The following are a number of criticisms made by Lieut. Henri Poire of the French army, detailed as instructor at Plattsburg, upon the system of field works constructed by the 17th and 18th Provisional Training Regiments. The ground was of loose sand, with some gravel at a depth of about six feet.
1. Dimensions of trenches as laid out were not followed.
- Bottom of trenches behind firing steps too narrow.
- Firing step too deep. It should never be more than 3 feet 4 inches below berm of parapet.
- Parapet much too thin in most cases. It should be at least three feet thick.
- Communication trenches (boyaux) generally too narrow.
- Islands in communication trenches should never be less than 10 x 12 yards—otherwise one shell will demolish the entire passageway.
2. Revettment work not well anchored. In some cases too many wires from supports fastened to one dead man. Another fault is that dead men were not buried deeply enough in the ground, nor far enough back from the trench. In one case a dead man (a stake) supported all four sides of an island in a communication trench. The destruction of this post would have completely blocked every passage around the island. Furthermore, dead men rot quickly and tend to break off. It is necessary, therefore, to have a number of them, each holding only a portion of the weight. All projecting branches and irregularities along a trench should be removed by occupying troops.
3. Too many loop-holes. Except for snipers, riflemen and automatic riflemen fire over the parapet.
4. Machine gun loop-holes not wide enough. They should not be less than 36 inches wide. There must be vegetation planted in front and a curtain hung over the loop-holes to prevent detection. The growing plants in front will be easily swept away at the first discharge.
5. Remember never to imitate shell-holes until after a real bombardment by the enemy.
6. The dugouts made were never deep enough and afforded no protection. In fact it would be far better to have none than to be caught inside when a shell exploded in a shallow one, because the confinement of the explosion would intensify the effect.
7. Shelters were all too wide. Six feet is the maximum.
The platoon headquarters dugout should be of the same width as the trench, not over three feet, but as long as necessary. Company headquarters is six feet wide and of whatever depth required.