Loading...
Zurich Herald, 1919-04-28, Page 7.0.554555. HOW HE MOANS STOPPED BE HUNS AT THE SECOND BATT/OF SPRES First -Hand Story of the Bloody Battle of Kt. Julien Where Do- minion Troops Won Irmperishphlc Fame in Their Gallant Defence of the Road to Calais. f Sergeant la. Outliet, author of the ; about 18,000 men out of a total of 30,- vivid description of the second battle ' '000 all told they very materially help. 1st Ypres printed below, enlisted on cd to stop the Germans from getting August 30, 1914, as driver in the Fifth through, Battery, Second Brigade, Canadian 13y 4 o'clock that Same afternoon we were firing at 400 yard range direct firing (open sights). We could dis- cern the Germans advancing on a ridge in the distance, while our guns were popping away like machine guns. We could clearly see our shells -burst- ing among them, scattering them and driving then back. 4Vo kept this up until dark, every minute expecting to whir:h was then the head of the sa- be taken prisoners and to have our 1i:-nt. It was a glorions day in the guns captured by the Huns. mludi" of April, 1915. Business was Sunday evening, April 25, saw us going on aa usuhl in the clty and the again in the saddle waiting for dark- inl 1' iteuts turned out on masse to ness to screen our movements while give ue -t welcome and a "bon voyage." we took up a new position, about half One . culd hardly think that war was a mile in front of Ypres. so close at hand. Now and again one An incident occurred that afternoon •could hear the occasional boom of a which will serve to show the hair - gun, but up to this time very few breadth escapes that happen on the shells had dropped into Ypres. It was a beautiful city then, with its ]nagnifice. t s'lur'p and schools and beautiful residences. Iiut what a change a year later, when we were de- - tailed to take nn a position in front of Ypres again. Not a house was lett standing, ovrryth:u' was laid low, and the shells were etil1 clrot,ping, big ones and little otic: , from the enemy's "little Willie's" np to their fifteen inch ''Yptea c. ser. ; .c'a." Sudden Eon•.bardnient •Begins. Our guns were in position at St. Julien; the horse and wagon lines at Wiltje, a hamlet between St. Jean and St, Julien. The distance from the guns to the horse lines was irbont one and one-half miles. Everything went along smoothly until the evening of April 22, about 5 oclock. We were anted. at stepper. when all at once a terrific bombardment coni• menced. In the distauc'e we could see Field Artillery, and was among the first of .the Canadian troops to reach England, After the third battle of Ypres in July, 1910, be was sent home suffering from shell shock. Out of the original 144 glen in the battery only twelve were left]. 1 will never forgett marching through Peres to take our place at St. Julien, battlefield. Our draught horses were hooked to the ammunition wagons ready to take the ammunition to the guns. The hien all slept underneath the wagons. Per- haps you cannot understand how men aro able to sleep at all in the midst of unceasing bombardments, but one soon gets accustomed to the noise, es- pecially when very tired, and tired men fall asleep very easily. A shell burst among the six horses attacliecl, to the firing battery Wagon, killing four outright and wounding two so badly that I was later obliged to shoot them.. But strange to say, not a man was touched. However, this was enough for us, and we beat it, placing our horses and ammunition in the garden of an Ypres banker. Stabled Horses in Conservatory. It seemed a shame to dig ourselves into these beautiful grounds., breaking clown grape vines and tearing the con - a green smoke rolling along the servatol'y all to pieces; as a matter ground. We couldn't make out what of fact we placed some of our horses it was at first, and while, we were in the conservatory; it was the only watching it the lIuaS commencedthing to do. We dug a large number shelling every road, utuinitutitfetm { of bolos. The men slept in these dumps and horse Mlles. • i holes, resembling graves, each just Very shortly the Tumco::, who were' large enough for one man. We placed twitting time lie on the left, cent- old lumber on the top and covered inenced earningthrough our horse therm over with about three feet of lines in twos and tierces, none help dirt. This was splinter proof, but not ing along a comrade, and. all looking by any means shell proof. as if they were scared to death. Soon The next morning about 7 o'clock it became a regular retreat, and every- We got the tint direot hit on B section where they were retiring. We thought gun. The shell burst directly over they had 'cola fact' and were running the nuz;•:le of the gun, killing or away, and I am afraid some of them wounding the entire gun crew except` were roundly abused by