Germans and Americans occupy same coal mine.

Germans and Americans occupy same coal mine. Corporal Edward George Willhelm of Los Angeles, California, whose father's family came from Germany, checks on a German telephone conversation while Private Harvey N. Koch of Brooklyn, New York, makes notes at the switchboard on the American side of the mine at Alsdorf, Germany, half of which is occupied by the Germans and half by the Americans. Both these Americans speak fluent German. Although the Germans on their side of the mine can talk on the telephone, all calls go through the switchboard on the American side, which also controls the power switch for the whole mine. The mine, which is under continuous shellfire, runs right into the German lines. German miners who operate the shaft on the American side are allowed to leave at night on condition that they carry passes and go straight to their homes. The group of mines in this district of Germany produces five million tons of coal and coke a year which normally went to Cologne.