Les Sacrifies

Spring's first breath came to France last week. Horse racing resumed at Auteuil. British Tommies whipped the French Poilus 36-to-3 at rugby. At the stalemated fighting front, bright skies encouraged reconnaissance flights by both sides, to see what new dispositions the enemy had made during weeks of freeze and fog. For the troops in outpost zones ahead of the Maginot Line and Westwall, patrol duty became more frequent and arduous, first stations busier.

"Les Sacrifies"--those who die first--is the French name for such troops, who must watch for and delay an enemy advance until fortress troops behind them can bring artillery into action. On the western half of the Rhine-Moselle sector, German patrols became larger and more aggressive, attacking by day as well as by night. Mischance brought to one French contingent more casualties than had been suffered in a single fight since mid-October. Two truckloads of "sacrifies," going forward to relieve their comrades, took the wrong road and drove into the German lines. Hidden machine guns killed 20 of them, wounded eight.

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