Читать книгу Over Here and Over There - Harry Bobonich - Страница 32

The Battle of Loos started on September 25 and ended on October 14, 1915. The battle began when the British launched an attack on the German positions at Loos, Belgium. Although the British used chlorine gas for the first time it did not cause significant damage to the Germans. Unfortunately for the British, the winds shifted and blew the gas back to the British lines casing some casualties among their own troops. The Germans were able to contain the Allied attacks except for small territorial losses, even though the Allies had more weapons and troops.

James Norman Hall, who was an American, was a machine gunner for the British in the battle. He claimed to be a Canadian so that he could enlist in the British Army and take part in the “great adventure of the war.” In his well-detailed book, Kitchner’s Mob, Hall described the abandoned German trenches they encountered after a British artillery barrage. They were surprised to discover several comfortable and well-maintained dugouts that were obviously officers’ quarters, which they also enjoyed living in for a while. They found the following inscription over the door in a dugout of one of the German abandoned trenches:

“Gott tret’ herein. Bring gluck herein.”

God enters in. Brings good fortune in.

By the end of the conflict, the British suffered approximately 50,000 casualties while the Germans losses were estimated at 25,000. (Hall 1916)