the next day that three guns which he judged to be light ones opened up on him from several points when he attempted to enter the timber and that a few moments later several others began firing from the higher ground to the rear. These latter he thought to be heavy guns on account of the fact that their fire was more concentrated. This was about all I personally knew about the enemy dispositions when my organization left the sector. On December 11, 1918, just a month to the day after the Armistice went into effect, I returned to the Haudimont region with the intention of looking through the Bois de Manheulles and seeing if I could ascertain what the German strength and dispositions had really been. On arriving at the woods I found that a rumor I had heard was true and that troops of the division which relieved the one to which I belonged had actually attacked the enemy positions at the very last of the war. Heaps of empty cartridges in the German positions told me just what guns had fired; twigs and branches cut by bullets, as well as the little direction boards marked with arrows, gave the direction of the fire; the character of the emplacements showed whether a heavy or a light gun had been used, and the signs of comparatively recent occupation in the dug-outs gave some idea as to strength. Incidentally the field had never been policed up and the scattered American equipment gave some idea of the casualties sustained by our troops and of the progress of the attack. It may be mentioned here that I have never had the pleasure of seeing any reports on this particular action nor of talking with officers who participated in the assault. This article is written solely on the evidence as presented by the ground itself at the time. mentioned. When the Germans had first occupied the wood they had held the edge in force as the numerous old emplacements for heavy guns plainly indicated. Later, however, they had established their main line of resistance about 300 meters farther back and for a long time had been using the edge solely as a line of observation to which light machine guns were sent up at night to deal with any too inquisitive patrols. Well-defined paths led from the main line of resistance forward to the observation line and well-beaten routes leading out into No Man's Land indicated that patrols worked to the front with boldness and regularity. From the looks of the various dug-outs I judged that the riflemen present in the wood had been limited to those required for this patrol work. The main line of resistance consisted of a series of machine gun posts in which both light and heavy guns had been used in considerable numbers, being so arranged as to place interlocking bands of fire through the woods to their front. The space between the observation line and the line of resistance had been allowed to grow up in a dense jungle of underbrush still further tangled by barbed-wire. The few paths leading forward were covered at the ends by light machine guns, and a number of rides had been cut some years before for the use of the guns putting down the interlocking bands. These rides had never been very regular and had been permitted to grow up with brush so that at first sight one might think that these were merely places where the thicket chanced to be thinner than in other places-but there was nothing in these old rides that would stop machine gun fire. The ground was flat enough and the distance sufficiently short that the bands were interlocking bands in the true sense of the expression and not mere interlocking beaten zones. No man could pass the front of the gun anywhere between the muzzle and the edge of the woods without being struck if the gun was firing. As each gun fired obliquely and its fire was crossed by that of other guns with the same mission the front was absolutely impenetrable at this point so long as all guns remained in action. For a distance of about fifty meters in front of the main line the underbrush had been entirely cleared away so that each gun crew could defend its own front by a swinging traverse if circumstances made it necessary to do so. A broad belt of barbed-wire was also placed in this open stretch. One or two of the emplacements in the main line were very long in the direction of depth and roofed with earth and logs. Lat eral windows had been cut near the rear of the emplacement to afford an opportunity to catch in efilade any attackers that might attempt to cross the main line. On the higher ground some distance back of the series of posts just mentioned there had been placed other machine guns which could fire with a slightly plunging effect either out on No Man's Land or on the area between the line of observation and the main line of resistance and even on the main line itself if it were occupied by the attackers. Preceding the American attack mentioned there had been a heavy barrage which had fairly effectively destroyed the enemy wire, and although the enemy main line of resistance had also been bombarded there were, unfortunately, very few of the machine gun emplacements which had sustained direct hits. Our troops-the equipment lying about was marked 324th Infantry-appeared to have sustained fairly heavy losses, both from machine gun and artillery fire, while crossing the ground between their jumping off place and the edge of the woods. When the edge of the woods was reached the losses appeared to become greater. Empty shells lying about indicated that our riflemen had fired a little here and then pushed on into the thicket, being stopped about fifty meters farther on by the interlocking bands of fire already referred to. Here a line of small piles of white stones had been placed, seeming to indicate that this was the final line at 11 a. m., November 11, although I have heard that at some points farther to the north the penetration effected by this division was considerably greater. Here the bloody equipment, rusting rifles and sidearms, helmets, entrenching tools, and all the debris of battle scattered about told the story of the attack as narrated above. push this frontal attack still more resoHad the 324th Infantry endeavored to lutely home their losses would have certainly been merely the greater and the result no different. I All of which is one instance of a and how the defense scheme worked in carefully planned defense of a wood action. I Capt. Elbridge Colby, Infantry MAGINE in your mind a doubt and on Tell quickly why you To this I shall reply but briefly now, laughed at as the Trojan troops laughed at Menoetes "to see him swimming with difficulty"? Or why be in the ridiculous predicament of Palinurus who fell overboard and clung ingloriously to the rudder? Far better to be able to report, if necessary, an alibi for being A. W. O. L. But-exaggeration aside-there are times when an Army man must know how to swim. Tradition tells of a company of American soldiers in the Philippines