Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-22
COLD STEEL CHARGE
BROKE UP GERMANS
DETERMINED DASH
Wounded Briton Tells How
Invaders Were Stabbed in
Back-City Troops En-
dure Noise Better.
LONDON, Sept. %.

LONDON, Sent %.
This grim story Of British bayonet
charge in which the Germans were routed
was related by wounded soldier just
back from northern France:
They can stand nre. can those Ger
mans. We were picking them off like
winkins, and still they came on.
Then, when they got within shouting
distance we received the word to charge.
our officer was a sprinter. but we were
out of the trench and heeling after him,
all Of us shouting
THE Germans seemed struck They
Just stood and gaped as we came chas-
ing down, their mouths wide open, as
IL they were wondering what the bazns
we were up to.
when We were within % or 80 yards
of them there was an alteration They
knew then what we wanted, and they
Just threw down their rifles, turned about
and set the pace. Some of them AS they
went, chucked off their packs, and a few
even tried to pull off their tunics.
But we had 'em! l never knew
could run before, nor the other chaps.
and we pinked the 'blighters in the back
by the score.
When we got winded We came back
the same way. and it was so; they were
lying oil their faces, bayoneted in the
back"
y lance corporal of the Connaught
Rangers said.
THE dsconcerting thing in battles now
adays is that YOU may be fighting for
hours on end and never as much as
see an enemy to Erapple with.
THE way the Germans sacrifice their
men for the sake of making an impression
is appalling. one position on our left
from which We would have fallen back
in any case. because 1t was dominated by
a battery which we couldn't locate, was
advanced against by the German infantry
under heavy fire. They came on in one
long never-ending stream, while our rifle
and gun fire tore hideous gaps through
their ranks.
The Red Cross men say that in front
of that position alone 1900 dead and
wounded were picked up after the fight
was over. our loss was not more than
20 of all ranks.
What we are all wondering is how
long the Germans can keep up this sort
Of thing. | have seen our cavalry thrown
into confusion merely because the horses
SHE'D at the heaps of dead bodies they
had to tread over when attempts were
made to clear our front of the advancing
Germans
Sergeant Major SIacDermott writes
In a letter.
"We're wonderfully cheerful and
happy as bare-legged urchins scamper-
ing over the fields Not that there's
much play for us It's all work. fight
ing and fighting and working again.
though you mustn't think I'm grum-
bling. for I'm not
Il am writing to you with the enemy's
shells bursting and screaming overhead.
Though their artillery has been making
q fendish row all along our front.
It's the quantity not the quality OF
the German shells that are having ef-
feet on us, and it's not so much the
actual damage to life as the nerve
racking noise that counts for so much.
Townsmen who are used to the noise
Of the streets can stand it a lot better
than the countrymen, and I think you
will find that by far the lttest men are |
those Of regiments recruited in the big |
cities.
"A London lad near me says it's no |
worse than the roar OF motor omnibuses |
in the city on a busy day"