Kelly of the Foreign Legion: Letters of Légionnaire Russell A. KellyKelly, Russell Anthony
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Kelly of the Foreign Legion: Letters of Légionnaire Russell A. Kelly
Kelly, Russell Anthony
France. Armée. Légion étrangère; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
We finally located a sentinel who showed us headquarters, where we were
assigned to our companies, etc. After lunch we were to proceed to our
trench. While waiting for the repast an occasional shell whistled by and
exploded a short distance beyond. Very pleasant, I assure you. We
finished the meal and were ready. A short distance from the kitchen, to
my great surprise, we entered the famous trenches. Here we were at last.
I wish I could express my feelings when I realized where I was.
It was simply the connecting trench which allowed the men from the line
trenches to proceed to the kitchen and get the meals. The Germans have a
disagreeable habit of shelling these trenches at meal time and quite a
few accidents have occurred in them. They are about five feet deep and
very narrow. The earth is thrown up on both sides, so they are quite
deep. They curve in a horrible fashion and it was not long before I was
dizzy. Meanwhile an occasional shell went merrily by. The trenches are
so narrow that it is difficult for two men to pass. We continued on and
passed the entrance to the second line: after a while we stopped. Where
do you suppose we were? We were at last actually in the first line of
trenches.
We were taken to the lieutenant, who assigned us to our squads. The
first thing we did was to place our rifles in holes in the trench facing
the Germans. I looked over the top of the trench in the direction of the
enemy but could not distinguish much, as it was beginning to get dark.
They were there, however, there was no question as to that for an
occasional bullet whistled by. An intermittent fire is kept up
continually by both sides. Larney and I were put into the 15th squad and
Smith in the 14th. We were assigned to our quarters.
The firing line faces the Germans in a zigzag way. There is a trench
running parallel to and back of it. They are connected by trenches in
which are placed the living quarters of the men. There are two caves or
huts opposite each other in an alley. Of course they are underground.
They are about three and a half to four feet high and about twelve feet
deep. There are six men in ours. When lying down it is impossible to
stretch one’s legs out, consequently you are pretty well cramped after
sleeping.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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