Popular Science MnnthJij 



69 



How the Germans Bur- 

 row in Hollow Trees 



AT first glance the post 

 l\. shown in the accom- 

 panying illustration looks like 

 an Alaskan totem. But do 

 not let its exterior appear- 

 ance mislead you. Look 

 carefully at the second story 

 window and peering through 

 it you will see a soldier. He 

 gives the secret away. The 

 post is an observation station 

 constructed within the hol- 

 low of a shell-broken tree. 

 After it was captured from 

 the Germans by the Cana- 

 dians, it was left standing on 

 the spot as a relic. 



In reality, the post is a 

 hollow structure camouflaged with foliage 

 and bark. Iron sheeting has been placed 

 around the trunk and over it foliage and 



bark have been 



draped to give the 

 tree a life-like ap- 

 pearance. Above 

 the second story win- 

 dow is a slit in the 

 bark which would 

 enable a third man 

 to keep watch. Each 

 aperture in the 

 trunk is covered with 

 wire netting to af- 

 ford protection to 

 the observers from 

 flying shell splinters. 

 An iron ladder, faint- 

 ly visible in the pho- 

 tograph, enabled the 

 men to climb up or 

 down as they wished. 

 The fact that a 

 trench lies at the 

 foot of the post, 

 made it possible for 

 the observers to take 

 up their positions 

 without exposing 

 themselves to the 

 \'igilant enemy. One 

 well-placed shell 

 could have obliter- 

 ated the tree. 



.'ii.lerwood and Unjc-nvood 



Resembling an inverted ice-cream cone, the war 

 photographer's helmet affords his head and neck full 

 protection from shell splinters, bombs and rifle bullets 



A New Conical Steel Helmet for the 

 War Photographer 



ANEW style in 

 steel helmets 

 has been introduced 

 into the military 

 market to meet the 

 demands of war pho- 

 tographers who are 

 making the pictoricl 

 history of the world 

 combat. Resem- 

 bling, to all ap- 

 pearance, an invert- 

 ed ice-cream cone, 

 the new helmets 

 completely cover the 

 face, whereas the 

 helmets now in use 

 by the fighters of all 

 the warring coun- 

 tries, merely offer 

 protection to the up- 

 per part of the head. 

 With his conical hel- 

 met, the photogra- 

 pher can feel sure that 

 his head and eyes 

 will be protected 

 from flying shell 

 splinters and stray 

 bullets. Note that 

 the helmets have 

 carrying handles. 



A three-storied German observation post 

 constructed within the hollow of a tree 



