AT AUGUSTWO.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 241, 14 November 1914, Page 8

AT AUGUSTWO.

RUSSIAN VICTORY OVER GERMANS. PETROGRAD, October 6. A grapliie .description of an episode during this' battle of .'Attgustwo has been supplied to the "Courier'' by a wounded artillery officer." i '* 'ii*wite'>dyrM%;\£«f , '-seeond week of this sferies of stubborn engagements,' *'.. the officer said;' GermansweW trying to- occupy this western outlets of the Augustwo forests in order; to check the impetuous attacks of our troops, but all their- efforts /were thwarted. : "The main forces of the enemy's artillery-;were;- at this time "concen- >" trated to the west, in which -direction theßussian army was pushing forward • in.'an irresistible stream.,;. On emerging from the forest our troops were * met by a deadly fire from the Germans, who had occupied positions enab- ? ling them to sweep the opeii ground in front of the trees and froin three sides ' of a square. Ordered to Take Hill. ;• "To paralyse the activity." of the Prussian • batteries it was necessary • ; to" hold the nearest height, and the command was given to occupy the posi- <■ - tion and open fire. The position in question was a high hill, the only olevated position among the marshes andlakes, and it doniinated all the country roundabout. r "Under the murderous fire of the enemy's shrapnel our first guns as-' ceiided the slope of the hill. The ~ sol" aiers weref full of energy and deter-;" minatioh, the gunners and infantrymen crawling between the horses, and help-, iiig to drag the guns forward. All were pushiug and pulling and gradually as- 1 pending. Belts, straps and cords were," till called' into . use, alternately being, plied upon the horses being' used" With blocks of wood to prevent ? the wheels from' slipping back. Thus they- | slowly hugged their, way up the hill, the panting aiid perspiring soldiers enrtangled! together—a confused mass\of struggling humanity, \ "At"last a gun reached the plateau, and a r ; sigh of relief Went 4iip from the exhausted men. Par below dark groups.-„of German troops vwrere vistheir fire echoing: the commands of a young lieutenant. ' Our" soldiers were chuckling with delight, though the enemy was bespattering the whole hill with shrapnel. Battery Beaches Height. • A. second and : third ~gun were brought up, and soon the entire bat : tery was on height., There was a shrill ' whir.r f glossal.', projectilo from the enemy exploded with a deafening report, a cloud of "earth flung up and ;splinters - and debris - sent -flying in all directions. Two Horses: and four men Were killeid- by this shot,'also several were wounded. ; ■( », '

'' A gun fell on its side with a broken '-wheel, but the gunners leftit for a-new one and continued their work as- if , nothing had happened. But the irre soon, yielded good reaulte at a distance of -about a verst. (two-thirds of a mile). Heaps of 1 the enemy's Blain soldiers I and destroyed guns could «be seen. The j.Gemans ;were' retiring, Vbutvthe . quick 1 lire v ■their rear, and their retreafr'became h'ur- •'/ ried aid disorderly. . - : "Like mushrooms our cavalry, who had been hidden by- artillery, sprung up on all sides from their concealed positions,, pursued and-, the struggling' Germans. 'Says of sunshine pierced the thick clouds staoke and glinted back from the shining cavalry Bwords which were hewing paths through the enemy 'g. regiments; : ■ x -• . ''From different the sound of military bands was heard, and then n tremendous ' hurrah' was: raised, and a general galloped through tlie ranks congratulating the troops. The cheers resounded with double' force and echoed away through all the detachments of the army.San Francisco " Chronicle."