WILD FLIGHT OF AN ARAIY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14448, 7 November 1917, Page 8

WILD FLIGHT OF AN ARAIY.

OFFICER'S STORY OF THR OAIdOIAN RETREAT.

LONDON, Sept. 3. A graphic picture of the TRussian retreat m Galicia is drawn by an officer who has reached 'London, from Russia. He said :

The big^ guns of the Russians simply pounded the enemy's trenches and defensive works to pieces, and there was no reason on earth' why*~the Russians should not have gone right through into Hungary, for all along the front the enemy was giving ground. Suddenly, the panic set m. Whole regiments mutinied arid refused to advance. There were no means of dealing with the situation. Regiment after regiment threw down their arms and seized whatever means of transport there were. At that time I was with the cars near the Ruriianian frontier. We were ordered to attempt lo hold up the enemy, until order could be restored. Never' shall I forget the scenes on the roads. Thousands of men were struggling -to get away. They seized motor transports bringing up food and equipment, and flinging these on the road turned the waggons round and fought like men demented +o get away.

At one spot we met a regiment running, and one of the officers called to us that the Hun cavalry was coining. Wo managed to get through the mob, and went oh for ten miles, but saw no signs of the enemy. Next day, however, nb were running along a road when we came upori a whole battalion, 1100 strong, of Austrian soldiers with their rifles slung over their arms and singing. , , Immediately we opened fire, and they bolted 700 yards to some cornfields, where they took cover. Over half that Austrian battalian was wiped out by our fire. We continued working our machine guns until the enemy brought a number of light field pieces to bear tipon us. We got our guns out and held the enemy up with them until we were able to get into the trenches which the Russians had left. We held the enemy up for 36 hours. When we were compelled to retire, 16 of us, including myself, had been wounded.

Tlie worst feature of the retreat wai the enormous amount of equipments, | guns, ammunition and corn which the I Huns captured. For a distance of over [80 miles the corn had been cut, and jvas standing .m thie fields. Every bit ofY-bjs fell into the handa.of the enemy, while Tuunition factories "were left intact, many cf them with, their engines running.