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©f tile parapets again increased, until, as I prophesied, the old 
siege type of trench founded on Crimean experience, began 
to reappear. 
Had we been quicker to see what was coming, we might 
have saved many lives, and our men generally would have 
been spared much suffering. 
Then, however, both French and British siege guns 
began to arrive at the front in numbers sufTicient to hold their 
own against the Germans, and finally, assisted by the growing 
ascendancy of our airmen, the Allies began to dominate the 
German gunners completely. 
This brought about a further step in the evolution of 
siegecraft, and one which is entirely novel. 
As the German artillery fire weakened, matters became 
very much more comfortable for our supports and reserves. 
Instead of resting in cellars and dug-outs our men could 
come above ground again, and could enjoy decidedly im- 
proved sanitary conditions in the wrecks of houses still left in 
the villages. 
The moment the German batteries began to shell one 
of these places our guns replied, and laid them out for that 
day, at least. 
Our gunners, however, were free to shell and destroy 
everything within miles which could give cover to German 
supports; consequently, the latter were driven to dig them- 
selves in even deeper, and driven to take greater precautions 
to keep the target, presented by the trenches, low and 
invisible, more so, indeed, than we had had to do at the 
beginnins. 
In some places T am informed that (where the soil allows 
it) the Germans have had to dig trenches nine feet deep for 
their supports to live in, and the labour of scattering the 
earth to hide them, to say nothing of getting it out in the first 
instance, is excessive, and sanitary conditions, of course, ara 
almost impossible. 
Moreover, though, by means of trestles and pickets 
driven into the soil, it is practicable to arrange these trenches 
so that men can fire out of them, they are exceedingly difficult 
to climb out of, and, if an attack is pushed home, their 
garrisons are caught like rats in a trap, without hope of 
escape. 
In the water-logged plains of Flanders, such deep 
trenches ara, of course, entirely out of tlie question, and here 
the difficulty of keeping sufficient reserves within ea.sy reach 
of the fighting line is becoming more and more acute, an 
advantage we are pretty certain to make the most of before 
many weeks have passed. 
Now this process is going on in .some form or other ab 
every point along the v/liole of the fighting front, and it 
makes every movement of the enemy more difficult in propor- 
tion as the nximber of our siege guns is increased, and the 
store of shells available for tiiem grows greater day by day. 
OUR AMBULANCE APPEAL. 
AN OUTLINE OF THE SCHEME. 
By ATHERTON FLEMING. 
FOLLOWING the announcement made in our last 
issue to the effect that the proprietors of this 
journal have decided to open a subscription list 
virith the object of raising a sum of money — £500 — • 
for the purchase of a completely equipped motor 
ambulance, I have received many letters, suggestions, and 
inquiries. To answer all letters is impossible, so I am 
endeavouring to explain hereunder the features of the 
scheme. All suggestions will be filed, and will receive the 
most careful consideration when the time comes for laying 
out the money. Several writers have made very practical 
remarks as to the ultimate destination of the ambulance, 
and there has been at least one offer of both a car and a 
driver. Taking the question of destination first, and that 
has been very carefully considered, I have come to the 
conclusion — after making recent investigations and adding 
to them my own personal knowledge of the conditions — 
that the Belgian Field Force is still the most badly off with 
regard to Bed Cross facilities. The work of Dr. Hector 
Munro and his helpers has done much to alleviate the 
Bufferings of these poor wounded Belgian soldiers, who 
cannot look to their own country for help for the simple 
reason that all but a small portion of Belgium is in the hands 
of the enemy. The remaining strip of Belgian territory is 
being tenaciously held by these brave men ; its loss would 
mean a severe blow to the Allies. To succour and cheer 
these long-suffering soldiers has for months past been the 
work of Dr. Munro, and only those who have seen can 
understand what he and his helpers have had to go through 
during these months of bitter weather. Theirs has been 
a plain, straightforward night and day fight with the 
horrors of modern warfare in all its grim and grue- 
some reality. Dr. Munro is not engaged in this 
work for the sake of the limelight; it is for the sake 
of the Belgian soldier. He has not the financial resources of 
a huge organisation such as the British Red Cross behind 
him, yet he has done wonders with the little help he has 
received, and he is now appealing for more help. That is 
why I have come to the conclusion that the readers of 
L.*.ND AND Water cannot do better than show their appre- 
ciation of his services by presenting him with an additional 
motor ambulance. It is proposed to deal with all monies 
subscribed as stated hereunder: — 
1. That a subscription list be opened with this issue 
of Land axd Water for the purpose of raising the sum 
of £500. 
