. How armies fight. splinters of bursting shells. the enemys infantry gets so close that his artillery will have to stop firing. Then they will rush into the houses, repair any damage done by shells, if there is time, and cover the retreat of the men in the trenches should they be driven back. There is, however, one thing we admire particularly about the Scots defence, and that is the way in which B Company have for-tified a thick wall nearly tenfeet high which shuts in theorchard at the west end of thevillage. (See Fig. 17.) A houseoutside this wall which interfereswith the defenders fire has
. How armies fight. splinters of bursting shells. the enemys infantry gets so close that his artillery will have to stop firing. Then they will rush into the houses, repair any damage done by shells, if there is time, and cover the retreat of the men in the trenches should they be driven back. There is, however, one thing we admire particularly about the Scots defence, and that is the way in which B Company have for-tified a thick wall nearly tenfeet high which shuts in theorchard at the west end of thevillage. (See Fig. 17.) A houseoutside this wall which interfereswith the defenders fire has beenblown up by the sappers in theway shown in Fig. 18. Leaving Trou-du-Bois, we walkalong a hollow road which leadsto South Bruyere, and runs along the top of the hill on which both villages lie. At first Fig. 17.—A Fortified Wall. How B Company of the Soots Guards prepare a garden wall for Fig. 18.—Destroying aHouse. How the sappers destroy a housewhich interferes with the fire of themen defending the wall. A grooveis cut along the foot of the wall—onthe outside of the house. In it isplaced gunpowder (a). Then earthis piled up, and the powder fired bymeans of a fuse, or by electricity, asin the case of Fig. 11. The wall iscut through, and tumbles down. iS6 HOW THE GUARDS FORTIFY TROU-DU-BOIS Sight this road looks as if it would be a capital place fora couple of companies to defend ; but we find that whenwe are standing in it we cannot see any of the groundnear Bois Farm. This is because we are too far back onthe top of the hill to see its southern slopes. It is for this reason that the Irish Guards have beenplaced down the hill, as shown on the map. A and BCompanies have fortified Bois Farm and its orchard, wherethe trees and hedges hide them from the enemy; but themen of C Company had to resort to a cunning device inorder to conceal their trench, which lies in a la
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