Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 279, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 November 1914 — BLUNDER IS COSTLY [ARTICLE]

BLUNDER IS COSTLY

Belgian Regiment Almost Wiped Out on the Yser. Germans by False Uniform Trap WornOut Foes—Only 100 Survive of 600 Men—Deep Water in Trenches. London, England.—The Daily News describes the terrible experiences of one Belgian regiment during the battle on the coast when this regiment withdrew from Antwerp. Through an error it was given two days’ drill and inspection, instead of rest, and then went into action again in the network of trenches on the banks of the Yser. The newspaper’s correspondent in his dispatch quotes one of the soldiers in this body as follows: “There was a farm on our right and some of our men were firing at it when the door opened and three officers in Belgian uniforms stepped out, shouting to cease firing. We sent a detachment of men to the. farm and they were swept away by machine gun fire. Trench Filled With Water. “Later we .entered the trenches. They were full of water and I was firing for six hours, thigh deep in water. The German machine guns shot us out of crevices in a raised bank only « few yards across the river. The Germans then got into our cross trenches and fired down our lines. We had to run back. I was too sleepy to run. I must have fallen asleep and then we must have been ordered to advance. I was too tired to get up, but some one kicked me and I got up, as did the man in front of me. He immediately was shot through the head and fell* back on me. I got up again. A shell burst near me and three men who were running past just disappeared. In Trenches With Germans.

“I found myself running forward again with others with fixed bayonets onto the Germans, who were firing from our own trenches. We were 200 left from 600. They did not wait, but scrambled over the bank across the river. We crouched in a big trench in muddy water. It was dark and we heard, we thought, Germans whispering on the river side of our bank only six feet away from us. The speakers were 300 Germans who had stayed on our side, fearing to cross the river under our fire. Only 100 of Regiment Left. “So we stayed all night. Neither they nor we slept. Some of our men who crept up the bank to look over were shot. Some of the Germans climbed oyer t q,pd we fired at their heads, hands and arms as they became visible. A few made holes through the loose earth, -through which we fired on each other. Then the French got around the epd and there was heavy firing. We heard a few of the enemy slipping down to the river edge and the splashing of water. Then we scrambled over the bank and won. Only 100 of our regiment now remain."