the Cana- one gunner who happened to be on his deans, but we soon found ont how mis- knees setting fuses. Previous to this the •Boches had been very busily try- ing to locate our guns by'the aid of eirplancs. .Al. last they succeeded, and then it bemire hot, For two or three days things went along rather quietly compared with About5 o'rlocic She got orders to re- what they had been previously. Then tire. All this time the rifles and ma- chine grns as well as the artillery were banging away. The :,ides et the roads were covered with deed and wounded limn amid horsed, kind the stretcher hearer, were busy, working silently, and taking all kinds of chance. At 4.30 a.m. we got orders to go back over the name road and take up the salvo position. All these troops were fitted out with No sooner had we got into position two revolvers in addition to our re - titan the limas conuneneed another gula.r equipment as well as a long attack. The range was 3,500 yards, curved knife called the kukinm. They All that day we pounded away just as marched past tis, chanting their war quickly as the gunners redid load and songs. They were brought to the used up all the shed.. that the eight front especially to make a charge; ammunition w gginie hold, as well as and 1 may say here that these troops are considered as brave as any troops in the world when it comes to making a charge and fighting at short range. They cannot endure shell tire, nor .are they fitted for trench fighting, 'They cannot be persuaded to stand token we were when a French officer who was wounded in the arm came along and told us that the Gernians wore putting over a porton smoke and that the Tnrcos were lying dead in thou:lends in the trenches. again all at. once the Boches made an- other attack. This htippened hi the morning about six o'clock, and they captured. our new first Iine trenches. About noon I saw the Indian troops for the first time, and never will I for- get the wonderful sight of the Sikhs, Gurkhas and Bengal Lancers march- ing pat, going u1) to the front. Charge of the Indians, those on two groin limbers, On the morning of April 24 our range was 2,100 yards. -finite a drop from 3,00, bat. as you will see, it dro*teed a good bit more before we z'e- tired out of that. Bole. As we were standing to, ready to still doing nothing while listening to limber up anal retire if necessary, the elle shells screaming over their heads. They want to be up and doing. From an eye witness of this charge I learned that they no sooner got to the front line trenches than they went over the top and, loosening their web equipment on the wily, threw it from their shoulders, allowing their revol- vers and itayonota to fall from them and throwing away their rifles. All they had to de3a'enci upon, and which they olid depend upon, was their ku- lcMune They went through the Ger- mane like a pack of hornets, and every time they swung their kukims off came a head or an arm, About. an hour after they made this charge 1 met about two thousand of them coming back over the *same route, The majority of them had the left hand bound up in bandages, and all were singing and appeared to bo (lltite happy. 1 found out afterward that they had caught the enomy's bayonets With the left hand and used the kukims with tho right. A Narrow Escape. The nett day tho Buns came back at us again. Every ono was kept busy obtaining and delivering ammunition to the mine. That Slav 1 had bear' nu horses Wilt; saddled and hooked to the limbers, a peenli.tr thing happen- ed which would be hard to believe un- less actually seen. We were just get- ting ready to clove when a shell came down not ten earls from me and land- ed right behind the saddle of the near lead horse of I) subgun team, This shell dill not explode until it got inside the horse, Strange to say, not n man was hurt, not oven the driver who was holding the horse by the heard. The near horse':, mate in the team was not even crotched, but all that was left of the near horse was hie head and shoulders. Only a Preliminary Calm. That night was a little quieter, but it was only the calm before the staring for the next morning hell broke loose again and our range dropped to 1,200 yards. Of course when you remem- ber that in 1916 the Huns had ten tinges the minmbar of guns we had yon can imagine what we went tlu'ongh. The Germans knew that if they could only get into Ypres they would stand a good chance to •get, to C:'alais. And 1 cafe ass,=ore you they wore trying 1:•1'i. ltthhough the (;.auctitana last ;mss egse"..g..1r$".�«r'naes, ti; ,astieat i rE.a... eu.eentieg rata'i:emars.:S'ra••.rac-x...amieo LIEUT.