g glasses, we could get an
excellent view of everything that Fritz did in this part of the line.

In this tower the French taught us their secrets of observation in
modern warfare. They showed us how to locate German batteries, machine
gun nests, railroads, troop movements, supply trains, aerial activity,
observation balloons, etc. We paid particular attention to watching
how often Hun airplanes arose, where they crossed our lines, whether
or not they were fired on by our anti-aircraft guns, the number of Hun
planes in the air, the purpose of their flights, etc. It was
particularly important to get the point where the German aviators
crossed the Allied lines. Their planes followed a system in this so as
to try to avoid our anti-aircraft guns. They would cross at a certain
point for one or two days, then, believing that if they attempted to
cross there again they would meet with a warm reception, they would
change the location, thus keeping the Allies guessing all the time.
The French remained with us about ten days, during which time we
acquired sufficient knowledge to take up the work ourselves, and the
American troops then took over this section of the line.

Our conveniences while here were not good, but they were as good as we
expected. We accepted our lot without protest. All our provisions had
to be carried in at night on our backs, as it would have been
dangerous for a supply train to attempt to bring anything in during
the day. There was no water at all in our immediate vicinity. That
which we used for cooking and drinking purposes had to be carried from
a spring about three-quarters of a mile distant. While going to this
spring on one occasion, we located a blackberry patch, which gave us a
little diversion. We conserved our flour for several days, and then
picked enough blackberries for pie. On two occasions we had blackberry
pie and it is no exaggeration to say that it was absolutely the best
morsel of food that any of us had ever tasted. It was a luxury, I
venture to say, that but few soldiers in the extreme front line
trenches were privileged to enjoy.

A few days after the French left this front to us, we became aware
that we were preparing for some big military manoeuver. What it was,
of course, we were not told; we knew, however, that it was to be on a
gigantic scale. It subsequently developed that we were preparing for
the great St. Mihiel drive, that wonderful independent plunge into
German lines by