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Show LITTLE DAMAGE 001 81 SHELLS OF TIHI1S Big Guns on the Battle Front Not So Valuable as When Used Against 1 Forts MUCH AMMUNITION SAID TO BE WASTED British and French Officers' Clothes Too Conspicuous, Which Accounts for Heavy Mortality LODU Ot 11 11 Oo p m The off c al press b reau issued ton ght the follow n des r pt ve account by an c en ne t, th Field Alarshal French s heilq a ter : pple eut n the narra too est rday of the n o ements of tho Br t 1 for e and the French ar (n ea in mmel ate tou h w th t On the 9th of October n sp te of the perfe t on of the r a rangements fo an" a" and obser at on there has been n ch waste of ammun t on bj the Ccru an lor nstance w th n an area of two cres on our s de of the V snc there are u ore than 100 c aters made b the r h ph eiplos e shells Th s shower of proie tiles wh ch must ha e ost son e 1000 d d absolutely no damage tor the local tv ne er happened to be o cup ed wh le t was be ng bon barded It al o nc dentally llus trate one w ak po nt of nd rect f re when una con pan ed by observat on nother example of prod gal ty of amn un;t on s the continued shell ng of Khe ms This s st 11 carr ed on at in ter als and on the 6th resulted n the death of an eut re fam lv of e ght peo pie On the th twel c of the inhabi tauts were h t Guns Well Concealed On the other ban 1 concealment of the r own guns as of all the r troops has been most carefullv practiced b the Cermans and the construct alter nat e intrenchments so that when one pos t on s made too hot another can be taken up thout lo s of t me. Ever s nee the South Mr can war the de irabil t of render ng t oops as mv s ble as poss ble has been general ly recognized in all armies and this war las thrown uch 1 ght on the matter !It appears that at long range tho uni form matters 1 ttle the blue coat and red trousers of the French infantry and cavart-y not be eg anv more con picuous than the clothes of our own n en or of the Germans But at me dium rane the red tro sers of 6ot al 5 es show p e v clearly When the infantry are 1 ng lown however the r eaps are not so eas 1 een as oor own flat topped forage caps Officers as Targets From interrogation of prisoners t has been ascertained that at medium range both French and Br tish of ficers are Tery easily dist nguishable from their men and that selected marksmen, marks-men, provided with field glasses are specially told off. from ea6h platoon of German nfan rv to pick off the of f er. The French officer s betrayed by the greater v sible length of his rel trousers and bv his accoutrements while the Bnt sh officer s ven awav by his sword his open racket with low eoDar and tie his Sam Browne belt and, absence of pack F en such tnf hag differences as the collar or the I ent of tne breeches are sa d to be no ticeable I Snipers Emplojed The Germans certainly do employ snipers and some of them have been found on ch rch towers up trees and in houses One of them succeeded n k lling two of our officers and wound Jng two more before he was accounted for So ne of our pr loners report that their off cers have been ordered to re move the r d stinguish ng shoulder straps b t this may be n order not to onve nformat on to the enemy as to the un ts to wh ch they belong At any rate to udge from the off cers already ai tured the order has not been car Tied o t generall The follow ng not f cat on to h a troops by one of the rencb armj co n mandem bears upon the f erman meth ods of warfare The Germans have forced some pr srners of war to remain in the r trenche When the Fren h a Ivan el nler the npress on that the trenches were in possess on of the r own side thev were f re 1 on at lose range That tb s has act allv bpen done s fully o f r el iv tb II m nat ng de ta Is as to Oc man methods of war n the twent eth ent r 1 an entr n a ca tured fell notebook It runs thus Sep m daw g bgs n e I v, ps 0 My tivo prisoners worked AT a digs ny en es An dd 1 got an ord r t Jo n at lage th hem I nan c y gal as I ' arl ee o Je e so rT b t rr a d T ank O a O .8a Shooting of Hostages a f -v p tK b on fgd a n aYi v ns p fits g protr o encn o n vaa ued on t e n,o ape g o o e ou se o e erne os e a de of H n opu ao n e ak e go ou a ene , n easu es a0a s on o a an aeptn es gg e To p po p o fi ea ms o e p e s be e a ned b em e efore o de ed hat befo e a o a t s o c p e a eta n cn of a a s w ma a ead of e o ns and a n the popu atlo nug e ma o a d local erg to dc a a ms ammunition and e p os es X te t e ha e ande o e e arms t e inhabi ants t be o lec ed outs de he o al an e ousess and gardens w I be sea c ed If an arms a e found the hos age be exe uted and e p ace se on e "When tl e nhab tants are s moned o s r ende ter arms t e 1 be inforn ed of 1 e pena es o ch the e pose t emse e b non compl ance Tea ms w be de s rojed and the expos es t rown n o the water (S gned 0 QLAST Con n and ng l C Tiugality Necessar nothe Ge nan order of be se o d a mv s quoted because t is poss b y sgnlflcant of the present sate of Ger manj s mi tarj resources The m n