TRENCH SALVAGE.

Taihape Daily Times, 26 September 1918, Page 2

TRENCH SALVAGE.

BOOTY THAT IS WON IN "LOOM, OFFENSIVES." When a local advance is made—some little affair which' is dismissed in the official communique as "On the front of X we improved our position on a mile frontage to a depth of six hundred yards"—enemy trenches and fortified posts fall into our hands. These recently captured trenches are usually full of gear and equipment, various machinery of war and, last, the dead. So soon as calm is restored in that sector of the front one of the first things to do is clean up the enemy trenches, bury the dead, and salvage all the available material of war. In salvage work it is the big prizes that attract the most attention —field guns, big trench mortars, and machine, guns. Every effort is made to get these away as soon-as possible, but very cften our new front line is only just behind the captured support trenches, and ft is not possible to work by day. In the case or a gun a team of horses is borrowed from the -gunners and the piece dragged dusk to be escorted back by the tri- { umphant infantry. Some of the big j trench mortar pieces are more difficult to get away, for they are not wheeled pieces, but gangs of men, labouring at night, dig them out of their shell-shattered embrasures and haul them back to the rear. Later domes the task of clearing up the remains of the infantry equipment in. the trenches. From each corpse the identity disc is taken, then in the case of our own men a specisjl grave is dug, and careful record is kept of who is buried there. The enpmy corpses are buried apart, an enlarged shell crater serving »fo a tomb. Then comes the work of collecting all rifles and equipment. The German carries a very complete kit —knapsack, ammunition belts, trenching tools, haversacks, ~ waterproof sheets', and everything. This and all weapons are the property of the Government, and no souvenirs, except Hun helmets, shoulder straps, ''Or regimental buttons, are allowed to be brought back to England by individuals, i The working parties collect all the rifles and equipment, ammunition, blankets clothing and everything into piles, and little by little thelle are | carried back to a point where the horse transport of the battalion edging up with food, etc., can return with them in their empty waggons. Nothing is wasted and all this vast mass of captured material of war is slowly converted to fresh utility. Resolved into its simplest elements, it represents metals, leather, ana various wool and cotton materials, and all these can be used again. Thus, from the salvage point of view, a small action of little but local significance may mean a loss of thousands of" pounds* worth of material to the enemy and a direct proportional gain to us.