HEROES OF THE GUNS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3215, 27 October 1915, Page 71

HEROES OF THE GUNS.

THE GLORIOUS DEEDS OF THE ARTILLERY. No branch of the British army has mors gloriously upheld its splendid traditions in the present war than our "unconquerable artillery.” Right at the beginning of tha campaign, at the battle of Mons, the exploit of the famous L Battery against fearful odds showed of what stuff our gunners are made, and in a war packed with heroic deeds it will undoubtedly stand out as oua of the most dauntless. No less than three Y.C.’s were awarded for the thrilling feat, and, as if to further emphasise the gallantry of the gunners, it may bo pointed out that in the first two V.O. lists of the war the names of seven artillery-i man figured. Practically 200 years ago the Royal Artillery came into existence as a regimental organisation, prior to which the artillery required for a campaign was improvised on the outbreak of war, and had no separate existence in peace. The actual introduction of artillery into Britain may be said to date from 1314, the year of Bannockburn, when a number of primitive cannon were imported from Ghent. ‘‘Mons Meg,’’ at Edinburgh Castle, and ‘‘Queen Elizabeth’s Pocket Pistol,” at Dover, are the best-known: relics of the primitive weapons used by our forefathers. But to attempt a history of artillery progress involves a history of the army," and amounts to a history of scientific progress. Curiously enough, the first record ot the Royal Horse Artillery (which was formed in 1793) being employed in action appears to be at Vaux, in Flanders, in 1794, when a horse battery, or "troop of galloper guns,” as they "were then called, behaved in so gallant a manner that it was ordered to march past the whole of tho armies, which were paraded in its honour, —A Characteristic Feat.— Of the many famous batteries composing this section of the British army, mention must be made of the celebrated "Chestnut Troop” (now "A” Battery), who covered themselves -with glory in Holland in 1799 I also of Norman Ramsay’s troop of ‘‘Lightning Artillery” In the Peninsular War (now “I’ 5 Battery), who, at the battle cf Fuentes Ouoro, when surrounded by the French cavalry, limbered up and charged their way out through the masses of them enemies. Indeed, no feat of arms is more renowned or more characteristic of the dash and daring of the Royal Horse Artillery than the "one mentioned, to quote Napier’S vivid words, "Suddenly the crowd became violently agitated, an English shout pealed' high ana clear, the mass was rent asunder, and Norman Ramsay burst forth, sword in hand, at the head ol his battery; his horses, breathing stretched like greyhounds along the pking the guns bounded behind; them like things of no weight, and the mounted gunners followed close, with heads bent low and pointed wean-m- in desperate career.” At Water: ’he well-known batteries of Webber, Irimith, Gardiner, Bull, Norman Ramsay, Mercer, and Whinyates, with Ross’s and Beane’s in reserve, were attached to the cavalry, and lost over 170 of all ranks and 309 horses killed and wounded. —Thrilling Episode of Waterloo. — One of the most thrilling moments during the great battle was when Captain Mercer and his battery of horse artillery* turned cod, defiant faces to the onrushing-,

