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Show GERMAN IKED HIDING BEHIND FLEECY GLOUDS Another Demonstration of Teuton Passion to Dig In on Land, in Air and Under Sea.- WESTERN FRONT IS FULL OF CRATERS Three British Soldiers Given Giv-en Up as Lost Succeed in Making Their Way Back Through Enemy Lines. FKOM A STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WITH THE BRITISH AR.UIES IN FRANCE, via London, June 2, 7:3d p. m. While overcast skies have limited tho aerial offensive in the last few days, British pilots continue to bring in accounts of Gorman airplanes breaking to pieces in the air shortly after being attacked. This tendency has been notable for more than a fortnight. Once shot out of control the German pianos have lost their wings, tails and other gear to such an extent that when they finally crash to the ground very little wreckage can be seen. A day or two ago a British pilot flew at an enemy machine headon, . maneuvering maneu-vering at the last moment just in time to avoid a collision. One of the wings of the British plane scraped one of the German wings, whereupon the latter began be-gan to fall. The British pilot dived after him and was startled to see the German's damaged wings fly completely complete-ly off, while the tail dragged as if its back was broken. Whether faultiness in bo many German Ger-man machines is due to the speed with which the Germans have to turn them out to meet tho British offensive, or to lack of suitable material, is a matter mat-ter of no concern on this side of the line. Use Clouds as Screen. Recent attempts by the Germans to use floating clouds as a" screen for airplane air-plane raids, have led to some rather spectacular sky bombardments by British Brit-ish anti-aircraft guns. These guns have occasionally driven the raiders from cover and forced them to turn - back over their own line. German aviators seem especially trained in the defensive use of clouds, for during air battles if a bit of passing vapor is available they invariably dive or sidestep into it. This is only another demonstration of the German passion for digging in, such as first brought the world war to trench fighting. The Germans dig in on the land, in the air and tinder the sea. The artillery activity appears gradually i to be growing in intensity along most of the British front, with raids and counter-raids counter-raids going on first in one sector and then in another. These raids are the means that the armies have of keeping in touch with the enemy and harassing him. First introduced in the British armies by the Canadians, raids were taken up by the French and Germans. The last named were never very successful success-ful in the art, however, recent captured Germans asserting their commanders promised them iron crosses and long leaves of absence if they brought back even one British prisoner in a raid. Germans Working Prisoners. Strong working parties recently have been seen just behind the German front line. They labor under the eyes of German Ger-man guards 1 with bayonets fixed. The workers are Clad in a sort of gray uniform, uni-form, but wear straw hats, derbies or civilian caps, such as often are given to prisoners of war. It has been reported1 many times lately that the Germans are deliberately working ritish prisoners in very close proximity to the front line. Three British soldiers who had been given up as lost returned to their lines yesterday after three days behind the German outposts without food. The trio became lost on patrol duty and discovered discov-ered they were inside the German lines. They hid in a shell hole during the day time and tried for three successive nights to return to the British lines before they finally succeeded. Such experiences are possible nowadays with a ragged and irregular front line for outpost positions as they exist in the battle area east of Arras. The fighting there is more difficult in some ways than when the armies were in fixed trench positions. Then each side became accustomed accus-tomed to the other's trench habits and the slightest unfamiliar move by day or night had an easily defined significance. East of Arras at present there are only short stretches of trenches with posts between be-tween them, but each shell hole is a potential strong point and may . hold a nest of machine guns. A chain of connected con-nected shell craters makes a first-class trench position under the new order of things. |