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FIERCE ATTACK BY NIGHT.

-' -; -■- - v : —-v- .. - ; ' HARD BAYONET WORK, MEN RACE HORSES. A lance-corporal of tho fßoy 'V Irish Fusiliers gives a vivid account of a night attack, on. tho Aisne.. Ho says:—"Ono nigM after a very hard day in the trenches when wo J we're ;■ wet [to ; tho - : skin, we:. had lighted fires' to dry our . tunics] and wore at it when wo heard firing along our front, and ' then the ; Germans .'came at .-lis ? like madmen. Wo had to, tacklo them in, our shirt sleevos. It .was mainly bayonet work, and hard work at that. They were well supported by cavalry, who tried to . ride us ; down ~in the dark, \but/ wo ? held ; .our ground until reinforcements came,-'and then,we.drove them off with a fine rush of our cavalry, and infantry. At one point thero was : a fine race between our- battalion and one" of the Lancer regiments as to which should t get .at' the Germans': first. Wo; were '\ handicapped a ' bit .because ; we hadn't horses, but we,won in the end, and charged right into the German hordes with the bayonet. After that; the Lancers came up, and there wasn't much left for anybody else when tho Germans .were: done with. ••" ' '' • " Quite the worst sight I saw was when a big mass ; of: French infantry were advancing to clear tho front of our position, where. tho Germans had been gathering, in strength. ', Thoy Were coining along at tho doublo carrying all before them, when,' without .the slightest warning/ German batteries, posted under;' the shelter of a wood, opened on them with a -deadly shower of shrapnel , and • machine-gun bullets. The long .-advancing. line seemed to contract like a frog does when , you .'stick a pin in it, and it isn't any. ; exaggeration to say that you could hear tho shells putting right through their closely-packed ranks just like the scythe cuts through the grass. Tlio men/went'down by tho hundred until; thoy oponed into extended order. Then they made a rush for tho position where : the ' gnns were, and, though they ; were"' attacked ; by' both infantry and cavalry at nearly every step of tho way, they ultimately silenced those guns." ; - •■, ..-:'•> k ; '' x ",' ■

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19141114.2.100.20

Bibliographic details

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15766, 14 November 1914, Page 2 (Supplement)

Word Count
363

FIERCE ATTACK BY NIGHT. New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15766, 14 November 1914, Page 2 (Supplement)

FIERCE ATTACK BY NIGHT. New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15766, 14 November 1914, Page 2 (Supplement)

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