THE TERRIBLE HARVEST.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 221, 22 October 1914, Page 8

THE TERRIBLE HARVEST.

PLAIN LITTERED WITH DEADLIKE GRASS MOWN WITH THE SCYTHE. [By Luigi JBarzini, Special Correspondent of the London "Daily Telegraph,"] Behind the Allies' lines {France),September 21. I climbed from the hollow in which Barcy nestles' and reached the edge of the plain, which was barred by German. ! trenches. A terrible yet sublime spectacle is presented. The vast plain is littered with corpses. Hundreds and hundreds of bodies lie on the ground as far as the eye can reach. They are all lying hi one direction, like grass , cut by a scythe. Death has overtaken them in the furious rush of an assault. iAll lie with limbs extended and faces . forward. | There is a potent, moving significance ; in'this attitude of the dead. It relates, j reveals, desci"ibes. ! It is here that an impetuous, yelling, j overwhelming assault has taken, place. jln the immobility of death there is [ irresistible eloquence. The bodiea ar» all pointing towards the' enemy, heads foremost. A single thought, a single desire, a single impulse, united the men. in the last moment of life. Expression of Violence. There is still an expression of via* lence and impetuous dash in this fallen throng. Taken singly, they are horrible. Taken altogether, the bodies seem to have indescribable and fabulous life, and if at the sight of this slaughter one feels a wave of emotion it- is aofccaused by pity, but by enthusiasm. I think of the Japanese legend o* heroes who never die; when their bodies fall the multitude of their souls eoa- - tinues the assault. Something, of suek deaths, something invisible and pran digious, must have happened here. Possibly they were fresh troops. The uniforms seem to be new. Flue coats - with skirts turned back disclose tfee ised of the traditional trousers which ~m seen afar by the enemy—a vivaeiew* colour, an imprudent and gay hue. Line of Flaming: Bed. ..,,.., The national symbol of red must have: i formed a flaming, trembling line aeross the plain at the moment of assault. Nearly all the dead lie with their facesto the ground, having been hit in tfre head or breasty and they all have those ;■ strange, inhuman, grotesque*, sinister at- ! " titudes to which they were condemned by death on the battlefield. Some of the wounded have had tiara to settle themselves and,quietly await. the end. They appear to be sleeping. In front of each corpse is a rifle which escaped from the grasp of a failing man. Long bayonets have furrowed r the earth. The assault began at a distance of 700 or 800 yards from the Brst line of German trenches: It is possible to follow its course- and reconstruct it. fitsensible to' losses, yelling masses «t. Frenchmen advanced at double Nfprmatio'n under, an infernal fire. German shrapnel had kindled piles of straw, the remains o£ which were still smoking^'but'the German artilleryfire must have been redueed- to silence almost immediately. At 500 yards from the trenches' there are no more corpses. The enemy had fled. One" crosses this empty space an<l meets the dead again, but here they are all Germans. Along the edges ©f Chambray Eoad the whole episode o£ the hand-to-hand struggle is narrated by corpses. Bayonets Wrote-Finis. An isolated group of Germans had! made a rampart of the roadside ami remained there firing. They could no* retire and held out as long as they could. The last of the dead Frenchmen are three- yards from this spot —and then the assault passed on. Piereed bybayonets, the Germans fell with th«r backs against the improvised parapets. Twisted bayonets and broken rifles that remain here speak of violence, of a swift, fierce, and. desperate combat. The Germans fell in small squads. A. group of corpses lies around the bowlyof an officer. The retreat was protected by the successive sacrifice of - little companies. ; How the dead reseinble each other! They can only be distinguished by their uuiforms.'On the.ground, Frendfe and Germans are the same. Racial characteristics vanish beneath the eraeJ | mask of death'. ! Death Calls Truce. | In the eternal truce of death there is a species of fraternity between fallen enemies. ' - Each German corpse had a knapsafcfc on its back. It is irreproachable, as though prepared for review. Nothing is disarranged. Cartridge belt, scabbard, equipment, of all kinds, rolled tent canvas—everything is neatly folded, laced, and buckled. All seem to form an integral part of the body-. , Even the spiked helmet remains ftx«fi on the head. _ Nothing creates the impression of a, routed army. If the French corpses .reveal the irresistible fury of the assauM; the German dead display order ami discipline. The German army is beaten but not routed. It retired quiekly bat methodically, resisting attacks. It withdrew with fury but not in ccnfusiou. It disengaged itself.