New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1915-05-01

faced the German advance in the
recent bloody fighting In Flanders. IS
\ described at great length In com
! r1unication from Sir Max Aitken, the
Canadian record officer, fcabled to the
]. military department here last night
Y by the war office in London. the ac-
count describes how the Canadians,
& the majority of them raw recruits, met
The German rush after the latter had
let loose the asphyxiating gas and
Il how. although greatly vurnumbered,
i they succeeded, with heavy losses, in
: recovering four British guns and
i ,nuch ground by a brilliant dash. The
brunt Of the early fighting, the ac-s
count says, fell to the third sbrigade.
s.On April q" the account con-
ainues .'the Canadian division held a
line of roughly 5000 yards, extending
ina narthwesterly direction from the
i Ypres-Roulers railway, TO the Ypres-s
Poeloapelle road, and connecting at
Its terminus with the French troops.
French Had to Retreat.
.The day was peaceful and every
:4tfing seemed quiet in front of the
Canadian line. At 5 O'Clock in the
: afternoon plan carefully prepared
was put into execution against our
Y French allies on the left: asphyxiating
gas Of great intensity was projected
into their trenches, probably by
means of force pumps and pipes laid
saout under the parapets. The fumes,
aided by a favorable wind, Hoated
backwards, poisoning and disabling
over an extended area those who fell
( under their effect. The result was
that the French were compelled to
give ground for a considerable dis
tance.
The immediate consequence Of
this enforced withdrawal was, of
X course, extremely grave.
1T became imperatively necessary
greatly to extend the Canadian lines
10 the left rear.
Captured British Gums
1.-THE new line, Of which our recent
point OF contact with the French
formed the apex, ran quite roughly
to the south and west. As shown
above, It became necessary for
Brigadier General Turner, command
ing the third brisA AZ. to tilrrcws hack
his left flank southward to protect his
rear In the course OF the confusion
which followed upon the read justment
on position, the enemy, which had
advanced rapidly after his initial sue
cesses; took four British 4.7 guns in a
small wood to the west OF the village
Of st. Julien, two miles in the rear Of
the original French trenches.
THE enemy's attack developed with
particular intensity upon the apex OF
the newly formed line running in the
direction OF st. Julien.
N Took Position with Bayonct.
~
! 22nd and under the heaviest machine
sun fire. this wood where the four
guns had earlier been captured by the
enemy was assaulted by the Canadian
Scottish 160th Battalion Of the Third
Brigade and the Tenth Battalion, Of
the Second Brigade, which after q
i most fierce struggle. took the position
at the point Of the bayonet. At midi,
night the second battalion and the
Toronto Regiment Queens Own
Third Battalion), both of the First
Brigade, brought up much needed re-
! Inducements.
All through the following day and
nights, these battalions shared the
fortunes and the misfortunes Of the
\ Third Brigade. An officer who took
part in the attack describes how the
men about him fell under the fire of
the machine guns, which he said,
played upon them like a watering
pot. u,
..But the line never wavered. When
one man fell another took his place.
! and with final shout the survivors
Of the two battalions flung themselves
into the wood The German garrison
was completely demoralized. and the
impetuous advance of the Canadians
did not cease until they reached the
far side Of the wood and entrenched
themselves in positions 50 dearly
gained They had, however, the dis
appointm ent of finding that the guns
Il had been blown UP by the enemy. and
later. in. the same night, q most for
8 midable concentration of artillery fire
the wood as a tropical storm
sweeps the leaves from a forest made
Mt impossible for them to hold the po-
sitfon for which they had sacrificed
SO much.
.sThe fighting continued without In
remission all through the night. At
d. r1.. on Friday, the 23rd. 1t became
apparent that the left was becoming
more and more involved and power
full German attempt to outflank 1t de
ve1oped rapidly.
Gallant Counter Attack.
ut was, therefore, decided to try
to give relief by counter attack up
on the first line of German trenches,
now far advanced from those orig
inally occupied by the French. This
was carried out BY the Ontario First
and Fourth Battalions OF the First
J Brigade, under Brig. Gen. Morcer,
acting in combination with British
brigade
..It did not seem that any human