British troops building a road in Flanders, September 10.
B-0-196Reverse:Handwritten: September 10Text:Roadmaking under difficulties — wielding pick and shovel during lull in shell-fire.British Tommies building a road under shell fire as the infantry advances on the battlefront in Flanders.These hardy pioneers have become so adept in the gentle art of dodging shells that they wield their picks and shovels up to the last possible moment. Work progresses quickly during lulls in the firing and when things get too hot they rush for cover or dig themselves in.
"I stood watching the progress of the troops on the Longueau—Villers-Bretonneux road, the prolonged clatter of cavalry horses reminding me of earlier days. They were marching slowly to keep within their time. I overtook infantry and tanks moving along in weird masses in the dark, following troops all the way to the Gentelles Plateau. There the ground was taped and pegged; boards indicated the way each unit was to take as far as the approach to the line, to avoid any mix-up or delay. The whole area might have been the scene of a gymkhana. Aeroplanes were droning loudly overhead so as to drown the noise of the approaching tanks. Every object looming in the darkness hid something — the woods sheltered hundreds of silent guns awaiting their signal."
Description by Paul Maze, a liaison officer with the British Fourth Army, of preparations the night of August 7–8, 1918 for the Battle of Amiens, begun the next morning. Gentelles, France, is 14 km southeast of Amiens. A gymkhana is an equestrian competition of timed pattern following.
Hundred Days: The Campaign that Ended World War I by Nick Lloyd, page 41, copyright © 2014 by Nick Lloyd, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2014
1918-08-07, 1918, August, Battle of Amiens, British road building, British road builders
