It seemed that the dead men must have fallen from some great height to get into such positions.

They looked to be dumped out upon the ground from the sky.
From a position in the rear of the grove a battery was throwing shells over it.

The flash of the guns startled the youth at first.

He thought they were aimed directly at him.

Through the trees he watched the black figures of the gunners as they worked swiftly and intently.
Their labor seemed a complicated thing.