As the earth is lifted out it is thrown to the front and rear, and some of it put into sandbags which are then laid like stones as shown. The front part of the trench is then called the parapet and the rear part the parados. Both must be made strong, the parapet for reasons already given, and the parados in order to protect the men from the force of shells that fall just behind the trenches. About a foot from the ground there is placed a board that is called the "firing step," on which the men stand when they are about to fire. I have said that there is seldom any roof over the trenches. It is difficult to cover in the trenches because of the limited supply of materials. Then again it is questionable if roofing pays; for, admitting that they may be able to keep out small bombs and rifle bullets, they can never hope to be able to keep out shells. The Germans used to roof in a great deal--but then they were there to wage a defensive war and did not propose to move for a good while.

In some ground the earth will "hold itself up" at the sides of the trenches, in other ground it will have to be revetted. This is done with chicken wire, or with willows or old staves where they can be had. It is important to have the sides firm, or else in wet weather especially, they will prove a nuisance to the occupants of the trenches.

Some kind of floor should be provided for the trenches. The simplest and best are made in the following way: Take two seven-inch boards about ten feet in length, nail them together to make a fourteen-inch plank, and then cover the whole with fairly fine chicken wire. Place these boards on the ground with the side on which the wires are joined downwards. They keep the feet from slipping, are easily cleaned by being upended when they are dry, and allow the space under them to be reached easily to pick up scraps of food, etc. There is nothing more heart breaking than having to pursue your weary course for miles, sometimes, up trenches with slippery sides and sloping, wet, treacherous bottoms.

The Germans used to follow the custom of digging many of their "funk holes," as they were called, many feet underground. Sometimes they went down twenty and even thirty feet. The idea of this was that they could retreat into these secure places during a bombardment and then emerge with their machine guns as soon as the attacking infantry had started to approach over "No Man's Land." We never followed that custom, for while it will work at times, yet the attacking infantry may be upon you before you are aware of it and have you at their mercy with bayonets and bombs from the parapet. This the Germans have learnt to their cost many times on the Somme.

Many efforts have been made to construct dugouts, reasonably near the surface, that would be shell proof. This is a most difficult matter. It is easy enough to make them shrapnel-proof. A layer of galvanised iron on the roof covered with a foot of loose earth will accomplish this for the velocity of shrapnel is not great. But with high explosive shells it is different. It was seen at Li?ge and Namur what terrific effects high explosive shells fired from howitzers could have even on re-enforced concrete. I am told that at Port Arthur, a Russian General was killed in a shelter that was covered with over twelve feet of concrete. The closest we can approach to a shell-proof dugout on the field is as follows: Dig an approach trench about ten feet deep, leading into a hole of this depth, by any dimensions you may choose--say six feet square. Put in supports for the roof that shall be four feet from the floor. Roof in with steel rails, such as are used on railroads, then cover them with two or three layers of bricks that have been broken into small pieces. Leave a five-foot air space and then place an exactly similar roof above and cover the whole with earth. Small shells will be stopped at the first set of rails, while large ones may possibly pierce them. But the effect of the explosion will mostly be taken up in the airchamber and the dugout itself protected. The reader will readily perceive the difficulty of constructing such dugout on the field and they can certainly not be provided for the accommodation of the common soldier however precious his life may be.

As the days go by, every effort must be made to improve the trenches. This can be done in many ways, some of which will be obvious. The front line is, of course, the most important one, and the greatest amount of work has to be done there. But support and reserve lines as well must be constructed and many communicating trenches. Support lines were usually dug at a distance of thirty to eighty yards from the firing line. In them we kept a few men to be used in case of emergency. This line was an exact duplicate of the front line and was intended to be used in case we were pushed back. The reserve line was about five to eight hundred yards back from the front line and was not brought to any very great degree of completion. Interspersed between these three lines were many redoubts, or especially strong points containing machine guns, etc., whose defenders were expected to hold on to the very last and take advantage of their more secure position to make the attacker pay dearly for his advance. All these lines had to be linked up by communicating trenches, which started about a mile in the rear of the front line and went up in zigzag lines to the latter position, crossing the other trenches on their way. These communicating trenches are used for the purpose of bringing up troops and supplies, etc., and for taking to the rear the men that have been wounded. It is usually arranged to have some of these trenches "Up" and some of them "Down" roads. Each line of trenches contain dugouts for the use of the troops that hold them. The distance between the communicating trenches varies from twenty-five yards to three or four hundred according to the state of perfection of the trench system.

For special weapons such as machine guns and bomb guns, special shelters have to be made. Extra strong parapets are provided as well as head cover of railroad ties, and every effort is made to keep the exact position of the machine guns secret from the enemy. We soon learnt that he was very anxious to find our machine guns and would shell us liberally in the hope of being able to locate them.

