Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-12
Wounded Soldier Tells of
Hasty Retreat, Following
Battle in Belgium.
GERMAN PURSUERS GIVE
THEM BUT LITTLE REST
Pays Tribute to Accuracy Of Enemy's
Gunnery and Describes
Duel In Air.

LoNToN. September II GAO a.m).-A
British private who was wounded in the
fight during the retreat from Mons tells
tho following story Of the battle there:
1T was Sunday and the British regi-
ments at Mons were merrymaking and
enjoying themselves in leisure along the
streets. Belgian ladies. returning from
church. handed the soldiers their prayer
books a. souvenirs. while the Belgian
men gave the men cigarettes and tobacco,
which were even more welcome.
About noon. when the men were be-
ginning to think about dinner, a Ger
man aeroplane appeared overhead and
began throwing out q cloud Of black
powder which Is one of their favorite
methods Of assisting distant batteries to
get the range.
Rushed to Firing Line.
. "No sooner had the powder cloud ap-
peared than shrapnel began to burs,
overhead and In q moment all was con-
fusion and uproar. But It did not take
the regiment long to get into fighting
trim and race through the city to the
scene Of operations. which was on the
other side Of the small canal In the
suburbs.
Here our outposts were engaging the
enemy fercely. The outposts lost very
heavily. most Of the damage being done
by shells. The rife IRE was Ineffective.
although at times the lines of contend
ers were not more than 800 yards apart
THE hrst achievements to arrive
were posted In a glass factory. the
walls Of which were loopholed. and we
doggedly held that position until night
fall, when we fixed bayonets and lay
In wait in case the enemy made an
attempt to run the position In the
darkness.
British Begin Retreat.
About midnight orders came to re-
tire over the canal, and two COM
panies were left behind to keep the
enemy in check temporarily. After
the main body had crossed. the bridge
was blown up, leaving the two out
they could, by boats or swimming.
Most OF them managed to reach the
main body again.
'aThe main body retired from the
town and fell back through open coun-
try, being kept moving all night When
higher ground that Mons had been
practically blown away by the Ger
man artillery.
throughout the morning we contin.
ued to fight q rear guard action. but
the steady march in retreat did not
stop until o'clock in the evening
when the British found themselves well
out Of range Of the German artillery
In q quiet valley. Here all the troops
were ordered to rest and eat. AZ they
had been without food since the Pre-.
vious morning before. 1t was rather
amusing to see the soldiers going into
the turnip fields and eating turnips az
though they were apples.
On March Before Dawn.
"At 8 o'clock all lights were extin-
suished. the soldiers were ordered to
make no noise and the pickets pushed
n long distance backward. Long be-
fore dawn the troops were hastily
started again and continued the re-
| tirement.
.av noon the enemy was again heard
from and a large detachment was as.
siened the task Of fighting TO protec'
our rear. a.. Gar,
man and British armies watched ouei
in the air between French ana German
aeronlanes. The Frenchman was won
derfully clever and succeeded IN man
euvering himself to the he. upper ,n n1s.
Of 9 reckless effort. Then the Frenchman
began baking away at the German
with a revolver. Finally he hit MIN
and the wounded German attempted 20
glide down into his own I'M INES p-,t, Ans
lines near my detachment, the " est
Kent Infantry. We found the aviator
dead when we reached the machine.
we buried him and burned the aero
plane. o.. ,,od
and as the Germans had fallen behind
the English spent quiet nlgnt. Al
dawn, however, we found the Germans
close at our heels and several regi-
trenchments. This IL tedious and tire
some work, especially In the heat and
without proper food, but we quickly
nut up fortifications which were sutti-
Client to protect US somewhat from the
artillery dre.
Germans Get the Range.
TT was not long before the German
Runners found the range and began
tearing up these rough Notifications.
concentrating their IRE on the British
batteries, ono Of which was completely
demolished. Another found itself with
only s,x men. Both these disasters bore
testimony to the excellent marksman-
ship Of the German gunners.
"As Il became evident that We must
leave these guns behind and continue
the retreat IN officer was seen going
ton 90 that they would be Of no use
to the Germans. HI. action required
ing found the range, continued firing
directly at these batteries.
"Things rapidly got hotter and the
commandine officer ordered q double
quick retreat. We were not long IN
doing the retiring movement to save
Il was wounded at this time BY q
maxim bullet. For q moment thought
nv head had been blown of, but re-
covered and kept on running until 1
reached q trench. where I had an OPP
portunity to bandage the wound.
rushed of to the ambulances. but found
the doctors 30 busy with men worse
on than I. that went back to my
place In the line"
REPORTS GASOLINE SHORTAGE.