IN A GERMAN GUN-PIT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 152, 16 March 1918, Page 8

IN A GERMAN GUN-PIT

HOW A "HATE" PERFORMANCE WAS

CANCELLED

(By Major C. J. 0. Street, R.G.A., author of "With the Guns," etc.).

(Published by the War Office, and for- ' warded by courtesY of the Royal Colonial Institute.)

The two big 26-centimetre howitzers were indeed absolutely secure against even a direct hit. It had taken the German engineer officer, whose business it was to build concrete emplacements, over six months to complete these particular pits, and he had spared neither labour nor material. They were most skilfully concealed, in the first place, and in the second thoy were so strongly constructed that nothing but the very heaviest shell could have dono any dar.age, and then only if by some miracle it should happen to fall into one of the embrasures. , The Germau batterv commander had got his guns into these wonderful pits a couple of days before. He Pad spent these two days in settling the iuternal economy of his battery, arranging the best methods of ammunition supply, allotting dug-outs to the detachments, and so forth, and this vf.ry afternoon he was going to carry out his riist shoot. There was a big town held by the English in front or aim, and the pits had been constructed for the express purpose of pouring heavy shell into it until it should bo utterly wrecked. It was just an example of hate; there was no practical liilitary rearon why the place should be destroyed, but tho sight of a I'ronch town that bad not been ground to powder was more than the German army commander could tolerate. i

It was a clear bright morning, and the sky was full of aeroplai-js, German and British, engaging in cloud-high combats, or surrounded by the puffs of anti-aircraft shrapnel. There wore too many British machines \b urc lor.the battery commander's liking. It seemed to him that they were allowed to have things far too mush their-own way, while the German, -'planes rather avoided giving them bactte. Scouting machines kept passing right overlie;' 1 , forcing him to order his men to knock off work and hide themselves until these intrepid observers had gone. These perpetual interruptions were a nuisance. The battery commander resolved to write a letter ot protest t-i his corps commander, complaining of tho inefficiency of his own air service. Meanwhile he would have to carry on, He would never be. ready in time' for his shoot if the work kept stopping like this.

There was a certain ayiiomifc of artillery activity going on on both fades, hut nothing much was happening in his immediate vicinity. All at onco lie heard a long-drawn whino and ;i shell burst about a hundred yards from the battery. It was oilv a kxinch howitzer, ouite Waoi&lo of dainjj the place any narm, but it would never do to risk tin detachments in the open if any more of them were to come over. He cursed and then blew his whistle. Th'o men disappeared into their dug-outs, and he followed them into his fighting po.^t. An'lnquisitive 'Plane. There he found the wireless operator intent upon his instruments,- He learnt that an English 'plane could bo heard giving corrections, from- which it was easy to deduce that ho was being ranged upon. A second shell fell near by, followed by half a dozen more. Then the aeroplane signals died away, and after a wait of a quarter of an hour it was obvious that the ranging had stopped. The battery commander laughed scornfully. These stupid English had not found him, then; they had only suspected something. Their aeroplane had been driven awav before it could give any real information to its Battery. IV German air service was not so uttd, then. He would not send that letter after all.

The work was finished just in time, and the battery commander aud his men took up their stations tor the shoot. The afternoon was very still, there was not a breath of wind. It was an ideal gunner's day, with no mist to impede observation. With a deep feelirg of satisfaction at the damage that he v:as about to do, thebattery commander gave the word, and the first round roared out of his hidden guns, and mpaned away towards the British lines. Down and' Out! He was just on tlie point of firing his seconci round wnen another moaning, growing rapidly louder, struck nis ear. .lie. olew a short' blast on Ins whistle, ana every man on the surface of the ground leapt into the gun-pits tor shelter, rle iumtelf retirea to his lighting-post, and as he (lid so four suclls ourst right in the with, a curious pop, quite unlike tue roar of high explosive. They must ba very small shells, he thought. The English could lire these for the rest ot the war without doing any damage. Then a faint smell crept in through the entrance- of the dug-out, and as he realised the disaster that liad overtaken him, he made a snatch for his gas" Helmet, and dashed 'outside to warn his men.

But it was too late; after the first salvo the shells came over in a continuous stream. One bursting close to him sent him reeling to the ground before he had adjusted his mask. The gas cloud spread through the still air about the battery, descending into the pits and overcoming the men as they crowded into them. A, few only managed to get their helmets.on in time; of the whole of the detachments not a dozen were unharmed at the end of the twenty minutes for which the bombardment lasted.

That night the tractors came up and hauled the big howitzers out of the pits that had taken so long to build. These infernal English had evidently known all about them all the time, and had found a surer way of making them untenable than by wasting shells in the hope of destroying them. They could never be used in safety again, the first round fired "from them would'call forth an instant reply. They must be left empty for ever, a magnificent but wasted example of engineerfnc skill.