EPOCH-MAKING BATTLE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 216, 16 October 1914, Page 8

EPOCH-MAKING BATTLE.

ENGLISH CAVALRY STROKE. GERMANS LURED INTO A TRAP. ' (Special war correspondent to the ; ; London" Times."); i CHARTRES (France), Sept. 14. i I have succeeded after difficulties so 'Numerous that I have almost lost count - M them in achieving a point about five Mies south of Provins, 50 miles southeast of Paris, which, I suppose, all the now knows, was all but gained by the German advance at the end of'last 'week. ] In reaching this point I have travelled practically along the whole line of the allied armies, though, of course, to the rear. \ I have lived, as it were, in the anteroom of battles, for this terrible conflict is no single encounter. I have seen such sights as have afforded me, at least, partial knowledge of the tremendous events passing so near to me. I have talked with all manner of men, inP». eluding German prisoners, of whom I have encountered not hundreds, but thousands. " From my own observations, and I have moved within sound of cannon, and from these accounts I have been able to piece together an outline of the story of the great and now successful combat which began on Sunday, September 6, and which I am persuaded is still continuing, albeit that in large part it has been transformed from a battle to a rout. SERIES OF BATTLES CROWDED IN ONE. ' Having been in touch with this tremendous encounter, I view it no longer is a battle, but as a series of battles, i&e whole campaign, as it were, being Crowded into' a single day. It* is difficult to realise this unless one has traversed these many miles of front, travelling iigM and day, yet not getting clear of the lines. The German advance on Paris was pressed forward toward the end of last week with-a tremendous spread of force, • a. i act testified to by streams of refu- * gees, which fled in front of it. .. It was not, however, a direct advance, thanks to the steady pressure of - the French and. English, and to the fact' ■ that the main body of the Allies 7 forces, as far as known, has retired to the south-east of the capital. The invaders decided to sweep down and surround it before attacking'the city. It seems clear they expected to pierce the Allies' lines at a point to the east of the forest of Fontainebleau, and lb» .that at the same time the French forces ] along the River Ourcq, close to its junction, would be pierced. That is to say, it was proposed to cut the allied army: - in~ two, drive one part of it in disorder to the capital, and surround the other part in the open country. ; TEUTONS VERY SURE OF PLANS' SUCCESS. Very sure were the Teutons that no serious obstacle lay in their path to the coveted prize of Paris. Ten days ago a body of them entered the town of Chan-*) jfcilly, and I have it from an who was present, that the idea seemed to prevail that all serious opposition was at an end; '■.,.,;, : . fl "" : - X "-. X' .. \ During the" period ; bfadvance rnany^ - sharp encounters took place between j " vjhe French and German cavalry detachinents. ' .. ' The host of General von Klttck made its way down across the Marne and the Grand Morin to Sezanne and Provins. The crossing of these rivers was always" a difficult matter because the French in their retreat had blown up' the bridges, r. But little opposition was met with; the Allies on the contrary led their enemies into a trap. I witnessed a little of this work, and I know of the splendid lead which the British cavalry gave to the Germans; how, in a style that is good to think of, they fetched these over-tired Teutons, mile after mile across the country, the Germans believing the Englishmen were running away. Thus, lured by its foes and tempted ** by its overweening confidence, the, mighty host of the Kaisef rolled down to Provins and was swept away before • it.." PEOPLE -FLEE BEFORE ADVANCING HORDE. The stream of refugees which passed me night and day during the week end told its own sad tale. Everywhere was terror and despondency. "Fly," they told'me; "they are here." From Troy as the story came,, from Nogent-sur-Seine, from Romily, those poor people had suffered terribly. Having laboured so far, however, I resolved to stay and see what would happen: Itfor had I long to wait. '.. The tremendous advance reached Proyins;it even extended to Nogent, but it got no further^'The plan or! the Allies was accomplished; the hour had struck. ' On