-GEN. JACQUES, TAKINGS 3RD BATTALION'S SALUTE The Commander of tho Belgian Army, who wears 22 decorations, strea.mingelike a rainbow across his 'cheat, its there shown at the march -past at Liege, taking the satiate of the 3rd Battalion veterans as they entered the Belgian city. to the guns seven times with ammuni- tion, and the last time, just at dusk, I got into a pretty tight hole. After we had unloaded the last wagon of shells and had just got on the gallop to get out of the danger zone the shells started dropping all. around us and the field was soon full of holes. A shell burst about twenty yards in front of us, killing the near wheel horse and my horse, which was about ten yards to the left of the wheel horse. '- You _You can imagine what happened when riding at a full gallop your horse suddenly drops from under --you go sailing through the air. Luckily I had no bones broken in the fall. Shells were dropping and bursting all around us while we were hastily adjusting our horses, but we nma.naged to get away successfully without further damage.• In the midst of our duel with the enemy an S O S call calve and I was called upon to go for ammunition. Fortunately for mo, the corporal: was not ready as soon as the drivers were, so I took the wagons up while he rode to the column. That was the last I saw of him, for he never came back to us. About two weeks afterward we re- ceived a letter from a nurse in one of the hospitals saying that the corporal was there, wounded, but was doing fine. It appeared that while riding along a shell had burst behind him,. killing his horse and ripping him up the back with shrapnel. He crawled to the ditch,' and in his feeble and wounded condition he was unable to BRITISH CLAIM INCLUDES CANADA'S British Dominions and stadia to Have Reparation Adjusted • in London. Paris, April 20.—Reuter•'s corres- pondent asys he learns that the British claim for reparations against Germany will include those of the 'various British dominions and India.. At first it was intended that they should be submitted separately. This decision, the correspondent adds, was recently made by the delegation of the British Empire to the Peace Con- ference. The correspondent adds that im- mediately after the Germans sign the peace treaty a meeting will be held in London, when an adjustment' of the claims of Great Britain's do- minions and India will be made. FARMING FROM THE SKY. The Possibilities of the Airplane in Agriculture. The future aeroplane may prove a happy solution of much of the drud- gery entailed in running a farm, says a London newspaper. Government market dealers state that second-hand aeroplanes are being snapped up by overseas flying -men who are shortly returning to the Do - attract the attention of any of the am- minions. The purchasers contend i buance drivers, While he waslying that flying -machine will be pf the ut- there another shell burst near iii nd 1 :est value to them fn farming large added to his injuries. Later he was' tracts of land. picked up, and he found himself eight hours later In an English hospital. They extracted thirteen shrapnel bul- lets and throe pieces of shell, and he is still carrying three bullets in his body. By the way, this seine corporal is a Captain now, and has been wound- ed three times since then. visiting herds of cattle, etc., and for The next day I.,got a shrapnel bullet ascertaining the condition of crops in the fleshy part above the knee, but some distance from headquarters. it was not very painful, and I managed This will mean economy of time and to limp to a dressing station, where it labour, and will prove particularly was extracted. Of course it made me convenient during wet seasons when limp around for a while, but it was the ground is not suitable for driving not a hospital case. or riding. For a couple of days my leg was a, Many other schemes and ideas are little stiff, but I was able with the as- on foot for the agricultural aeroplane. sistance of a stick to go around among Work on the land under such condi- the horses and attend to those that re- tions should prove tempting to many quired attention. One afternoon about discharged men. 3 o'clock the Huns shelled us out of our garden; they had evidently lo- C.P.R. Co. Will Add Aircraft Bated us by airplane, for they simply To Land and Ocean Services rained the shells into our horse lines. • We got most of them away, but lost about thirty horses and ilve men, he - shies having an ammunition wagon blown to pieces. The shelling lasted about half an hour, and as soon as it ceased we got busy going over our horses, and found that about ten horses were killed out- right. ut-r ight. By this time the Germans had been stopped and the second battle of Ypres was practically over. Nine Machines Have Been Although flying -machines are not yet equipped for agricultural purposes, it is predicted that the farm areoplane proper will shortly make its bow to the British and other farmers, At present aeroplane farmers will find their