The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1914-10-27
AND
FOUR MEN TOOK
ONE Of FORTS
At NAMUR
Otto Won der Line Wins Covet-
ed Decoration Known as
Pour lie Merit for His OAR
ing.
LETTER TO PARENTS
TELLS OF THE DEED
associated Press Corc-pondcncc)

1866 has the decoration known as
Pour De- Merit been giycl O. lieutcn.
ant in the German army. For this
reason th" hcstowal Of his urdci
upon Lieutenant otto Won der Line
serving iu Firth Euard regimcut b.
Of interest He WAS awarded this
very high and coveted distinction be-
cause ON August "A with four men he
took Fort Mulunno at Ndptur before
10 had been subjected Ca artillery Ere.
How Lieutenant Won der Line ace
complishcd this has been described by
him iu "a letter 10 his parents.
~ was ordered Co advance against
the fort with 800 men. our course
lying across an open field without
cover he said. "ENoFywhcre loop
holes stared at us. ana expected
that if We were not aunih,lltcd from
them tho many mines about enc tori
would lake care OF us. Many officers
had volunteered for the task OF at
lacking the fort, but I was picked
out 20 do it.
Arrived near tho fort / took -four
Of my men and approached ga goose
march. picking our way carefully
through the Held Of mines. The
-drswbridgc was up and the broad
moat filled with water made IL i'm
possible Tor us Co gct into the fort.
we soon saw the commandment
ana ! shouted o. him that had e
whole regiment 30 artillery Iu @ near
hy forest aud that the b-ombardmout
would commence within e minute Ia
case hc did not surrender. After that
the Commapdant ordered the draw
bridge down and we entered.
Il thei ordered the garrison Of the
fort before nae. Every man was
searched and disarmcd An arms
had To- DE LETT iu the fort. / ordered.
AL this was done with my four men
ready 10 shoot. We tool five officers
and twenty men prisoners. while an
other 400 had already taken 60 their
heels, as I learned afterwards.
This dou / ordered NY dctach-
mont 90 cumc 60 the fort. You
should have seen ihe faces OF the Of
nccrs and mcn when They gaw my
force. Then the Belgian flag was
hauled dowa, and one Of my men
made a German flag from a Belgian
pair of black pants. a white shirt and
"a red French sash. This We hoistsd.
Meanwhile We had Inspected tho wine
cellar and So were able to celebrate
"ur victory with 90 few bottles OF
champagne. The gorks popped wou
dcrfully.
THE fort had not been bomhardod
and / held it until ! was relieved Tor
other work, We took four heavy 81
centmcter sums, o. large number OF
HmHMNN L.N.N.H H.#L-. AN-..# H-. IA
ana reVoiNers, 800 hand gronades ana
several thousand rounds Of rifle ann
munition"
The tragedy OF war az pictured in
D letter If an unnamed first lieu
tenant which appeared in the CO.
logne Gazette OF recent date.
The woman in whose house am
quartercd, and whose husband is in
b field he writes. told me ia
tears this morning.
Since two months NO news
We do not know where my husband
is.
The woman and her family do not
even know In what regiment the man
serves. That Is terrible. The woman
wanted 10 know how many French
had been killed. ] tried Co console
her By telling her that many French
had been made prisoners Of war. And
now d has fastened every hope
ppon this.
When I hear hat al homo chill
dren 60 90 school and that everything
progresses more Or less in the regular
channels, ! am compelled Co say a
prayer Of thanksgiving that our
country has been spared. You ought
10 see the disorder here. The coun-
tryside is ovcrcrowded with troops.
there is no administration. tho crops
are still in the fields. ana famine
threatens The people are irresolute
and detected.
III Do now eight DAYS since the
lighting IN the forest of --. / think
81 the event with "a shuddcr. % iR
inherent when you ,tre fighting out
ih D open, but Go fkht in the woods
In tho deep dark FORESTS awful
The explosions of the shelis r~everhef-
atcd through the forest and the
heavy bombs cut lanes through the
trees. We ala not even know most
.of the time where the shells came
from. II was impossible 90 return
the fire. IN the morning We saw the
french COOK their breakfast, but we
could do nothing because We had 90
conceal our position.
There Is one picture I will never
forget on september let We shot
down "a patrol of Chasseurs. two men
who were in cover were taken urls-
oners. When the skirmish was over
/ went with one of the chasaeurs Co
where the officer In charge of the pa
troll had fallen.
J. saw Immediately that the man
bad died from "a shot through the
heart hut the chasseur who accom-
panied me. and Who evidently was
very fond Of the officer. asked me.
With great concern in his voice.
% my officer Iveg
shook my bead, saying; no. he
III dead
and then a very touching thing
occurred The soldier fell 10 his
knees beside the dead officer aud
prayed for "a long time. a gripping
picture on the ground, Ia "a Hood
OF sunlight, ay four dead horsoA ny