Friday, September 5, the encounter began in the neighbourhood of the Grand Morin River. The English attacked the Germans, who had advanced somewhat too hurriedly, and;took a number of prisoners. The engagement was an exceedingly hot one, an« 3 as a result the enemy was checked to some extent in its forward movement. ALLIES STRIKE HARD AT WEARY FOEMEN. Saturday, however, saw the advance continued, and it was not until SunJay morning that the great attack on the exposed right wing of the enemy began. This right wing lay in the region of MeauXj at the junction of the Ourcq and the Marne. Simultaneously with the attack upon it, the battle was joined along the whole front from Meaiix and Esternay to Verdun. The sound of cannon became audible from where. I was. Over the line, of battle and under the blazing sun a great black pile of smoke gathered, out of which boomed the cannon with terrible insistence. J made my way to a little wayside station. All was bustle and activity., A table had been laid out with bandages and dressings. A couple of nurses waited ami beside the table was a barrow with wine and fruit: Presently a long train steamed in. It. was of horse .trucks fitted with stretchers, and contained the first of the men who had been facing death away under the.smoke paH v ; To the sta : jtion, too, came motor cars direct from the firing line, each carrying' its' sorrowfill burden. • '■/"', The fighting that Sunday was of a terrible character. It began at dawn itf the region of La Ferte Gaucher. The allied troops, drawn up to receive the Germans, understood it would be their duty to hold on to the very last in order that the attacking force at Meaux might achieve its task in security. -, Tire Germans' artillery at La Ferte •••Gaucher was very severe. It operated -from the heights above the Grand Morift river and the line of lire ex-

■M«»PMM««W«iMIiiM«MIM«'»"»' ,IM "' tended away to Sezanne on the east and Vitry-le-Francois. ALLIES HURL WEIGHT AGAINST GERMANS. The great German guns seemed to have done terrible execution at long range, while those opposed to them, according to various accounts, were somewhat weaker. At this range, happily, the German fire was not accurate. The French and English fought stubbornly, winning the ground foot by loot until they were able to beat the enemy back and come to close quarters. Our soldiers, indeed, had to be held in restraint, they were almost too bold. At last the moment they had been longing for, the moment of attack, had come. Every soldier desired to fling himself on the enemy. On, Sunday night the Germans began to go back. They re-crossed the Xjrrand Morin and moved to the plateau above Sezanne. The battle nevertheless went on furiously. "It was a snowstorm of shells," one soldier told me. "We went forward, however. A shell fell a few paces from me and threw up a great column of earth which covered me, getting into nry eyes and mouth. 1 ' Then we came under the machine gun fire. This was really terrible. We seemed to be in a furnace, the bullets screamed by and made fearful ravages. ENGLISH PRESS ONWARD IN HAIL OF BULLETS. "The dead and wounded lay all about and mixed up with them were wounded horses, which, struggled , and screamed in agony. But in spite of all we held on. I do not think we were afraid at all." The enemy was repulsed on the south'and at the same time it was being heavily attacked on tlie'west, at Meaux and on the banks of the Ourcq. On Monday the fighting around Meaux reached a terrible pitch of fere city. The Germans had determined to cross the Marne here, so "as to break up the Allies and open the way to Paris. They made tremendous attempts to construct bridges over the river; the French had blown up all the existing bridges and covered the river with their heavy guns. Time after time the enemy's engineers attempted to place their pontoons <in position, and each time as soon as the work began a hail of shells descended. The losses were terrific. At one point 16 attempts at bridge building were thus foiled. At the final attempt a mass of soldiers was hurled into the water. One soldier told me he had personally counted 600 corpses in One of the German trenches. "When the enemy retired the country was strewn v/ith dead and dying. Here a/horse lay with its legs still stuck up in air; another, behind the body of which two soldiers sought cover, was lacerated with shot and the two men dead. Close behind them eight dead horses and five