LITTLE PICTURES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16726, 5 December 1914, Page 5

LITTLE PICTURES.

VIVID FLASHES OF WAR. •I. A SEA FIGHT. The Secretary of the Admiralty has issued the following narrative of tho action in tho South Atlantic on September 14 between H.M.S. Carmania and tho German armed merchant ship Cap Trafalgar:— Shortly alter 11 a.m. we made out a vessel, and nearer approach we saw there were three steamers —ono a large liner, the others colliers; tho latter had derricks topped and were probably working when we hove in sight. Before we had raised their hulls they had separated and were making off in different directions. The largo vessel was apparently about our own size, with two funnels, painted to resemble a Castle liner. ■ ... After running away for a little while the large steamer turned to starboard and headed towards us; he was then steering about south and we were steering about south-west. The weather was fine and sunny, with a moderate breeze from tho north-east. Our speed was sixteen knots and his apparently about eighteen. At 8500 yards we fired a. shot across his bows, and he immediately opened fire from his starboard after gun. We opened with all port guns, and 'he firing became general. We were now well within range and most of his shots going over, consequently our rigging, masts, funnels, derricks, and ventilators all suffered; he was then well open on our port side, all our port guns and his starboard guns. engaged and firing rapidly. Owing to decreasing range his machineguns wero becoming particularly dangerous, so the ship was turned away From him and range opened; the ship continued to turn until starboard battery was engaged. Two of our hits wore seen to take his deck steam pipes, he Was well on fire forward, and had a slight list to starboard. One of his shells had passed through the cabin under our fore-bridge, and although it did not burst it started a lire which became rapidly worse, no water being available owing to the liremain having been shot through and the chemical fire, extinguishers proving of very little use. The fire got such a firm hold that the fore-bridge had to be abandoned and the ship" conned from aft, using the lower steering position. At this time the enemy was on our starboard with a heavy list to starboard, and at 1.50 p.m., or ono hour and forty minutes from firing of ilie first shot, she capsized to starboard and went down bows first with colours flying. ;•..: ;.-,.. It was some time before wo got the fire iinder, which necessitated keeping the ship before the wind, and consequently wo could not go to the assistance of the survivors, some of whom got away in boats and wero picked up by one of the colliers.

Tho enemy before sinking was in wireless communication with some German vessel, and as smoke was seen in the northern horizon, and the signalman thought he could make out n cruiser's funnels, we went on full speed to the southward. When we were in touch with Cornwall wo asked him to meet lis, as ship was unsoaworthy and practically all communications and navigational instruments were destroyed, rendering the conning and navigation of the ship difficult and uncertain. On the loth, at 4.30 p.m., the Bristol picked us up and escorted us until relieved by the Cornwall,, who took us on to an anchorage to effect temporary repairs. Seventy-nine projectiles hit the ship, making 304 holes. "IT" BURIED IN THE TRENCHES. I have had somo amusing and exciting experiences, and havo witnessed many awful sights, but I think the saddest was tho digging out of a number of men from a kind of subterranean passage or oave, which had fallen in and buried about thirty of the Camerons. The other night information was brought to the camp that the Cameron Highlanders had met with a disaster, and I was sent off immediately with a party of our chaps to go to their Assistance. We were taken to a spot on a hillside, which reminded me of the caves of Cheddar, and which had been shelled. The turf and earth was thrown up in all directions as the result of a bombardment. There were several large and small caves, and one of them had been used as a hiding-place by the Cameron 3. No doubt this was spotted by the Germans, for they directed their guns on it, and it collapsed. Tho poor fellows were buried underneath many tons of earth. This happened early in the day, and although several attempts had been made to extricate the men, very little could be done, as the bursting of the shells on the same spot drove off the small rescue parties. I had to leave before the work was completed, but helped to dig out two dead officers and 1 several men. Tho position of these caves was well known to the Germans, for they had previously occupied them, and no doubt took a fiendish delight in smashing them up when they saw the Camerons take shelter in them. Two or, three of the thirty wore got out alive, but their limbs wore so ba Hy crushed that they cmild not live.—• (Sapper Bell, in the " Daily News.") ~nT~ RETREAT FROM ANTWERP. Interrogated as to their feelings the first time in action, the Clyde naval men agreed that it was pretty nervetrying at first to hear the weird shrieking of the heavy shells from the big German howitzers as they passed oyer their heads and crashed into tho city or the forts. " You could not help your heart giving a jump or two when those Jack Johnsons were coming along," said one man, " but you gradually got used to it and tho roar of the explosions." There was a pretty general agreement amongst the Clyd'e men as to thes© experiences. They stated that there were somo big trees in front of the trenches they were occupying, and some of these, five or six feet in diameter, were cut down by the shells as if they had been paper. The men stated that they believed tho Germans were effectively bluffed as to the numbers holding the trenches around Antwerp. "If they had known that there werej

