Kitchener's Mob: Adventures of an American in the British Army

e Parapet-etic School, storing up much useful information for future reference. I made a serious blunder when I asked on

n," he said. "S'y 'Wipers

this nature, and by keeping silent about the names of the towns and villages along our front, I soon learned the accepted pronunciation of all of them.

one, I was shown many favors. Private Shorty Holloway, upon learning that I was a "Yank," offered to tell me "every bl

' over me shirt, an' arsk me anything yer a mind to." I began im

game, mate! You mean to s'y

e stripped to the waist, turned his shirt

ok," he sa

. Suffice it to say that I made my first acquaintance with members of a B

species, but they all belong to the same parasitical family, and wage a non-discriminating warfare upon

in' ass an' sell it fer a packet o' fags like I did! An' the next time you writes to England, get some one to send you out some Keatings"-he displayed a box of grayish-colored powder. "It

o a prolific colony of graybacks. For nearly six months I was never

tanglements in front of the first line of trenches were from fifteen to twenty yards wide, the wires being twisted from post to post in such a hopeless jumble that no man could possibly get through them u

k. In an assault men follow the line of least resistance when they reach the barbed wire. These apparent openings are V-shaped, with the open end toward the enemy. The attacking tro

recede infantry attacks play havoc with entanglements, but there is always a chance of the destruction being incomplete,

got better wire than wot we 'ave, an' more of it. An' 'e's got more machine guns, more artill'ry, more shells. They ain't any little old man-killer ever invented wot they 'aven't got m

ish and French troops had failed to smash through. A few weeks in the trenches gave me a new viewpoint. I could only wonder at the magnifice

pleasant summer weather. Men were busily at work sweeping up the walks, collecting the rubbish, which was put into sandbags hung on pegs at intervals along the fire

verse of solid earth six feet square, then straight again for another five yards, then around another traverse, and so throughout the length of the line. Each five-yard segment, which is called a "bay," offered firing room for five men. The travers

arter a w'ile. It'll be a funny sight to see blokes walkin' along the street in Lunnon w'en the war's

Switzerland. Shorty was of the opinion that one could enter the trenches on the Channel coast and walk through to the Alps without once coming out on top of the ground. I am not in a position either to affirm or to question this stat

the traveling trench was primarily residential. Along the latter were built most of the dugouts, lavatories, and trench kitchens. The sleeping quarters for the men were not very elaborate. Recesses were made in the wall of the trench about two feet above the floor. They were not more than three feet high, so that one had to crawl in head first when going to be

. "W'y do you suppose they make

xplanation

de an' I'll

inst the side of the

t he gave me a whack on the soles of my boots with his entr

nd to!" he shouted, and gave

out in

s you up at stand-to, or w'en your

ing the waking or the sleeping, and that, for my

you on the napper just as quick as 'it you on the feet. Yo

ere was not room enough in which to wield it. My feet were tingling from the effect of his blows, and I felt that the reputation for resourcefulness of Kitchener's Mob wa

w'en you tries to double-cross 'em by pullin' yer feet in. I a

was none the less interesting. And certainly, the task of arousing sleeping men for sentry duty was

. Furthermore, with thousands of men to house within a very limited area, space was a most important consideration. There was no room for indulging individual tastes in dugout architecture. The roofs were covered with from three to four feet of earth, which made them proof against shrapnel or shell splinters. In case of a heavy bombardment with high explosives, the men took shelter in deep and narrow "sli

lub" was the suburban residence of some members of the bombing squad. I remarked that the bombers seemed to take rather a pessimistic view of their profession, whereupon Shorty told me that if there were any men slated for the Order of the Wooden Cross, th

ong the trench. Those for platoon and company commanders were built along the traveling trench. The colonel, major, and adjutant lived in a luxurious palace, about fifty yards down a communi

ft, I'm tellin' you! Wooden bunks to sleep in, batmen to bring 'em 'ot water fer shavi

er, they were not always so fortunate, as later experience proved. Here there had been little serious fighting for month

he fields until troops might leave them well out of range of rifle fire. Under Shorty's guidance I saw the field dressing stations, the dugouts for the reserve ammunition supply and the stores of bombs and hand grenades, battalion and brigade trench headquarters. We wandered from one part of the line to another through trenches, all of which were kept amazingly neat and clean. The walls were stayed with fine-mesh wire to hold the ear

te," he said. "They looks right enough now, bu

be imagined. The walls of the trenches caved in in great masses. The drains filled to overflowing, and the trench walks were covered deep in

o carefully concealed loopholes looking out to a flank, but none for frontal fire, as this dangerous little weapon best enjoys catching troops in enfilade owing to the rapidity and the narrow cone of its fire. Its own front is protected by the guns on its right and left. A

you goes out at night to 'ave a little go at Fritzie, you always tykes yer gun sommers else. If you don't, y

guns are objects of special interest to the artillery, and the locality from

in "oversea" hair cuts. The victims sat on a ration box while the barber mowed great swaths through tangled thatch with a pair of close-cutting clippers. But instead of making a complete job of it, a thick fringe of hair which resembled a misplaced

to be careful about larfin'. Some o' the bloke

lthough water is scarce and fuel even more so, the self-respecting soldier easily surmounts difficulties, and the Gloucesters were a

: W'en yer movin' up fer yer week in the first line, always bring a bundle o' firewood with you. They ain't so much as a match-stick left in th

to procure firewood. Without his tea Tommy was a wretched being. I do not remember a day, no m

al with the possible exception of breakfast, when there was usually a strip of bacon. Now, one's appetite for "bully" becomes jaded in the course of a few weeks or months. To use the German expression one doesn't eat it gern. But it is not a question of liking it. One must eat it or go hungry. Therefore, said Shorty, save carefully all of your bacon grease, and instead of eating your "bully" cold out of the tin, mix it with bread crumbs and grated cheese and fry it in t

tion, already cooked, and at welcome intervals fresh meat and potatoes were substituted for corned beef. Each man had a very generous allowance of food, a great deal more,

e sky. Empty tin-lined ammunition boxes were used as cupboards for food. But of what avail were cupboards to a jam-loving and jam-fed British army living in open ditches in the summer time? Flytrap

o," said Shorty. "They steal

lmost as large as cats, and so gorged with food that they could hardly move. They ran over us in the dugouts at night, and filched cheese and crackers right through the heavy waterproofed covering of our haversacks. They squealed and fought among themselves at

good-bye to our friends the Gloucesters, and marched back in the moonlight to our billets. I had gained an entirely new conceptio

e, following the windings of the firing line from the Channel coast across the level fields of Flanders, over the Vosges Mountains to the borders of Switzerland. Pedestrians may wish to make the journey on foot, cooking their supper over Tommy's rusty biscuit-tin stoves, sleeping at night in the dugouts where he lay shivering with cold during the win

shook hands, "always 'ave a box o' Keati