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Show CAVAI RY IN USE ON WEST FRONT Fascinating Fighting Seen From an Eminence on Evacuated Evac-uated German Position. WITH Till; BRITISH ARMIES IN FRANCE, Saturday, March 24. via Lon-don, Lon-don, March 2.".. 2.55 p. m. The opening open-ing fighting of the last ten days dur-e dur-e German retreat has presented war pictures fascinatingly spectacular ami closely approximating the older : ideals ot modern martial 'plendor. The 'roads, or, more exactly, the remnnnis of roads, in some of the stricken district.' dis-trict.' ( France, have been fairly choked with troops on the move. From an eminence on a recently evacuated German stronghold could be seen to-: to-: day a seemingly endkss column of cavalry eoming over a distant hill, dipping dip-ping down into a beautiful valley and rising again by a winding road to a broad, open field, where camp was pitched for the night. At times tho brown-hued horses and brown-rlad men were almost invisible against the brown winter landscape At points further forward, infantry detachments could be sern disappearing in the distance, dis-tance, skirmishing, dodging, one unit covering another, until it seemed almost al-most as if the days of Indian fighting had returned. This open movement Is a striking change from the deadly stateness and depression of fixed trench fighting On the other hand, it is wonderful how the men long inured to trench life come to love holes in the ground During the rest period on lone marcher, many of them can be seen sitting in deep shell craters in preference to the paved roadside. There is warmth be-lew be-lew the surface and a protection from the wind which "Tommy Atkins" has learned to appieciate. Following the German wake it is difficult dif-ficult to understand why the retiring army Rives up without a fight some of the enormously strong positions thaf now are in Rntlsh or French hands of course, these positions, including the high barriers of the heaviest wire, could have been destroyed by sufficient suffi-cient concentration of shell fire as were the positions that, the r.prman were forced to rHinquisn alone the Anrre and the Somme. but the retirement retire-ment has saved the allies countless tons of ammunition. The changes that have occurred within a few days in the territory recently re-cently occupied by the Germans are almost miraculous Ruined villages which two days ago seemed Isolated within the zone of deadly desolation had military traffic policemen on duty on their main streets today. Advanced hospitals have been established and divisional and brigade headquarters taken up, while in the corners of the shattered villages blacksmith shop' were rirgint: with the sound of hammer ham-mer upon anvil and soup kitchens were sending out their savory odors. Every where were visible the activities of a great army moving forward. i generals and brigadier general gener-al who a few days ago were occupying occupy-ing comfortable houses behind the old fixed positions, are directing operations opera-tions today from huts and dugouts and thoroughly enjoying the change. |