Care must be given to the question of drainage. Small ditches should be dug at intervals of a few yards to lead the water to pits in the rear. In Flanders, where we were very near river level, we installed hand and power pumps to keep the water from taking possession of the trenches. Even then, on rainy days we sometimes were in water up to our waists.

Great care must also be taken in the construction of latrines. The method that was followed was to dig a short "blind alley" trench at right angles to one of the communicating trenches, and at a distance of twelve or fifteen yards from the front line. Starting from the end of this blind alley, the trench was gradually filled in with earth as it was used. In other cases biscuit tins were used as receptacles and the ordinary sanitary squads emptied them at specified times into a fairly deep pit. These latrines should be well protected with sandbags to keep the enemy from finding them and training a machine gun on them, in the knowledge that they were very likely to get some of the men who used them during the day.

This, I believe, gives the principal points in the construction of the trenches. Men should be taught to dig them in broad daylight at first and then when they have learnt the knack, they should be set to dig them at night. From time to time during their training they should be made to return--preferably to the same sections of the trenches--to improve them and maintain them. An excellent scheme is to arrange competitions among the men to spur them on to invent ingenious devices for protecting themselves and their fellows during their occupation of them. At certain times they should also be made to spend a night and then several nights there, going through the regular routine of sentry duty, stand to arms, etc., just as they will have to do in real warfare. Another scheme is to choose opposing sides with trenches within easy reach, say, twenty-five yards apart. Arrange a three-day tour of the trenches, and let each side attempt to surprise the other. Umpires can be stationed in No Man's Land to decide as to the relative merits of the two sides. At certain times, additional interest can be given to the conflict by some harmless missiles such as sand bags rolled up and made into a ball the size of a base ball with string. These will also give excellent practice in bomb throwing.

The rules of the trenches can be summed up in a few words: "Keep your spirits up and your head down."

PROTECTION OF TRENCHES

There are two things to be done after the trenches have been dug--one is to keep them in order, and the other is to provide outside protection for them. The elements themselves are enough to play havoc with the sand bags and the walls of trenches, but if you add to this the fact that they will immediately become the marks for the enemy gunners you will see that the cost of upkeep is liable to be high.

During the first year of the war the Germans were supplied with an amount of shells that enabled them to do what they pleased with our trenches without our being able to reply. Indeed, for many months, as is now well known, we were on an allowance of six shells per battery per day, or about one shell per gun per day! Gunners will readily appreciate the uselessness of a stock of this kind. The result of this discrepancy in the number of shells was that the enemy could shell us with impunity. He used to set to work to break down our parapets early in the morning, and then, knowing that we should have to repair them during the night, would train machine guns on the breeches that had been made. It is a very disheartening business to have the parapets that you have laboured so hard to construct, knocked down in a few minutes. There would be some consolation in being able to serve him the same way, but that was denied us at that time. Indeed, one of the best ways to preserve your trenches is to let him know by experience that every time he breaks them down, you will do the same thing to him.

Every night there will be something to do in this connection. No effort must be spared to get the trenches into first-class condition and keep them thus. It is very annoying to relieve a battalion that has lain down on their job during their tour of duty in the line, and to find that you have a great deal of work to do--work that could have been avoided if they had taken reasonable care of the work that had already been accomplished when they took over the trenches.

As to the outside protection for the trenches, that consists for the most part of barbed wire. Sir Ian Hamilton, in his report on the Dardanelles Expedition, paid a tribute to the effectiveness of the Turkish barbed wire. It was the means of stopping a British advance more than once on the Peninsula, just as it was in France. At the battle of Aubers Ridge, fought on May 9, 1915, we suffered most heavily from the fact that the wires had not been cut, and therefore we were unable to make progress. We had to retreat, leaving a number of our dead and wounded before the enemy lines. It would be difficult to exaggerate the part that barbed wires have played in this war. Wherever they are set up it means that a thorough bombardment must be made before an advance can be risked.

The erection of these entanglements is really the work of Engineers, but so extensive is the task that infantrymen have to be called in to do the pick and shovel work while the engineers do the directing. Stakes are driven deep into the ground, and round them the wire is twisted as it is taken from stake to stake. Some wires are laid on a level with the ground, some a few inches above it, then all the way up to ten or fifteen feet into the air, making a regular network. We tried to have our wires extending over a width of ground of at least twenty feet.

But not only are barbed wires used, but also electrically charged wires in some cases, though between the lines they will seldom be of much use for a single shell may short circuit the system and it be rendered harmless. An effective method was that of placing trip wires near the ground, and then a little beyond them bayonets with the sharp points uppermost, or pointed sticks, so that when the man tripped over the wire he would fall and impale himself on the spikes. Sometimes bombs were attached to the wires in places where it was thought likely that the enemy would attempt to cut them or come through them.

