The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-26
FIERCE HAND-7$y
 HAND FIGH SsNG
 FOLLOWF 5eHARGE Germans Ma 6 Terrific Eff fort to Re- ,ture Ground Lost But Are Repulsed and Lose Heavily in the Attempt

London, April 25.-(S:25)-"Para-
 pets, trenches and sandbags disap- peared," says the British official "eye-
 witness" describing British mine ex-
 plosions which preceded the recent at
 tack and capture by the British of Hill No. 60, southeast of Ypres. "The whole surface of the ground, g
 the narrative continues. ''assumed strange shapes. Here it was torn into huge craters there large mounds O: fallen debris were seen.
 AS the reports of the explosions l died away the men rushed across the intervening space of some 40 to 60 yards lying between our trenches aud the gaping craters before them. the frontier covered by the attack being | only some 25o yards in length.
 Where the mines actually had ex- ploded nothing was left of the occu- pants of the hostile line, but in the neignboring trenches our assaultipg infantry witnessed an extraordinary scene Many German soldiers, possibly
 owing to the fact that they were work I pg, were surprised whfie in their shna 1 sleeves and without equipment. Stunned by the explosion and subjected 10 a
 rain of hand grenades. they gave way 1 to panic.
 Bayonet Own Men
 "Cursing and shouting. they were I falling over one another in their hur- l ry to gain exits leading into the com | munication trenches Some of those in I the rear were driving their bayonets l into the bodies of their comrades in l front of them.
 out of all this our infantry had orly
 momentary glimpse before they fell I upon the enemy with the bayonet, burst l through the maze of trenches, poured into the craters and pressed on flown the communication trenches until at
 last they were stopped by barricades l defended by bomb throwers.
 ''The first line of trenches was cap tured In a few minutes and 15 pris- oners fell into our hands, but it was
 then that the real struggle began, for | I their surprise. Soon the German gum
 ners opened fire upon our whole posi-
 tion. Meanwhile. our batteries had be- | gun to support the attack and ter rife artillery fire was maintained far | into the night The flames from the guns was so nearly continuous that | tEey resembled the effect of nusketry | fire. Under this fire our men had to work, throwing up parapets toward the enemy, blocking their communications
 and generally rendering their position 1 delensible.
 l "Nor was the enemys infantry idle. l Advancing up the communication 1 trenches they threw hand grenades 5 I ever the barricades and also into the mine craters on the crumbling sides of which our men Were trying to ob- l tain a foothold.
 Fighting In the Night
 l Throughout the night the fighting I continued, eliminating early in the | morning of the 18th in two attack s l hy the enemy. These were beaten off. Despite losses which left the hillside covered with dead the enemy continual
 his pressure during the whole of Sum day until we gradually were driven from the southern edge of the hill. Al 1 6 D. m. reinforcements reached our I trort line and swept the Germans from the foothold they had gained
 Prior to this the close proximity of the contendng sides had led to a slackening | in the bombardment, but it then broke
 out afresh and with almost as great in- tensity as on the preceding evening. Our position, however, was more secure" 1 The narrative says the bombardment was maintained Monday. April 19 and that
 the Germans extended their smelling to the l entire Ypres area, including the town it. .r,1f l., xxrtt toh {, ara fa1 nIrf rotr
 were killed. Toward evening the Ger mans again attacked Hill No O. but the I Eyewitness asserts 'again did our ma chine guns do tremendous execution and
 the attack was beaten off"
 Another Attack 1 Another attack at o'clock in the
 evening"" the narrative continues. 'suf- fered the same fate. Sti1l the Germans would not admit defeat and all night long parties armed with hand grenades
 made repeated efforts to drive us off the hill, their attacks alternating with botn-
 bardments from artillery of all kinds and also trench mortars.''
 1 By Wednesday, the eyewitness" says l the British had firmly established them selves ''The attack upon and the defense l of Hjll No. O." the narrative declares
 will go down in history as one of the finegt exploits of the British troops dur | ing the war. k,s 1t
 "What our troops withs.cod cAh b< l realized if 1t be remembered that the space fought over during four and one half days was only about 250 yards ir llength by about 200 yards in depth
 "Upon that small area th4 enemy for hours hurled tons of metals and high ex. plosives. and at times the hill top wal wreatl1ed in clouds of poisonous fumes 1 and yet our gallant infantry did not g,ve away. They stood firm under q firs