The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1914-10-21
British Soldiers Performed a GAL
liant Feat During Fighting
In the Forest.
INFANTRY CARRIED BRANCHES
Swift and Bold Attack That Sue
ceeded-Wounded Sergeant Tells
of Brilliant Work of kina's
Own Royal Lancashire
Regiment at Mons.

A dispatch from Lagny, Seine-et-
Marine, describes the devastation Of
the forest of Crecy. Blasted trees are
standing stark and decapitated. Others,
amazingly shattered by shells, lie on
ground. The roads are covered with
the deep marks Of the wheels Of the
heavy gun wagons and the ground
shows hundreds Of thousands Of hoof-
marks where the cavalry and artillery
Numbered by. nv
In telling Of an incident in the for
est Of Crecy the correspondent says:
1.-THE French and British alike
swarmed about the wood with axes,
knives, saws and even sabers. They
had a wide area down in next to no
time Line after line Of infantry, each
man carrying a thickly foliaged branch,
moved forward in close order toward
the enemy, while behind, amid Topped
tree trunks, our artillery got into posi-
ton with machine guns and thirteen
Founders to cover the wood. AS 1t
moved forward all was a-rustle. The
attack which followed was as rapid,
as fierce and as bold as anything that
has been done in this huge campaign
and won all the success which 1t
merited.
Saved the Ammunition.
1.-THE mysterious, slow moving wood
soon showed that there was more than
umbrage in it's texture. 1t snarled
same and spat bullets while overhead
the shells Of the French and British
artillery sped screamingly to their
mark. But one incident nearly upset
the show. Just under the ridge Of a,
hill, right off the forest, large quanti-
ties Of our ammunition were piled
ready for sldien service and appar-
emily well screened out Of harms way.
The oncoming French cavalry making
a detour for purposes Of their own
struck the hill and rode along 1t for
some distance. For a few minutes
they showed themselves on the sky
line in the bright sunshine. There
was no mistaking the vivid scarlet OF
their breeches, and they. were spotted
at once by the German artillery. The
Kaiser's %artillerymen here were crack
shots and they lost no time in finding
the range.
Presently the shells began to drop
thick and fast over the ridge, falling
so near our precious ammunition as
to make the situation remarkably un-
pleasant. Small parties Of III boys
swarmed up the hill stripped to the
waist and logged the heavy boxes out
Of the way of disaster. The men tell
me it was the hottest and most fam
ing corner that they have ever been
in, but they came through, and so did
the ammunition.
"By evening tie enemy had been
repuised, the Marne was clear of them
and the fight was rolling farther and
farther east Of the capital"
Lanterns Betrayed Germans.
O. The correspondent relates another
incident which occurred in one Of the
smaller woods to the southeast Of
Crecy. He says:
ut was held by the enemy, but al
though the wood gave good cover for
a time our patrols during the night
by great daring smelt them out and
carried the news Of their whereabouts
to the cavalry on n side and the In
fantry on the other.
"Incautiously enough the Germans
moved about with stable lanterns to
guide them, unaware that trouble was
so neal. Suddenly they found their
twinkling glow-worms a mark for the
foe Of whose proximity they had been
blissfully unaware. They were smit-
ten woefully at midnight. A storm OF
bullets from our .Maxims screamed
through the sleeping trees like a tor
nado.
"The next morning scores OF lam
terms were picked up in the wood with
their glasses shattered. A cavalry
charge finally cleared the tragic little
wood. Our losses were slight, but the
Germans suffered severely.
Twenty prisoners taken in the
melee were herded together in a clear
ing. Their rifles had not been taken
from them, but were stacked near by.
In a rash moment they got the idea
that they were but loosely guarded
and made a combined rush for their
rifles. They will neve make an
other"
How Kings Own Fought.
The first connected narrative of the
severe fighting in which the Kings
Own Royal Lancashire regiment was
engaged when in killed and wounded
the regiment had II officers put out
of action, is told by a sergeant Of the
regiment who has arrived home
wounded.
The Kings Own, with the Lanca'
shire Fusileers and the MiddleseS
regiment were ordered to cover the re-
treat Of part Of the allied forces from
Mons. On Tuesday, August 20, they
left the position in which they had