BATTLEFIELD SCENES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15748, 24 October 1914, Page 2 (Supplement)

BATTLEFIELD SCENES.

FIGHTING DAY AND NIGHT.

ALGERIANS IN ACTION.

EAGER FOR A CHARGE.

Tins scones in a town in the north of Fume just after the tide of German in-j vasion had been turned, are thus described | in a London newspaper:— I Although the ordinary life of a great ' commercial r:ty continued apparently unchecked, the appearance of convoys of . wounded and the constant movement of ; troops threading their way through the j ?!'.■<-•< at,.l tinkling Irani" revealed the I trui A great anxiety was written oil i the iVr* of all the inhabitants, and the mc.wni.-n'B , :' lhe French generals, their T"..(,,r .-hi. .• v 1 Maffs were cigerlv watched : .1- :' 'ii i! . ;-• if wi it to ovoect 1" t':.o in,,'. 11 ,-f p itiirrl.iv night the »""■' •' i . "<:•: i'it loin,- cave the alarm, nod -■■•• >'- ~...| ■• or were hastily roused ' '" oiiv-- .IT t-i (he field. hater a strong 1 '•■'' '■'■ > I'- itv Littered along the paved s'le. !•:. \< t''e ii' ruing wore on the n>'>vrni"! ' :' ir ■ ,••- ihv'tigh the city made i '' ivn.-r.! •' i' ,; ■ r'.ve could no longer ! '" M I Hi-'i a "Tin of loud explosions, j"-! •<- :'■■ .-re..; f;„thic (Vhedral dis- (*"'-'.■ I >'- ■■ ''.r-'.-■!•' >n. tilled '!i«. towns f '■'■■ « ■': '• ir ,| ,| «| r, ad the idea that : a. • c': we;-,, h iv! arding. I Sons of the Desert. | Tie '<•' ■ .'-• ( 4 , record of the rattle I <-' ■ - "i- "e .-.-Mint counter attack of a ; '' ■'■' ' \!.j> van N'.nive Infantry. These, < r,v im '-■;: ', th"ough the Sunday crowd at ! '""' ■'■' '-■" I'T ..line of a tropical sun. and '' •-'»-. it ■"■■ ■•«■ 1 down their swarthy faces •''-" '!■'.■•' tract el idly out of the city. A -en:.: '..! . .1,.. ted to see them march ■~ ! ' ■''' "'" m ■•• '.I. le was moving and ! '';'"'' ' ■' !'■•• b'ghe.st degree. The sons i ■: ').,- ',=,..., 1 r.e.ight ron) another cop 1 . * ; ""'' ' ' heli, in a Kuropean quarrel, the i ' *' ' ' iv..v: -us i itizrtis and women cheer- i i'U' th- r dusky defenders, the long lithe! "''•' "' '"*"' _■, Mi pry marching swiftly forward 'i -ii.. ■if their heavy narks, and ' the '''•'• crow' of distant, artillery to keep '; all n<r\e- ajar completed the situation. i In th" r.,nks of one battalion a voting ! man :i i lain clothes pushed a bicycle, J Th' locked like an English journalist. As we w.t,. !:<>d their countenances the Tien gr'nr.cd la. U a greet inc. some of them i sh- k t::e : r rule? in the direction of the ; enemy and made the gesture of cutting a I throat with a movement of their disen- I g-iged hard The joy of battle and the ' Just for hand-to-hand conflict made their <-<rr-s iparkle and their faces radiant. The I Fieu'h nfriccrs who marched at the head < of the companies looked grave and deter- ' mined, The- great heat and the tense excitement .if the moment were producing a I certain effect, but the regiments stepped ] gallantly along, winding their way to the ! south east. When they reached the scene ; of action a general movement of closing to i if* rigid was taking place in the whole j French army, but without forming up the i Algerian Rifles were launched in an attack ] against the right flank of the German I brigade engaged in this part of the field, I while a battalion was pushed through a wood on the flank of the attack to cover it from enterprises of the next German I column. The Algerians bounded through the bracken like a pack of hounds, reached the outer edge without showing a man, and lined it with a continuous array of etcallhy marksmen. Exhausted , Cavalry. In tho meanwhile their comrades streamed quickly forwards in irregular lines and in small groups. They soon gamed upon the retiring lino of German infantry, but never