The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-05-16

SlALy III edCn mlnuL6 III WnlCn h of the men holding our line. flank attack, and the other three com- ! panies smashed repeated enemy on slaughts marked by unusual fierce ness and supported by great masses of artillery and wide array of field guns. Mass after mass of picked Ger man troops were hurled against the position, and the Staffords suffered terribly besides being almost worn out | by strenuous exertions in holding their l line without respite.
 | The position looked absolutely hopeless and there was no prospect l of early relief Still the Staffords fought on until they got orders to fall back to the new positions. It was then too late, for the enemy held 1 ground dominating the line of retreat. The Staffords refused to accept de- feat. They first of all cleared for themselves a line of retreat and made their way through the exu1ting hordes of Huns to the new positions. That they were able to do so was due to | the heroic sacrifice of a machine gunner who kept the enemy at bay for an hour while his comrades were | retiring, and then was killed after destroying the gun he had worked so we'll
 Ordeal of Lansc. and Yorks. Troops.
 The men of Yorkshire faced their l ordeal OF the first day and continued to get their share of hard fighting for two days more. They were attacked in positions. of some difficulty and l danger by forces of the enemy out numbering them by five to one. They fought on in spite of the fn,st success of the enemy in breaking through a vital part of the front, and by a bril- liant counter-attack the West York shires won this ground back, the York and Lancaster men supporting them,
 and the West Ridfngs withstanding
 the full fury of the subsequent enemy attacks.
 Later on in this fight a division of
 Lancashire troops came into action
 and endured many hours of hard
 fighting against picked German
 troops, including two divisions ot
 Guards. Against the positions held
 by the Lancashire men enemy masses
 were flung by every conceivable road
 and the fighting was of the bloodiest character ever witnessed in this war.
 The enemy fought their way into
 our trenches, and engaged in desper- ate hand-to-hand fighting with oul
 troops About a whole battalion suc-
 ceeded in getting in like this. They never got back Almost to a mar they were bayonetted or shot down
 and for an hour after the fighting ceased the Lancashire men had ia tigue duty collecting and throwing
 the German dead out of our trenches
 The enemy attack at this point was
 marked by the use of smoke-gas
 clouds on a large scale, and under cover of these clouds the German! succeeded in fighting their way tC within about 300 yards of our iron.
 line trenches.
 It was only when the gas smoke lifted that the enemy were seen push.
 ing forward through the outer belt O. wire that dotted the approach to oul
 lines. Into their approaching masses g our men poured a terrible hail of bull s lets. Huns went by the score to righ . and to left, and panic laid hold of the . survivors.
 ] Our men broke from the trenche. = and pursued with bayonet and bomb g killing scores in doing so, and break. 5 ing up the masses forming for a new f attack in front of the enemy's origina t positions. The evidences of slaughter
 in front of our positions at this poin | were unmistakable.
 7 Most of the German attacking !. troops had been doped with rum and l ether, and were ha1f-mad when at : tacking us. They fought like furies . and in many cases it was only wher i death tntervened that the Huns . stopped fighting. Men with as many 3 as six wounds continued to fight al close quarters, and in one instance g 5 man with two bayonet thrusts in his ] chest fought on until he dropped dead