El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-11-26

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the village.
Germans Counter Attack ut Once.
Almost Immediately the Germans
delivered a heavy counter attack on
the troops who had penetrated the
hamlet, and after a stiff engagement
forced them to withdraw again to the
edge Of the wood. Saturday morning
the British renewed the attack on the
village
It was a battle in which the British
troops gloried. for it took them back
TO the days of other wars when men
struggled in the open. The trying
period Of fighting behind sandbaE
parapets was temporarily past and
they were at close grips with the en-
envy where they could employ the
bayOnet, which they know so well how
to use The Germans had rushed up
reinforcements which they had OBJ
tanned by raking every available point
on their line.
Enemy Attacks FurIOusIy.
During the morning the enemy ad-
yanced in strength from the north and
threw themselves against the British
line at the edge Of the wood. san
culinary struggle followed. and the
British, unable to Withstand the fury
Of the German attack without too
great a loss of life, withdrew slightly
and the Germans gained a footing in
the northern edge of the forest. But
the British were not to let the matter
rest and they surged forward again
This time dismounted cayalrymen ad-
vanced with the infantry and between
them they drove the enemy back and
| reestablished themselves on the old
line.
right Even After Night Falls.
Little by little the Germans were
forced TO give ground at the north
west edge Of the wood about Bourbon
village until the British reached the
blood stained streets Of the hamlet
once more Dusk settled down about
the contendinE forces. but they still
continued to shoot and thrust at one
another in the gathering darkness.
No more grim tragedy had been en-
acted since the war began than was
village East night Its finish found
the shattered German forces outside
the village boundary, but still fun Of
determination. Several times through
the night they reformed and swept
forward against the village. but each
time were hurled back with heavy
losses The village Of Fontaine Notre
Dame, between Bourbon wood and
Cambria. was still in German hands
today This shattered hamlet, how
ever, was giving the British no cause
for worry and at the latest reports
TO push ahead on the northwest side
AirplHneH Render Great Service.
The work Of the Brit sh airplanes
during the present offensive forms q
graphic chapter IN itself. Despite the
vile weather which compelled them
to operate within a few feet Of tine
Germans. they kept steadily at their
task and rendered invaluable assist
ance. both in reconnaissance and Of
fensiTe operations Pilots have at
tackled infantry and gun crews indis-
criminately wherever they encOun-
tered them and have inflicted heavy
casualties on the enemy with bombs
and machine guns.
Some Are shot Down.
The nature Of the fighting can be
seen from the experience Of a British
pilot whose machine was literally shot
fire and who finally crashed down be-
hind his own lines with ten bullet
holes through his clothing, although
he himself was unhurt. Another young
airman yesterday presented himself az
headquarters after having been shot
down for the third time within two
days He was delighted over his eI-
perience and Immediately applied for
another machine so that he might 90
out again
Kills Many German Infantrymen.
One aviator attacked a column OF
German infantry marching in close
formation and hurled two high power
bombs directly among them The
troops scattered and as the airmau
whirled away he saw two heaps OF
dead about huge craters which the
bombs had torn in the road. There
were innumerable cases Of airmen
successfully bombing airdr0mes, /
troop transports and gun crews. A
large number OF artillery crews have
been wiped out either by machine sun
IRE at close range or by bombs.
Some Airmen Don't Escape.
Naturally, many Of the airmen had
miraculous escapes from death and
some. OF course, have paid the full
price and have gone TO swell the toll
OF brave men who have given their
lives for their king and country
Among the hair breadth escapes re
ported is that Of an aviator whose
machine was torn TO pieces while he
was fighting German infantry with
his machine gun. He was caught IN
the shell fire and all the wings Of his
machine were shot away.
Fights Enemy Single Handed.
Fortunately. he was flying only %
to his own lines He crashed in No
Mans Land and found himself uu-
hur,. He Immediately came under ri
fle and machine gun fire but he found
a German rifle with some ammunition
and engaged the enemy single handed
As he fired he worked his way back
until he reached one OF his own pa
trolls.
There is not much humOr in fighting
OF this nature, but one incident Oc-
CURED which is making the whole
British air service laugh today.
One Of the youngest British airmen
was flying at a low altitude when
four enemy machine guns opened on