ster of ar w shes to m press upon a 1 the necess t for searching the fie d of batt e wit e greatest a e for a 1 wa like ma teria be ong ng to our am s ch as field glasses water bottles a e sacks r fles and ca trldges a n bers and supplj wagons wh ch can be used for new format ons In ad dition to th s the unit must ta e care to pick up unexpended ammun on and empty cartridge cases Aisne alley The ul n t e opera ons on ou n med a e front pending a genera ad vance afford; an opportun ty toda Oc tober 9 1914 for gi ng some furtl e descr pt on of the country in w ch we are ope at 0 and he a ey of t e sne T e sne flows Agh ac oss our front fo low ng a ortuous cou se alon-, t e bot ton of i e aJ e some undred meters be ow t e ede of the p a.teau on e the bank It s a plac d st earn between loO and 00 feet n w d h and unfordable T e bottom of t e a ej down wh h t n eanders cons sts of p actica 1 flat ; meadow land nterse ted b arious oads lead ng no th ad soutl over br dges wh ch span t e r er These oads a e 1 ned with poplars or fruit trees whoe m I tan s gn ncance es in t e fa t t at the s reen tl e n o ements of t oops along tl e roads thou h on the other 1 and t ey make the position of the atter con p cuous from afar Targets of Artillery The ma n place a ong the Br tish front is So ssons a town jing on the eft bank at a pronounced bend north ard The lages on the ri er itself are of considerable tactica importance nee most of tl e bridges are close to them The have therefore been the tar gets of the German a rtiller and some of them are now no more than masses of ru ns eral of the hamlets at some dis ance from the Aisne and on Its left bank have formed the objects of simi lax attentions from the enemy s guns, probably because they m ght serve as points of concentration for our troops as 1 ae also the great number of roads windln& down the hillsides fac ng north and leading across the meadows, which afford the on y channels of approach to our troops on the north side Compact lllages In regard to the villages one po nt wl ich strikes the eye is their compact ness for in most of them jthe houses are clustered together in one fnass outlying houses being rare. They line the roads sometimes almost entirely Cm one side There are also outlining chateau s and farms quite isolated The other main topographical features of the valley are two railways and a canal Generally peaMng the slopes forming the north side of the valley are steeper than those of the south but in other respects the two sides are very similar Both are equally cut up into spurs and subsidiary valleys the chief of the latter on the south being formed b the water course of the Ves e which extends southeastward througrh Braisne Both on the north and the south the slopes leading down to the Aisne are thickly wooded In patches the woods in "ome places stretching away back and over the edge of the plateau for some distance On account of the existence of these woods on the edges of the slopes on our bank of the river it is at manj points only possible to obtain glimpses of tl e short trenches of the opposite slopes while the woods on that side screen large portions of the top of the plateau on the north German Position Strong Owing to the concealment afforded to t e Germans fire trenches and gjn em placements b tl e wood and to t e fact that nearly all the bridges and roads leading to them as well as a great part of the southern s opes are open to their fre the position held by them is a very strong one Except for these patches of woods the an ge era y is nine osed No fcojndaries between the fie ds exist as In England There are ditches here and there but no hedges wire fences or wal s except around Inc osures in the I lages A large proportion of the woods how ever ar inc osed by high rabbit netting whlc is in some places supported by on stanchions A feature of his part of the country ! one which Is not onfined to t e ne gh borhood of A an1 p the arge n mber o caves both natura and artlfi al and quarrlffl Tl ese are of g eat serv ce to the fo es on both n des s nee tl ey can of en be sed as she tered accommoda tions for the t oops in the second line Ot er po nts wortl y of note are the ex e ence of t e meta ed oads though t o meta ed portion s erj nar ow and he com pa rat e ease wl h which one an find h s wa abo t even without a map Th s s du partlv to the prevai ng; straig tne) of he roads partly to the absence of hedges There are Sign posts on a ross roads whi e th name of eac vll age Is pos e in a eonsplcuoun place at thp entr and exit of the mall ghwa pass ng h ough Escaped in Motor Car lyONDON r 6 Od p rn The Brits a a o k who on FY day ast made a su essf f Ight o Dusse dorf and des od a ppe( n os their ma nines aft e rned to Antwerp t n sta d he a d bp ween the o and n ng of fo a Junt as r mfln p nmmpn ed f r ng PI e mach nes wh w p n hp rp we e b own to p e es bu the av a ors escaped In an a mo el motorcar Whistle for Wounded PRT p a pa h K sen or t es to h w a v h e for w n t pt her H h h nt n a m o Li h o i on v. f ff rrng h c np |