filling shellholes with old wagons, dead horses, and any rubbish that came to hand. Of course this repairing occasioned the column long halts, which afforded to anyone who could keep his eyes open a perfect chance to see the surroundings. We were approaching the Grande Tranchee de Calonne from a side road which was jammed with troops, mostly infantry kitchens and artillery. On all sides was a typical old-fashioned trench-warfare no-man's land, with pill boxes, intricate systems of wires and trenches, boyaux, listening posts and all, now a complete mess from last night's pounding. At last, after an interminable wait the column got under way. Every­ where were signs of the greatest confusion. The dead were being buried as fast as possible, extra clothing and equipment thrown away by the dough­ boys in yesterday's fight were being piled by the roadside. Farther along we passed many little shacks and dugouts, comfortably furnished with stuff stolen from the nearby French towns, built by the Germans in readiness for the coming winter.

                Once on the Grande Tranchee, a one-time "Route Nationale", the going was much better. We began to pass great batches of Hun prisoners, with many Austrians among them, going to the rear, sometimes three or four hundred under the guard of two dough­ boys. We also passed a great number of captured auto-trucks, and in fact, booty of all kinds. In many places we found meals half eaten, letters and papers hurriedly left, and in one stable, six horses dead in their stalls, each one shot neatly through the head,— all attesting to the haste of the German retreat. Here

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Chateau-Thierry Sector

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