The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1914-11-27
GRIM WAR PICTURES
Fighting in France Described BY
Wounded Britons.
ohsiIsd by German Artillery While ~
in0 In Trenohes-Ail Men Are
Bloodthlrsty In the Heat
Of Battle.
international News Service.)

international News Service.)
Wounded soldiers, re-
turned home to recuperate. are telling
amazing stories Of the fighting in
France. One of them said:
we lay in our trenches and waited.
At the break Of day after sleeping
with our rifles beside US. a she'll fired
from battery of German field artil-
lery fell short Of our position and
burst with terrific explosion some
distance from our lines.
Overhead we heard the hum Of .
motor, and soon we saw q German
aeroplane whose occupants were
doubtless signaling to the enemy's ar
tillery how to find the right range.
For the shells came nearer and near
err: the aim became better and better.
The projectile fred from these guns
makes . obviously weird shrek ~ II
rushes through the air on Its journey
of destruction, and soon the shells
were dropping right in our lines. Each
one found it, victims: they foil dead
and mangled, and we were condemned
to inactivity. for there was no enemy
within reach Of our weapons. So we
waited and waited. and this 10 the
hardest sort Of courage.
Fully an hour passed. and still We
were being shelled by the enemy's ar
tillery. Then suddenly. the German
infantry appeared and poured = sue
cession Of volleys into our lines. On
they came in close formation. their
gray uniforms scarcely visible until
comparatively near to Us. Our ma
chine guns came into action, and We
could see the havoc they worked. The
German ranks were literally mown
down, but on they came, always In In
creasing numbers apparently re-
CARELESS of the loss of life inflicted
upon them.
Nearer and nearer they came, un-
ill., abandoning our trench. we fixed
bayonets and charged them. After the
strain of being human targets SO long,
what relief it was to be dashing
at them! They stood their ground
until we reached them, pouring hail
of bullets into our ranks, which were
terribly thinned. But our blood was
up, and we slaughtered them at close
quarters.
The ground was strewn with pros
trate Germans, killed or wounded by
bayonet thrusts. They fed. Our cav
airy came up and pursued them. kill
ing them by dozens as they ran for
shelter. 1t was a fearful sight, yet,
in the heat o; fighting, soldier glo-
ries in the destruction Of as many
lives as possible.
Then counter charge. The en-
envy had brought up re-enforcements
fresh troops probably. They outnum-
bered us and we had to withdraw. AS
we moved to the rear we were deci-
mated. For four days fighting of the
most ferocious character went on II
our losses were severe, those of the
Germans must have been appalling.
Again and again l saw their corpses
in heaps"
Another picture: Our troops were
moving back to avoid being surround
ed and we were ordered to hold a GER
tain position sufficiently long to cover
the retreat of our regiment There
were 300 of us at the beginning, and
we sought shelter behind hedge
which formed natural trench. The
enemy's cavalry approached, and we
fired into them, endorsed many and
inflicted severe losses. AS the uhlans
rolled from their horses we cheered in
glee and went on shooting. Then their
artillery found the range and shelled
US with wonderful accuracy. Our num-
bers decreased, and then their In
fantry came and our losses grew Sc
rious. Still we held the position. The
300 dwindled down to 100 and that be-
came so, and then our task was done.
and we beat a retreat to avoid being
cut off"
Another: Some of our troops were
badly harassed by some Germans con-
cealed in wood. We were ordered to
set fire to the trees, which were quite
dry, owing to the long spell of hot
weather. We did SO, and soon the
whole wood was ablaze. AS the flames
spread the Germans, who only num-
bered score or SO, were obliged to
run. We shot them all down"
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