As these entanglements have to be erected during the night and under the fire of the enemy it will be seen that it becomes exceedingly dangerous work. But it has to be done, and the risk must be taken for the sake of the additional security it will give to the trenches. It has been suggested that this is work to which the conscientious objectors in England--the Pacifists here--might be put. It is necessary work for the preservation of life, and is not specifically military. It is labourer's work. There is no chance of fighting out there nor of taking human life. Then it offers an excellent opportunity of winning the martyr's crown because some one is sure to turn a machine gun on you if you remain out there long enough. All of these points should appeal to Pacifists. But the greatest reason from our point of view is that it would save the lives of valuable men!

The men in the trenches are further protected by men whose business it is to go out into No Man's Land and remain there hours at a time, lying in some kind of hole, and listening to be able to detect the presence of the enemy. Should the enemy make his appearance in small parties, these listening posts can usually take care of them, but when they are in large parties, the listening post men return to the trenches and give warning. The best nerves are needed by the men who go out into the open to do this work, and sooner or later every one has to take a turn at it. These listening posts are sometimes entirely disconnected from the trenches, and out beyond their own barbed wire, through which the men have to make a passage for the time being, and of course keep it secret. But sometimes they are connected with the fire trench by a shallow trench or sap which is dug out into the neutral territory whenever circumstances are favourable.

When the troops landed at Suvla Bay, on the Peninsula, they found several excellent water holes that were most inviting to parched and thirsty men. A rush was made for them, when suddenly a terrific explosion was heard, and dozens of men fell flat on the ground, some dead, some wounded. The Turks had taken the precaution to place land mines round these wells, and as soon as they were stepped upon, the mines went off. This is a genuine ruse of war and was used also between the lines. The Turks never resorted to the treachery that General Botha had to overcome in German East Africa where he found the wells, not mined, but poisoned. A recent report from France tells us that in the present retreat the Germans are employing the same dastardly tactics. It is one thing to protect your trenches or your line of retreat; it is quite another to take the lives of men in this barbarous way.

For the same reason there should never be any unnecessary noise in the trenches. It provokes the enemy to throw bombs and other unwelcome missiles.

I have indicated that the present form of trenches, being in a continuous line, makes it necessary either to construct loopholes or to look over the top of the parapet in order to fire. I have indicated too that there are several forms of rifles that can be fired through periscopes, but these must as yet be considered special and are not for the ordinary man to use. No doubt such a rifle will be invented and generally used in the future. But in this war we soon learned that it was "unhealthy" to put our heads above the parapet any more frequently than we had to. Therefore, in order to see what the enemy was about, and to wait for sniping opportunities we used periscopes. Some of those that were brought to France were huge cumbersome boxes that made a fine mark for the enemy's sharpshooters. But the kind that was most generally used after the first six months of the war was that which consisted of a stick with two slanting grooves in it, one near each end, into which grooves small mirrors could be fitted. We found them quite effective, and should an accident happen and a mirror be broken they were easily replaced from the store we carried with us for that purpose. Not having a box of any kind they were very difficult to see from the enemy lines.

Certain gunners who used to come to the trenches as Forward Observing Officers were equipped with a splendid periscope that had beautiful lenses in it. But it was very costly and could not easily be repaired if once damaged.

To make the image in the periscope clearer, binoculars can be applied to the lower glass at the proper angle, and almost as clear a view obtained as by looking over the parapet. One disadvantage of the periscope is that it makes the distance seem greater than it really is, and many a man receives a shock when he places his head above the parapet after looking through a periscope for a while, to see how close the enemy trenches are.

ARTILLERY FIRE

It may be desirable to indicate the various kinds of shell fire to which trench men are exposed. No amount of caution will save a man from shells if they happen to be falling in his neighbourhood. The most frequent visitor of the shell variety is of course the shell from the field gun. The British use an 18-pounder, the French a 75 millimetre, and the Germans a 77 millimetre--all shells of about the same calibre . Of these the best gun is undoubtedly the French, which is a perfectly marvellous piece of mechanism. But all of them are deadly in their effects. They may fire either shrapnel or high explosive--always spoken of in the army as H. E. In the former case, the shell that is fired contains a nose that comes off at the time for which it is set, and liberates hundreds of small round leaden bullets. These go out in cone shape and spray the ground round about. Shrapnel is very effective against men in the open but of little use when they are entrenched, for very few of the bullets from any shell will enter the ditch itself. When the British army first took the field they had very little H. E. Shrapnel had been used successfully in South Africa, and it was thought it would do in France. The proportions used were 96 per cent shrapnel to 4 per cent H. E. We learnt our lessons dearly--as we usually do--and in time we came to realise that for breaking down parapets shrapnel was absolutely useless. The proportion that is now used is about 90 per cent H. E. to 10 per cent of shrapnel.

The soldiers used to call the 77 mill. shells of the Germans "Pip-squeaks." They used to give a "pip" and then a "squeak." If you heard the first and did not hear the second you were dead, while, if you heard them both you could consider yourself still alive. Another familiar name for them was that of "Cheeky Charlies," from the fact that they had the habit of coming in without being announced.

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