ONLY A SANDBAGGED TRENCH.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13786, 11 September 1915, Page 3

ONLY A SANDBAGGED TRENCH.

MONOTONY OF BATTLE-LINE.

LONDON, Sept. 2. The Times correspondent with the British 'headquarters staff on the Western front writes: —

"The orderly who is detailed to conduct you around the trenches knows to a hairs-breadth at what point of the line it is well to duck down. He knows the way blind-fold through the maze of Communication trenches, and he can tell by th* smell of the crops on the ground, growing wild near the parapets, and also by the intense smell of the corpses buried close underfoot, m what part of tho line he is standing. "He knows exactly what new work th« enemy is engaged m, and just how many yards he has pushed forward a particular sap since the beginning of the week. But ho appears to have lost much of the ordinary curiosity. Officers confess that long and uneventful spells develop trench staleness, blotting out everything except the immediate surroundings for weeks - together. Their view of the countryside is limited to a sandbagged trench. Much of the German parapets and the intervening wire entanglements can be seen through the periscope. "The French soldier," the correspondent adds, "is less prone to staleness because he is naturally conversational, wiule the British soldier is not talkative. * He needs pastimes- such as football, cricket, and reading. It is necessary * „ en " nd the Public that the supply of books and newspapers has diminished and that an increase would be welcomed. •'■'•■ „-. .> .•*