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TRENCH LIFE 325
for some length of time—in this case since the 6th October
—
the art of field entrenchment usually reaches a very high
pitch of perfection. It must not be thought that these ad-
vanced firing lines are always connected and continuous. The
formations of the various units are adapted to the conforma-
tion of the ground according to its appearance and the possi-
bilities which it affords. Yet there are no unprotected or
unguarded places. The intervals between the trenches are
always protected by wire entanglements or other obstacles
effectively flanked by machine guns or rifle fire. In front of
the German lines at Monchy there are numerous wide belts of
wire entanglements, alternating with deep trous-de-loup with
stakes at the bottom. These obstacles, interrupted at certain
points by open passages, can only be contrived under cover of
darkness or fog, and even under favourable conditions the
work is highly dangerous, not least on account of the enemy’s
pickets who utilise the darkness of night to find out what the
enemy is up to.
These pickets are the eyes and feelers of their unit. The
men to whom these scouting and guard duties are entrusted
need the utmost vigilance, sense of duty and intelligence for
the performance of their task ; for the risks which they run
are enormous and they could not possibly cope with the strain
if they had not been trained in peace time to realise that bold-
ness and alertness combined will overcome all obstacles.
There are many kinds of patrols, but in a war such as this the
outpost pickets have by far the most important task to per-
form. When the distance between the fighting units is small,
they work at night only. The manner in which they discharge
their duties is often the deciding factor in the execution of
important plans. They are despatched to a certain limited
area, with a definite task to perform. If possible, they are to
avoid collision with the enemy. Other patrols are sent out to
prevent similar scouting duty by the enemy. In the part of
the front of which I am speaking, these tasks were often
facilitated on moonlit nights by the number of corpses, chiefly
French, remaining on the field from earlier outpost skirmishes
between the two fighting lines. It is often difficult to teU a
living from a dead man. In the dark it happens not infre-
quently that German and French patrols run against one
another, which always gives rise to hand-to-hand fighting and
losses. The boldest picket leaders, who in the midst of the
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