The Story of the Great War, Volume 4: Champagne, Artois, Grodno; Fall of Nish; Caucasus; Mesopotamia; Development of Air Strategy; United States and the War
History
The Story of the Great War, Volume 4: Champagne, Artois, Grodno; Fall of Nish; Caucasus; Mesopotamia; Development of Air Strategy; United States and the War
World War, 1914-1918
"At last the trench zone has been crossed; the country in back of it
appears to be strewn with pits and funnels caused by the explosion of
big caliber shells. Here and there destroyed villages are to be seen
from which dark pillars of smoke arise. Then the first roadway about
which information is to be gathered appears. Peacefully it lies in the
sunlight. Farther toward the west, however, the street becomes more
lively; but the black specks which move down there are only a few
automobiles which most likely carry some members of the general staff
of the enemy and offer nothing worth while observing. But a little
farther back a dark line and many small specks appear--detachments on
the march. The observer leans over his map, compares, looks down once
more, then marks the observation on his map and the time at which it
was made, and on goes the journey. In the streets of a larger place,
which is reached soon afterward, a crowd of people are observed; in
front of a church are standing at regular distances a number of
wagons, a short wagon in front and back of it shapes that look like a
frame--cannon. The observer continues to make marks on his map and at
the same time a sharp sound is heard at his side and in the upper
plane a slash appears. He waves his hand and the pilot sharply turns
to the left. The observer reaches for a bomb and holds it over the
edge of the aeroplane, drops it, and immediately afterward a flash
appears among the cannon and the crowd on the market place disperses
in wild flight. Another wave of the hand, another turn to the left,
another bomb. The result is satisfactory; at least one cannon has been
destroyed. But now it begins to become unpleasant; to the right and to
the left, in front and in back, small white clouds arise; down there
the bombardment has begun and it must make quite a loud noise which,
however, is drowned in the noise of the motor. The pilot stops the
motor and silently and gently the aeroplane descends into less
dangerous heights; then the motor again begins to work and the
aeroplane quickly turns its course toward the southwest following the
white band of the country road.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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