machines of greatest utility when Entered For Atlantic Flight London, April 20. --Mine machines are now entered for the Daily Mail's Atlantic flight prize. The last was made Thtn'sday, when ,T. A, Peters representing the Alliance Ao1'oplane Co. of Hammersmith'and Acton, en- tered the following; Alliance bi?tlsno, 450 horse -power Napier lion engine; pilot, J. A. Peters; navigator and as- sistant pilot, Capt. Vv, 1. Reuthrie, R.A,F. "I am the only designer c'b' will make a flight in his own m1-tebine," ,,,, lZ'r, Peters, '•a'tl to la rcpt rsnot l '0 ernint.nt, i h,..i i'3 pl'ot_er'elin,., to ( .n of the Daily lV ai,, "I have been stantmnople. The Government of working on aircraft; tieclign;t for Sebastopol is 11ilw in the hands of the about ten years, and have flown only Revolutionary Committee. as designer and for experimental This amiiuneelnent is Marla 1,0 a Russian wireless despatch, which adds that after negotiations with the allitoi command, an agreement was i'eaci,etl for en eight days' armistice, expiring April 25, Early in April the ,allied troops were cb'iven back in the Crimea when the Bolsheviks forces captured Perelcop. The Isthmus of Perekop had been fortified by the allies for the Protection of the Russian n: eel Ottawa, Ont,, April 18.—Notice is given in the Canada Gazet`,e that the Canadian Pacific Railway Com- Paris, April 18.—Military experts, pany will apply to Parliament for an under the direction of Marshal Foch, act authorizing it to establish, maid- have Leen charged with the drafting tain and operate services by aircraft of a report on what should be done between such pcints within or with-. in the event that Germany refuses to sign the treaty of peace. It is indi- cated that the methods of coercion w•hit'h the allies would adopt may in- clude the occupation of more German "Well, little miss," said the grocer, territory, the blockade of enemy "what can I do for you'" 111.., attd the discontinuance rf the "Please, sir, mother wnuts a bottle ' di.et'atclt of food ;npplies to Gr'r- W EL RETAIN 1110AT NEWS FROM NGLAND '1 L l NEWS BY MAIL ABOUT JOJIIt' IrI.1LL AND ITIS PEOI'LB i°dawll Terms Concerning Kiel canal, Have Been A t i:ice], Occurrences In the Lend That ROOM Paris, April 18. ---The naval terms " Eciprcme In the Cornmer• to be incorporated in the penes treaty, c•oneereing the Kiel Canal and Heligoland,' have been revised in several important p'u ticulm.r?. It sir Rarns ato recently, the explosions wee the original plan to dissemble badly shaking the town. the fortifications of the canal, mak- ing it a strictly commercial water- way without defences. The changes that now have been matte leave the present fortifications in existence, and provisions have also boon insert- ed permitting of the continuance of the present coast defences, all of which were to have been dissembled, acco,'ding to the originafl plan. The changes concerning Ilelifeo- eia: taro'la, - Many large mines were destroyed The Chelmsford Town ("ouneIL have decided to buy a farm near the town cis a site for a garden city. 'Wimbledon County Connell intends bo!.rowing £1,000 for the e'tallish- ment of five national l:itehen s. In one week there were eleven thousand six hundred and ninety- three cattle exported from Ireland to Great Britain, There is a plague of rat.; at New- land leave intact the present large port, Monmouth, and professional basin constructed on an extensive rat-catchers have been appointed by scale for the use of submarines dur- the corporation., ing the war. It was concluded that Mortimer and Washington Singer, the use of submarines had now been Abingdon, spent £80,000 in turning so restricted that the basin no long- their private residence into 0 need er constituted a menace, and its Cross hospital. continuance was decided upon as providing a useful haven for the North Sea fishing fleet in case of distress, The fortileation of Ilell- golend are to be dismantled, so that the basin is virtually the only thing retained. The final disposition of the German fleet is one of the sitl>jee is still un- decided, and even the highest naval authorities are not aware how the question stands since it passed into the hands of the Council of Four. EMI 'AT A r�. READY MAY 18 Allies Take Precautions to Keep Terms Secret Until Arrival of German Envoys. Paris, April 20. --It now seems probable that 11Iay 18 will be the earliest date for handing the Peace Treaty to the Germans, and it is understood that the first work of the German envoys will be to have talks with the Big Four, preparing the way for the Plenary conference. Another session on the arrange- ; -. w50 to 800 each. ments for the Versailles meeting ! `' The farmers of West Suasen have was held yesterday -afternoon at the i asked that low flying of. aeroplanes Quail d'Orsay, when it was decided ! be