succeeded in getting close enough to deliver the charge with steel for which they longed. Impelled somewhat by this attack, the whole French lino pushed forward some distance, and oc- I cupied :. strong lino as the dusk of a lovely summer's evening gradually veiled the rolling plain. Their staff officers and orderlies sped up and down the roads in motor-cars and on motor-cycles; squadrons of utterly exhausted cavalry, which had lieen in close touch with the enemy since the previous evening, gradually fell back through the villages behind infantry outposts ; staffs assembled, drafted their orders for the morrow, snatched some food, and slept the sleep of exhaustion in the billets hastily assigned to them. Quiet | Kink upon the landscape save for the mono- i tonous rumble of carts carrying awav the i wounded] and otherwise continuing the ceaseless labour of replenishing and evacu- j ating required by a mass of troops in the I enemy's presence. Staff Officers' Work. A feature of the warfare of to-day is that it never ceases by day or night. Where the troops on both sides have been exhausted during the day by marching or fighting they are addicted to resting by night, but if fresh troops arrive on one side or tho other, they choose the most favourable moment for initiating or resuming a struggle ; it may be just before dark, or just before or just after daybreak, or later. During the night, especially if fighting nas taken place on a wide front, or if, as on I Sunday last, a considerable gap exists between groups of army corps, the work of ! " liaison," as it is technically called, has to be done by staff officers in motor-cars. , After reports have been received from the I different divisions and regiments at the ' headquarters of this army corps of their position at the. end of the day, of their hisses and successes, the whole picture of i the situation is pieced together, and in- i formation Rent off by car to neighbouring , iorpi as to the condition of things and I [ lans for rex! dav. On a fine warm moonLghL night on the excellent roads of North- ■ ern Frame these duties are exciting, and , it, unpleasant. There is always the ! i banc, of meeting a ft ray |>atrol of hostile. , <u\a'nv, which might ambush the car if they u'ftfM-1 its approach on a long straight road A wrong '.urn in the dark might fv.ufily bring ihe tar and it. suc/upants into i:.« main street of a vi'lago held by the i ii'iny, and swift death would lie then fa:.' Along bad ads where the way i.« hard to tin d, and in bad, fold, wet weather. t, ; .;- ." r-, e of i'-ii.'-n is us dangei cis as it .r i- M ntl.il. A Few Hours ot Repose. \'.".e,- ,i g/e.il army slumbeis round its I■. r. .- ■■ : l: >■ n .o.- ~ of a broad forest, ii •■ a d tin ie tip's I •■tray lie |>ii-tw>n< "' Ii - ;.-. Ii it th" Vlli ig< lie .'.' p.. signs in th' d ■: .i., .. liighl through the night '--"- v.i. .. r up lnei way, and occasional i, - ■_• '!'• i-"il'h l-"l ,vein I'aig avenues of I I i!<e> llnrses am) men pink into a few lioiik ..f ic[h,h>, which is interrupted h' "I'll.' .'.:'■ r dawn hv oeiasiopal oulhursts ■' in.i - n the ruddy fields of standing '" "i I ii.n, at. one locality or another, tie disturbance seem., to locus. The rattle <•! tiling beitnnes continuous, punctuated by the unmistakable snarl of the ma. bineHun, and soon alt'-r d inated bv th. t-l 'inder of artilieiy lire and . xpfoding l-ll"ils 7he coiuiiclds become dotted with huddled spots, and dark forms trickle haikwards and forwards through the holds, mostly running swiftly for a few yards', ami linn -inking out of sight. Then the .-onibat either swells and kindles like a j.r.-inie fire on a long front, or it, gradually kiilji-nles and dies away to break out elsewhere on the interminable front of the contending hosts.