Lianne
asked:
Please can anyone explain what is meant by the following paragraph? ''His exceptional hearing was frequently in demand. The previous winter, two miles south of Ypres, he had lowered his ear to rat-level in the trench into a water-filled petrol can and held it there until his head lost all feeling. He preferred the airless quiet of the tunnel to the numbing of his skull.'' Why did he hold his head in water? Thank you
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Donald Scott
the listener didn't put his head in the tank, just listed with ear pressed onto the tank. Vibration from tunnellers would presumably be transmitted into the drum and amplified to allow the human ear to pick it up.
Sebastian Faulks is meticulous in his research. Every angle is covered and this topic of what occurred in these dark days in the trenches during WWI is no exception.
I used to play football with the author. He was pretty decent at that too...😉
Sebastian Faulks is meticulous in his research. Every angle is covered and this topic of what occurred in these dark days in the trenches during WWI is no exception.
I used to play football with the author. He was pretty decent at that too...😉
Lianne
I just found this information after looking online for some time!
''Soldiers in the trenches developed different strategies to discover enemy tunnelling. One method was to drive a stick into the ground and hold the other end between the teeth and feel any underground vibrations. Another one involved sinking a water-filled oil drum into the floor of the trench. The soldiers then took it in turns to lower an ear into the water to listen for any noise being made by tunnellers.''
''Soldiers in the trenches developed different strategies to discover enemy tunnelling. One method was to drive a stick into the ground and hold the other end between the teeth and feel any underground vibrations. Another one involved sinking a water-filled oil drum into the floor of the trench. The soldiers then took it in turns to lower an ear into the water to listen for any noise being made by tunnellers.''
Ieuan
Yes, Donald Scott answered correctly. He was listening for tunnellers, or miners if you like. Mining the enemy and blowing them up was good fun apparantly.
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