WORK OF THE DARTMOUTH REGIMENT

The Dartmouth regiment which had been drilled so efficiently by Captains Chase and Keene completed its work on June 9 with a final review on the campus. At this time Captain Chase was presented with eighty dollars in gold by the student body.

A unique part of the work this spring was the trench system constructed under the supervision of Captain Keene, C. E. F. At the beginning of the war Captain Keene enlisted as a private and went to France with the first Canadian contingent in 1914. He saw eighteen months' service in the trenches, was wounded in the Ypres salient and returned to Canada for instruction duty.

The defense system of the trenches consisted of main fire-trenches with support and reserve lines, the whole being built with the necessary dugouts, shelters, machine-gun pits, and bombing pits. All were protected by obstacle and wire entanglements. In addition, communication and supervision trenches were dug with regard to the bringing up of men and supplies. To . avoid congestion the communication trenches were of the one-way type.

Although the ground, being mostly of clay, was excellent material to work with, it held the water from the heavy rains which made it necessary for the sides of the trenches to be revetted. A number of different kinds of revettements were used, among them: corrugated iron, boards, sandbags, facines, and chicken wire.

In an attempt to reproduce as nearly as possible the type of trenches in use at the present time on the various battle fronts, barb-wire entanglements, French aprons, wire spheres, trip wires, and knife rests were constructed and put into place. As much of the actual material as possible was cut from woods nearby and included brush, brush-poles, and stakes. At one end of the trench area some old ruins were uncovered and one old cellar was converted into a redoubt protected by burrow pits with wire and stakes. Loop-holes were left for machine guns and the whole was then made shell-proof and sodded over, use being made of all old materials available. When near completion the trenches were fitted with duck-walks and firebases with fire-steps.

The heavy rains made the trenches a great deal more realistic and like those found in France because they were continually flooded and had to be pumped out. This fact gave a practical demonstration of the necessity for the revettement and shoring up of the sides of the trenches.