IMPORTANCE OF THE SAPPER.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVIII, Issue 285, 8 December 1914, Page 2

IMPORTANCE OF THE SAPPER.

HARD AT WORK ALL NIGHT.

.LOtfJ&ON, Dec. 4. A Times correspondent in North JTrarice says that ithe sapper has be«*orne the big man of the war. The wh01e.350 miles' front .from the Yser to the Argonne -is one big fortress, w«iKd the sappers too busy even- to .jßTtfear. Unless left as a, base to con■trol trains, the sapper carries & rifle, bust seldom uses it, preferring bombs and hand grenades. He sleeps in the -daytime and worfov all night. It is a •■stealthy, creepy job, repairing entanglements and blowing up buildings. Mining is little used, because -they strike water at a depth of a few feet. Another correspondent says» that, mowing to the closeness of the trenches in the Argonne each side refrains ffom firing. The sentinels stand in full view of each other. Each could , kill, but recognises the rules of the game and confines himself to watching. When news ' discomforting to the Germans reaches ithe French, they -fihout it to the enemy, following with .^singing the "Marseillaise:-" Where the trenches are too far apart, dogs are employed as messengers.