| Show Winter i Holds Western War Front In Grip of f Icy Han Hanc t e ec t e c fr c t t. t k Men Behind era Big Guns Shoot Shells Shell t War Correspondent Describes Describes Describes De De- De- De Artillery Artil Artil- scribes H How Heavy l lery r. r Blazes a Way ay Through Murky Mantle of 0 Fog That Casts Gloomy Darkness Darkness Dark Dark- ness hess Over Battlefields kids I 1 Compelling Range Finders to 0 Feel the Ground for Landing Deadly Shells Among the Unseen Enemy Copyright 1010 1113 G by the Associated Press ITH the British Army inV in W WITH V V France Dec 3 3 via ia London Deo Dea l From Froin From a n Staff Correspondent of the Associated Led W Winter cold gray and bleak has held the western battle fronts in its icy grasp more than thui a R week and has has- checked temporarily tern tem any mr attempt on either side at operations on a large scale caJe There has been the usual daily strafing or exchange of artillery fire but the shelling has been done clone largely by hy what wha t marines would woul call dead end rec rec- koning Low hanging lamp damp leaden skies have ha shrouded ed the land in gloomy dalk c s nn and observation tion has hns been almost impossible The past sc rn cn days lays there has been heen a thick mist while on two Iwo occasions occasion the war warzone zone one has been heen completely curtained in in by a ma mantle of he heavy fog Rut But through this gray gay murk the cue guns kept lpt hammering hammering ham ham- mering aj a away firing firing at nt the unseen harassing post lOSt roads an and 1 rail heads or Ol any Y other re registered i place where he was likely to be busy with t it h the l multitudinous affairs of wa war r bel iI d the lines B l' l in the Fog A battle in ill the fog log fug and nearly very ery detached engagement in iii this it l on on- the Somme could be he liaised as a battle hattJe b by ordinary standards is is a mysterious and uncanny aff affair ir A roar loar a flash Ifred of If red flame anti and out into the lea leaden en mist shrieks a shell on its intended m mission of or death lenth and destruction This This is where it should fall is remarks re- re marks maiks the gunner gunnel a as he points to a a. ama ma map with a pair of compasses We 1 will ill put another ju just t. t over oyer there thieve Dl and d bang 60 goes the gun again In Inthe Inthe the deepness of the fog the battery seems to shoot into a little drab world all its own o The Germans however howe have c been bombarding ing one of their recently lost positions It is a favorite occupation of the thc German gunners this gunners this shelling a n position they know so well after they have ha been driven en from it And such tl strafing calls for a reply even en if the enveloping fog permits one to see scarcely hc bey ond be n nd the grim muzzle of the giant gun itself Such fighting as fiS this makes war var seem intensely imperial and in the colorless language of the official com corn may appear something like liko this There was considerable hostile has bos tile shelling today against our front fron fronton on both sides of the Our re retaliation re was waa t and effective One knew r that if the British shells were truly searching their way through the opaque mist to their charted destination the reply must b ball be beall beall all that the claimed Ruins Euins of French Village Under the protecting canopy o of off f fog g the Associated Press correspondent correspond correspond- wit ent sought to explore the pulverized 1 g ic I 11 j 4 a I s I J Top Top Top-A A British tank forging its way over obstacles at the western front Center Ruins Center Ruins of a German German German Ger Ger- man airplane on a field near the Somme Lower left left British British troops on the march Inset is a picture of Sir Douglas Haig British commander commander com corn mander with a glimpse of a bit of difficult roadway Right Right Right-A A trench filled with German dead ruins ruins' of what of-what wha t w was s. s l the thc thriving ing little French village of Beaumont- Beaumont I Hamel Officers and Tommies' Tommies coming from that direction gave assurance that all was quiet within I it i i Sy l t C i e t Lr f i t f Z 1 II I t t r N i. i i r i t. v 1 KT i r 1 i i i f U I V f Jt f J i AH i f t. t i I i i fr a j itji J ti t t P i It t W it J W. W u ji if I v i 1 d'- d' y qi r s. s t 7 t.