The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-08-18


command. They advanced with g
5teadiness that one could not but adj
mire. Our guns got at them right
from the start and the losses of the
Huns were terrible Whole compan-
les were simply blasted to bits. I saw
one point of the field where as each
successive line came up it was
promptly swept away by the fierce
blasts Of fire from our big guns. That
happened about eight times,
In spite of that the Germans kept |
throwing in men, losing them at a /
rate I have never seen equalled in all
my experience of the worst fighting
of this war. When commanders are
willing to sacrifice their men like |
that one can see that they cannot be
held back, and it was so in this case. |
The Germans got few men through I
this barrier each time, and they mass
ed in the hollow until enough were
ready for a shock attack against u.s. |
They had a distance of about 400 |
yards to cover to reach where we were
posted. It was mainly uphill. We lay
ready, and as soon as they emerged
out of the hollow all our guns spoke
again. Our machine guns also took
up the running, and we simply snoth
cred the attacks in lead.
In spite of that the devils were
bent on getting through. They found
their way halfway up. Then our
boys with the oil outfit got busy. They
turned on every blessed tap, and if
there could be any hell worse than 4
what we saw after that wan to keep
away from it.
The attacking troops turned tail
and ran helter-skelter down the slope,
tum bling over each other in their
,o1 o,,io 81 I,
ing down into the hollow, where our
liquid fire followed them in streams.
The whole of the slope was now
ablaze and the fate of the Huns who
fell under our machine gun fire was
terrible for they were Immediately en-
quilted in the lake of boiling oil. AS
| a matter off act, some of our chaps
were so moved by what they saw that
they risked their own lives in helping
some of the Huns to escape from the
boiling oil.
| One particularly sad case of this
! kind was that of a private of our bat
talon, a man from a Hcolliery district.
He saw one wounded Hun lying in the
| way of the advancing fire and, ren
gardless of risk to himself, he rushed
| out to drag him in. No sooner had
] he started than he was fired on by
the Huns sheltering on the left and
he was hit twice. In spite of that he
was game enough to go on, and be
reached the wounded Hun in the nick
of time. The two men bound up
each others wounds as best they
could and the brave British soldier
started to help the Hun to safety.
They got clear of the liquid fire
screen, but they were continually fir
ed at by snipers, the Germans SEEM
4 ing neither to know or to care wheth-
er they hit their own man or not
| When the two were just within reach
of safety the 'rescuer got hit for the
third time. He tried to go on, but
collapsed, and started to roll down.
towards the flaming liquid in the hol-
low.
| The German was evidently as white
as they make them. for he went after
his rescuer in face of a deadly fire
from his own comrades, not to speak
of the danger of being hit by stray
shots from our side. He reached him
in time to stop his downward roll,
but apparently the brave lad was
dead. The German tried, to drag the
body away, evidently not wishing that
he should be burned even in death.
While he was doing this the German
was hit again and the two rolled down
into the flaming mass.
4 It was the finest instance of self
!, sacrifice I have come on in this war,
and incidents of that kind make one
less inclined to say hard things about
, the Huns. I admit they are very rare
; indeed, but it is something to know
that they do happen now and then.
| as most chapest who have been at the
front since the beginning will tell
t you.
7 After that Fritz found it convenient
to take things more cody. He kept
, clear of our liquid fire, and all we
> had to worry about was the heavy
, shell fire he opened on US. We got
f it hot all the night, but we knew how
much depended on our ability to hold
: the line, and we determined to hold
. on at all costs.
What had been going on during the
day seemed to have got on the nerves
. of the Fritzies, for at intervals dur
D ing the night they opened a furious
! fire in the direction of our trenches
: under the mistaken impression thai
: we were attacking them. They die
, that four or five times, and the joke
Y of it all was that when we did at
4 tack in earnest towards dawn Fritz
l.. hadn't the least idea what we were uI
t to. We passed quickly across the in
r tervening ground and were neal
Y enough for bouncing purposes before
g Fritz had the least suspicion of oul
g presence. Then he woke up and LEI
n US have a rough reception, but by
: that time our boys didn't mind wha
s happened. They just dashed hell-for
s leather at the enemy parapet, and
d were over in a jiffy. We swept Frit,
completely out, and destroyed hi!
Y dug-outs.
=, 1t was at this stage of the fight tina
the boiling oil manipulators got an
It other chance. There was a section o.
q the trench that the Germans were de
n Tending with the aid of machine guns
k and were holding up our advance.
e The bailing oil distributors wen
. along quietly. like the milkmen OIL
Il their morning round, and then whel
q they were near enough they let tn
; Fritzies have it. The machine-guI
G crews and the supporting infantr,
q were simply drenched in the blazing
e. fluid. The opposition collapsed a
h once. Our boys got in with the bay
s. onet, but they found that there wa
~ not much doing in that line, becaus
lie Fritz was anxious to get out of tn
IF way Of our liquid.
Iy One dramatic incident Of the figh
ia around the lake of fire will never b