New-York tribune., 1915-09-08
Tons of Shrapnel Win
Mine Crater for England
Furious Handto-E1and Battle Around Gaping CaVny
at Hooge Decided by Huge Guns
in the Rear

fqht 10 the Correspondent 'urheu az a..
gratitude to their artillery support ~
shows what artillery can do, sald tne
colonel. "and what the infantry can 90
when the guns give them that klnd Oh
aid. Their work was perfect, straight
on there in front OF the mems noses
with no shells bursting short, and then
they all stopped like an orchestra az
tie end Of a piece. NJ only trouoIe
with the men was TO hold them oHcA
from the front line. II there is any
thing tha- puts spirit into the men u ls
that kind of support. We captured rour
good machine guns, and / don't kno"
how many were destroyed. Germany Is
one big battery. She does II with arlli-
lery and machine guns. Guns against
her guns, and we shall be all right
Yes. we had fine show.
Gun, Mean Life or Death.
He kept on speaking of the guns, ana
so did the other officers and men, WIN
the depth Of feeling expressive OF
realization tat the guns meant lie
and death and success and failure Tor
them. Singularly enough, the British
loss in taking the trench was less than
in losing IL. They advanced about a
thousand yards with the first rush.
Mostly they met the Germans coming
from their dugouts, and II was hand 70
hand when the Germans did not yield.
As soon as they had yielded they
we've startec back toward the BRUSH
resr for in the maze Of traverses
where rifles and bombs are lying about
loose prisoners may soon renew the
fray. The next day faint rumble Ike
that of a human voice came from
nile Of earth, and it was found that one
Of the high explosives had closed the
door of a dugout. The occupants were
rescued alive.
When an officer and some men came
70 the edge of the mine crater they
found nearly a hundred Germans in the
bottom. where they had taken cover
from the bon; bardment. The British
looked down at the Germans and the
Germans looked up at the British. AS
one of the men said, the surprise was
mutual, but the Germans were little
the more surprised of the two. The
British had bombs in their hands. All
they had to do was to stand back and
toss the bombs into the crater. Chuck
ing bombs into a dugout when the oc,
cupants will not surrender is one OF
the commonest proceedings In the
course of taking a trench.
"We1l give ourselves up" said
German officer, starting up the wall OF
the crater. you've got us"
Germans Smoke British Cigarettes.
"As the Germans came up some OF
the British shook hands with them,
anf soon they were marching along a
road in the midst Of German shell
fra smoking cigarettes given them by
their captors. Meanwhile it was stab
and thrust in other places till Brlton
or German was down.
Rushing up the traverses, the British
drove the Germans before them WIN
bombs, gaining more ground. In addl-
tion to their own bombs, they used the
Germans.
Zone German prisoner showed me
how to use them" said British bomb
thrower. ale did it instinctively when
he saw | was fumbling with it. That
WIS very helpful of him. You had to
DULL a string on top before you made
the throw. They seemed to be hrst
rate bombs"
Once over the Generalization caused
by the crash Of the bursting shells
from the British artillery concentra-
ton in their ears, the Germans out OF
their dugouts began resisting with
bombs, and the British, running short,
had to fall back, traverse by traverse,
pursued by the Germans, thus losing
some of their gain before more bombs
were brought up from the rear. This
had to be done under gusts of shrapnel
bullets, for the German guns were Civ.
ing the British supports all they had
to give as fast as they could, the strug-
gle proceeding in the midst Of the
scream and burst of projectiles. Twice
one Of the sergeants crossed the zone
back to the support trenches, bringing
supplies of bombs, before he was killed:
Others at the same work were killed
and wounded. but they got enough up
to hold twelve hundred yards OF trench.