Norwich bulletin., 1915-11-27

fore this German division alone reach ed 5000 to 10000.
 The fourth line of attackers, how ever, finally succeeded in overrunning the decimated front line of Germans, who stood by their guns to the very last; those of them who bad not fallen were made prisoners. Not one of them returned to tell what happened in this terrific fighting. On the neighboring front too, the British succeeded in breaking the German first position; and gained here from 500 to 1000 yardsf,ofs ground. At the second Ger man T6tj ion, where their reserves were Akaiting, the attack was com something of its fierceness as the aft ernoon waned; and September 25 end- ed with hand-to-hand encounters and hand grenade attacks at various points along thS front. The GermAns made an attack during the night and regain ed a part of the lost ground.
 The British renewed the next morn- ing their attempts to break through the German lines. They tried with quite new tactics-or, rather, with in this war. It was a thing wholly unexpected; and the staff officers looked on with open-mouthed wonder. Shortly before noon 1t was observed that the British thickly massed and in echelon formation of eight ranks, were
 
 Their artillery was sending down a | hail of shells to beat open a patch for | these storming masses. At the same l time the enemy mounted artillery, in | broad day light. rode up to take a po- sition upon hill 70 to the east of Loos, which is nothing more than slight ! elevation in the landscape hardly mo- | ticed in riding across the fields. The | batteries were carrying bridge ma- ! terial with them to enable them to al lrN trnn i turaI Instructions. Still more-one or | two mounted cavalry regiments were observed on the plain far to the rear. Eight ranks of infantry; mounted artillery; cavalry in the background | that was to much! A veritable bat tie plan of a past age. the product of a | mind its dotage and a half century ! behind the time. Commanders of | armies get out of date in our times as rapidly as inventions and sciences, whereas the lesson taught by this war is that the lives of soldiers should be | entrusted only to the most modcrn, the most elastic, and most highly endowed minds,-the very pick of a nations [ best talent. The English should have | sent back their old celebrities to take l'charge of communications.
 'Splendidly, with admirable courage, ! the English troops came forward to 1 the attack. They were young, wore no decorations. they carried out with
 
 l manders ordered,-and this in a period of mortars. machine guns, and the tel | ephone- Their behavior was splendid. | but all the more pitiable was the 1 breakdown of their attack.
 | The eiSht-ranks columns, before i they had advanced ten paces, got into | our mixed fire of rifles. machine guns, | and artillery--aH at the call of the ] telephone. Our batteries were only l awaiting the signal. His English Ex- ] cellency was not prepared for this. | Fresh reserves were put into action, only to be moved down by the cross | fire from our machine guns. The Eng | fish mounted artillery had a wretched l end; it not only got into the range of | our machine guns. but at the same | time our heavy mortars (called by tel | ephoneD raked it so rapidly and thor | oughly that the men did not even have time to Timber their guns. The cav | airy regiments waiting in the back ground for the order to attack were greeted with some salvos of heavy sabres from their scabbards. That | ended the battle. The attack broke down in front of our wire entagle- ments.
 | An enormous number of dead lay before our trenches- The enemy losses for the two days before this German division aloue amounted, al a low estimate, to 10000 men,. The lesson that Kellermann thinks should be learned from the fighting here is that war is not a sport in the hands of a dozen privileged dilletantes."