Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1914-11-25
undertaking Of
ENGLISH IsERR0R,
WRITES GERMAN
Briton Makes Better Fighting.
Man Than Teuton, Declares
Newspaper Man Serving as
a Lieutenant,
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IN, sossisa 1ourrsL trseikL LtsssD wiNsl
Berlin, Nov 2f.--An earnest warn
ing against under-cstimatlon Of the
British troops such as has been Gus
tomarv with certain section Of the
German press Is sent home by wei
known Berlin newspaper man who y
serving as first lieutenant with regi-
ment facing the British forces near
Ypres.
His regiment. he writes, marched
out with the idea that the British had
legs only to run with and that real
fighting spirit or skin In arms was
lacking IN them. A few hours contact
with the British however. showed that
they were no easy enemy.
"The English infantry which OPP
posed us there in the vicinity Of Ypres
must be eharacterzedHas troops OF
the first quality" he Writes. From
the start II was noteworthy with what
high energy the British troops de-
Tended their positions against our at
lacks. After being driven out they
kept trying again and again. particu-
larry by night attacks. to regain the
lost ground. They were supported
most effectively by their field artil-
lery which is as good as ours The
British had also brought up heavy
naval guns In the vicinity of Ypres
and the English shells and shrapnei
caused us considerable losses.
AS the British commenced to feel
more end more our enveloping move
ments they made desperate efforts TO
break through our lines, particularly
In the neighborhood of Becelaere. but
vainly. In one of these energetic at
tempts we captured about 600 Eng
llsh. including twenty Officers.
British Utilize Cover Wall.
"The chief strength of the Eng
llsh lies beyond doubt In tho defense
and In the proper use Of cover. The
natural hunting instincts Of the sport
loving Briton come opt more strongly
in these specialties than is the case
with our available infantry. The
minimum Of hunting instinct that we
OF the present age inherit Is brought
to a higher degree of development Ia
the Englishman by regular partlci-
patton in sport than in men Of other
nations.
"The Englshman as a sportsman
undoubtedly has quicker nervous re-
action than the average German. II
IL unquestionably easier therefore TO
instruct the British recruit than the
German in shooting, in the use of
terrain and in patrol duty.
British Trenches Wen Hidden.
'tThe skill of the British soldier in
utilizing every advantage of the coun-
try was very noticeable in the nu-
merous engagements in the vicinity
of Ypres. The British trenches were
usually so slSilfully constructed that
they could not be made out with the
naked eye. When we had stormed
the first trenches we were astonished
10 find how well laid out they were.
Plates of steel and iron were built
into the breastworks.
"The shelter pits evidently had
been arranged with all possible corn-
fort for an extended stay, and our
men rejoiced at the wonderful canned
goods, corned beef, ham and other
supplies they found in them.
1--WE were often struck with the
great number Of dead and the few llv-
ing defenders we found in trenches
we had stormed, but we soon found
that a considerable proportion of the
dead were only shamming and could
be brought to life again by a little
pricking with the bayonet.
Dummy Trenches Much Used.
THE British often lay OFT dummy
trenches. setting up turnips or clods
of earth to deceive US. The firing
line, taking full advantage Of cover,
lies SO far in front or behind these
trenches that IL suffers very little
from our fire. directed against the
supposed trenches. 1t often happened
that we came under heavy infantry
and machine gun fire from the edge
of wood, returned the fire and
stormed the wood, to find OILY when
we entered 1t that the defenders were
IN the tree tops and not on the ground. !
As TO patrols. I have cftcn followed
British patrols for some disrance with
the glass and so far Ms / could sec
lney missed none OF the line points
of the game. something which cannot
always be said of our patrols.
I'm night fighting the enemy often
follows tactics new to us. 1t Is our
rule in night fighting to refrain from
shooting IL possible but to use the
bayonet and to shoot in any case only
when II Is light enough to aim. The
allies. on the contrary, have in many
instances adopted for infantry the
same principle as for artillery fire
namely that of strewing a certain area
by night with fire.
1.-THE village of Becelaere, which !
my regiment had stormed and occu- !
pied after nightfall was subjected for
hours to such hail of infantry fire
that we finally had to evacuate it. We
then occupied trenches near Bece-
laere and were subjected the whole
night 10 fire from infantry and ma
chine guns, which caused us little loss, !
II is true, but gave the tired troops
not an instants rest. That probably
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