Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-10-01


talon further along, and the devas-
tating enfilading fire Of rifles and ma
chine guns cut of.
Under the Curtain of Fire.
This time the broken remnants of
the lines reached the barbed wires,
gathered in little knots as the indi-
vidual men ran up and down along the
face Of the entanglements looking for
the lanes cut clearest by the sweeping
shrapnel, streamed through with men
still falling at every step, reached the
parapet and leaped over and down.
The guns had held their fire on the
trench till the last possible moment,
and now they lifted again and sought
to drop across the further lines and
the communication trenches q shrapnel
curtain through which no reinforce
ments could pass and live. The fol-
lowing battalion came surging across
losing heavily. but still bearing weight
enough to tell when at last they pour
ed in over the parapet.
"The fighting fell to a new phase
the work Of the short-arm bayonet
thrust and the bomb -throwers. The
trench had to be taken, traverse by
traverses. Sometimes space Of
two or three traverses was blasted
bare Of life and returned untenable for
long minutes on end by a constant
succession Of grenades and bombs.
And all the time the captured trench
was pelted by shells, high-explosive
and shrapnel. In the middle Of the
ferocious individual hand to hand
fighting counter-attack was launch
ed. A swarm Of the enemy leaped
from the next trench and rushed
across the 20 or 30 yards Of open to
the captured front line. But the
counter attack had been expected. The
guns caught the attackers as they
left their trench and beat them down
in scores. The shrapnel and the rifles
between them broke the counter at
tack before it had we'll formed.
But another was hurled forward
instantly, was up out Of the trench
and streaming across the open, before
the infantry had finished re-charging
their magazines. Then the rifles
spoke again in rolling crashes, the
screaming shrapnel pounced again on
the trench that still erupted hurrying
men. while from the captured trench
itself came hurting bombs and gren-
ades. Smoke and dust leaped and
swirled in dense clouds about the
trenches and the open between thetm,
but through the haze the ragged front
fringe Of the attack loomed suddenly
and pressed on to the very lip Of the
trench. Beyond that point it appeared
1t could not pass. The British in
fantry, examining fresh cartridge clips
into their magazines, poured a fresh
cataract Of lead across the broken
parapet into the charging ranks, and
the ranks shivered and stopped and
melted away beneath the fire, while
the remnants broke and fled back to
cover.
with a yell the defenders Of a mo-
ment before became the attackers
They leaped the trench and fell with
the bayonet on the flying survivors of
the counter attack. For a greater
part these were killed as they fled:
but here and there groups Of them
turned at bay, and in a dozen places
as many fights ragged bitterly for a
few minutes, while the fresh attack
pushed on to the next trench. A
whitening fire rcdred from it, but
could not stop the rush that fought its
way on and in to the second line
trench. From now the front lost con-
nection and cohesion. Here and there
attackers broke in on the second line,
exterminated that portion Of the de-
fense in its path or was itself exter-
minated there. The movement spread
along the line, and with a sudden leap
and rush, the second line was gained
along a front Of nearly a mile.
I'm part, the second line still held
out; and even after it was all COM
pletely taken, the communication
trenches between the first and second
line were filled with combatants who
fought on furiously, needless Of wheth-
er friend or foe held trench to front or
rear, intent only on the business at
their own bayonet points, to kill the
enemy facing them and push in and
kill the ones behind. Fresh supports
pressed into the captured positions,
and backed by their weight, the attack
surged on again in a fresh spasm Of
fury. 1t secured foothold in great Sec
tions Of the third line, and even with
out waiting to see the whole Of it
made good, attempted to rush the
fourth line. At one or two points the
gallant attempt succeeded, and a
handful Of men hung on desperately
for some hours, their further advance
impossible, their retreat. had they at
tempted 1t, almost equally so, cut off
from re-inforcements, short Of am
munition, and entirely without bombs
or grenades. When their ammunition
was expended they used rifles and
cartridges taken from the enemy dead
in the trench; having. no grenades,
they snatched and hurled back on the
instant any that fell with fuses still
burning. They waged their unequal
fight to the last minute, and were
killed to the last man.
THE third line was not completely
held or even taken. But by now the
second trench had been put in some
state Of defense towards its new
front, and here the British line stay
ed fast and set its teeth and doggedly
endured the torment Of the bombs and
the destruction Of the pounding shells,
until the following day brought with
the dawn fresh supports for a renewal
OF the struggle. The battered frag-
ments of the first attacking battalion
were withdrawn, often with corporals
for company leaders, and lieutenants
or captains commanding battalions
whose full remaining strength would