Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1914-10-17
OFFICIAL BRITISH REPORT SAYS
GERMANS FIRE ON OWN FORCES

London.-The official press bureau
issued a descriptive account OF the
operations in France of the British
force and the French armies in i'm
mediate touch with ii, communicated
by an eye witness present at the head
quarters of Field Marshal Sir John
| French.
Sept 25, 1914-For four days
there has been a comparative lull all
/ along our front. This has been ac-
companied by a spell of fine weather,
| though the nights are now much cold
er. One cannot have everything, how
| ever, and one evil result of the sun
shine has been the release of flies,
which were torpid during the wet
! days.
Advantage has been taken of the
arrival of re-enforcements to relieve
by fresh troops the men who have
been on the firing line for some time.
Several units therefore have received
their baptism of fire during the week.
Germans Fire on Own Men.
Since the last letter left general
headquarters evidence has been re-
ceived which points to the fact that
during coUnteT-attacks on the night
of Sunday, the goth, the German infan-
try fired into each other as the result
of an attempt to carry out the dan
gerous eXpedient of a converging ad-
vance in the dark.
Of
sition a considerable massing Of hos
tile forces was observed before dark,
and some hours later furious fusil-
lade was heard in front of our line,
though no bullets came over our
trenches.
Many Dead in Trenches.
This narrative begins with Sep
TENDER 81 and covers only two days.
On Monday, the 21st, there was little
rain and the weather took a turn for
the better. which has been maintained.
The action was practically confined to
the artillery, our guns at one point
Smelling and driving away the enemy,
who were endeavoring to construct
redoubt The Germans for their part
expended a large number of heavy
shells in long range bombardment OF
a village.
Accommodating parties sent out
during the night of September 21-
% discovered some deserted trenches,
and in them, or near them, in the
woods, more than a hundred dead and
wounded were picked up. A number
of rifles. ammunition and equipment
also were found. There were other
signs that portions of the enemy's
forces had withdrawn for some dis
lance.
Tuesday. the 22nd, also was a fine
day, with less wind, and was one OF
the most uneventful days that has
passed since we reached the Aisne-
uneventful, that is, for the British.
There was less artillery work on
either side, the Germans nevertheless
giving another village a taste of the
Jack Johnsons.'
Bodies in mo Mans Land"
THE spot thus honored was not far
from the ridge where some of the
most severe fighting in which We have
taken part has occurred All over this
no mans land between the lines the
bodies Of German infantrymen are
still lying in heaps where they have
fallen at different times.
Espionage plays so large a part in
the conduct Of the war by the Ger
mans that it is difficult to avoid fur
Their reference to the subject. They
have evidently never forgotten the
saying of Frederick the Great: When
Soubise goes to war he is fol-
take the field l am preceded by
hundred spies
Indeed, until about twenty years |
ago there was paragraph in their |
field service regulations directing that
the service of protection in the field
-outposts and advanced guards
should always be supplemented by q
system of espionage.
Many Spies Give Signals.
Though such instructions are no |
longer made public, the Germans. as is
well known, still carry them into eff i
feet Apart from the more elaborate
which we're made in |
peace time for obtaining information
by paid agents, some of the methods
which are being employed for the col
lection or conveyance of intelligence
are as follows:
Men in plain clothes signal to the
German lines from points in the hands
Of the enemy by means of colcred
lights at night and puffs Of smoke
rom chimneys by day. Pseudo labor
srs working in the fields between the
armies have been detected conveying
and persons in plain
clothes have acted as advanced scouts
o the German cavalry when ad
'ancing.
Officers Remain Behind.
German officers and soldiers IN
lain clothes, or in French or British
have remained in localities
vacuated by the Germans in order to
urnish them with intelligence.
"One spy of this kind was found by
ur troops hidden in a church tower.
lis presence was discovered only !
through the cratic movements of the
ands Of the church clock, which he
vas using to signal to his friends by
means of an improved semaphore