Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 65, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 March 1915 — HEROIC FIGHTING IN FRENCH STREETS [ARTICLE]

HEROIC FIGHTING IN FRENCH STREETS

English Officer Write* Home of Night Attack That Show* Courage of Soldier*. FIRING AT CLOSE QUARTERS Men Run Seventy Yard* In Front of German Barricade to Reacue Comrade. , London. —Much heroic fighting has taken place in France to which no publicity has been given. For instance, one officer writes home a* follows: “The other night we had to attack a town in order to try and secure the bridge over the river the other side of it. During the day we had got one tiny corner of It, and as soon as it got dark were able to bring up the dismounted men and gun. There were some crossroads in the middle of the village barricaded and held by the Germans. “The road down which we had to make an attack was slightly curved about 150 yards from the barricade, and behind the barricade was a square with about 50-yard sides. There were about three smoldering houses just behind and to the left of the barricade. “The gun was man-handled down to the bend in the road and then six rounds were fired at the barricade with the object of blowing it down. The squadrons were drawn up in troop columns, one behind the other, in rear •f the gun. “Three troops were to make the attack on the barricade, three troops were to guard the side roads coming in from the right between the gun and the barricade and the other squadron was to guard our rear and line of retreat.

“The gun went off suddenly and brought down the glass all over the place on our heads. When we thought the barricade was down we rushed down the street toward it, and on reaching it found it was intact. As soon as we started pulling it down the Germans opened fire from the streets and houses. We pulled a Maxim up into the window of a house, some of us stood in the streets and fired, others tried to break into the houses on either side, and the noise and the crashing of a burning house were appalling. “After about 10 minutes the Germans retreated round the corner toward the bridge. On looking round the corner we found another barricade about 70 yards away. They opened on us with a Maxim and started throwing flares. The guns started shelling from over our heads. It is impossible to describe the scene. Sometimes It was pitch dark, and then the flames would shoot up from the house and show the men’ crouching in the doorways or lying behind the barricades we had built on the side roads. “We hadn't enough men to take the second barricade, and for some time one of our poor fellows, shot through the head, lay in the square. We were there from 6p. m. till 1:30 o clock in the morning, and just before we got the order to retire three men volun teered to go out and bring in the wounded man from the square. “They had to take their boots off and run over in the dark, find the man and bring him in, all in front of a Maxim and the Lord knows how many men only 70 yards away. A fine performance.-’