The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1915-07-24
TAKING OF CARENCY
Soldier Describes Horrible Fight
ing in Storming Ruined City.
Town a Regular Fortress, All the
Houses Communicated by Cellars
and Underground Passages
XIII With Hand Grenades.

Paris.-The horrible fighting which
resulted in the taking of ruined Car
ency by the French is described thus
by a soldier in a letter received here:
"At 10 a. m, with knapsacks and
with our pouch bags well stored with
grenades and melinite petards. we left
our trenches, and along a front of n
and a fourth miles rushed the first Ger
man trench. We we're allowed ten
minutes; it took us exactly II seconds.
All the Boches in the trench we're
killed or captured. We at once cut
the electric wires. for everything was
mined.
Away to the second trench, which
is carried in the same manner. We
took many prisoners and a heap OF
spoil. The machine guns we at once
swung round and so %peppered the en-.
envy with their own projectiles. We
exploded mines, which made holes 40
yards in diameter and ten yards deep.
Numbers of Boches we're buried. 9th
ers lay on the parapets or in the
trenches, horribly cut up-some decap-
itated, others bayoneted. They had
been taken by surprise. and could no
make use of their asphyxiating bombs.
I'm the evening we seized a ceme-
terry. Hot fighting. We lost pretty
heavily, for the enemy fought bravely,
and made good use of his machine
guns. In the night they bombarded us
plentifully, but we lay low in their
holes, and our losses were very slight.
Monday passed in the attack of 9TH
er points and the consolidation of our
positions and investment of Carency.
which is d regular fortress. All the
houses communicate by the cellars and
underground passages. Everywhere
deep, welldefended trenches. Mitrail-
leuses in the houses and II millimeter
and one los millimeter guns in the big
farm.
"On Tuesday morning, with a rush,
we enter Carency. 1t has to be taken
house by house. No sooner was one
taken than the enemy fed into the
next. They shot at US through the
cellar gratings. We crawled up under
the walls and threw down grenades
Heaps of them were killed In the eel
lars.
. AT noon the whole of Carency was
ours. A lieutenant whom we tool
} prisoner blew out his brains.
[ 81 entered a ~lieutenant's cabin. FRS
of all, on top was a ten-foot layer o
earth, covered with green sods
: Twelve steps led down to the living
/ room. which was 10 feet by 16 feet
: with a glass paneled door and cur
tains. Enormous tree trunks proppeC
, up the whole.
1.-THE walls were lined with morocco
probably lifted from some cafe, ant
the ceiling was linoleum. Gilt lath'
held everything fast. On the RICH
was a comfortable walnut bed; on tn,
left a square table with a new oilclotl
covering; in the middle, a fine lamp Of
a stand, and in the recess a Prussial
stove. Knickknacks, books. valuabl
odds and ends lay about on shelves
: Boxes of cigars, hams, butter. sausage
beer.
/, THE Germans, fighting inch by incl
q fell back on Ablain. We were now bt
q yond Carency and across the watel
/, All the Boches hiding there were klle
or thrown in. Six prisoners had bee
II taken, and left under the care of
A theatrical gentleman. We went oil
and the prisoners fell upon him an
killed him and then '~skedaddled.'