forbidden for the protection of precautions then be taken to keep , their flocks. the treaty secret until it is presented 1 The King has told the Football As - Rev. G. C. Lunt, vicar, and Rev, M. S. Evers, cu ate of All Saints' Church, Northampton, have each won the Military Cross. The people of Bray, Berkshire, have protested to the Council against. the burial of German officers iz Cieveden Cemetery. The death has taken place at Nuneaton of Thomas James Baker, who was born in a cook shop, Pic- cadilly, 106 years ago. The schoolboys of Folkestone planted flower seeds brought frcm British Columbia, on the graves 3f Canadians at Folkestone. Films of armistice scenes in Lon- don were taken by aeroplane to Paris frcm London. Armor which had been removed from the Tower of London (luring the war has been returned to the Armor- ies. Admiral Sir David and Lady Beat- ty were given a rousing welcome when they returned to their home at Brooksby Hall, Leicestershire, Over one thousand children, who have lost their fathers in the war, were entertained to tea in the Springfield Hall, Wandsworth road. Many horses are be'ng sold by auction at the Army Remount Depot, Ormskirk, and are realising. from to the Germans, were further con- sideree, Plan to Send :4Messengers Put Stop to by Big Four Paris, April 20.—The Council of Four has notified Gamily that the associated powers cannot receive rep- resentatives at Versailles who are merely messengers. The German Government must appoint represen- tatives with plenipotentiary powers. Foreign Minister Count von Brock- dor'ff- Rantzau, of Germany, has an- nounced that three envoys would be sent to Versailles April 25, author- ized to receive the text of the peaee preliminaries. yAr - Measures to be Adopted sedation that he hopes it will not be long before the national game is again in fun swing. Icing Edward's 'School, Aston, has presented a silver casket to Captain Phillips, V.C., one of the old boys of the school. hunired and fifty British ship -masters attended a "Victory Dinner" for the British Mercantile Maine at the Station Hotel, Liver - The King of the Belgians has cre- ated R. Cross, stationmaster at Til - eery, a Chevalier of the Order of Leopold II. for kindness to his sub- jects. Friands of idle late Charles Froh- maati, who lost his life by the sinking of the Lusitania, are cresting a drink- ing fountain at Marlow as a me - If Germany Refuses to Sign morial• A woman applied for a frees bstl- out Canada as may oe found desir- able. Some That Could Smile. ofsgood-natured alcohol." 01007, A LLIS COP t : E, ,,...,A,, ITT (;76T? yti r1 f11j 171 1P.7 t r 1. c1 r� u'..r.1:..m First BolshevikArx'nv i 13:+➢:stun Alon,,,,xthe Pripet River Has Sur- rendered rendered to the P.'ke'a 19iarx. London, April •?0.—Sebastopol has ' ,.•3 at Sint.., 'e1, flat the been evacuated by the Crimean Gov- wrie gmoatly outnumbered, anal have b,en eont'atutiUcl;; brewed bask. (1tn? repots bail re,antry that a 1"reneli squadron wits 00 the ":y to illy' l 131:ick Sen, presumably with the ob- J eet of Saving the groat navel lease. lathe 'Arai 134el'teia is atlliv, 'irfaei:;it- ink in the region of IToniel, along the Pripa' lover, has surrendered to the t?t;rainiah"s; tiecording to a state- ment issued by the Ukrainian Press Bureau and forwarded from -Vienna to the Central News. T,fp to the time oast the report was forwarded 20,- 000 rifles, 85 guns, and 200 machine guns had been handed over to the TTkrainiiina, purposes." Seven IT -Boats Lout in Storni While Being Towed to France Cherbourg, Fra ce April 18..-- Seven Gerrie-lin submarines" on tlfe way here from England in tow have been heel, in a storm. Eight of the under -sea, boats were bound here but 1c• m:,' arrived in safety. lot paper at a Liverpool poll.:.," i'iith as her child had chewed up she first one given her. It is e1rsti),g Westminster City Council nearly £000 to iismantle 'he air-raid shelters and remove •dire tion signs. Kitchener House, in C,rosv onasr Place, has been informa'y menel as a rest and recreattc,n .:r... disabled officers. More thou ton t•ho: :nd shills were repaired and eetarned teirviee between and ;113 end of the. war, One Inuelie d and event•, '1 1v a 'ram the London Police i'`t t rt Mission hive been lle:h"ing .it .h: fr,', and two have Non the `7.17. A Mother. Shat, ttlro'toa upon nc ' 'o o'.- 4Sen. ruling in my 't.:..... 1 am iuldlletl in ' ;1 v ing If ea the 1 i' tae' VI::1'.ttl. 311rt: ttatlr<' rna.rt 1 +.ad a 5r: '1'la,'.. ;t:+'•1 ..,v into thy ] t .r; toe -ed, With thie i aeWjn E tial\ fo In 1.114 t,t,i1,r or sem Mine is thy very ,m. Thy nobleness, talc sewer. Shall lift ole to their gra'''; ,Iy life is but thy dowel'. And thine my dwelling 111a.ce. Scut, throned upon my knee, Thine ant I to destroy; 011, be thou groat for me --- Build me a deathless joy;