Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 89, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 April 1918 — SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE [ARTICLE]

SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE

INTERESTING LETTER AND CLIPPING FROM FRENCH PAPER. The following letter was received from Fred Hamilton with the clipping attached which is from the Daily Mail published in Paris: April 5, 1918. Dear Folks: — I am sorry I have not had the opportunity of writing sooner, but, I guess the papers will explain everything. lam enclosing an article extracted from the “Daily Mail.” The one sergeant and two privates was our battery. Dad and mother and sis, I am surely lucky and I hope my good luck continues. I am feeling fine and have no kick to make. Just had a few hours sleep and I am going back into it again full of life and high hopes. Now you do not want to worry about me, I will come through all 0. K. Dad,. it is glorious to be in it and I enjoy it and fell proud to have the pleasure of killing a few of the square headed Germans. Have to close now, with love to all, Your son, FRED

The clipping is headed, “Heroic Defence of Arras. Enemy Stopped by Courage. German Mass Attacks Beaten.” The article 'was written by Hamilton Fyfe. It was dated “With The British Army In France, Monday, April 1.” I have just come from a camp where some of the gallant fellows who stour td the Germans from getting through to Arras, are resting after the nell fire and' fatigue whi-n t. ey (.nJ.tied. In the warm afternoon, sunshine which had followed some dark driving April showers, they were sitting or lying about contentedly. A bugle and side-drum band was making a cheerful noise up and down the parade ground. Not far away a football match was going on, for “football as usual” is the brave motto of our sport and exercise loving troop whatever happens. 'But these were London men. Those I saw belonged to the London Riflle Brigade, and they did not want to play football. They were not listening to the band. They lay and blinked at the sun and the white clouds drifting across the vault of blue. Easter had brought to them a personal realisation of what the Resurrection means. They had been in the very jaws of death, and each one was saying to himself, as men do after battle: “It was only by a mircale that I escaped.” Here was a man who had been buried in one of our outposts, when the German push for Arras began with so terrific a bombardment. Only he escaped. Another post had the luck to be less heavily shelled. When the enemy came over the garrison starfed them with machine-guns until it was surrounded, and then it cut its was through them and to the amazement of its battalion com-x mander rejoined the main body. It looks as if the Germans here must have been of a better -kind than ordinary. Four of our men carrying a wounded officer on a stretcher were overtaken by a party of attackers. They thought it all up with them and their burden, but the Germans only took away their rifles and let them go on. Even more surprising was the account a padre gave me of a Prussian officer, captured and brought into an advanced dressing station. When he was asked for his papers the seachers said apologetically: “Sorry, but we have to do it.”

“ Yes, yes,” replied the other, “I understand quite well. It is the rule with us, too. But will you please let me have my photographs back.” A refreshing contrast that to the usual behaviour of officers captured belonging to the Junker caste. .Contrary to our usual experience the prisoners all agree in putting their losses very high. Generally they vary in estmates. Some say that units suffered to the extent of 60 per cent. It is certain that when our “heavies” shelled the places where they were assembling the troops for the assault an enormous number was killed. Later when they were packed tight in our advanced trenches the “heavies” got on them again and did terrible execution. When they ran out into the open to escape, they were caught by the Lewis and machine-gunners. One machine-gun crew counted 450 dead in front of them. Another counted 400. One of our divisions north of Arras beat off the assaults of three German divisions. Two divisions south of the city withstood the shock of three and part of a fourth. In this latter area there was desperate fighting in our trench system. Some Lancashire men fought until all were either killed or wounded. A north-country officer headed the party in defending a battalion headquarters. He took a rifle himself and fought to the last The Germans Jwere twice beaten out before they ■ overwhelmed the defence of their numbers. A man among men is the commander of this party. How he escaped alive no one can understand. 'He was in the thick of the fight When the Germans were advancing he was firing into them with a rifle. He fired 300 rounds and he says you

simply couldn’t miss. He was very; much impressed by the way the ad-1 vance was made. , They came on deliberately, almost shoulder to shoulder. They wore huge packs.] They carried six or seven days’ t rations, an extra pair of boots and, two blankets. They evidently meant; to go a long way. We stopped that all right. It was stopped by the resolute courage of the men in the trenches and by the fierceness of our machine-gun fire. Round about Arras • the lie of the land is very suitable for machinegunners. They were so pleased with themselves that there was no holding them. A staff officer told me yesterday that they simply “mopped up the Boches.” The artillery did, too. Their only complaint is that there were too many targets. I think one decided advantage which the defenders of Arras had over the troops who bore the brunt of the attack on March 21 was the absence of heavy mist. In many places this prevented our artillery and machine-gunners, farther south from seeing the enemy’s advance and getting on to him. I see the German wireless is trying to make light of the severe repulse inflicted upon the troops who were expected not only to take Arras but to secure the Vimy Ridge. This is so usual a trick that it scarcely seems necessary to unmask it. We do not "thing they meant to sweep us back from Arras and the ridge. We know it from captured documents. No do we merely surmise their losses. We are sure about them. Our men showed the very finest qualities of pluck and determination. Some south country men in a particularly hot corner sent word back: “We shall fight to the last man.” They disputed every yard of their trenches, blocking them and bombing the enemy across the block, then going back a little and repeating the manoeuvre. • When the bombs gave out they used their riflles and after it all, I have heard, the battalions came out singing when they were relieved. I have no doubt the men I come from visiting will be singing tomorrow when they are not so dazed by wa!H of sleep and by the awful ■tumult of the battle from which they have just emerged.