sea of French horsemen, pouring into them round after round of case-shot until the mass broke and ebbed, a flood of shattered | squadrons, down the slopes. “1 actually i saw them,” Mercer says, “using the pomi mels of their swords to fight their way | out of the melee." Meanwhile the French i tirailleurs had crept up within 40 yards i of the battery, and u ere busy shooting • down the gunners, while Mercer himself I rode slowly to and fro in front of the muzzles of his guns, shaking Jus glove, in playful derision, at the men whose rifles were levelled at him. I Shattered and terribly shaken up, the cavalry, nevertheless, quickly re-formed, ■ a-nd came again tu the attack in solid, farreaching squadrons, the very ground shak- ; ing under tiie multitudinous tramp of their horses. Mercer allowed the leading squadron to come within 60 yards; then, raising ids glove as a signal, every gun crashed out, and the deluge of round shot ploughed wide furrows in the advancing mass of the enemy. Not once or twice, but again and again, the cannon thundered their volleys of destruction, until the ground was a welter of fallen men and horses, and the Frenchmen, unable to advance before sncli a blast of death, broke and fled. Again and again they came on —with the same result. “So dreadful was the carnage,” Mercer tells us, that “on the next day, looking back from the French ridge, he could identify the position held by his battery by the huge mound of slaughtered men and horses lying in front of it.” And the combat raged until, out of 200 horses in Mercer's troop, 140 lay dead or dying, and two men out of every three were disabled. —Desperate Work at Inkerman.— On the field of Inkerman, then described as “the bloodiest struggle ever witnessed since war cursed the earth,” the British gunner played a part no less noble and inspiring than that of the men with the bayonet. When the “moving acres of flatcapped Russians,” 15,000 strong, rolled jn resistless flood on a mere handful of Connaught Rangers with Townsend’s battery of six guns, the gunners had but time to deliver one hasty shot before they were submerged. When the last round was fired Lieutenant Miller, in command of the battery, bade his men “Draw swords and charge !” He rode out under the hail of bullets straight into the enemy’s midst; the gunners followed to a man, some armed with swords, others with ramrods, and one of them—a famous boxer—relying only on his fists, with which he was seen to lay many a Russian low ! The grey coats got possession of the guns, for, desperately as the artillerymen fought, they could not stay the enemy’s advance; but it is satisfactory to know that the battery was retaken not long after, and fought again under Miller and his gallant men. Yet another hard fight at the guns took place at a battery where Sergeant-major Henry was in charge. When the Russians were upon them, he and a private named Taylor drew their swords, and made a desperate defence. Taylor was soon slain, however, together with nearly all the other gunners, and Henry badly wounded. A bayonet pierced his chest, another pinned him in the back, and he sank to the ground. As not infrequently happened, the Russians continued to strike at the helpless man as he lay at their mercy, the result being that when, some time later, Henry was rescued and found to be alive, he had no fewer than 12 terrible wounds. He lived, however, to wear his Cross for Valour with his fellow-artilleryman. Miller, and to raise to the rank of captain. During the operations before Sebastopol two other heroes of the guns worthily won the coveted Cross. Their deeds are written large in the annals of the Order. —Before Sebastopol.— Gunner and Driver Arthur, of the Royal Artillery, was in an advanced battery at an engagement near the Quarries, when the 7th Fusiliers, fighting near by him, ran out of ammunition. Arthur promptly volunteered to supply them, and, although he had to cross repeatedly an open space on which a hot fire was concentrated, he carried the ammunition stores to the waiting men. But for his plucky assistance the Fusiliers must have had to abandon the position they had captured. Equally dashing was Captain Dixon’s defence of his battery. The latter was wrecked by a shell which, bursting in the magazine, blew it up and destroyed five guns, besides killing nearly all the gunners. It was a great event for the Russians, who cheered and danced with joy at the result of the shot. But they counted without Dixon. The sixth gun of the battery, although half buried in earth, was still workable. With some help he got the gnu into position again, loaded and sent an answering shot hurtling into the enemy’s battery, much to their surprise and discomfort—to put it mildly. And it is to Dixon’s lasting glory that he worked that single piece until darkness ended the duel. The chagrined enemy peppered him without cessation throughout the rest of that day, but he bore a charmed life. The artillery captain rose to be a major-general in after years, with C.B. after his name, besides th e letters V.C., while France honoured him by creating him a Knight of the Legion of Honour. —Memories of the Mutiny.— The memorable part which the guns placed in the relief of Lucknow once again revealed all the famous fighting qualities which have made British gunners a force to he reckoned’ with in action. When Havelock’s weary, war-worn army set out from Alumbagh on the final march which was to relieve Lucknow, it was to encounter some of the fiercest fighting of the mutiny. 1 hey had to run the gauntlet of a terrific fire of musketry and cannonshot from tlio enemy's batteries on either flank, from the cornfields, the garden walls, and every honse-voof. The British guns, couraegoiisly and . skilfully directed by Colonel Maude, the V.O. hero of Futtehpore, opened fiercely in answer to this fire; but it was impossible to live in such a scourge of flame and destruction. Ont-

ram himself was one of the first to be struck by a musket-ball, which pierced his arm; while many of the very best artillerymen were laid low. “Sergeant-major Lament, the best artilleryman I have ever known,” says Maude, “had the whole of his stomach carried away by a round siiot. He looked up at me for a moment with a piteous expression, but had only strength to utter two words, ‘Oh, Clod !’ when lie sank dead on the road. Jnst then another round shot took off the leg of the next senior sergeant, John Kiernan. A few moments later a round shot took off the head of a young gunner; for a second the body stood straight up, and then fell fiat on the road. .But fast as the men of the leading gun detachments were swept away by the enemy’s'fire I replaced thorn by volunteers from other guns.” It was. desperate and costly work, but Maude’s brave lads stuck unflinchingly to it. Again and again Maude had to call for volunteers from the Madras Fusiliers, lying down under cover near him. The last gunner had almost been shot down before fire men got the order to charge, when the Madras Fusiliers drove the enemy in panic flight before them. —Heroes of Colcnso.—■ In the South African war the artillery won laurels that can never fade. At (Jolenso especially the magnificent heroism of the gunners simply beggared description. The thrilling story can only be briefly outlined here. When two field batteries, under Colonel Long, dashed far ahead of the infantry and unlimbered a thousand yards from the Boer trenches, they were assailed by such a deluge of lead as lias seldom been known on tire battlefield. The teams were simply mown down. Subjected to a deadly rifle fire from the trenches in front, and from the village of Colenso on the left, and also by the automatic quick-firers on their right, guns and gunners, officers and men, were quickly rendered hors de combat. Soon every gun was out of action except one. This was still served by four perspiring, desperate gunners. For a time this quartet of heroes seemed to bear a charmed life. One after the other, however, eventually bit the dust, clinging to their beloved 15-ponnder to the bitter end. For two hours the guns, each surrounded by its fallen heroes, remained on the bullet-swept plain, until at last a desperate attempt was made to save them. How 1 Lieutenant Roberts (Lord Roberts’s only son) perished in the gallant effort is known to all. It was a heroic and pathetic ending to a career full of promise, and fittingly crowned an episode which will live in the history of the artillery as long as the language itself. —And Now.— Their deeds in the present conflict have repeatedly elicited the highest praise from Sir John French, and glowing tributes to the courage and resourcefulness of British gunners have been paid by other branches of the army. Many a critical battle has been turned into a success by the artillery, and we may safely predict that in the ultimate subjection of the enemy the heroes of the guns will have a tremendously big say, for wherever glory and honour are to be found there you will assuredly find Britain’s “incomparable artillery.” — James A. Young.