out on an expedition against the natives who came to a river in the course of their march and had to leave over 50 per cent of the outfit behind because they did not know how to swim. Was it better to have all the troops along or to go ahead with only a portion of them while the others remained on the river bank enjoying the scenery? And what of the predicament of those left behind? Ulysses states their case: "How dull it is to pause!" When it is a question of small streams instead of Atlantic Oceans the Navy is not always at hand to take you over and bring you back. And the man who did not get "overseas" knows that all the glory and most of the credit go to the one who reaches the battlefields. As an officer commanding troops ordered to reach a certain point at a certain time, you will want to reach that point at that time with your troops. If you come to a river-and here you may stop to recall the number of "problems" in which the Conewago is not fordable you want to that river. You be able to cross can only cross the river and go on to your appointed field of action if your soldiers know how to swim. There will be no mermaids to rise out of the water and present. you with a fancy raft towed by dolphins. There may even be no timber available with which to build a rough raft of your ownmuch less boats or ready-made ferries -at any specific point you may have to cross. You must therefore see to it that every man in your organization. knows how to swim. Swimming becomes, then, not an accomplishment, not a sport, not mere physical training even, but an absolute military necessity and a part of military training which may possibly determine in actual operations whether you "max" the situation or are "unsat." I believe in schools; I believe in sports; I believe in entertainments. But I believe in these things being officially fostered in the Army only when and in so far as they are useful for military purposes. I believe that swimming in many of its phases has military uses. Therefore I write this exhortation for the officers of the Army for military purposes. only in their bathing suits, but in uniform Uniform does not mean fatigue clothes either, though you may begin with them. Uniform means leggings, and tight breeches, and heavy shoes. Uniform means field uniform such as your company will wear when going against the enemy. It means full field equipment: Haversacks, packs, cartridge belts (loaded), and even rifles and bayonets and tin hats. Your company may need them on the other side of the river. They must carry them over. Consequently, you must train them to swim as they will have to swim. Of course, the increase of encumbrances must be slow during the training. By frequent tests make sure that your men can swim and swim well. Then gradually introduce swimming with fatigue clothes, then in uniform, with some equipment, then with a little more, and so on and on. To keep this work from becoming too much of a burden arrange contests between entire sections, or between squads or platoons, with the men so encumbered. The squad which first gets all its men over the finish line wins. Or score according to the scheme used in cross-country running races, where first place counts one; second place, two; third, three, and so on; and the team with the lowest total wins. The overhead strokes (the single overarm, the double overarm, the trudgeon and the crawl) are inappropriate for this sort of work, for clothes, even the khaki shirts, hinder proper arm movement above the surface. They hold the water and increase the effort necessary to raise the arms. The frog kick is difficult with the knees tightly bound. The scissor kick is best. 1 The haversack, belt and web equipment may well be old stuff-faded, torn, or "salvaged" will do. When you come to using the rifle, remember that any object weighs more in the air than in the water. Therefore keep the rifle under water. Lengthen the sling and let it hang down under the body. The War Department has issued orders about using rifles for this purpose, so before starting you had better look up the latest to be sure there are no recent "changes" forbidding it. The latest dictum I know of to date is that rifles may be so used but they should be thoroughly cosmolined beforehand and the "responsible officer" will be held for any damage resulting from such use. The safest course is to get hold of old rifles with worn-out barrels. Get them condemned first, if possible. In any case, have them cosmolined inside and out. Take them all apart and cover all the metal with cosmoline-the barrel under the hand guard, the receiver by the stock, etc. Then let the losers in each contest do the cleaning. Two different methods are in vogue for carrying the pack. Both methods require that the pack should be rolled "waterproof" with the shelter half protecting the blanket inside in envelope fashion. With careful adjustment the pack can be so rolled that practically no water gets in at all in three minutes. Tests conducted in rolling packs have demonstrated that a pack can be fixed so that it will stay afloat at least 20 minutes. If rolled tight it will contain enough air for the time required to cross a river, so that it will add to rather than detract from the swimmer's buoyancy. Another useful trick is to empty the canteen of all water and screw the cap on tightly. The First Method of carrying the pack through the water is to take it off and sling it over one arm or shoulder, swimming with a side stroke and towing it alongside. The Second Method is for the swimmer to unfasten the belt and put belt and haversack on backwards, so that the pack comes on the chest instead of on the back, and the emptied canteen under the stomach. The swimmer then uses the breast stroke. He has both arms free. The buoyant canteen and the semi-buoyant pack are under him and help to keep him afloat. Both of these methods are far better for fairly short distances than letting the pack ride on the shoulders in its normal position. There it presses down with its weight and the backward drag of the suspenders hampers the arm movements. Either method will keep the pack dry enough so that it will not pull a man under over any distance; that your company can swim with shoes, leggings, breeches, and shirts. By the first method the pack will keep its buoyancy longer, but the swimmer will get tired sooner. By the second method, the swimmer will not have to work so hard, but the holding of the pack under water will tend to free it of air and weight it down with water more rapidly. As Sir Roger remarked: "Much can be said on both sides.” So you will be wise to teach both methods and, when the occasion or necessity arises, prescribe that which is the better in view of the situation, i. e., the distance, the condition of your personnel, etc., etc. Of course, the ideal company in respect to military training will be that in which all can cross anything how |