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.
Trenches dug in the foregoing manner and protected by barbed wire
will give the infantryman a chance to live. But he will increase or
decrease the probability of coming out alive according as he is careful
or careless during the time he is there. Nothing, of course, can save
the men if the enemy is determined to thoroughly shell the line, and
the orders are to hold it. The sanest thing when a bombardment begins
is to withdraw to the next safe line. But the enemy will sometimes be
content to allow men to remain in their trenches for a while without
shelling them provided they do not wilfully provoke him. A column of
smoke arising from the trenches where the men were cooking was usually
considered by the enemy as provocation, and over the shells would come.
This brings us to the point that I wish to make regarding fires. The
men must eat during their tour of duty, and they must have hot food,
consequently fires of some kind are needed. But they should be made of
very small pieces of wood cut up with a pocket knife so small that they
will not give off any smoke. By following this method a safe and very
hot fire can be made. At times we were supplied with small quantities
of charcoal which was very acceptable. As a matter of fact, more
liberties in this connection can usually be taken in the firing trench
than in the support or reserve trenches. The enemy knows perfectly well
men are in the firing trench. He sees from the rifle fire that that is
manned, but it is a good thing to keep him guessing about the other
trenches.
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.
Trenches are exposed to attack not only from the surface but also
from the air and from beneath the surface of the ground. Aeroplanes
come over and drop steel darts or bombs, and only very strong head
cover can give protection against them. But it is very hard to hit a
trench from the air with a missile of this kind, and the danger to
the men in the trenches is not very great. By far the greater danger
comes from mining. Men must be on the watch all the time to detect
these operations of the enemy and to forestall them where possible.
Special instruments like giant stethoscopes have been invented and
men are told off to hold them to the ground to detect the sounds of
digging. But, while these instruments are of use, the best means is
a well trained ear. If the enemy is discovered mining towards your
position, the only thing to do is to countermine him and try and blow
him up before he is ready to touch off the fuse that is intended for
your destruction. It is not an easy matter to decide just where the
countermine should be sunk or how far to go. Many combats have been
fought with pick and shovel in the bowels of the earth in cases where
one side or the other has broken through the gallery. But any risk must
be taken rather than let the enemy enjoy uninterrupted his work of
mining you.