Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-10-23
ON THE FIRING LINE
Newspaper Correspondent Spends a Night
in English Trenches.
INCIDENT OF BATTLE OF THE AISNE
Soldiers Have Accustomed Themselves to Continuous Fighting
Children Play in Valleys While the Shells from Artillery
Fy Overhead-Fighting Goes Night and Day.

y,
staff correspondent in the field:
"I have just spent night in
British trench on the river Alsne'
when ninety men turned the attack
of a thousand Germans into a rout.
AS they turned and fled for the cover
from which they had advanced the
British machine guns turned loose on
them from the side and made the
German casualties not less than
hundred, as we could see the next
morning There were over htty more
bodies between the trenches than
there had been the night before, ana
many of the less seriously wounded
had undoubtedly got away.
1T was a night of horror made al
most unbearable by the stencil OF
the unburied dead between the trench
es. How the men in the trenches
were able to stand it is more than l
can understand. In the morning
haystack to which many had crawled
for shelter caught fire from a shell
and their bodies were burned, but the
air was fortunately still and the Ger
mans had as much of the odor as We
did. In fact, they must have had
more, as the haystack was a little
nearer their trenches than ours.
Wounded Burned Alive.
"There were wounded out there too
men who had been lying for four
days within fifty yards of their lines.
1t had been impossible to rescue them
even at night and some of them were
probably still alive when burned. one
man who had been wounded in the
stomach and had fallen into swoon
from weakness was reused by the
heat and walked back to his own
trenches.
"He was almost starved, but nearly
well. Going without food and water
had saved his life and his wound had
healed Not shot was fired at him.
This attack was merely one or
dozens of similar night affairs which
took place along the whole British line
of twenty miles on the Aisne. They
continued for a month and during
that time the British lost very little
ground though the cost in lives were
over 10000. AS the Germans were
usually the aggressors, their losses
must have been between 10000 and
so, 900. and may have been more.
- In night T.
tack l witnessed was one dead and
five wounded. The five were wounded
by rifle fire and the one man killed
was almost blown to pieces by the
explosion of a shell from what the
British soldiers call 'coalbox, on
account of the black smoke it sends
up.
The explosion was so close to me
that l came to a realization of what
had happened. though 1 was lying In
the bottom of a five-foot trench COW
cred with so much dirt that I could
hardly free myself This trench is
about four miles north of the Aisne
and east of scissors. 1t had been
gained the month previously at great
cost and was being held only by
splendid and continuous acts Of
courage.
The Germans were intrenched less
than a hundred yards away and had
plenty of cover behind them, While
the British had only saved themselves
from annihilation by digging them
selves in.
They were holding the steep up
ward slope with their rifle trenches
near the top of the steepest part OF
ground that lay between them and
the Germans. They gave the Ger
mans the advantage of impetus in
charging the trenches, but, though
they had made six previous night
charges, they never got more than half
way before the steady fire became too
much for them.
Getting to the Lines.
1T was only by a series of accidental
circumstances that ! was able to get
so close. For two weeks l had been
trying to get to the firing line, without
getting within more than four or five
miles Of It, During this period l had
frequently been under cannon fire and
had watched both the French and Brit
ish gunners at work, but had not been
able to slip up close enough to see the
men in the trenches.
This time tried part of the line
that l had not previously attempted
and crossed the great plateau to the
south of the Aisne by small road
that finally brought me to point just
above a small village almost directly
opposite and overlooking the Aisne,
and still held by the Germans.
Following the road through the
fields, / crossed the main scissors
road and gained the road over the hill
without being questioned. On this
hill, which is in reality a small wedge
shaped plateau. laying between the
Aisne and Vesle rivers, | could see
the British artillery fire and the
bursting of the German shells.
Il knew this plateau would be pa
trolled. and hardly expected to be
able to cross it. but chance favored
me. There were two roads, one Of
which was occupied by long line Of
motor trucks going forward with sup
plies and the other empty.
German spies. who were thick in
this section. must have indicated the
wrong road to me, as there were no
shells falling on the road over which
they were passing. and shrapnel was
bursting over the other. | knew | would
be turned back if / attempted to fol-
low or pass the motor trucks. so l
took the other road and crossed the
entire plateau, distance Of probably
three miles, without encountering any
cavalry patrol, some Of whom | could
see a mile or less away.
ShrapneI Burst All Around.
'Shrapnel broke directly over the
road both before and behind me. but
not nearer than 200 yards and too high
to be effective. on the wooded descent
from tho Dlateau IN the AiSne I Uassed