nemy's battery is to keep an
aeroplane flying over its neighborhood. Volunteer observers are
frequently disguised and sent forward to hunt for a place from which
they can observe the hostile trenches of artillery and thus direct and
correct the fire of their own batteries. Observers who thus volunteer
to go forward are virtually always decorated and made officers, if, by
some fortunate chance, they both succeed and survive. The French
artillery officers take advantage of every "assist"; for instance, I
saw a case where a shell made a groove on the reverse side of a hill
and glanced off. The shell exploded, but its fuse was recovered by the
French, the setting of the fuse determined, and by means of this and
the direction of the groove made in the hill the German battery was
located. The French reported that they had destroyed the battery. One
of their aeroplanes was sent up before firing was begun and later
observed the battery's efforts to escape.

The French batteries are usually so far behind the infantry that when
they have come under heavy artillery fire there is no danger of
capture. The custom with the French seems to be, in a case like this,
for the personnel to run and take cover during the bombardment. I saw
this happen twice, and I learned of numerous other cases. Cover
underground is constructed for all the personnel of the batteries. One
enters these subterranean quarters through entrances which look very
much like enlarged woodchuck holes. With no artillery of any
nationality did I see any gun entrenchment other than a slight mound
of earth coming up to the bottom of the shield. All guns that I have
seen were in a line, except in cases where there was some peculiar
rising of terrain. I have several times seen a "group" together in one
line, at intervals of about twenty yards. In practice, the French tend
to extend the intervals to about twenty-five yards, while the Germans
either decrease them to about fifteen yards, or have the guns quite
isolated, seventy-five or one hundred yards apart.

Telephones are the only instruments of which I have observed the use
in the immediate neighborhood of French batteries. The battery
commander controls the fire by word of mouth.

The French 75-mm. gun is the only field-piece which under practical
field conditions does not "jump." This gives a tremendous advantage to
the French artillery in such duels as frequently take place in battles
where there is rapid movement.