ARMISTICE DAY.

Taihape Daily Times, 6 January 1919, Page 7

ARMISTICE DAY.

INCIDENTS IN TRENCHES. | AMERICANS AND GERMANS. . "I have just returned from the German lines. All the men I visited agree they have had enough of war. They only desire to get home again" wrote 'an American war correspondent from the front on November 13. i "My meeting with Germans was curious. At dawn on Monday there was no hint of the cessation of hostilities. East of the Meuse, regardless of the situation, the American Second Army attacked in force at eight o'clock, the onslaught being preceded by a tremendous barrage, which was returned in kind by the enemy. . For three hours Americans swept forward, thurling themselves against the enemy wire entrenchments. The German gunfire was devastating. "Then at the exact minute of eleven, like a final thundercrash of a clearing storm, guns on both, sides abruptly closed, and then fell a silence more startling than the deafening roar of the barrage. For a brief minute there was intermittent rifle fire, then came a pause punctuated by ripping cheers from the trenches on both sides. "What followed in that part of the

! field I visited was, perhaps, the most singular event of the war. Above the skyline figures suddenly were silhouetted. They appeared cautiously at first, then, growing bolder a.l along the lino, they stood upright. As the barrage died, ending in a final husky : rumble of distant big guns, runners sped along the firing line. What they showed was instantly comprehended. The whole line of doughboys leaped from trenches, fox holes, 'and shell craters, splitting the unaccumstomed silence with shrill cheers. The roar of voices was like an outburst at' somo great college contest in America when a player scores. It was a singular feature that the defeated enemy joined as vociferously in cheering. The world war was finished. "The rolling plain was alive with cheering, shouting friends and enemy alike. Isot many minutes later Germans and Americans were mingling along the narrow stretch of ground so bloodily debated only a few minutes before. "Infantrymen's first advances ;vnre followed by offers of cigarettes, chuio- ; *late, chewing gum. Germans in so;nfi places reciprocated with oilers of bet coffee, bread, sausage. Orders forbidding fraternising wsre too strict, but in more than one instance the novelty of the situation overcame prudence and the doughboys surreptitiously visited nearby enemy dugouts. "Along the barbed wire crossing the road doughboys and Germans began a risk barter in souvenirs. French as well as American money was accepted eagerly. Cigarettes were sterling currency. The Germans were bewildered by the number of Americans speaking German. "As I crossed the lines I came across a party of 50 Germans chaffing and 'dickering' the Americans. They offered bits of gossip about revolution in Bavaria, and other German happenings. "The night was uproarious with German cheering. The victorious Americans took it more calmly. Along that | front a majority were getting a good ! night's sleep."