The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-08-18
POURING RIVERS OF BOILING OIL
into TRENCHES OF THE GERMANS
SPREADS TERROR IN ENEMY RANKS

News Bureau)
Four years ago Corporal M'llwee-
who narrates the graphic story OF the
war given. below enigrated TO SAT-
Lake City, Utah. On the outbreak OF
war he Joined up with the BRUSH
Army. He was too late to take part
in the retreat from Mons, but was
drafted into another regiment In time
to take part in the Battle OF tne
Marine. He was wounded, and on ms
return to England was posted to the
Highland Light Infantry. with
battalion of that regiment he has been
on the Western Front since January
of 1915.
BY CORPORAL M'ILWEE
We are most certainly making 1t
hot for Fritz now. He thought ne
was doing a fine thing when he took
to liquid fire and poison gas, but
when he found that we could go one
or two better than his best In that
line, Fritz didn't think fire or gas
such great catches after all.
You cannot imagine how, much 1t
meant to us, who had come through
| the horrors Of the Ypres salient ana
l. the first days of fire and gas attacks,
to see Fritz being paid back with in
terest We fairly scorched them with
our boiling Oil.
| What happened, was this. Our bat
talon was attacking difficult part
of the line. The enemy had unlinl1t-
ed reserves at their disposal, and they
thought that all they had to do was
to hold on and in holding on hold US
up. All the while we were messing
about, our chaps were getting ready
| the fire outfit and so quietly had
everything been done that 1t was as
1 big a surprise to our troops as to the
| Germans when the operators began
to pour the oil on the troubled HUNS.
Great shells of fire rose into the
air. and the immediate neighborhood
became as hot as though host of
blast furnaces had been crowded on
to one small piece of ground and
stocked up to their fullest extent I'M
mediately after that the ground
around US seemed to be swamped in
a great lake of burning oil
1t poured in streams towards the
enemy trench until the whole place
seemed ablaze. Too late the Huns rea-
liked what was in store. They sprang
out of their trench and began to get
away as fast as their legs would car
ry them. Very few got away.
Y The fate of the Huns caught in that
lake of boiling oil was enough to
Trend ones heart at ordinary times but
SO far as I am concerned I am ready
to confess that had no pity for them
How could I?
I remember a day Of horror in the
Ypres salient, when I saw many OF
my best comrades writing in their
DEATH agonies after being choked by
poison gas. Later, I saw other com
rades on whom the Huns had sprayed
their liquid fire when they lay out
in the open, wounded and helpless.
! All of us who saw those sights pray
ed as we never prayed before thai
God would mete out punishment II
4 His own good time to the fiends who
had perpetrated such things Oul
i prayers were long in being answered
but when we saw the burning oil a
work we knew at last they had beer
answered.
Our liquid fire is much more hui
name than that of the Germans. It il
more effective in ways that mus
not specify, but it does mot make i
possible for the victims to lie TO
hours in agony praying for death a.
is! the case with the devilish stuff uset
by Germans.
I should say that about four hun
dred of the enemy at. least wer
caught alive in our lake, of fire whel
it overflowed into their first line. i
did not stop there, but rolled on rap
idly to the second and reserve lines
At the sight of it German reserv
troops hurrying forward to. supper
, their comrades in the first line re
coi1ed in terror. Their terror wa
; increased manifold, as you may ina
CINE, when a number of terrific
; Germans from the first line rushe
IN, rcf n, yho1 Ir,
took flight in panic. They ran abou
in all directions trying to get ava
, from the travelling lake of fire whfc
was now moving rapidly across tn
, ground and was. giving out> intens
heat. Skirting along the extrem
right edge of this travelling lake c
fire was our barrage fire.. becomin
more intense every minute and on tn
left the Germans themselves wer
, putting in a heavy barrage fire. =
Some of the enemy, in order to es
cape the lake of fire, had to run tint
our barrage, and they liked that S
y little that they were forced back, an
: caught up in that lake. Others cor
ceived the desperate purpose of es
y Gaping through their own barrag
but on the other side of that the
: found our lads waiting for them wit
8 machine guns and plenty of bomb
:, We assailed them with such vigor ths
Il they thought it better to risk the
: own barrage and went back. The
y didn't get much of a rest, for tn
stream of boiling oil was now rushin
onward, gradually pushing the1
q through their own barrage,. on tt
It wards the clearance where our lac
Il lay ready. Some, of ne German
were caught in the oil stream an
n fsuccumbed.
The rest saw it was all up. The
# came forward in their best ''Merc
IS Kamerade!" style.
After we had disposed of that Il
l. we moved forward quickly along tt
a lake of fire and came on a Germa
n detachment, which. we took in flar
and rear. Just to show the state II
10 enemy were in. may say that tt
Is Huns were under the impression tn
lie our boys were still being held up, al
e that the troops now advancing t.
wards them were relief. Somethi1
r. like cheer broke. from them as v
3 tcame, and. forgetting all disciplin
they came rushing out Of their trent
n preparatory to moving back to, billet
The first man to greet the ''relie
is was the officer in command of Il
"a post. His eyes nearly jumped out
his head when he saw who we real
ia were He swore a lot of German oat