- t. M l T r i x f f d 1 Si j M- M c X i 1 t a T 1 lr r. r MT 4 fo f r O r I ft i M o W t V ti ll i k 4 P lt C ft 1 UX piM lf lr C tf t 10 v r V t Nj N f S I l' l st i m 1 fd 1 o o JI L 4 t i 44 k 4 c I tt 4 c 2 q t c hp 4 4 t cv pc W 8 q 11 li r i t A l I 1 1 v T W V o l S 4 4 r it v t I so so the thc motor car proceeded blithely along until a ghostly whine in ill the impenetrable le gloom overhead told its own story The daily shelling had begun jc o un To one only easu casually II acquainted I with the the noises poises of a n hatt battlefield c fiell cl th there r I is always bewilderment at first as t to which are mc the fr friendly shells shell go going going go o ing over o toward the enemy an and which are the unfriendly visitors coming comingo o over oer er to burst in a wil wild destroying lestro ing I fury In Iii the mystic grayness of the dripping fog fOb the bewilderment was accentuated and the ordinary whistle and tl crump cr of or the shells translated into a veritable witch's chorus So intense was the bombardment at one time with the tIle shells rushing rubbing in opposite directions overhead that the mingled sounds rounds became became be be- c came me like the singing of storm win winds s. s Each caliber shell has its own particular particular par par- plaint sometimes sadly melan inclan- choly in the distance and again spitefully fierce in its nearness Its It Itis Itis is s a great source of satisfaction when under the tho tutelage of an experienced experienced experienced officer one comes to dist dist- for ones one's self the difference c h b tW tween the outgoing screech of the friendly sl shells ells and the incoming call whang of what the Tommies another present from the Bodies Boches Vis Visitors tors to the British front are aie already impressed by the absolute in indifference indifference indifference in- in difference of the English Canadian and all Australian soldiers soldier to the indiscriminate indis indis- criminate shelling Unperturbed they carry on as if t there here were no such thing in all the worM English B Burial rial Party A striking picture le in th the fog was that of a little English burial party part at nt a 11 ne I newly male made grave e A chaplain in with a hl black ck scarf thrown about his neck was reading the service service sen ice for the deml while six ix Torn rom I I- I 4 Z M r 4 t M- M 4 t 1 V i 5 t t 4 I ci 4 4 j ji i I 1 I i IA i ff S J iS pJ I j x F Pi Jib 3 S mic st stood bareheaded b beside side I the he bodies bodie of j overal so of their comrades omra who bein being buried where they fell found a final resting place in the ground more hallowed to the Hie real leal soldier sol bol- olier dier ier than Westminster itself Sadly alone Hud and detached the little party seemed and all nIl the thc while they reverently toiled currents of or shells were c swi hing and whining through the overhanging o mist in the strangest of at requiem chants Oddly enough foggy and misty days are generally succeeded b by beautiful beau bean star-lit star frosty nights of the time clearest possible anti ami guns are arc always heard grumbling and nd through the crystal darkness With ith the coming of oE dawn lawn however howe I the mist sweeps in again ain from the sea and limits the batteries once more to firing h 1 by the map Airplanes Battle Eyes The British gunners particularly the heavies are longing to havo haye I their their eyes eyes again the again the airplanes The rhe operation co-operation of the aircraft with the great greut guns has been one olle triumph of of- the now new British armies and a factor factor factor fac fac- tor which the thc officers of the tho higher her commands say cannot bo be e o l mated The allies feel the they have corn com I j f 4 1 II I i i British Gunners on J ill I IS S L Long ong F Fo For or C Weather cather That Thai the I. I II E Aerial Fleets May ay Di PI Their 0 Operations All i- i Confident They Have C Co Cc U JJ Mastery asler of the thc A 4 A 1 Which ff Gives Gives Them 3 1 eu 1 vantage E Even veil Though B t teries I Rely On Jing F J Fing tb t SG sc ing mg ing b by r the ic 1 Ie iI Map 1 ap I t mast master mastery cry of the he air air ou on the w vc l lern era ern front and that mastery of theY 1 t means mastery of the artillery an IJ The extreme cold of the last til tI days has been beneficial hardening ug the soft wet wel ground t Germans German are arc e evidently dently watching 1 1 phase of the situation with it its it'S sible bearing ring on on further offen J JI T work and have ha redoubled their r dom lire fin with the ilea idea of harass haras bi lii li movements a as far faras as s possible t |
