The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-02-04


without the expected support. OF
their artillery in the chateau, the Ger
mans were powerless against the hu.
man waves that swept over them, and
they withdrew, but in good order, fight.
ing rear-guard action until the blue
oeVlis' charged with the bayonet The
action terminated in a complete rout
OF the enemy and about 300 unwound.
cd prisoners remained In the hands of
the French.
"A recent German communique
spoke OF a repulse of French attack
near Metzeral,' but omitted to mention
that Metzeral is in the hands of the
french, and has been so ever since
our gallant allies won one Of the most
brilliant battles of this war. When
the French advance approached Metz.
eral the Germans began to make
fortress of this little Alsatian town,
and the streets were barricaded with
barbed wire. and overturned carts
masked machine guns. The battle be-
gan by an attack launched against the
forest. Trees were uprooted in hun.
dreds by the French guns. and gradu.
ally the enemy was pushed out of the
forest, but it was only then that a
fresh surprise was sprung on the
French.
THE enemy had dug trenches in the
forest, which he filled with barrels OF
tar; these were connected by elec'
tricity with a point behind the Ger
man lines, and as the French rushed
through the forest the barrels we're
ignited. Nevertheless, this did not
stop the advance. They reached the
outskirts Of Metzeral, and here the
fighting became furious. A number
of factories were defended by the en-.
envy, and each had to be carried sepa'
rately by the attacking party.
From windows machine guns
poured hail Of lead on the heads OF
the French. The men had to break
down the doors and fight their way
up, story by story. South Of the town
the enemy defended the cemetery.
which held up the attack for whole
night. The tombs were already torn
away by the French shells, but the
vaults were the scene Of fighting OF
the grimmest description. The handles
Of coflns were wrenched of and used
as knuckle-dusters by the enemy, who
made a most stubborn defense; every
vault sheltered a small battle, and the
vaults themselves had previously been
mined by the enemy; when they be-
came no longer tenable they were
blown up.
Capture MetzeraI Cemetery. uy
"The cemetery was carried in the
early hours of the morning, but not
before it held more dead than ever
were buried in it. 1@7
1.-THE taking Of this salient did not
complete the task set to the French
Practically every house in the town
was defended, and from cellar to the
top story the French had to fight their
way before Metzeral was finally in
their hands. Truly, the enemy has not
cause to make much mention Of Metz
eral in his official communications.
AT the same time that the French
were attacking in this sector. sec
ond successful offensive movement
was being carried out along both
banks of the Fecht. Two important
hills, Nos. 665 and sos, were stormed.
and eventually Sillackerwasen was
taken. From this point Munster was
bombarded, which led to the evacua'
ton of this town.
THE progress along the crest OF
Linge, about five miles north Of Nun.
ster, led to the withdrawal of the
German troops here. although strong
had only arrived
three days previously, but the terrible
fire Of the French artillery paralyzed
the men fresh from the drive in Rus.
STA. They we're, nevertheless. put In to
garrison the town, and there they prob
ably remain, still bombarded by the
French, who are slowly but surely
creeping along the Munster valley
"Altkirch was evacuated by the Ger
mans two weeks ago, and not for the
reasons put forward by the Basel
The Germans have insin.
uated that the civil population was
withdrawn because of the arrival OF
fresh troops to undertake an offensive
in this sector, but the truth Is that
the lower part of the town is flooded,
as it usually is at this period Of the
year, and the French advance towards
Altkirch has made the town unhealthy
for the civil population.
"Hartmannsweiler-Kopf is likely to
figure in the French communicates for
some time to come, for the Germans
will never give up their counter-at-
tacks until they are driven away from
their side of the hill. Surprise at
tacks here are always to be expected.
for both sides now know every inch
of the ground, and on the summit OF
the hill the German and French
are only about FIVE yards
apart. This seems impossible, but it
must be remembered that 1t is the in
Of the soldier that counts
for everything. sts'sE's .
Twelve Battles Night.
VERY often battle lasting some
hours will take place for the posses
sion of q mere stump OF tree. and a
tree stump has been known to change
hands twelve times during the course
Of night. An account given to me
by a French soldier of recent French
,spona;ve, M HartmannSWeiler-KO