A SOLDIER’S LETTER.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLI, Issue 11645, 12 August 1916, Page 6

A SOLDIER’S LETTER.

FROM “SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE. ’

The following interesting letter has been nanded in foi'ipublication, and gives an idea of the 0010.nial’s life in tbs trenches. The writer says;—“We hare been relieved from the front line of trenches, but as yet I have not made up' for the sleep ! missed while we were 1 there. In' the first place I may as well say I am pleased I came through the first round without a scratch. There was one day Fritz seemed to have special designs on me. About eleven *km, a party of ns was out in the open a couple of hundred yards behind the first line watching our guns stalling an aero-: plane which was buzzing round. There 'were false several enemy observation balloons up and whether it was they or the ’plane that spotted us I do not know, suddenly we heard the grunt of half-a-dozen guns from the German lines. We expected them to take their usual course —that is high over our heads towards our batteries in the rear. No fear. With a rushing whiz the first one landed about fifty yards away and the others threw- up great columns of dirt just a little beyond; high explosives all of them. Thinking it was merely a stray bit of shooting we sat down against a Wall with our backs to the enemy/ Bang! bang! hang! went the guns and “wheesh” came the shells over to us, finishing up with a lightning rush and a muffled roar as the explosion threw dirt and hits of turf all over us We looked at each other with nervousness in our eyes,(but no one cared to be the first to suggest taking cover. About twenty shells were pitched about fifty to a hundred yards past us, but suddenly we heard one coming, which we knew was a bit shorter. The terminating rush came a fraction of a ((second more quickly, and for a millionth of a secorkl I was sure she was going to pitch us. She hit the wall behind us, however, and then one exploded ten yards in front of us. We [didn’t try to he j heroes any longer; wo made quick time for cover. As soon as wo had disappeared the shelling caesed. A little later I was wandering along a trench when I ran into a hail of shrapnel. The bits were singing around like bees. X' was well sheltered in the french though and with the shrapnel helmet on felt as safe as houses About a hundred yards on however the trench ceased or, rather it ran into an open path alongside some dugouts. I halted at the mouth, having decided to wait till th« storm passed before venturing out into the open. Hardly had I stopped when an officer came along “Come on,” he says, “mo7e on.’’;Well, I moved on, thinking what was good enough for him was good-dhongh for me. He came along behind me for a little way hut dash me buttons if he didn’t dodge into a dugout. Things were getting a hit worse in the shrapnel line, so a-little further on, I gladly accepted an invitation from the (proprietor of a dug-out, to “come in out of the rain,” “What the hell were you wandering along out there for?” he asked. “Uh, ? just going somewhere,” I says. Then, again in the afternoon, the “whizbauga” caught us putting up a grenade battery. We shifted to another trench and blime if a sniper didn’t enfilade us somehow or other. Taking things all 'round it was one of my most exciting days. Our last three or four days in the trendies were pretty lively too. On first going in we were subjected to a merciless and unceasing machine gnn and rifle fire- inside a week, however, our ,hoys had quietened that down about ninety per cent., so Fritz was forced to fall back on his artillery. Our guns were not going to he left out of the shooting match, so we were treated to some exciting bombardments, The last afternoon we wore in the trenches we watched our front trenches a couple of hundred yards away on our left getting it hot and strong for half an hour. After the first few minutes we could see nothing but dust, smoke and sandbags. An hour ater Fritz got it all back, with compound interest, too. Our guns seemed to be firing more, than the enemy. All-daylong there is an intermittent harking going on with now and then a whole battery going off at once. . Suddenly every blessed gun behind ns goes and—hell is let loose for a few minutes and then it’s hack to the old bark again. In that few minutes anything np to a thousand shells have gone over our heads. It’s queer to hear the'stiells passing over our heads, especially from along distance. At limes they come without any premonitory explosion—big fellows “swishing” through the air overhead like a string of invisible hut swiftly travelling swans. They have come from so far hack that the guns cannot he heard. I’m jabbering a lot about the artillery. It fascinates us and our rifles seem trivial and useless in comparison. However, we are kicking up a hit of a dust with bombs and grenades—they kick up almost as much row as an eigtheen-pounder. We have tickled Fritz up with a few rifle grenades, hut just had things iu working order when we came out. The day after we came from the trenches we were marched to a big factory, where, hundreds at a time, we had a glorious hot bath and were given a complete change of underclothing.”