FIVE SHELLS FOR ONE.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 10 April 1917, Page 2

FIVE SHELLS FOR ONE.

BRITISH GUNS IN THE WEST. "BEST IN THE WOELD." . (By Percival Phillips, Daily Express Special Correspondent.) - j I With the British Armies in the Field, ! January 30. Perhaps the most significant feature of this winter campaign (thoroughly impressed on the enemy with high explosive) is the increasing strength of the British artillery. The gunners have come into their own. Although the enemy have been trench bound by stress of weather, the batteries behind them continue their work of destruction day and night, distributing carefully-timed munitions with liebrality and accuracy whenever they are likely to do the greatest good. The German guns do not attempt to compete with this steady outpouring of shell, and the contrast between their economy and British generosity is not lost on the men who suffer from the latter. They complain that their batteries "let them down." We have had several tributes—sin- , cere, if unwilling—from the surviving victims of ,a thorough British barrage, and the latest, proffered by an officer captured in a recent raid, is an interesting admission of the enemy's respect for British gunners and their efficiency. "They know too much,," said this officer, whoso detachment had been cut up by howitzer shells while on its way to the trenches that were afterwards wrecked by the same agents of destruction. "They arc always searching for the weak points in our defences, and we " have suffered considerably from the bombardment of roads used by our troops. We never thought the British •u-tillery would become such a menace. PLENTIFUL "RATION." The general policy of the German ar. tillery experts seems to be to make the ~ most of a limited allotment of munitions Their output, both in Germany and Bcl'l gium, has been greatly increased, but ',. the Somme offensive of the Allies taught a them of the vital importance of having

great stocks in hand, and with characteristic foresight they arc endeavouring to cut down the winter expenditure as much as possible. This desire is shown in in a great discrimination in the selection of "targets." Last winter the German batteries ate up shells with the prodigality of a drunken sailor. They flung tons of explosives into empty fields, and sent their assorted missiles wandering aimlessly in a way that could not possibly damage their enemies. It was an orgy of hate without a purpose. Now they calculate the possible effect of each day's shell supply. The gunners are forced to use their "iron ration" care- - fully. It is an encouraging sign of the times. MODIFIED FURY. The permanent batteries are not allowed to fire without a definite object, and some of them do not fire at all for days. Such tempting targets as Ypres and 'Arras continue to receive their expected portion of German shells, for your German gunner is a slave to routine, and the bambardment of ,a city — or the corpse of a city—is not a habit of which he can easily be broken. But even these obvious areas of registration are not lashed with the old fury of a year ago. Iu addition to the "set" displays of gunnery by the enemy, he has attompt- ' ed to liven our front by irregular spurts of high-velocity shelling, in which moveable guns (on railway mountings) sometimes take a part. It is rather like a bad boy throwing a few stones through .a window and then running away. Punishment always follows. Several days ago, a weapon of this .sort dropped a few shells into a British position and immediately our guns lengthed]y and exhaustively shelled a Germanheld strip of territory more than six times as great. The result was profound silence thereafter in that particular sector. The snow has greatly hampered the German gunners. It is impossible for them to strengthen battery positions by bringing up fresh guns, far their tracks are visible, from the air against the daxzling white of the battlefield. For the same reason the enemy's reliefs have suffered when forced to expose themselves on the routes which lead to the trenches. Many artifices for concealing movement are revealed by the frozen snow, which has lain on the Western front for mor e than a week, and the Germans will welcome the thaw which gives them dead-brown fields and less publicity under the keen eyes of . our air scouts. MERCILESS PURSUIT.

It will not, however, give them immunity from the British guns. As long as their batteries can be searched with the same uncanny accuracy, and five shells given for one, they will continue to realise that the scales have turned against them. Yet the German gunners ar e excellent —make no mistake about; it. A British artillery told me the other day that, man for man, he thought that they were as efficient as in the early days of the war; that, although the infantry shows signs of deterioration (which, increase steadily as the' winter draws to a close), the artillerv remains

capable and effective. Nevertheless, it is no longer the dominant factor on-the western front. Slowly and steadily the gun-power of Britain and her Ally has been increased, until to-day, with new batteries and still more batteries ever crawling along the roads from the sea to the front, it is the most powerful weapon of its kind in the world. The other day a German battalion headquarters was chased from one set of dug-outs to another, and tlien to a third,, mercilessly pursued by British shells. Our! gunners'will'tell you that they hope to chase the entire German army in the same way when at last they have their chance !