The Colonel Wanted A Prisoner

Northern Advocate, 28 May 1940, Page 9

The Colonel Wanted A Prisoner

The colonel wauled a prisoner so that the enemy in front of him might be identified, and one of his subalterns, commanding an outpost in the j foothills of the Vosges, set about getting one, writes ‘‘The Times’’ correspondent with the French forces. There was no likelier place than a ; deserted German village on the other ! bank of a stream that marks the border little more than a hundred yards away from the French post. Every house and turn of it Was • known, and it was also known that the Germans came into the village at night. Whole Village Astir. Plans were made, and in the dim light just before dawn a lieutenant and a handful of men set out for their j prisoner. ! Crouching low they crossed the | stream on a plank of wood and machine-guns were silently moved into position on the French bank to cover their retreat. The shadows crept forward to the first cottage and some of them entered by a window. It was empty. So were the second and third houses, but the officer posted men in them and in the alleyways. As he emerged into the streets ;hqwalked straight into the burly figure of a German sergeant. In the act of raising his sub-machine-gun the sergeant was shot down by a French corporal, and in an instant the whole village was astir. French Outnumbered. The French were badly outnumbered by a body of Germans who rushed on them fx’om the other end of the street, but the lieutenant had time sling the wounded sergeant across his shoulder and beat a retreat with his man in a hail of bullets. Half-way across the stream the plank collapsed, and several of the party, including the lieutenant and his prisoner, {ell into the water, though by this time their machine-guns were blazing away as the enemy scuttled' for shelter in the houses and they were able to scramble to safety unharmed. In spite of immediate medical attention the German sergeant died (he was a brave map, they said) and we saw his grave with a black cross at its he*d. • He had cut off his colour tabs and numerals, but his captors still had means of identifying his regiment. Patience Their Virtue. This incident in the dawn is another j example of the raids that are going on all along the frontier. j We had come up in the dead of night, past sentries whose faces were tense in the light of their torches, to the headquarters of this advanced position, and they told us the story as we played a rubber of bridge with revolvers on the table. , An hour or so later another of these splendid patrols went out to lie ‘in ambush, This time without coming to grips with their adversaries. Patience is not the least of their virtues.