21,950 kilometres?

It is not difficult to realise what labour was needed to install such a system. The innumerable wires and posts had not merely to be put in place, but to be protected from destruction, sheltered against incessant bombardment, and repaired at once if unavoidably damaged. In the most dangerous areas the wires had to be buried deep, or, where they crossed flooded areas, laid under water. This meant the excavating and filling-in of hundreds of kilometres of deep trenches before the delicate work of burying wires and cables was completed. The 21,950 kilometres of wires in the Belgian front system are made up of 6,600 kilometres of buried or submerged wires and 15,350 kilometres of aerial line. The telephone instruments in use number nearly 8,000; the exchange switch-boards, not far short of 1,000.

Let us add that this network requires unremitting attention, and that it is being extended and improved daily, and we shall have said enough to give an idea of the prodigious task accomplished by the special corps entrusted with the management of this arduous undertaking.

7. The Batteries.—The Belgian Army began the war with but a limited supply of 75-mm. guns and hardly a couple of dozen 149-mm. and 150-mm. howitzers; so that it was for a long time compelled to face its powerfully equipped enemy on very unequal terms, a state of things which gave rise to much anxiety. Its battery crews, however, though so seriously handicapped, always fought with remarkable courage and technical skill. During the violent battle of the Yser, especially, their self-sacrifice and devotion won the deepest admiration: and they were also largely responsible for the heroic stand which will be one of the most glorious pages in our army's history.

It was apparent in the very first encounters that artillery would play a much more important part than had been assigned to it by pre-war theory. As soon as the two opponents had dug themselves in opposite one another, it became evident that strong entrenchments, forming an unbroken barrier along an extensive front, could be mastered only by the number and weight of guns brought into action.

We shall say nothing here about the great effort which enabled us to solve the second part of this momentous problem,[C] our immediate object being to demonstrate the intense effort which the fighting army had to put forth in organising the Yser front.

When the last struggles of the battle had ceased, our artillerymen vied with one another in the keenness and industry with which they screened their pieces from enemy observation in the open plain whereon they had perforce to establish them. It was impossible to dig into the ground and sink the guns behind solid earthworks. As with the trenches, all structures had to be laboriously fashioned out of imported materials, not merely under the enemy's eyes but under the fire of his formidable artillery. Over and over again the gunners had to cease work in order to reply to the enemy, giving him as much as he gave, and showing themselves always ready for a fight, whatever the odds. The duel over, they picked up their tools, repaired any damage done, and cheerfully carried on.

However, thanks to the steady augmentation of Belgian resources, the German superiority gradually disappeared; while, on the other hand, the number of works to be executed increased. As the positioning of mere field-pieces was a very troublesome business, one can guess what was entailed by the installation on such unstable ground of heavy batteries with ponderous platforms to support them. Nevertheless, our men patiently overcame all difficulties.

An imposing number of batteries—greater than the public imagines—is now disposed en échelon over the plain. Cannon, howitzers and mortars are hidden so skilfully that they can hardly be detected even at a short distance. Hundreds of concrete shelters have been built for ammunition dumps and headquarters. Among the ruins rise practically indestructible observation posts, themselves invisible from afar, but commanding the whole country. From these a ceaseless watch is kept upon the enemy's lines. Artificial screens protect the works from direct observation, and clever "camouflage" entirely conceals them from overhead view. To mislead the enemy, "dummy" batteries are scattered about everywhere. Many reserve positions have also been prepared so that, should the need arise, the batteries may be shifted and re-concentrated in different sectors.

It has been, one sees, a great enterprise; and the men who have worked so hard and unremittingly may well feel a legitimate pride in what they have so successfully accomplished. Yet in this, as in other spheres of activity, work can never stop. Bad weather and bombardment alike inflict constant havoc; and in spite of the most ingenious precautions the enemy always succeeds eventually in spotting the emplacement of this or that battery or in marking off an area which conceals a group of batteries. A furious fire from heavy guns is then concentrated upon the point discovered, and by the time our artillery manages to silence it the damage done is sometimes of such a nature that works which represent long months of labour may have to be practically reconstructed.

Conclusion.

We have now described the most outstanding features of the remarkable feat which the Belgian Army has accomplished with the object of rendering impregnable the important sector of the western front entrusted to its watchful care. It may claim to have safely defended the vital route leading to Dunkirk and Calais.