Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1914-12-10
FIGHT ALONG CANAL
Britisher Tells Of Birthday Pres
ent From Kaiser.
English Soldier, Although Wounded.
Keeps Up Lively FusiIIade Upon
Ranks of Approaching Germans
Another Version Of Sea Fight.

London. Private G. A. Turner. now
lying wounded in the London hospital.
sends the following account home Of
one days fighting In France.
Il am still living, though bit
Knocked about. got birthday pres
ent from the kaiser. On Sunday, 23d
we had rifle inspection at IL
a. m. and were ordered to fall in for
bathing parade at 1880. While we
were waiting for another company to
return from the river the Germans
commenced to she'll the town. We
Tell In about | p. M, an hour and a
half afterwards, to 60 to the scene
OF the attack. Shells were bursting
IN the streets as we went. We
crossed bridge over the canal under
artillery fire, and stood doing nothing
behind a mill on the bank for some
time.
Then some one cried out that the
Germans were advancing along the
canal bank. and our company was
ordered to go along. Then the Ger
mans opened fire with their guns at
about five hundred yards with shraps
mel, and the scene that followed beg
gars description. Several Of us were
laid full length behind wooden fence
about half an inch thick. The Ger
man shells burst about three yards
In front of it. 1t was blown to splin-
tiers In about ten minutes. None of
US expected TO get out alive.
They kept us there about an hour
before they gave us the word to re-
tire. ! had just turned round to 20
back when ! stopped one. It hits
you with an awful thump, and
thought 1t had caught me at the bot
tom of the spine. as 1t numbed my
legs for about half an hour.
When ! found / could not walk. |
gave 1t up, just after l got my first
view of the Germans. They we're
coming out of a wood about four hun
dred yards away, all in heap to-
gether, so thought as l was done for
! would get bit of my own back,
and so started pumping bit of lead
into them
Il stuck there for about three-quar-
tiers Of an hour, and fred all my own
ammunition and lot belonging to
two more wounded men who were
close to me-about three hundred
rounds altogether, and as it was such
a good target, guess accounted for
a goot lot Of them.
Then / suddenly discovered l
could walk, and SO l set off to get
back. had to walk about one hun
bred and fifty yards in the open, with
shrapnel bursting around me all the
way.
"A man who was at Paardeburg and |
In South Africa said |
they were nothing to what we got |
that Sunday. Out of 240 men of my |
company only about twenty were un-
injured"
Mrs. d. L. Wilson of Hunslet sends |
q letter received from her husband, a
seaman Of the Bacchante. He says:
You will have read of our victory
In the North sea. 1t was fine. Our
ship brought the dead and wounded
and the prisoners back. A grim job
1t was. too. l only wish the whole
German feet would come out. We
may get chance of coming home
soon. Their firing is rotten, while
our mon behind the guns are perfect. !,
lacy get hit every time.
THE founders won't come out.
That was the reason our ships had
to try to drive them out. You see
The place Is all mined, and If ship
runs into one Of these mines it means
destruction.
The commander of the Liberty,
destroyer, asked his
ships company II they would volun-
.eer to 60 up Kiel harbor with him,
md every man said Yes although IT
ooked certain death. Up they went
I'D got under the forts of Helgoland
md let rip at the German cruisers in
he harbor. One Of the wounded sail
,rs Of the Liberty told me that the