2. That this sum be devoted to the purchase and 
equipment of a suitable motor ambulance, containing 
accommodation for four stretcher cases and alternative 
accommodation for " sitting-up " cases and orderly. 
3. That the chassis be of a well-known and reputable 
make — to be decided later — and the construction of tho 
body be handed over to an expert ambulance-body 
builder. 
4. That details of equipment, such as lighting, &c., 
be left to the discretion of Dr. Munro, owing to his better 
knowledge of the conditions under which he has to work. 
5. Tliat the motor ambulance — which will bear an 
inscription : ' ' Presented by the readers of Land and 
Water to the Munro Field Ambulance " — shall be handed 
over to Dr. Munro for use with the Belgian Army. 
6. That should there be any balance in hand after 
the purchase and equipment of the ambulance the decision 
shall rest with the proprietors of this journal as to whether 
it shall be handed to Dr. Munro for the maintenance and 
upkeep of the presentation ambulance or used in the 
nucleus of a second fund for the provision of another 
motor ambulance. 
7. That all cheques, postal orders, or money orders 
should be made payable to " L.vnd and Water Motor 
Ambulance Fund" and crossed "London County and 
Westminster Bank, Ltd." All subscriptions will be 
acknowledged by the proprietors of this journal. 
This is the way we propo.se to deal with the matter as 
soon iis the state of the subscription list enables us to do so. 
It does not require a great many subscriptions to raise tho 
modest sum of £500. As I mentioned last week, the sum of 
one shilling from each reader would be sufficient to supply 
a fleet of ambulances. Yet it is essential that evert/ our. 
should send their shilling. Please do not let your faith in 
your fellow-man lure you into thinking tlaat the list will 
easily be over-subscribed without your assistance; if every- 
one did this we would be a very long time in raising £5 — not 
to say anything of £500. 
I make an earnest and personal appeal to everyone 
who reads these lines to send something ; never mind how 
small. Money spent on a cause such as this is never money 
wasted. I have spent some months in the war area, and 
I hnow what the wounded have suffered and are still suffering. 
The matter is now before you, the subscription list is open, 
and tho success of the scheme rests entirely in the hands of 
Land and Water readers. 
MR. HILAIRE BELLOC S WAR LECTURES. 
A series of lectures on the Progresj of the War from mmith lo month 
will bo given at Queen's Hall on the first Wednesday in April, May, 
and Juno. Seats are now being allotted. 
A lecture will also be given at the Opera House, Tnnbridge Wells, 
on Friday, April 9, at, 5.30, on " Tho Strategy of the War." 
Mr. Belloc will lecture on the War at Eastbourne on March 27 2,, 
MR. J.\NE'S LECTURES ON THE NAVAL WAR. 
Malvern Assembly Rooms Friday 25 Jrarch, 3 p.m. 
Shrewabuxy Speech Hall Saturday 27Marc)i,3p.m. 
Glasgow St. Andrew's Hall Monday 29 March, 8 p.m. 
F.diiibargh Usher Hall Taesday 30 March, 8 p.m. 
]>nndee Kinnaird Hall Wednesday 31 March, 8 p.nu 
Torquay The Pavilion Saturday 3 April, 3p.m.. 
14* 
