succession of artillery barrages, of gas attacks, of aerial
reconnaissances and combats.

One day grew to be very much like another in that deadlock of pythons. A
play for position here was met by a counter-thrust in another place.
German inventions were out-matched and outnumbered by those coming from
the Allied side.

Trench warfare became the daily life of the men. They learned to fight
and live in the open. The power of human adaptation to abnormal
conditions was never better exemplified than in those weary, dreary
years on the western front.

The fighting-lines consisted generally of one, two, or three lines of
shelter-trenches lying parallel, measuring twenty or twenty-five inches
in width, and varying in length according to the number they hold; the
trenches were joined together by zigzag approaches and by a line of
reinforced trenches (armed with machine guns), which were almost
completely proof against rifle, machine gun, or gun fire. The ordinary
German trenches were almost invisible from 350 yards away, a distance
which permitted a very deadly fire. It is easy to realize that if the
enemy occupied three successive lines and a line of reinforced
intrenchments, the attacking line was likely, at the lowest estimate, to
be decimated during an advance of 350 yards--by rifle fire at a range of
350 yards' distance, and by the extremely quick fire of the machine
guns, each of which delivered from 300 to 600 bullets a minute with
absolute precision. In the field-trench, a soldier enjoyed far greater
security than he would if merely prone behind his knapsack in an
excavation barely fifteen inches deep. He had merely to stoop down a
little to disappear below the level of the ground and be immune from
infantry fire; moreover, his machine guns fired without endangering him.
In addition, this stooping position brought the man's knapsack on a
level with his helmet, thus forming some protection against shrapnel and
shell-splinters.

At the back of the German trenches shelters were dug for
non-commissioned officers and for the commander of the unit.

[Illustration: Painting: Several planes flying over troops in a
demolished town.]
THE STRUGGLE FOR ARMENTIERES
Allied forces holding up a German attack on the Lys Canal. Airplanes
flying low peppered the Germans with machine guns and broke up their
concentrations, aiding greatly in the severe repulse of the attacking
Huns.

[Illustration: Painting]
AFTE