BAITING THE BAVARIANS.

Hokitika Guardian, 9 July 1917, Page 4

BAITING THE BAVARIANS.

HOW THE IRISH TEASE THE HUN. Excessively sympathetic guards have on more than one occasion had to intervene (says a correspondent at the front) to prevent the Prussians and Bavarians in the cages behind Arras from beatingeach other to death. The domestic tribulations of the enemy evoke a certain wicked interest among the British soldiers, and to cqmplete the enemy’s bewilderment they afford particular amusement to the Irish troops, whom the Germans have been taught to regard as irreconcilable and unwilling . con-

scripts. The attitude of certain Irish battalions during the present battle has helped to disillusion them. One fire-eating aggregation of Home Rulers, who have distinguished themselves whenever they have had an' opportunity Ho get at the Hun, helped to take Bois-en-Haclie, waist high in mud, while they were enfiladed by nine ma-chine-guns from an empty.redoubt, and then celebrated the victory by baiting the evicted tenants, who sought shelter in the emergency trenches nearer Lievin.

They'’ crawled out in the night and stuck a board in t)ie mud of the new No Man’s hand wjtli the inscription, “We .took 9000 Bodies yesterday.” All next day* angry Bavarians shot at the board, but they could not send it over. Next night the irishmen crawled out again q.pd .changed life inscription, “We have now taken 11,000 prisoners.” The same battalion flung a stick bomb into the German wire witji a rope attached, and throughout the night kept the nervous garrison on tenterhooks by* pulling the rope and rattling the bomb against the meshes of the entanglements. The Bavarians kept darting out of the dug-outs to meet a fresh attack of the Irishmen, and by* the time daylight appeared they* jiad bombed their oyvn wire to ribbons-