The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-05-30

knowledge and anticipation of the
drive, and all their preparation for
it, they did not reckon on the mum.
bers that would come against them,
The Germans have used over a hun
dred divisions in this battle. A Ger.
man division is composed of IA, 500
men, so they sent over a million and
a half men into that hell yonder in
Picardy and Flanders.
We are in direct touch at the place
where | am writing with this bloody
front, not only with telephone com
munications, but with men who have
come the few miles from there direct
by rail-wounded French and Ameri.
cans. Tonight | conversed with two
men who left the British front yester.
day morning. We had one Y. NJ. c. A.
hut in the area captured by the Ger
mans.
VIM. p. Welts, of New York, was
in charge of this hut. He abandoned
it and fell back with the British for
nine days, then came here. At no
time, he said. was there the least evi
dence Of panic. The men would be or
dered to fall back to positions pre-
pared for them. They would deliber
ately go about the business OF
loading equipment in vans and turn
ing their big guns about. Horses
would be hitched up, auto drivers
would take their seats, and the whole
line would O back a little way to
a %ravine, or just over the brow of a
hill, OF into a wood or new trench
when everything would be arranged
for a new stand. Their comrades
were holding the first line in front
killing Germans. Later this front
line would retire through, leaving the
boys who had just re-established them
selves in the new position to kill the
on-coming Germans.
or course the whole line of soldiers
facing and firing at the oncomins
Germans do not suddenly cease fir
ing, turn about and retreat. When
the front line goes back groups OF
men with machine guns are left tC
hold the Germans as long as possible.
to enable the main line to retire. TIC
illustrate: 1t had been decided to
evacuate a certain small village. Thir
ty machine gunners were selected to
remain with orders not to retreat.
They were stationed at the best pro
tected points about the village, and
the withdrawal of the main body OF
troops was effected while these thirty
martyrs peppered the on-coming foe
Every man of the thirty was killed as
was learned later when the village
was retaken. But within the range
of the gun of every n of them there
were nine rows of dead Germans.
Deeds of heroism that surpass thi:
are ~unrecorded, unthinkable. To &C
. CtDl SuCl a StINlCt NItllOul plOlNSI
to see his comrades fall back from
his support, to deliberately set abouI
the serious business of the last few
moments of his life, to see the oncom
ing of the Huns and to have the nerve
to shatter their line, breathing {
prayer that he may live a minute long
er to shatter it again, that his com
rades may be saved, Greater love
hath no man than this, that he lay
down his life for his friends"
Poets have dreamed of such deeds
and have written of Horatius at the
Bridge, and of Winklereed, but never
before did such things actually hap
pen.
OF course this cannot last forever
and when the Germans have lost al
the men they can afford to lose, they
will dig themselves in and trench war
fare will be resumed, unless the allies
make a COMPREHENSIVE.
DR.. Geo. c. Pidgeon, pastor Toron-
to Presbyterian church, came with
Welts. He is a commissioned captain
in the Canadian Y. NJ. G.. A.. service
Canada commissions her Y. men. His
work is just back of the line held by
the Canadians at Vimy Ridge. He
left the front for a rest. He was not
compelled to leave for the Canadians
have not retired. That part of the
line they hold has not been attacked
therefore they have not participated
in the hand-to-hand fighting. They dc
not fear attack, in fact have invited
it by raids and bombardments. Nc
troops have fought more valiently OF
at greater sacrifice than these neigh
bors of ours.
A German prisoner told ME that the