INCIDENTS OF WAR

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 102, 27 October 1914, Page 5

INCIDENTS OF WAR

GERMAN CAVALRY ROUT^ WIPING OUT LOUVAIN THOROUGH METHODS. A story oi a fine stand by tho Irish Guards was told to the London Evening News by one of the British soldiers who were wounded in the righting at Compiegne on Ist September, when ten of the enemy's guns were captured: — " We were in a field when the Germans dropped on ua all of a sudden. The first nmt we had of their presence was when a battery of guns on the right sang out, dropping shells into a mob of us who were waiting for our turn afc the washtub — the river. There was no panic as far as I saw, only some of our fellows who had not had a wash for a long time said strong tilings about, the Germans spoiling the best chance we had had for four days. We all ran to our posts in response to the bugles which rang out all along 'the line. " By the time we all stood to arms, the German cavalry came into view in great strength all along the left front. As soon as they came within range, we poured a deadly volley into them, emptying saddles right and left, and they scattered in all directions. Meanwhile their artillery kept working up closer on the front, and a dark cloud of infantry showed out against the skyline on our front, advancing in a formation rather loose for the Germans. We opened on them, and they made a fine target for our rifle fire, which was very well supported by our artillery. The fire from our guns was very effective, the range being found with ease, and we could see shells dropping right into the enemy's ranks. Here and there their lines began to waver and give way, and finally they disappeared. Half an hour later more infantry appeared on our right front, but we could not say whether it was the saino or another body. This time they were well ( supported by artillery, mar chine guns, and strong forces of cavalry on both flanks. "All came on at a smart pace, with the apparent plan of seizing a hill on our right. At the same moment our cavalry came into view. Then the whole guards' brigade advanced. It was l'eally a race between the two parties to reach the hill first, but the Germans Won easily owing to their being nearer by half a mile. As soon ns their guns and infantry had taken up a position the cavalry came along in a huge mass, with the intention of riding down the vlrishv lrish Guards, who were nearest to them. When the shock came ifc seemed terrific to us in tho distance. The Irishmen did not recoil in the least, but flung , themselves right across* the path of the German horsemen. We could hear the crack of the rifles, and see the German horses impaled on the bayonets of tho front ranks of the guardsmen. "Then the whole force of tho infantry and cavalry were mixed up in one confused heap like so many pieces frofti a .Jigsaw puzzle. The shells from the British and German batteries kept dropping close to the tangled mass of fighting men, and then we saw the German horsemen get clear and take lo flight as fast as their horses would carry them. Some had no horses, and they were bayoneted where they stood." HAVOC BY SIEGE GUNS. Some idea of the power of the German siege artillery is conveyed in a cable message sent on 9th September by Karl Yon Wiegiuid, Berlin correspondent of the United Press of America, In recounting a visit to the T.iege forts after the bombardment by the Germans, Mr. Yon Wiogand says : — "The ruins of Fovt Pontisse showed the marvellous accuracy of the German mortars. From a range of five miles shells had repeatedly dropped on the 12ft steel turrets, which projected only* 3ft above the ground, until the turrets became immovable. One shot fired by the new 42-centimetre (16in) gun had gone through 10ft of concrete into a subterranean chamber. A number of bodies are still under the ruins. In the magazine we still found large > quantities of ammunition. Fort Loncine is a mass of ruins, but the most terrible aspect is shown at Fort Lantin, situated on a high ridge, which looked like the crater of a huge volcano. Here a 42-centimetre shot pierced 12ft of concrete into a magazine deep under the ground. The magazine exploded, and the entire fort was obliterated. Nothing remains' but a vast hole in tho ground, 30ft deep, strewn with huge blocks of cement.^ The steel turrets are broken and twisted like tin. One hundred and fifty were killed there, and there are still 50 bodies in the ruins which cannot be got at. The odour was horrible. The indescribable havoc created showed that the stories of the new gun are not exaggerated." LOUVAIN'S BLACKENED SHELL, "A blackened shell" is the descrip-* tion given of Louvain after the Germans had sacked the place by Richard Harding Davis, special correspondent of the New York- Tribune. Mr. Davis was arrested as a spy in Belgium, and was held in a train at Louvain during the burning of that town. In his cabled story Mr. Davis stated :—": — " The Germans sentenced Louvain to become a wilderness, and with the German system and love of thoroughness they left Louvain an empty, blackened shell. The reason for this appeal to the torch and the execution of non-combatants, as given to me by General yon Lutwitz, the military governor of Brussels, was this. On Wednesday, while the German military commander of the troops in Louvain was at the Hotel de Ville talking to the burgomaster, a son of -the burgomaster shot, with> an automatic pistol, the chief of the staff and German staff suTgeons. General yon Lutwitz claims that this was a. signal for the civil guard in civilian clothes on the roofs to firo on the German soldiers in the open square below. He said also that the Belgians had quick-firing guns brought from Antwerp. Inasmuch as for a week the Germans had occupied Louvain, and had closely guarded all approaches, the story that there was any gun-running is absurd." Fifty Germans were killed and wounded, and for that, *said General yon Lutwitz, "Louvain must be wiped out." Mr. Davis spoke of fifty Britisli prisoners he saw in Louvain. " Erect and soldierly they regarded the Germans, who outnmbered but not defeated them, with calm and uncurious eyes. In one way 1 1 was glad to see them there. Later they will bear witness as to how the enemy makes a wilderness and calls it war. In no part of northern Europe is there a countryside fairer than that between Aix la Chapelle and Brussels, but the Germans have made of it a graveyard. It looks as though a cyclone had uprooted its houses, gardens, and orchards, and a prairie fire had followed." SCENES IN BERLIN. Letters received at Stockholm enabled the special correspondent in that city of the London Daily Telegraph to describe the position 111 Berlin. The correspondent stated : — "There has been one 'change in the face of the city. Every English and French name has disappeared. One of the amusing sides of this frantic effort to eliminate everything foreign comes to the suiface when we see the clocks in a jeweller's, which formerly registered the hour m every capital in the world, with paper carefully paeted over tho names of London, Paris, St. Petersburg, and Brussele. On the broad sea map in the window of tho I North German Lloyd office not a minia«

tur© vessel float* on the seascape. In tho confusion that has engulfed commerce, trade secrets are being stripped of their petty deception. 'Sheffield steel' bas for many years been manufactured and exported from Germany, and all the famous makes of English gloves are pat together in Bavaria. "The Berliner gets his glimpse of the other side of the picture at the Red Cross Hospital, in the Dorottcn Strasae. All day a stream of eager-eyed people search the lists of wounded that are posted on the red brick walls. Each day a, new list is pasted over that of the previous day. Never does the list contain more than 1500 on any one day, and the lists give only the most meagre details. Such wounded as are Brought to Berlin arrive at night. The gruesome side of the conflict must be kept from the people at all costs. In Berlin th« military are everywhere. Troops paas each day down the broad streets, bound for a train that will take them to some field' army. Now they hardly receive a cheer, so acdustomed have the Berliners become to such sights. "Underneath all the almost fierce animation of the populace there la aa acute feeling ot anxiety. After all, this is a nation of supreme gamblers. They have risked their whole existence on this throw of the dice, and something of the reckless tetnper of chance is seen in the eyes of all with whom you come in contact."