The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-12-23

i cuerS. Towards the end of March i when everything appeared to be i chaotic on the British front, and the ] Germans were specially desirous that
 nothing should leak out, strongly in 1 creased guards were provided for the escort of prisoners, and on the slight est DreteXt shots were fired into the l ranks Of prisoners.
 We had received intimati tion that l the British Headquarters were eager 1 to obtain trst-nand information of ] what had happened on the Arras- Ba- 1 paume Road, and also with regard l to the state of German c0mmunica- 1 tions beyond that point, It was sug- ] gested that if we could effect the re- i lease some of the men and a trained ] officer this information might be l Forthcoming. Some men of the 51st 1 Division were paraded through the ! streets of Brussels on the 28th of ! March, the Germans giving out that l these were the sole survivors of the 1 famous division, a story that may i have been intended to lift the spirits i of the new troops by letting them be-
 ieve that this terrible black-Iisted
 division was no longer to be feared. ] or perhaps was designed to impress i the Be]Gi9n civilian population.
 Shot in Cold Blood.
 i We were early on the move on the ! chance of effecting a rescue, but in
 Brussels itself there was absolutely 1 no chance of communicating with the prisoners, so strictly were they guard
 ed.
 ! Near the Hotel de Vile Belgian girt held out a bunch of flowers to these men, most of whom were wounded. One of the soldiers step ] ped forward to receive the flowers A ! German struck him with the butt end of his rife, and the poor feI- low was knocked down. Two of his comrades made an angry protest. i The German raised his rifle and fired ! m quick succession, killing one of the Scots and woUnding the other. Soldiers and civilians alike were hor- | ror-strucll by this coId-blooded at ! tack on unarmed men, and they made protests, but the only answer they got was to be attacked bv the soldiers with their bayonets The i German official explanation of this a[falr was that the prisoners were consDiring to escape with the aid ol 1 the BeIgians. 1t was not until the party had got clear of the city that it was thought wise to attempt a rescue. We had spent the previous year preparing for --t- 1''--Aso tL Iiltt LElSldn people against their tyrants. and some cx- cellent companies of sharpshooters
 or franctireurs had been formed to carry on guerilla warfare against the Germans once they began their home ward trek. By way of keeping our selves in training, we made fre0lIent attacks on the German line of com munications, cutting up weak de- tachrnents' destroying stores, and
 rescUing prisoners. Such an enter prise as we had now embarked on was just to our liking, and none Ifk- ed it better than the women who be- lOnged to our band.
 We kept close to the Germans and their prisoners from the moment !. oi their departure from the city un- til they selected their bfIIets for the night. The German guards were put in houses at q hamlet on the main road, and the prisoners were. supplied
 with waterproof sheets and ordered to look out for themselves. Our plan was to attack suddenly in the night, kill as many of the Germans as we could, release as many prisoners as Werew filing to take the risk of flight, and then disband as quickly as We could before the inevitable German re1nforcements arrived on the scene.
 Successful Attack
 It was about three iu the morning when deemed it wise to order the attack, which proved entirely sue cessful. The Germans were caught at disadvantage, and very few of them got away.
 The whole of the prisoners, num- bering one hundred and eight of French and British nationality, were released and broken up into small parties under competent guides. who undertook to see them safely on their way through the German lines. Most of them succeeded in the attempt, and the British headquarters got the in formatio asked for without much further delay.
 There was an officer in the party who was able to make a report on the state of the transport behind the German front line that gave the Al lied commanders all they wanted to know in time for the measures they proposed to take to break the Ger man communications at their weak est point by means of vigorous attacks from the air. Some of these parties of British prisoners failed in their efforts to get through the German lines. and were severely dealt with when they fell in to German hands once more One party We encountered again, and sue ceeded in rescuing it once more, this time with better luck. There was a party of eight men belonging to diff ferent Highland regiments that was unlucky enough to fail in the at .e1npt to get through the German lines.
 The names of these men were Cooney, Bass, Hill, Seton, Bruce, Gil more, DavisOn and Glover. They set out with two Belgians who had been working with us for some time, and l believe succeeded in reaching the l neighborhood of HOoge. where they were caught in the act of crossing i over to the British lines. Fire was opened on them, and several of the 1 party were killed outright. The sur vivors took shelter in a shell hole, l where they remained in water up to the knees during the night, expos ed to the terrors of one of the heavi- ! est artillery bombardments experience ed on that part of the front.
 In the morning, when the party set out once more, lodging from shell , hole to shell hole, the Germans dis charged poison gas across the ground, and all were asphyGiated with the exception of one of the Belgians, who was afterwards brought into the Ger