TRIALS OF THE TRENCHES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2361, 18 January 1915, Page 6

TRIALS OF THE TRENCHES

GOING ABOUT BAREFOOT.

A recent story by "Eyethe official recorder with the BritisK Staff, says:—

"The River Lya is flooded, and is some places on both sides we have had to evacuate the. trenches. The wet class is so adhesive that' even the stoutest boots give way under the strain. In order to keep, as dry as-possible many of the men go .barefoot down the' long communication trenches, and only resume their boots and socks' when they reach the drained fire trenches. The life is monotonous,, because .continual work .is required.to keep'the trenches dry and intact, added to.whichthere is 'the constant effort by each, side to gain, the. mastery, the sniping, and the sapping, bombardment by mortars and hand grenades, the ■ construction and repair of .entanglements, and the digging of trenches by night within close range of the enemy's sentries. . The importance of establishing superiority in' trenoh warfare does not consist only of material results, but : also of the moral ascendance which is gained. There Is a great deal of sickness in the German ranks, and a considerable, number lof cases of typhoid. .■ Some units have been temporarily withdrawn owing to this. The struggle has entered on a new phase, the Allied' forces harms' taken the .initiative.. But thefactthat, the Germans are acting on the'defensive does not mean that they have abandoned, attacking. The German defensive is founded on' the. axiom that the weaker the force is and the harder it is'pressed the more pefsistently should it attack. ' ;If we retain the initiative the Germane, will become (conscious that ultimate victory is not attainable while the final consequence of repeated small successes may be that the enemy, will be forced to abandon important points, like towns, Tailway stations, and river crossings, and fall back on another line of defence.

"It must not, however, be thought that this is other than a very slow and laborious process,.or that the-result is within immediate reach. Every trench gained represents lost ground, for which the enemy has expended much Wood and treasure, and is a step forward in the process of attrition which will eventually bring the war to a conclusion. To find a parallel of the general features of the warfare now being-..waged, it is necessary to go back, to the- days •when the nations sought to defend their territories by. means of a continuous line of entrenchments and fortifications. Instances are the Great Wall of China, and the Roman Wall of Great Britain, while, curiously, the part .of .Flanders where the British • are now operating was, in the. .early eighteenth century, defended by such lines. The method of i overcoming ■ this resistance, does not differ in principle from. that employed m the early days."' • »" ; v •