men surrounding a gun were victims of an exploding shell." GERMAN FIRE SLACKENS WHEN RETREAT BEGINS. That day the Germans fell back both along the Ourcq and the Maine, and, curiously enough, during this time of retreat they seem to have slackened their rifle fire. In one place they retired some 20 kilometres /without firing a single shot. They were literally decimated. Our men came up with them finally and took seven cannon, two machineguns, and about 1000 prisoners. One *6f the prisoners confessed they had been ordered to save their, ammunition as much as possible. On Monday night the news spread all along the ranks of the Allies that September 6 and 7 had been good days for the cause. Monday, too, saw a tremendous encounter on the Ourcq. The French, entered a village in this region/which the enemy first vacated. In one house, a clarge one,., they found the dinner table - beautifully" spread, at which evidently the German staff recently had been■seated. : t . . Candles still burned on the table, and an old woman, the only occupant of the place, testified that their behaviour had been good. They seemed veTy tired. They fled precipitately. . There was a great deal of hand-to-hand, fighting on the Ourcq, and much bayonet work. A flag was taken by the French. "HOLD THEM" IS ORDER, AND ALLIES OBEYED. .The second attempt on the Ourcq shared the fate of the first, though ■ air night and well into Tuesday the great German guns boomed along the river j|! , ■. ' ■ The resistance of the Allies could not, be broken. To hold was the command, and every man braced himself to obey. During this fight a message had to be carried from a point under terrific fire. Volunteers were asked and four men at once offered. The first did not return, the second lost a leg, and the third succeeded. , A small cottage which was entered the day after the fight disclosed the ■ spectacle of three Germans lying dead on a bed which they had drawn near a window and from which they had been firing. Two of them had their heads torn away by shell fire. ';■••'■ . In the meantime the struggle at Le Ferte Gaucher and Sezanne, near -where I had established•■• myself, was bearing splendid fruit. ; The German resistance on Tuesday morning was broken. The wounded men were no longer downhearted, but full of spirit and eager to be back in the fray. INVADERS ARE ROUTED, ASSERTS WITNESS. The Germans fought well, but they were outclassed and outmanoeuvred. They were hurled back across the fields to La Ferte Sous Jouarre, Chateau Thierry and north toward Compiegne and Soissons. I am convinced that the full extent of this rout is not yet appreciated. It was of truly terrific* character.' I have seen enough to make me » very sure that such a blow will not fail to have a lasting effect. - 1 The number of German prisoners I have seen is colossal.. ,The number of wounded, too, is very great; I counted fifteen trains in.eight hours, but for the most part, the wounds are not very severe. The enemy crossed the Marne on the return journey north under great difficulty, and beneath a withering fire from our victorious British troops, which pursued hotly. , ;. ■; • The river was swollen' with dead. On Tuesday night our troops were in possession of La Ferte Sous Jouarre, Charly and Chateau Thierry. The Germans bad fallen back some forty miles, leaving a long train of •.spoils behind them. ARMIES OF THE ALLIES CLOSE LIKE SHEARS. On Wednesday the English Army continued the pursuit toward the north, taking guns and prisoners. The stream of those prisoners flowed on day and night. In the station one of them died. A priest, who was present, held his hand at the last, and a French Sister of Mercy ministered to him. His eyes opened for a moment

and it seemed he attempted to express his thanks. At that moment wc forgot our bitter strife. The tremendous attack of the Allies, along the Ourcq on Tuesday is the keynote to these doings of Wednesday, it was this terrific attack which suddenly showed the German commander his lines of communication were threatened, and which in company with the splendid stand of his enemy at Sezanne, caused him to retreat with all haste in a north-easterly direction. Then came the crowning stroke. The army of the Ourcq and Meaux and the army of Sezanne drew together like the blades of a pair of scissors, the pivot of which was in the region of the. Grand Morin. The German retreat was thus forced toward the east and speedily became a rout.