CHAPTER XVI

BEFORE VIMY

In the course of ten days we arrived at Bully-Grenay, situated in the
very heart of the mining district, three mines being located in the town
itself. We were still working on the Vimy Ridge proposition. At no time
in France were our quarters more comfortable than here; each gun of my
battery was stationed in the cellar of a private house on the outskirts
of the town from which the civilians had been shelled, and at night in
the midst of a game of cards, or engaged in our letter writing, or
reading, when we got the "S.O.S." signal, the lanyard was at my hand and
I had only to pull the rope. Our quarters were heated by coal purchased
direct from the mine and furnished to us at ten cents per bag. Every
mine in this place was worked only at night, the smoke of the industry
indicating to Fritz where to plant his shells; therefore, the entire
coal mining was done during the hours of sleep.

The Huns were making a most determined effort to get possession of
Bully-Grenay and these most valuable coal mines, and they were anxiously
looking forward to the time when they could attack successfully, and
knowing how vital to us it was to get out this coal, they concentrated
their efforts through the daytime on the mine shafts in an effort to
destroy them; but having no smoke signals to guide their fire, their
efforts generally were futile.

A notable instance of the spirit controlling our ideas of warfare was
splendidly illustrated in this particular sector. Among the captured
French mines that the Germans were working was one in close proximity to
a church, of whose existence they took particular pains to let us know;
and the church, in addition to being used as a protection for the mine,
was also used as a camouflage for one of their batteries, the guns being
placed immediately in front of it. It is repugnant to the very soul of a
British soldier to level his gun at a church, so Fritz was able to get
away with his camouflage.

On the morning of the third day of our visit here we were treated to
another superb example of _kultur_. The school children were playing in
the school yard and Fritz dropped a shell in their midst, killing and
wounding several, following it up by two others that smashed the
schoolhouse. A panic followed among the teachers and children, and the
only thing we could do at the time was to stand there and watch the
devilishness. Some of the men of an infantry battalion who were bi