The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-09-21
missing Are Now
Accounted for

public was deeply astonished when the
official press bureau gave out the first
casualty lists. beca usc the missing"
outnumbered more than ten to one the
combined dead and injured. How could
80 many men 't,ct lost" was the uues-
ton constantly asked
The missing" are now being ex
planned by the daily arrival or groups
Of stragglcrs. who got lost from their
regiments and have come back 10 Join
new hattalions being formed.
BY tho Boulogne boat arrived an
unke.npt. ragged group OF eight men
in the garb OF French peasants.
one had n corduroy jacket. trousers
much too short for him. and bathing
shoes. Unwashei. and with two or
three doys growth Of beard. they
walked out OF the Harbour Station
AS they passed talking. caught n
broad Irish brogue and n response in
an equally pronounced Scotch dialect,
who are you"' inquired
British soldiers, Euvnor" was the
reply. Lost our regiments. borrowed
these ore toys, came through the Ger
man lines. reached BouloRno mt last
and now We are going to Shorncline 20
report. Then we arc going back
again"
got into conversation with them
and heard from them a rema rka Bile
story.
They were OF various regiments
Royal Scots. Irish Rifles. So,ncrscts
MiddlescX, Inniskillings etc and thew
told mo OF having been surrounded in
a small French village. which they
thought was called AuherEe. several
miles south OF Mons. by a large Ger
man force; of having made fheir wav
right through the German lines and
of being directed by French peasants.
~ M fT1d .
try.
London man, whom his comrades
called Bill. told how, though over
whelrningly outnumbered the British
forces had held their own against the
Germans for twenty four hours innict-
ING very heavy loss and suffering SO
verely themselves
After Mons the general retirement
began and wac accompanied by fght-
Ing every day and nearly all day, right
down the country
We were very hard pressed all the
way. On Wednesday we were In a
village which was sheiied, and event
lualiy blown to bits. The Germans ad
Vanced across bridge. They were
holding women and children In front of
them--not driving them. but literally
carrying them. holding the women up
below tho arrnpits 10 screen Themselves
or course. our gunners could not do
''HS Wins II was WOTSF tlEn anN saw
age warfare ] have ever Imagined"
When they were cut of from their
regiment they had no orders as TO
where they were to return to. and knew
nothing OF the country. Their officers.
being mounted, managed to get back TO
their supports. but these mon found it
impossible to Join their own battalions
They spoke very highly Of the kind
ness which the French peasants had
shown them. once they could make
them understand who they WERE
Up to then" said the London man.
they were inclined to doubt u.s."
An Irishman. whom his friends called
Paddy, told me Of the British losses ut
Mons. His view of the extent of the
execution inflicted by the Germans uas.
think. an exaggerated one, and re
frain from repeating II. He admit ed
that ihs own regiment was particularly
fortunate. for after twenty-four hours
in the trenches they los, only five killed
and thirteen wounded.
For tho German muskcirv fire he
had profound contempt. but their ar
tillery commanded his respect
The British force was pushed for
ward so rapidly to the attack that they
were ordered to leave their knapsacks
on the ground, tho idea being to take
the Germans by surprise.
For days after that" said Paddy,
that the food was not there Every
time VIC were getting our ratIons
cooked the Germans were on u.s. and
we had to retire n bit further still.
They seemed to wait until they saw
1t was breakfast time, and smelt our
bacon cooking.
Il hope you viii say that many OF the
men reported missing are doubtless In
the same position as ourselves. and per-
maps wandering some where i'm France
unable TO reJoin- their regiments ex-
pect we arc among thu missing"
a Scotsman told me Of witnessing the
destruction by shrapnel fire of IL Red
Cross hospital near Mons. The Red
Cross nag was flying over the build
Ing.
Another said they could have given
valuable information at headquarters
of the different dispositions OF the Ger
man forces, If they had been able to
get to an officer in time
Nearly ALL" he said, speaking of his
fighting comrades. were Veterans OF
South Africa. Nothing we went through
there compared with this at all Peo-
r1a IL u. 4