STORIES OF WAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16646, 3 September 1914, Page 7

STORIES OF WAR.

WINDED HIGHLANDER'S EXPERIENCE ' GERMANS BLUFFED FRENCH. ; THEN.SWEPT DOWN ON BRITISH. ly Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON, September 1. Among the war stories-* is one by a wounded Highlander. Referring to tbs days' battle he says:—" The

Germans bluffed the French intCM. & e belief that the main attack woilW be near Charleroi, and while they] e preparing for the Germans,)■ - latter, with a striking force, ? of»° ur hundred thousand men, were searching for the weakest point, which 'wasvrnere the British happened to be placed. : "They hurled themselves at an< J before we could look round thep ot hell was lifted. At first they advanced as though for a picnic. "We ploughed gaps yards wide'he re and there. They then realised that a funeral march would be more appropriate. ; •: "When we first began the retreav on Monday, the Germans pressed all available arms to harass us and shepherd us into a position wherb they could have driven a wedge between us and the French. We fought all wo knew to prevent that achievement. " Every man was awaro that the safety of the French army depended on our firmness. The heaviest losses occurred/while covering the retreat on Monday and the following days. It was then our guns were lost. "The three guns had a weak lniantry simoort, which did their utmost to stay the onward r,ush. The Goreian marksmen picked off our horses, and then cavalrv swooped down. The officers realised that it was useless to make further sacrifices, and ordered an abandonment. I only saw one battery thus "In another case the 'lancers swooped down and killed the last men of one battery, but the situation was saved by a couple of companies of the Munster Fusiliers, who rushed at the enemy with fixed bayonets, and put them to flight. "Later on the Munster Volunteers captured a few German horses. The last 1 I saw was the Munster men and the horses dragging the guns away." "COME AND FETCH US." THE BRITISH WAY. A private in the Yorkshire Buffs declares'that it was simply grand to see tho cool way in which the men blazed away at the solid German masses. One company exhausted its ammunition. A German officer, under the white flag, offered to spare it if it surrendered, but the men only laughed, and told him to " come and fetch us.' "The Germans crept closer and closer." he continued. "When they thought they had us we rushed at them to show how British surrender, with our bayonets. They were completely taken and met us with clubbed rifles, but we fought our way out safely." GERMAN BRUTALITY. * IN THE FIGHT AT MONS. LONDON, September 1. Mr Martin Donohoo ("Daily Chronicle") relates that a sergeant in the Middlesex Regiment, wounded' at Mons, lay helpless while the Gorman infantry swept/by,'and the cries of tho wounded told Ifim that they were being ruthlessly slaughtered. The sergeant simulated death as the Germans passed. He received a violent blow on the chest with a rifle butt, which broke a rib. Another Prussian stabbed him with a bayonet. HEROIC IRISHMEN.

Another wounded soldier states: —" I saw a handful of Irishmen throw themselves in front of a regiment of cavalry, trying to cut off the horses of the battery. Not one of the poor lads escaped. '"'But later they were finally avenged. The cavalry came down and the Irish lads used their bayonets."

UKE SHOOTING RABBITS." THE GERMAN ADVANCE AT MONS. (Received September 2, 7.50 p.m.) > LONDON, September 1. Mounted men- of the West Kent Regiment state that South Africa was a game of skittles compared with Mons. The Germans came in great masses. It was like shooting rabbits, only as fast as one was shot another replaced him. Rifle bullets caused a very small proportion of the wounds, whereas the effects of. the shells were terrible. TRAITOR AS GUIDE. (Received September 2, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, September 1. ' During the fighting at Mons an interpreter guide in French uniform led the British advance party into many nasty . situations, and eventually into the arms of a superior German force. A British soldier who escaped relates that he saw a captain shoot the guide. A GENERAL'S STOICISM. (B>eceived September 2, 5.5 p.m.) PARIS, September 1. General Castlenau's son was killed while leading his company at Charleroi. General Castlenau, who is German Chief of Staff, was giving orders to the staff when an officer bluntly broke the newsGeneral Castlenau paused a moment, then without emotion said, "Let us get on, gentlemen." POOR GERMAN MARKSMANSHIP. BUT BARE LEGS MAKE TARGETS. (Received September 2, 5.5 p.m.) . LONDON, September 1. The consensus of opinion of the wounded who have been brought to England is that the German rifle fire is extremely poor. Even the overwhelming numbers probably would not have availed but for the excellent German gun fire. The wounded state that the reason so many Highlanders were wounded in the legs and feet was that their legs are easily visible at a distance against the khaki.