Fighting the Boche Underground

by H. D. Trounce

It's all too big for words! I can only describe some of the incidents I saw or was connected with. These are typical of what was constantly occurring, and this was happening everywhere in our vicinity. The bodies and even uniforms were almost torn to pieces. Below in the dugouts were the German dead and wounded, the dead in every conceivable position, lying sprawled across the steps of the dugout entrances, half hanging from the dugout bunks, or on the floors of the tunnel. The wounded had been given first-aid treatment, and our soldiers were giving them a share of their rations and cigarettes. Some of our men were searching around for German souvenirs, the invariable practice after the first excitement of an attack is over. I tried to talk to some wounded Germans, but couldn't get very far with the conversation, then left them some cigarettes and passed on. We found many things of value. The Boches had set up an electrical listening-instrument in the chalk from the tunnel below, but had apparently, unfortunately for themselves, neglected to listen to our underground work in the clay above.

Attacks were made almost daily on this front. A week or so before the attack just described, a party of the Leicester Regiment had suffered badly. A party of some 200 wounded infantry, including, I believe, some other units, had been captured by the Huns and placed for the time being in a German barbed-wire prisoners' cage in the village of Fontaine-les-Croisilles. This village was a popular target with our artillery, and soon after these British soldiers had been placed in the cage it was shelled badly by the English gunners.

The account comes from a wounded corporal whom we helped to haul in over the parapet one night. He stated that during the bombardment the Hun sentries bolted and all these prisoners who could walk or crawl escaped, a few of them, including himself, managing to reach No Man's Land and at night our own trenches. Although a prisoner for only a short time, his account of the treatment accorded them confirms all of the stories of the brutality inherent in the German race. No treatment was given to the wounded, not even first-aid. No water or food of any kind was allowed them, and whenever a German guard noticed a prisoner looking up or around, he was struck over the head.

The same night a sergeant of the same battalion crawled back over our parapet after having spent four days in No Man's Land with a broken arm. The poor chap had been bombed, and sniped at as he crawled painfully back, and machine-guns all along the line had opened fire on him. No one was to blame; all sentries have explicit instructions to fire at anything moving in No Man's Land. It was a marvel he even reached our parapet, but he told us there were other poor fellows out there still alive. Rescue-parties were instantly organized and brought in all the poor chaps they could find.

One of our own tanks had broken down in a previous attack and was now lying in a shallow sunken road about twenty yards from our most advanced position. The caterpillar tread of this machine had broken, and it was then occupied by an infantry detail, the former tank crew having gone back to man another tank. From this machine we could get good observation of the enemy trenches. To get to it in daytime we had to double across the road and get inside in a hurry.

It is an unfortunate fact that many of our men were wounded from our own shelling in these Hindenburg trenches. When a programme "strafe" by our heavy guns and howitzers was planned on the nearest enemy trenches, it was the practice to withdraw the infantry and engineer parties who were on duty or working in our most advanced trenches. With the ever-increasing destructive radius of our heavy H.E. shells it was impossible to avoid a certain percentage of casualties of this nature. Occasionally also other shells would burst short. I was standing by the side of a sentry one day when his arm was broken by a shell fragment, and every one can record instances of close shaves from them.

With the bulk of the German troops opposite us in deep dugouts most of their time, it was an increasing problem with the gunners to secure targets. I was observing one day with an F.O.O. when we spotted a couple of Boches running across from one trench to another. He promptly called to his telephonist to order three guns of Battery No. —— (three-inch) to open fire on them. At the same time he remarked: "We're doing lots of sniping with our eighteen-pounders these days."

One day about this time I was walking back to the village of Hénin with my section commander when a staff limousine pulled up on the road and a staff captain and half a dozen correspondents stepped out. The staff captain inquired as to whether there were any of the new heavy howitzer batteries near us and, if so, could we recommend them as being reasonably safe. The correspondents wished to see some in action. As it happened, there was a 9.2-inch battery quite close and we introduced these gentlemen to the gunner major in charge of the battery. Mr. Hilaire Belloc was pointed out to me as one of the party. I understand the latter gentleman walked on to the first Hindenburg line shortly after.

Our main company camp at this time was at Boisleau-St.-Mare, some three to four miles back. We could usually figure here on being out of the war, as we expressed it. Nevertheless, one day when we were at lunch in one of the Nissen huts, of corrugated-iron construction, the Huns were shelling an observation-balloon near us. Numerous fragments struck the hut. Some of us decided to lunch in our tin hats. One of the mess-waiters was severely wounded in the head at the same time. The shelling of camps at this distance was rather exceptional, though, and only occurred at intervals.

My furlough coming due toward the end of May, I applied to the brigade commander for leave to visit Paris. The request was not granted, apparently on account of the fact that too many officers were applying. Instead of going to Paris, I crossed over to London for the ten days' "permission."