The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-01-31
GERMAN OFFICERS
 ACCOUNT OF FIGHT
 AROUND LA BASSEE
Had Hard Time in Four Days in Trenches-Eng- fish Artillery Made It
 Warm for Them

| Berlin, January 30.-(Special.) )-The
 following account of fighting with the
 English and the Indians in the neigh borhood of La Bassee is given by q ! German officer in a letter.
 T turned out at 5:3o in the morning
 to find that the field kitchen to which
 was attached had already started,
 and I ran all alone through the un- lighted town of La Bassee, which is
 now only a heap of ruins, until l | reached the village of Violaine. There | the echo of cannon and rifle fire sounded louder and louder I soon | reached the Rue D'Ouvert. when shell fell with a loud report about 20 paces behind me
 "At last We reached a ruined house
 at the end of the village, and were told | that our men were digging a com- 1 munication trench in the meadows. But the bullets were hopping over the street and we had to run to get into the trench. It was raining and the trench was full of water up to our knees. What did it matter if we were protected from the bullets?
 At a sharp bend in the trench we met a man who had been shot in the head and as one of his boots had stuck in the mud he could not be got out We had to leave him, while someone went back to the Rue Marias to fetch stretcher bearers. After struggling through the mud until we were plast- cred with 1t we came to our machine section. One of my men was shot through the head, and still lived, poor devil.
 "The trench was about four feet high and twice as broad, being pro- tected by board and was covered over with piece of English sheeting Some straw served for our feet, which we wrapped in mating.
 At o'clock I went the round. The rifle fire had slackened and of the enemy (there are only English and Indians here) there was no further news. At 7:30 dawn broke, but there was not drop of coffee and my flask had already been emptied. The people who were bringing the coffee came un- der fire and threw themselves to the ground, coffee and all. At o'clock the English were throwing shell after shell into the trenches. Everyone had crept as well as he could into his hole, and made what jokes he could about the result
 But the English shells were not quite without result. I had sighted my rifle and was firing at an Indian sniper when the first shell came. It landed 10 or 12 paces in front of me and the cry, Doctor on the rightr told us that someone had been hit. Two sergeants and a lance corporal were standing talking together when the bullets fell in their midst The only survivor was the seriously wounded corporal.
 Later l received the order to take up new position. And criss-cross through the trenches we went. But we could not remain there and received the order again to move. For several days past nothing had been heard of our artillery and everyone was asking where our guns were (for the English were sending shell after shell on the Rue lIarais and the trenches) when suddenly our 15-centimeter howitzers came into action
 "A German Christmas gift landed plop in a farm and we quickly di- rected our rifle fire on the same spot I could not risist rising to my feet to have a shot at the Indians and the English. l had only moved away a pace or two when a shot hit the pro- lection shield of my rifle. If I had been standing behind 1t it must have gone through my head or body. The damage was soon rectifed.
 "Telephones and reserve material are wonderful things. At 7:30 I got my re- lease It was perilous road back. But, oh, the joy of wash and a meal at a table, and a mattress to sleep on, even if one can only half undress. You want four days in the trenches to real ize how glorious these things seemed"