THE RUSSIANS IN FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3033, 21 March 1917, Page 5

THE RUSSIANS IN FRANCE

;■■■.,■.'-.. '■ -■* ; -~.■ TEN MONTHS IN THE TRENCHES DARING RAIDS ON THE '■GERMAN LINES'-.' < 'Qficm &.■ "Warner 'Allen.) ,' W ith the Frenoh Army, Jain 1 :13. -.-. Since their, arrival in •France ■.. ten. taonths ago the Russians . have more than served their, apprenticeship' in the ■itrenches, and are masters-in: all the: larts and:wiles of modern warfare.. They , '{have'..chosen, as- their-■■ the' : -.■; kentlecraft.of surprise'attaots on.the; ■'German lines. • . • , ; ! As sobri.as the Russians appeared on jfche front the Germans manifested a ■■'•' (strong desire/to ■capture some Russian .prisoners,: hoping no doubt; to 'obtain ■ : information concerning the.foroa .that ; had come to Franca from the Eastern .' ' pide' of the-beleaguered fortress .that Germany is knday. _ Accordingly. they • 3>egan a series of .'raids on the trenches' / • (that the Russians' had; taken over,' accompanying -their attacks with heavy, Jwmhardments. ..They! soon discovered ihatthe game was one which two could '.' play.; and that the Russians were past ■■■''.■• masters in it. ;•■ Their, efforts to take, prisoners .proved', unavailiug, for the . Russian is a/stubborn fighter,.ready to' die rather than surrender; On the pqnitrary,' the'enemy in thesekcal acfaons lost.Cfuite a.-number of men bothkilled •; Krnd wounded-'and prisoners. _ ' . •".' •'■ The particular Russian regiment that " I visited yesterday, had,.after several : 'months \in the front trenches, only

' cnemaa i&tnrned as missing, andlthat man was almost certainly killed, in the course .of a raid. : This regiment had , . teamed but a 'lars© number of : surprisa on the enemy's -Knes, .and had ■ '■'■' jepulsed 'many similar, assaults, with ■ the result .-that" it could boast a long list of German prisoners.

Born Bayonet Fighters,: / ■• The Russian is a born bayonet fight'er, and'takes naturally to the grenade, tie is prepared to face any hardship, and he is entirely at home in the mud and shell-holes of No '. Man's Land. One. night a patrol of sis men went out .to ,the' enemy" b barbed wire intending to return before dawn: _'Dawn \came and full daylight, and still they had not returned. When darkness fell. 4he sis men reappeared very cheerfully, ■bringing a prisoner with them. ' Their reconnaissance had taken longer ffchan they expected: Just when they were starting back towards'their own lines clawn began' to, break,, and. they saw ithat it would be certain: death to try .'io go back at,once. ,So _with their, prisoner they took, up their position an shell-holes just outside the German barbed wire and waited there until the sun went down' again. . ■ ■ _ In one iof their: raids ; the Russians had as their objective the_clearing of'a small wood between the lines in which the .enemy, had established an advanoed .post. There'wero' sixty Boohes in the .wood, and the attacking, force was considerably out-numbered. The Russians, however; considered that, at close quarters they were far more than a.' match for the same number of Germans. "

Hereto Adventure. . All went well until the moment when

they, reached the border of the wood. ■" " tthen the.enemy discovered their pre- ;•■ sence and opened, a heavy fire.' The 'assailants jumped' to their feet,, ini (tending *• to rush the. enemy defences .with the bayonet and the grenade. An f SofEoer: fell wounded from machine-gun 'Bra',* and at that critical moment the : {Russians came suddenly upon a.barbed wire entsmglement concealed in the (undergrowth, the existence of which fthey had never suspeoted, In these days of machine-guns and automatic 'rifles :the best troops in :, jthe world might well hesitate at such la There was a 6ecqnd of hesitation. . Suddenly the sight of the fallen'offiday whose wound, was only • blight, springing to his feet gave fresh confidence to'.the men. while, one of ■ (the grenadiers, voluntarily choosing the most exposed position, began tu. (hurl his grlenades_ at the Germans he-) ihind the wire with as muoh method iand deliberation as if he were throwing ■them at dummy trenohes in the training camp. : His example was followed toy every man, and. suoh a hail of grenades was poured on the enemy's position.'that ..his. fire was. completely i (overwhelmed. The attack, which might | have been a aostly failure, became a: complete success, bought at tho coßt of. a few slight ■mounds. The enemy had - a, heavy toll is? pay, over fifty.killed j ' and six prisoners. The' Russians came to France by sea yith the full understanding that .'they would not return .•nntil they had cjpened a way for themselves'by land black to their own ooun*T-': .'■"•'■ ■' : : ' ■- ' : " ''■ '