Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-28
GERMAN SHRAPNEL
SHELLS TERMONDE
AND NEARBY TOWNS
Belgians Retire in Good
Order Under Witheriino
Fire = Artillery Spares
Churches.
FROM CHARLES HUDSON
uuDNrN~

IERMONDE, Sept. "a
The only battle on in Belgium on S,,r..
day was south of Termonde, wbere ,h.
Germans shelled the Belglans
The Belgians held their grou.,
tenaciously under heavy. welI-diroo,ss
IRE and then retired steadily throuvh
Audegm toward Termonde. com,,o,,sD
their retirement at midday. Two h,,,
dred shrapnel shells fell in the vi1,oa,
of Audcgm.
l reached Termonde at 10 o'c,oct ca.
uroay morning and paced through tn.
shattered town, into which the German,
occasionally sent howitzer she'll
proceeded toward Audegm at 100;
o'clock and watched the German oun.
ners achieve their object of shatterir,
the tower of the church at Audegm ons
moment the spire was shrouded in vbito
smoke, the next moment It had disar
peared, leaving nothing but a decrenI,
ruin. "e'rep'
A mile and quarter this side Of An.
ueGHh the Belglans faced about at
O'Clock, when reinforccments hogan 10
arrive. An armored motorcar' for,
mounted gendarmes and one or two oT.
traordinarily bold cyclists ventured into
The village. INV
Following these reached the farther
side of Audegm. Here the motor caught
SIX Germans mapping. Its mitrailleuss
aealt faithfully with them at distance
of 500 yards.
1t appeared that the German force,
contented themselves with approaching
the outskirts of Audegm. This informa.
ton, given by peasant was confirmed
by the fact that the pockets of dead
Belgians lying there had been cut out
and all their valuables taken. This both
Grant, DALEY and 1 saw
SHOTS FILL STREETS. 3
The road through the village wa,
strewn thick with shrapnel. picked up
double handful in less than 50 yards.
The German gunners had evidently Sc
cured the range to an inch. 1t is mar
velous that the Belgians escaped so
lightly.
Hardly had the Germans disappeared
than many villagers began to appear
cautiously in the streets, collecting frag-
ments of shell and shrapnel balls. They
were as phlegmatic as the Belgian
soldiers, who are imperturbable in all
circumstances.
Soon after the motor car and its
mitrailleuse had talked sharply to the
Germans, the Belg!ans made an advance
in force on the right. a regiment OF
lanCers gallOped through a field to a
position west of Wespelaars 1t was
supported as quickly as possible by In
fantry, while an infantry attack, sup
ported by artillery developed against
Wespelaars itself.
The range was very short and the bat.
terry thoroughly searched the village
towering over the cluster of little houses.
We could hear the crash of shrapnel on
the red tiled roofs. For n few minutes
Wespclaars disappeared, then reappeared
momentarily in the white clouds Of
smoke.
In the face of the terrific hail the Ger
man resistance was feeble, but behind
Westpelaars was thick woodland hiding
Lebbekc from view. Lebbcke was known
to be strongly occupied by the Germans
Sunset, too was approaching.
Content, apparently, with the ground
they had won, which was no inconsider-
able area, the Bclgians left the Germans
undisturbed to send an occasional shell
into Termonde.
FEATURES OF FIGHTING.
Two distinct features of the fighting
were impressive to the spectator.
The contest was amost exclusively by
shrapnel. The Germans attained tenn.
porary success by its use and the Bel
gians won their victory by its aid, Rifles
played small part in the all-day con.
nict
The other feature was the uncanny
silence. From the moment the Belgtans
ceased retreating to the time their att
tack opened on Wespelaar it was almost
although it was an agrees
able sensation from one viewpoint.
AS a consequence of the lack Of amhu-
lances, the three mOtOrcars and the news
paper correspondent present We're able TO
render considerable assistance to the Bel
glan wounded.
On our return to Antwerp we learned
that the Regians had retaken Alost' 10
miles west and little north of Brussels
nj the point of the bayonet and with great
gallantry. This was a serious blow to the
Germans and similar successes appear
along the whole Belgian line.
nANAIAnN INIn arm rnDNC