Evening star., 1915-11-29
BR|TON IS Fl|PPANT
OVER WAR HORRORS
Officers Description of Bom-
bardment of Dedeagatch Is
in a Light Vein.
SPORT is AFFORDED IN
AWFUL CARNAGE OF FIRE
Letter From Fleet in East En-
phasizes Much Criticised British
View of Conflict in Europe.
of the Associated Press.

Correspondence of the Associated Press.
LONDON. November Is. - The much
criticised British view of war as
a sort of exalted game or sport is en-
phasized in British officers descrip
tion of the bombardment of Dedea
catch by the British fleet, contained in
letter published here. His letter
bristles with such phrases as 1T was
a grand picnic for the men," THE
ships companies enjoyed themselves
immensely" The harbor-master's Of
fice burned splendidly." THE destroy
ers were able to creep in and plug all
manner of things"
The officer began his letter by re-
marking that he was playing piquet
with the captain when the orders came
to lift anchor and attack Dedeagatch.
and he regretfully chronicles that "the
exigencies of the service made me sac
rifce hand containing fourteen aces"
There were some grewsome prepara-
tions for the battle in the captains
ca bin, which had been turned into an
operating theater. No need arose for
using it, however, as no defense of the
port was attempted by the Bulgarians
The description of the actual bonn
bardment is in part as follows:
lat about quarter past ! in the
afternoon we loosed off a. the big bar
racks. Our first shot brought the
shoulders tearing out of the buildings.
and we eased up. a bit and let them get
clear. Then we banged and battered
away at about $500 yards, making
areas of walls. Unless some one was
killed inside the buildings, I think we
did not hurt any one. German accounts
of the battle declare that several hun
dred soldiers were killed in these bar
racks.)
I'VE were only out for destruction
and damage. not slaughter. the
thrifty Bulgar hates to have his prop
erty knocked about, but cares very lit
tie if his neighbor-or even himself
is laid out.
Set All Manner of Things on Fire.
After bit we went for the harbor
very tricky work. as the bulk of the
caiaues which we had orders to shoot
at were just beyond low outer break
water, and with trajectory from the
ship the least alteration in the eleva-
ton of the gun made a big difference.
The difficulty was largely settled when
our shells set the masts and sails afire,
and the flames spread downward to
the ships.
"Phe destroyers and monitors drew
much less water than our larger ships
and were able to creep in on the lead,
the charts of Dedeagatch being mac
curate. and they plugged all manner
of things. Fortunately the population
of the town had all gone away. and
the troops stayed behind UP in the hills,
SO | don't think any one was hurt. We
killed a sitting engine which tried TO
hide itself behind a bush, but one which
ran away escaped all right. TWO OF
the destroyers inspired it to still great
er efforts with their four-inch guns.
when we realized that there was no
one to hurt, it just became a bonfire
or Trafalgar day tlreworks-lt being
the 10th anniversary of the battle of
Trafalgar. We set all manner of things
on fire Common shell was effective.
but lyddite was better. We burned a
vast mountain of coal. many railway
vans and trucks, ships, and two oil
storehouses.
Best Blazes Were Warehouses.
But the best blaZes were warehouses
behind the caique harbor and an i'm
mense factory stuffed with highly in
fammable goods. 1t was six stories
high. ten windows square, and had two
annexes each of four stories. With a
roaring wind to help us, and no fire
brigade to spoil the fun, 1t was most
gorgeous flare-up, and the flames were
bright enough to cast shadow six
miles away!
"The railway cars burned merrily, the
fire Jumping along from one to the
other and even eating away to wind
ward. and the storehouses burned solid
ly and we'll. section after section catch
ing They had great glass skylights.
which were shattered by the shells and
ventilated the fire nicely.
THE great thing about 1t was that
nobody tried to put the fires out and
n one got smoky a shell frightened
things up a bit and improved the ven
tiiation. so I don't suppose shall ever
sea a finer blaze than Dedeagatch The
SHARKS from the big factory set fires to
leeward and these developed well. The
coal-heap fire, unfortunately. could not
spread to anything. but 1t blazed and
glowed in the wind.
Enjoyed Blaze Until After Dark.
"sometimes a shell would not set fire
to a building-it would make hole in
the front wall and burst inside. chaw-
| ing 1t up. Or, IL lyddite shell, it
would blow the roof off and the brick
wall out-satisfactory. but not pictur-
esaue The barracks were in several
detached sections and only one of them
burned. The Bulgarians had a flag fly
ing over one of the barraclc buildings
/ and we brought 1t down in six shots,