The Washington herald., 1919-05-25

redoubts to defend the approaches.
The English battalions OF the
Twelfth Division. commanded by
Gen Scott, stormed their way into
the trenches and destroyed some OF
the machine gun redoubts. But the
Prussians built up barbados OF
sand banks and dead bodies and day
after day defended their positions
with bombs and rifles.
There were places where the Eng
lish were only divided from their
enemy by q yard or two of earth
and sandbags or by a barricade
built down a tunnel into which they
had forced their way. Savage tight
ing took place in the darkness be-
low ground and west country Eng
lishmen and Prussian guards flung
themselves upon each other. stab
bing and thrusting with any KIND
of weapon until one or the other
died. From the inner keeps on
earthwork redoubts round the ruins
of Ovillers the Prussians played
their machine guns on to the Eng
lish troops who tried to rush them
and maintained their position for
seventeen days.
But they were in q hopeless state.
The English artillery surrounded
them with shell fire so that no re-
Endorsements could get to them and
no supplies of food. water or am
munition. Their losses were heavy
and dead and dying men lay in the
mangled earth about them. Human
nature could make no longer re-
sistance than they made, and at last
a German ofiicer raised a signal of
surrender and 40 survivors of The
garrison gave themselves up to the
English. who received them with
cheers. They stuck to II splendid
ly." was the verdict Of the Iads of
the Twelfth Division. and it was a
generous tribute to the enemy.
Ranks with OyeIIers.
Another siege and gallant defence
which deserves to rank with that of
oviIlers was that of Thiepval, and it
lasted longer. The place was on high
ground above a series of ridges rising
up from the river Ancre, which flows
past Albert. There used to be a
nobleman's chateau there, and l saw
IL standing among the trees before our
guns knocked IT into a heap OF rubble
and tore the branches of the trees so
that they were black and gaunt like
gallows. This place was tunneled
like Ovillers. and under ground
lived the garrison Of the ls0th Regi-
ment OF Wurtemburgers. This regi-
ment, instead OF being relieved like
other troops and sent to different
parts of the front. were given the
perilous honor OF defending Thiepval
from the beginning OF the battles of
the Somme.
I'm the old days" one Of them told
me, as prisoner, ''the place was
quiet and happy We had no great
comfort below ground. no. fancy fur
niture or fine decorations (our beds
were just wooden planks raised above
the earth). but We worked hard to
fortify the vaults. We pierced many
new tunnels. We made this under
ground world perfectly safe, and we
were proud of it,
Whenever the British attacked the
Wurtemburgers rushed up out OF the
tunnels and manned their machine-gun
emplacements and earthworks in de-
fence Of a position which they be-
lieved was impregnable. 1t seemed
like that to some OF US. saw several
great attacks round Thiepval by wilt
shire and Worcester troops, but that
high crest with the ruined chateau
among the black gallows trees seemed
unattainable. We smothered IL in
shell fire. For weeks our heavy guns
-monstrous fifteen inches-pounded il
with high explosives and altered the
shape of the hill. But always those
Wurtemburgers lived in their tunnels
and came out to sweep down British
soldiers with their machine-gun fire.
The Tank at Thiepval.
1t was a tank which helped to settle
the fate OF Thiepval and its garrison.
1t crawled up regardless of machine
gun bullets, trampled down German
trenches and sandbag barricades, root
ed out machine-gun emplacements and
then sat down on the ruins of the
chateau. firing at any Germans who
dared to show themselves above the
ground. That gave the English troops