El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-03-15
AVALANCHE AIDS
BRITISH TROOPS
Attacking German Force
Wiped Out by Sweep of
Great Avalanche.
By MISS ETHEL BROADHURST,
Scottish Red Cross Nurse on the Italian
Front.

] 'FRONT.'
Rome Italy. March 15-The aver
age soldier possesses what the wise
/ call a superstitious strain; and some
/ Of the stories told in this connection
| tax ones credulity a great deal, but
] there is one incident bordering on the
miraculous for which I can vouch. It
| happened recently when the enemy
4 was giving US a rough time along the
whole Of the British line.
For about ten days there had been
feverish activity on the part OF the
enemy; and it was clear that he con-
templated big attack somewhere,
I but the difficulty was to find out ex-
actly where. The fierce gunfire died
down and the enemy began to push
/ forward masses of troops, mostly Ger
mans, who had been brought for this
special purpose
They advanced against our posi-
tons in mass formation, and such
was their persistence that they car
ried the first positions, ana were
pushing on towards the second when
a strange thing happened The story
Of this incident as II was recounted !
to me by a British officer. who was
present during the operation, and has |
since embodied his story in a PLAN I
matter Of fact official report, is ap- |
pended;
Two fine battaIions OF enemy !
troops We're pushing forward along |
the lower slopes of the mountain on !
which our right rested" said the Of |
ficer.
They were well supported by ar
tillery. and in spite OF the fierce fire !
to which they were subjected by our I
riflemen and machine guns, they were !
making Roadway at a point where I
menace to our forces. From ledge /
TO ledge the enemy pressed on, gain 4
ing ground steadily, and clearing the i
way for further advances.
shouts Of Victory, Then Disaster.
I'VE could hear the exultant shouts /
Of the victory from their lips, and I
then the miracle happened. Warning |
shouts came from the ranks OF the /
enemy, and in response to II they 1
looked up into the clouds. The sight /
to freeze their blood. High up in the |
hills the snow had become detached /
from its rocky resting place, and was ]
sweeping down in one great ava /
lanche. There was no time to get /
Before the Germans knew what I
was happening, the moving mass OF I
snow was on top Of them.
Attacking Column Wiped Out.
THE sharply outlined figures Of the /
as in a flash, and in their place there /
was a great white mass beneath I
which they were buried. The incident Il
happened in full view OF the whole /
enemy forces and the troops advanc-
ing to support the men buried under I
that terrible avalanche set up a cry i
Of terror, broke ranks. and fled panic L
stricken, discarding arms and every L
thing else in their eagerness to get L
THE horror Of the thing so i'm
pressed the rest OF the enemy troops L
that the attack had to be abandoned. +
1t was in vain that officers tried to !"
rally the men. They refused 10 be I;
rallied. Occasionally bodies Of troops I:
forgot their fears sufficiently to move |:
forward to the edge Of the snowy I;
grave OF their comrades. but they :
would venture no further. and the :
Italians and French easily pushed
back the enemy forces from the posi-
tons they had won earlier in the
day." L
HighIanders on the Alert. I
Fighting along the Piave has been {
almost continuous OF late, though {
none OF the fights has assumed very L
serious proportions. That the attacks Z
have not done so is entirely due 10 :
the fine work OF the Highland and :
other British troops, who are now in :
the line at the point where the dan :
ger OF an enemy break is greatest.
The other day, while visiting a :
dressing Station, / was afforded a :
sight of an enemy attack. The first E
Of a number Of little figures on the K
high ground, which slopes down 10 Z
the waters edge from the opposite Z
shore The Highlanders were on the z
alert at once. A sharp rattle Of mus :
kerry ran along the whole line, and :
the chorus was taken up by the ma E
chine guns Some OF the moving fig Il
ures fell and others came to a halt, K
hesitated, and then started to 20 back. IL
4 number OF them pressed on and E
reached the water edge. There they E
halted for little while, and appeared +
to be returning the fire Of our rifle l=
men.
In a few minutes time the foremost E
figures rose, ran to the water with z
pontoons, which they flung in. and E
on them the first men sprang, guild L
ing the pontoons out into the stream. IL
Up to then our guns had been silent, IL
but now they bsrked out an ominous IL
message both for the German and e
Austrian e
POntOons Swept Away.
The pontoons and their human IL
freight were swept away. Two OF the z
pontoons drifted out into midstream, ] E
to be carried down the river under IL
Dur fire all the time. At q point where Il
our lines cross the river bend some e
Of our men got close to the drifting | E
One Of the Highlanders e
told me that he had never seen men IL
more terrified than were those poor e
chaps And they had every need to :
be terrified, for the ordeal they had e
been through was enough to terrify E
anyone. With great difficulty our E
men stopped the drifting Of the pom E
looms and the Austrians were brought E
in safely. but more dead than alive. :
PrisOners' Revelations. z
II one is TO believe the stories of e
the prisoners, the plight OF the Aus :
trans is terrible in the extreme. One E
rather intelligent Magyar with whom +
talked when he was brought in tod E
me that the conditions in the great e
towns, and even in the rural districts, 2
were going from bad to worse. E
He said that since the war began E
food supplies had run so short that e
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