File:Behind the German lines, a narrative of the everyday life of an American prisoner of war (1920) (14782011005).jpg

Identifier: behindgermanline01elli (find matches)
Title: Behind the German lines, a narrative of the everyday life of an American prisoner of war
Year: 1920 (1920s)
Authors: Ellinwood, Ralph E
Subjects: World War, 1914-1918 World War, 1914-1918
Publisher: New York, Knickerbocker press
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation

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the roads through the hospi-tal for troop movements and the transportation ofammunition; how they had set up anti-aircraftmachine guns between hospital barracks and on thechurch of Mont Notre Dame; how a battery of gunswas placed just outside the grounds of the hospital,and how the Germans at every possible point vio-lated the rules of war under the flimsy excuse of * necessity. That night I slept but little. Three times I wentoutside in order to hear more clearly the intense rollof the thunder of the big guns that encircled thehospital. Individual explosions had become moredistinct and gun flashes were visible on the horizon.The Allies were coming back, that was the paramountevent. Now, at last, our hopes were being realized.Heretofore, rumors had been our only source of news,but now the Allied guns spoke more truthfully thanrumors. We were living as much in the hopes of vic-tory as we were in the hopes of our own safe repatria-tion. We had one of our greatest chances of escape that
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Mont Notre Dame 47 night. We three Americans talked the situationover, and decided against an attempt. The proposedplan was to take what food we had and hide in thedugout under the church on the hill above MontNotre Dame. Once hidden there, the line wouldprobably pass over us and we would be left in the rearof the Allied hnes. But, therein lay the danger.How soon would it pass over ? Our food would onlylast for a few days and meantime the retreating Ger-mans would use all dugouts and the advancing Allieswould clean them out with hand grenades. Beingnon-combatants, we could not be sure of our position,or our chances. We gave up the attempt, althoughseveral Frenchmen disappeared during the night.We knew well where they had gone and we wishedthem good luck and godspeed! CHAPTER III LAON The next morning, July 27th, while it was stilldark, we dressed and strapped on our packs. At five we were all collected in front of the barrackswhere we fell in with our allotted groups. We threeAmerican

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