donment, we would probably escape shelling. The gun pits, though not even splinter-proof, were dry and ready for immediate use. The dugouts, too, were dry, fitted with bunks and safe against ordinary shelling. Several thousand rounds of ammunition were stored in dumps scattered about the position. There was a kitchen, half dugout, half shed, ready for use.

About a kilometer in front of us, on the same ridge, was the famous road which gave its name to the whole sector, the Chemin des Dames. Only in name, however, was it a road; a sign, placed by the French, was the only thing that distinguished it from the rest of that shell-plowed ridge. Directly behind us lay Ostel, and several kilometers farther back, the Aisne. No matter where one looked, the view recalled the terrific battle that had been waged ten months before, when the French crossed the Aisne and captured the Chemin des Dames. Shell hole lapping shell hole, rusty wire, blackened stumps, and bits of old equipment formed the landscape. Running through our position, the Boyau Schonniker, an old German communication trench, was a constant reminder that the Boches had been there before us.

The 9th Battery of the 51st Regiment of French Field Artillery was in position only a few hundred yards from us, ready to help us whenever we might need them. We were brigaded with the 11th French Army Corps, and all our orders came from them.

It was the night of February 4 that we went into position. The next morning the whole Battery hiked to Vailly to go through the gas chamber. A gas chamber is simply an air-tight room used in training troops

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INDEX