William Ambrose Cull letter diary, 1915-1918 - Page 103
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[Page 103]
Their Snipers are beyond doubt good shots and very daring men. There is one thing which has come as a suprise and a revelation to most of us: the use our adversaries are making of spies in Uniform – sometimes their own uniform – sometimes ours – according, of course, to Convention, a soldier is not a spy who seeks to obtain information openly – that is while in his own uniform – Some of them have been actually caught (at night) in our trenches. They have often been caught giving orders to our men, while an Attack was in progress etc. – Bold aren't they Beyond doubt great modifications have been introduced into warfare by the advent of aircraft.
We see evidence of it here, almost everyday. They easily replace mounted troops so far as strategical (wide area) reconnaissance is concerned – As regards tactical (local area) reconnaissance the honors are still with the skilled scouts afoot.
As a destructive agent, from what I have seen of them, the aerial bomb-thrower, is much of a joke. French '75's captured in transit thro Servia, I believe, by the Turks during the Balkan war, cause us far greater concern than all their other Artillery – they are grand guns.
Its good, I can tell you, to see our howitzer shells lobbing in their trenches – just twenty to thirty paces from us – great pieces of earth and rocks are thrown fourty to fifty feet into the air, and when smoke and dust has cleared away – great gaps are seen