WINTER CONDITIONS ON THE FRONT.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIX, Issue 283, 30 November 1915, Page 5

WINTER CONDITIONS ON THE FRONT.

TRENCHES FILLED WITH IG& COLD WATER.

DEVOTED HEROISM

'(Received Nov. 29, 9 p.m.} LONDON, Nov. 29. Mr Phillip Gibbs, in the Daily Telegraph gives a remarkable picture of the winter conditions on the Western front. The soldiers are experiencing the frightfulness of the elements, and rain is filling the trenches with icecold water-. A German shouted from a trench: "How deep?" The British replied: "Up to our blooming knees." The German retorted: "We're up to -our belts." Frequently German soldiers plead for a truce because of the awful discomfort. Many of the British are provided with waders reaching to their thighs. Several are suffering from what is known as trench feet, their limbs being numbed by trie intense cold. Mr 'Gibbs gives an instance of heroism. A sergeant was thigh-deep in w after and a trench mortal" smashed one teg. A surgeon operated on the spot, bis comrades holding the patient half out of the water. The sergeant i'oked, and after the operation'wrote a letter to his wife. Many of the trenches are simply puddles of mud, which foul the rifles and get mixed with the food. The wind is so co.'d -that it cuts through the thickest clothing liko a kriife. The German soldiers appear to suffer more than ours. The unconquerable eheeriness of the British enables them to paddle in the wet trench and stand for hours in freezing slime without despair.