The Alaska daily empire., 1914-11-20
ESS TELlS

A letter to the nlefnationai News { Service gives fhe acecunt oi an eye. witness of the battlefront 'n France and Belgium The account ia tnat of l Colonel E D SWinton ol the intelli. ] genco department oG 1e Rnt'ah gem eral staff bearing the date ol ooto' her %. and iB in part as follows:
 "ou "Wednesday October %. thc now ! German fQrmatlons pressed forward l ln force vigorously all along our inc ! On our right south oi Lys an attack on our lines was repulaed with loss 10 the assai.ants On Che other hond i we were driven from some ground close by 60 the North, but regained 4 ! by counter attack
 "sdn further to Che north, the Cor mans gained and retained some po'nts. Their causoltes to the southeast of 1 Armerteries were estimated ot moro than 6,000
 eon the north Of the Lys in our center a fiercely contested action took place near La Ghier which gil. llage was captured in the morning by the enemy and then retaken by u8. In this direction tae German casual. ties also were extremely heavy.
 Tribute TO German Vaior.
 "Thoy came on with the greatest ] bravery in swarms, only to be swept away by our fire One battalion Of their 104th regiment was practically wiped out, some 400 dead being pick ed ID by us in our lines alone
 Incidentally by our counter at- tack we took 130 prisoners, and re. ! leased some 70 Of our men who had l been captured. It is agreeable to rec ord that our men were very well treated by their captors, who were Saxons, being placed in collars for ] protection from the bombardment Of our own guns.
 "On our left our troops advanced against the Germans Twenty.SiXth re- serve corps near Paaschendaele, and were met by determined counter defensive, which was driven back with local losses.
 'At night the Germans renewed their efforts unnecessarily in this quarter. At one point they tried ruse which no longer is new. As they came up in solid line, two deep. they shouted out, Don't fire; We are the ! Cold Stream Guards.
 Swept By Magazine Fire.
 Our men, however are getting used to tricks of this Kind, and the only re- suit was they allowed the enemy to Inpproach quite close before they swept them down with magazine fire.
 Apart from the 400 dead found near our lines in the center our patrols afterward discovered some 300 dead further out in front of our left. killed l by our artillery
 Thursday the 22nd, saw a renewal of the pressure against us. We sue eeeded. however In holding our ground In nearly every quarter. South of the Lys, the enemy attacked from La Basse. and gained at Yiolainos and at another point but their efforts against a third village were repulsed by artillery alone. French and Brit isb guns working together effectively.
 "The Germans advanced in the eve ening against our center and our left and were again hurled back, although they gained some of our trenches in the latter quarter. By this time the enemy had succeeded in bringing up several heavy howitzers. and our cas- ualties were considerable.
 "On Friday the 2Srd ail action south of the Lys on our right, was confined Co that Of artillery several of the hostile batteries being silenced. In the center their infantry again endeayored to force their way for ward, and were repulsed only after determined fighting, leaving many dead and several prisoners. North of Lys their attacks on several points were repuised.
 "On our left, the 2Srd was a bad day for the Germans. Advancing In our turnh we drove them from some of the trenches out Of which they had turned us the previous evening, and captured 15O prisoners and released some of our men whom they had .ak- en- As the Germans retreated, our guns did great execution. They after- ward made five desperate attempts on our trenches, advancing in maas and singing Die Wacht am Rhiae' as they came on.
 "Each assault easily was beaten back, our troops waiting until tho ene my came within close range boiere they opened fire with rifles and uaeg- inns. causing terrible havoc in the sol- i'd masses.
 During the lighting in this quarter on the night of the 22nd and 28rd the German losses again were extreme ly heavy. We made over 500 prison-l CTS. and picked up I,500 dead, killed on the latter day alone
 Much of the slaughter was due to the pointblank magazine fire of our men against the German assaults, while our field guns and howltzers, working ln perfect combinations, did their share when the enemy was re- pulsed As they fell back, they were subjected to shower of shrapnel; when they sought shelter in villages or buildings they were Bhattered and driven out by highly explosive shells, and then again caught by ahrapnel ag they came into the open
 Raw Troope Bravery unavaillns.
 The troops lo oulier SO severely 1 mere mostly Of the Twenty-thlrd corps, 1 one oi their new formations Certain. ! ly tho way lhalr advance waB conduct !