so few of us, they would certainly have rushed the trenches on the Tuesday or Wednesday," observed' ono of my informants. "There was no shoulder to shoulder about it: wo were about a couple of yards apart, and there was just the oiio lino around the defences. " The hardest part, as far as we were concerned, was that we had to put up with the shelling hour after hour without a chance of replying, as there were no Germans in sight, the guns being miles away. The Belgians were very good comrades in the trenches, bringing us round hotpot at night, and some of them would go out and come back with bottles of wine, which they gave us. This was very acceptable' to wash down the hard biscuits that were served out to us. The end came very snddenlv on Thursday night, when wo were ordered to withdraw and march with all speed from Antwerp. Yon can judge the way we marched when T tell you wo covered eleven miles in the first two hom-B. " We had a march of over thirty miles altogether, and were very lucky to escape the Germans, who were hot on our track. Our .train was run by two stokers helonging to the Clyde division, as there was not an enginedriver to be found. The train was under fire during the journey, but we got safe through. The .2000 of our brigade.who had to go into Holland to escape capture were evidently gust too late to get clear of the Germans. "I am afraid our two cooks are prisoners," added another man. " W© had told them to get supper by ten o clock on Thursday night, and in the rush there was no' time to inform them of the retreat, and they got left behind. —("Daily Telegraph.") rv. CAPTURING THE KAISER. Baseless rumours current among the Russian army in East Prussia, that tho .Emperor William was at Lyck, set up among; the Cossacks keen rivalry as to who should be first to capture that monarch. One day a Cossack noncommissioned officer came into camp with a prisoner, whom he announced to be unmistakably Wilhelm. It was, however, necessary to disillusion him, as his captive, though bearing a strong resemblance to tho Emperor, especially in his hirsute adornments, was merely a lieutenant of Uhlans. Undi6couraged by his mistake, the same Cossack, on tho following day, brought in two prisoners, aud declared that "one of them must be Wilhelm." Needless to say, ho suffered a. second disappointment, and, as this fruitless chase threatened to interfere with the proper funotions of the Russian patrols, strict orders have been issued that "William is not to be captured." V. GERMAN SPIES. Old men fifty years of age and young boys of sixteen were fighting us at Antwerp, and at_ Liege and', other places men of considerable age., humpbacked and hobbling, were left to guard the railways and other points. At Antwerp many of the old German ! soldiers were dressed in private clothes —we supposed because they had not been able to get uniforms. Their spy system is wonderful. When we got on the boat to come to England'/ three men, dressed as Belgian soldiers, also came on ■ board., From tho wa.y they wore their caps, however, they were suspected, and discovered to be German spies. They wore quickly taken ashore for the usual fate of such men. —(Statement by Belgian officer.) VI. DULL DAYS. An officer in the Royal Field Artillery, writing to a friend at Oxford, under date Heptembor 30, says; "This'iß the eighteenth day of thiß

so-called battle. For the last fortnight we have hardly fired at all, and have not been shot at except, for a few chanco shells which they aro in the habit of chucking over ridges and woods at random, but as. We are absolute beavers these days it did no harm except to wound a horse. We are very comfortable in an enormous- field of mangolds. • The men have dug themselves great trenches, which they have roofed in with about three feet of earth. They sleep in these, and are very warm and quite dry. ! ?* We have built ourselves a- top-holo palace of sheep..hurdles "and straw. It was too small, so we built another and altered the roof, as thoro were no more hurdles. We built it of brushwood, covered the top with sailcloth which we looted off a waggon. . ' 1 •' We get very bored these days with doing nothing/ We (deep close to .the guns and have to be ready to open firo at anv time. Wo get up ahout o a.m., and then have to amuse ourselves, chieflv bv digging holes and making huts until it gets dark, when we feed and go to bed—about 7.30 p.m. VII. TO KEEP TOMMY'S FEET WARM. " It's very cold at nights now in the trenches, and I suppose we shall bo feeling it more in another month. " 9 shall have to keep our feet warm ing the Germans,'' says Sergeant F. It. Hall, of the C Company Kings Royal Rifle Corps, in a letter from France to his brother. "To our front the enemy are strongly entrenched, and it is chiefly yet an artillery battle, giving us quite as much and more than we want of shell fire. While they were shelling the village I speak of there was .a strav cow walking about unconcernedly between the houses, and six shells struck no more than a dozen yards from it, aud left it uninjured; marvellous escapes, I can assure you, when you have seen what one of their shells can do. Another escape one of our chaps had. He was on the look-out behind a wall when one of their shells struck and knocked down tho wall only live paces away from him. The only thing that saved him was that tho shell did not burst, and I can tell von ho considers himself a lucky man to-day. Their aeroplanes must be very useful to them (and also ours to «» for that matter), as both of them fly well over each other's lines. I have seen it stated that their artillery » no good. Don't run away with that idea. One of their heavy guns caused over sixty casualties in our battalion, and thev seem to pick up ranges very quickly—too quickly for us. However, we give it them back with interest, and I .should like the Kaiser's opinion of ' General French's contemptible little army ' now. Wo have heard this morning 'that the French have had !» victory on our right, and hope it is true. Wo want to get them on the run again. Wo cannot buy a single thing ourselves here, cannot even get cigarette papers, and the troops are making then- with old newspapers when they have tobacco." —("Nottingham Guardian.") i