El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-12-25
SUPPOSED DEAD
FRENCH TROOPS
WIN A VICTORY
Lieutenant Thinks That All
Around Him Slain, Gives
Command, All Respond.
RETAKES POSITION
FROM THE GERMANS

DARIs, France. Dec. 25.-Perhaps
the edisode of the whole war
! which has most touched the i'm
agination of France is the defence Of a
trench by sorely wounded men under
Lieut. Pericard-
Dead men, get up" shouted Peri
card as the Germans entered the
trench, and a handful Of ''corpses"
drove out the invaders
The story Of this incident is retold
by Maurice Barres in the Echo de
Paris"
Ny section. with three others from
different companies, was ordered to at
tack a German trench" says Lieut.
Pericard. 1T was. a stiff fight and we
had many killed and wounded.
~An night through we kept up the
action with bombs under a torrential
downpour Of rain which drenched US to
the skin. but we held the trench On
two occasions q torpedo knocked me
over, covering me with earth and
wreckage.
IN the morning we were relieved,
so that We might have a rest, and we
went into a secoad-line trench and
tried to sleep. Towards midday we
woke in a hurry. The Germans had
Just counter attacked with an ava
lanche Of grenades and torpedoes
They were repulsing US. It was panic
Not only had they retaken their
own trench. but they were reaching
ours. already our men were pressing
into the communication trenches,
shouting The Bochesi The Bochek
All the officers were wounded only
the narrowness of the communicate ton
trenches held back the fugiuves, VINO
n
Stops the Panic.
It brushed a passage for myself
through the crowd and called out, NO.
my friends, no. The Boches are not
there They have gone backi They
have taken to their heels"
Similar words, passing from mouth
to mouth, stopped the retreat a DIT
A few volunteers Joined me leapeu
forward and nv bamb-thrOwers scat
tered their missiles among the Boches,
who fell back. I was the first man out
of the French trench. 1 was as sure
Of my death as / was Of the sun
shine.
still throwing bombs. We reached /
the enemy trench and recaptured our !
position. Before US, in a communities
ton trench leading from the first 10 I
the second German line. 1 had sand /
bag barrier erected and enjoyed i
Their artillery RACES. A lieutenant |
his name escapes me-who has come
TO support me and who IS smoking a
cigaret laughing at the projectiies, IS
struck by a bullet above the temple
He leans against the parapet, both
hands behind his back. his head slight
II bowed His head droops more and
sharply, falls II is impossible 10 d
move a step without .treading on /
Trench Full of Dead.
The trench is full Of French dead; /
there is blood everywhere. At first !
90 carefully with little assurance l. 4
alone with all these dead Then, little I
by little, I pluck UP courage. 1 dare 4
to look at these bodies and to me II 4
seems that they are looking at me- /
From our own trench behind, men I
watch me with eyes of fear, in which I
I read. He is going TO his death
4 turn toward the extended corpses.
] think Their sacrifice. then. is TO /
be Of no avail; they will have fallen in 3
vain. And the BOches are going to
come back2 They will steal our dead
from us%
a sacred fury gripped me. have no
recollection now Of my exact actions I
something like this: Up with you, Get
up and kick these pigs out of it."
aDead Men" Get Up.
Get up. dead men touch OF
me They said to me, We follow /
you And, rising at my call. their
soul mingled with my soul and made I
Of ii a great incandescent mass, a
wide river Of fised metal
There was nothing now that could
or stop me. ] had the faith
that moves mountains
What happened then. As want to
tell you only what I remember, disre-
garding what I was afterward told.
must frankly admit that I don't know
There is a gap in my recollection: ac-
ton swallowed I'D memory. I have
simply a vague impression of a disOr-
DERBY offensive in which, always in the
front rank. Bonnet stands out
~Twic4 We ran short of bombs and
twice we found. at our feet, sacks full