The Washington herald., 1914-11-04
'LAUD YALOR OF
GERMAN FORCES
Kaiser's Soldiers Near Lys
Killed by Thousands, but
Maintain Lines.
5000 DIE IN BATTLE
Chant National Anthem as They Go
to Death Along Franco-Belsian
Frontier.
5000 DIE m BATTLE
BZ HERBERT TElIPLE.

London, Nov. a-The Germans chant
er their national song as they marched
to certain death in the deadly flghting on
the Franco-Belgian frontier. High trib-
/ ute is paid to the heroism Of the Teu-
tonic invaders by an eyewitness on the
stan OF Field Marshal Gen. Sir John
French In an account of the operations
Of the British expeditionary force In
Northern France and Western Belgium.
It says:
There was plenty Of action on our I'M
mediate front where some Of the
heaviest fighting we have engaged In
since the war broke out took place, re-
sulting In immense losses to the Ger
mans.
''on our right, south Of the Lys, Ger
man attack against the town Of Vio-
LANES was repulsed with. severe losses to
the enemy. On the other hand we were
driven from some ground to the north of
this point. but regained II by dint Of
violent counter-assaults. still farther 10
the north the Germans gained ground
which they were able TO keep despite the
pressure directed against them
Tribute to German vaIOr.
Their Cthe GermansO total casualties
southeast of Armentieres, France, were
estimated at more than 6.0o0
Then follows q tribute TO German
valor:
"a fiercely contested action took place
near Lagheir. which village was cap
tured In the morning by the enemy and
then retaken by us. The German cas-
ualties here were very heavy. They
came on with the greatest bravery
in swarms only to be swept away by
our fire. One battalion of thu One
Hundred and fourth regiment was
practically wiped out
"On our left our troops advanced
against the Germans' reserve corps
near Passchendaele and were met by
determined counter-ofensive. How
ever, the enemy was again driven
upon the field.
''On the ed OF October there was a re-
newal of the German pressure against
us but we succeeded In holding our
ground in nearly every quarter. In the
evening the Germans advanced against
our center and were again hurled back,
although they gained some Of our trench-
es, driving the defenders out The enemy
had. by this time. succeeded in bringing
up several heavy howitzers and the cas-
ualties were considerable
Tells Of ARTILLERY DueI.
"on the sd the action south OF the
Lys and on our right was confined 70
artillery.
The "a was a bad day for the Ger
mans. They retreated and our guns did
great execution. They afterwards made
five desperate assaults against our
trenches. The attacks were repulsed-
''on the night OF the 23d as well as
the night Of the I'D. the German losses
were extremely heavy. Much Of the
slaughter was due TO the point-blank
magazine fire of our men. The field
guns and howitzer working in perfect
combination did their share when the
enemy began to fall back.
"On the sd we captured more than
600 prisoners and found 1,5oo dead ana
wounded
''on the 18th the British took the Of
fensive Up to the night OF the 25th we
maintained our position against greA:
efforts Of the enemy to break through
or force our lines back.
Though We have inflicted immense
losses upon the enemy they have 30
far been able to fill the gaps and re-
sumo their fierce attacks. Consequently
we suffered heavily"