The Washington herald., 1919-04-20

were stampeded In the direction of
the enemy in order to draw the
machine gun fire, and while these
rideriess horses galloped wildly out
at one end of the sunken road
the officer and his surviving
troopers escaped from the other
encountered four bodies OF the
enemy. whom they attacked and
routed On one occasion their
escape was due to the cunning Of
another young lieutenant who
spoke German and held converse
ton with the enemy in >the dark
ness. deceiving them as to the
identity of his force until they
were able to take the German
troops by surprise and hack a
way through. This lieutenant was
hit through the face by q bullet
and when he arrived back in Mas
meres with his men in advance
of the rearguard he was only able
to make his report before falling
In a state OF collapse.
Youthful Other small bodies Of
Folly of cavalry them
Gallant the Eighth Dragons
Hearts. and Fifteenth Hus-
sars-had wild heroic
adventures in the Cambria salient.
where they rode under blasts OF
machine gun fire and rounded UP
prisoners in the ruined villages OF
Noyelies and Fontaine-Notre-
Dame. Some OF them went into
La Falie Wood nearby and met
~ -
about the giades as though no war
was on They took them prison
ers but had to release some Of
them later. as they could not be
bothered with them Later they
came across six ammunition
wagons and destroyed them In
the heart OF the wood one Of
our cavalry officers dismount-
ed and approached the cot
tage stealthily and looked through
the windows. Inside was party
OF German officers seated at a
table with beer mugs in front Of
them. apparently unconscious OF
any danger near them. Our officer
fired his revolver through the win
dows and then, like q school boy
who has thrown a stone, ran away
as hard as he could and Joined
his troop. Youthful folly Of gallant
hearts.
brai salient was achieved In this
spirit of audacity. But because
there were no strong reserves be-
hind the troops. who had captured
a wide stretch OF ground and given
the Germans a big fright, 1t ended
in tragic losses. The German gen.
eral, Won Marwitz, came back upon
us with a tigers pounce. assem-
bling masses OF troops swiftly and
secretly. moving them forward by
night under the cover Of woods.
and attacking with the success Of
surprise on the evening of Novem-
ber 30. Our line was weakly held
on this night-the Fifty-fifth was
holding a front OF 1900 yards
and the German storm troops
broke through and reached the viii
lage of Gouzeacourt, which had
been about five miles behind our
new front. Our tired men who had
gained the first victory fought
heroic rearguard actions back to
Masmeres and Marcoing and the
F'lesquieries ridge. and back from
Bourbon Wood in the northern
side of the salient. They made
the enemy pay a high price in
blood for the success Of his
counter-attack, but we lost many
thousands of brave fellows, and
the Joy bells which had rung in
London on November % became a
sad and ironicaI music IN the
hearts of our disappointed people.
Nevertheless 1t was by that
spirit OF heroic folly as ! call II
that we won the war on the
British front-by the daring spirit
of our men who took almost i'm
possible risks and won through.
So IL was when after the blackest
day of the German drive in March.
April. May and June, Of 1913. the
British armies. which had almost
fought themselves out, recovered
their strength in numbers by enor-
nous drafts of young quickly
trained boys rushed out from Eng
land inexperienced in this warfare.
utterly ignorant of shell fire and
the horrors OF war, but ardent
in their fresh and youthful courage.
They caught the spirit OF the old
divisions. following the lead of
their older brothers, who fought
with them. and for four months
assaulted the enemy's armies op-
posite the British front from
Amiens to Mons until the Germans
were utterly smashed and routed.
1t was mad. marvellous. feat
when the Nineteenth Division of
English troops and the Welsh d.
vision waded at dawn across the
foul waters OF the river Ancre
under the heights of Thiepval. as
sembled under the guns Of the
enemy up there and then. wet to
their skin. and in small numbers
compared with the strength of the
enemy. stormed the huge ridges
from both sides. and hurled the
enemy back from what he thought