BRAVERY OF THE INDIANS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume L, Issue 14508, 22 January 1915, Page 5

BRAVERY OF THE INDIANS.

GERMANS QUAIL BEFORE THEIRS il CHARGES. ' ; |j SPLENDID FIELD SERVICE, I'M Owing to the rigorous censorship that J is exhreised over the Press, particularly 3 in thg direction of publishing narrative* of individual bravery,; instances of ex- 1 j ceptjional valor on th battlefield shown 4| by the Indian troops are rarely with in print. However, now and again ® a war correspondent manages to obtain. 1 j authenticated accounts of thrilling deed* S performed by Britain’s dusky warrior* « of, the Orient, which serve to more than ■vJ justify the belief that they form one of '!•s the most formidable foes opposed to the Huns. >3| Latest files contain the* information 'H that tho defeat of the Germans by the ,Sj Indim troops has made a‘ very disheart- -lj onmg impression throughout Germany, ;.;i NO MATCH IN HAND-TO-HAND -5 FIGHTING. | The Germans say that tho Indian* 3 are personally much stronger and more ‘Jj nimble r han the German soldiers, and hj that therefore it is impossible for the / Gormans to vanquish them in hand-to- rfc hand fighting unless they arc much more 1 numerous than- tho Indians. It is re- ... ported that the British reserve th* In-, 1 dians in every battle until the moment .11 arrives for hand-to-hand combat. Gof- v many* hoped that the insurrection in th* J Transvaal would have token place ip-.S August, in accordance with tlie settled 1 agreements and secret treaties with Gen- $ erals De Wet and Beyers, so that the ''A Indian troops would have been sent to* i Capetown and not to Europe. J GURKHAS IN ACTION. ‘ | The wholesale respect which tho /> Gurkhas have inspired in their enemies is shown in the following account from ji a correspondent:—' , ,m One wounded sergeant of a Mecklen- % burg regiment declares that during a '>; charge by tho Indian infantry one of ni* s comrades lost Ips right arm by a single • 4 slicing blow of’a Ghurka’s knife, and bled to death before he could be given first aid. Tho sergeant feigned death, '2 and was afterwards picked up by a German ambulance.*' ‘ . -|H ‘T escaped,” he said to a German » nurse who related tho story. ‘‘l only have a bullet through my lung and an- | other in my back,” »f| It appears tliat when this charge of. ! J the. Ghurkas occurred the infantry op- | posing ’ them'; did not realise that they J wgrp Indian trpops until, the little brown I men among them, hacking -j qnd without-.ar .word. Some «f -| the; Gerraws wqre so.sthqpod by'fright tjiatihfly, ppujij' not run, but stood blirik- 3H mg at/kneir until cut down. .1 A' Ghi^h'knife. picked hp on the fields, aftcriyajda was taken to field lieadquar- . o tors, and ; will, presumably bo sent to i th'C (?ermah : War Office-ras tho basis i for another /“atrocity protest.” It is 14 by no meins asV atrocious a weapon a* tl)o 'saw-lji^onot.carried by some of tho "Z German ipfaqtrymen, Ono side is as' 3 sharp] as a rakpf the other toothed,./! like a sqw,/,the teeth placed at such ij ah-angle thqtiihey. would inflict a wide, .1 jugged wdund p'hen the bayonet was I‘l W4thqyawh "after a thrust. The Ghurkas’ cold fefpcity is much more terrifying to , 1 the; Germans toari&he'rhsh of British wup charge with a cheer,. . or thp breathless dash of a French line $ oyer entrenchments. They cannot deal fi with q foe .u ; ho does not mind in the least mind being killed, provided lie can f ) take three or lour Germans with him t into the unknown; w ~r THRILLING FIGHT FOR TWO , % VILLAGES. .: J Here is a ; stirring account of a splen- 1 did- attack., delivered by a force of Mo-' ‘.■'S roccans, French' Colonial Infantry, Indians;— ' Confronted by a . deadly fire from thoylj Gormans, .the African and Indian troops resorted to their favourite tactics disappearing in ; ditches and behind. .-ffl hedges and similar obstacles. After keep-y® ing up a hot fire for a quarter of nnSSa hour, the enemy, thinking they iudWM annihilated their opponents, advanced lnt||S their direction. When they were within !• A a hundred yards of the hidden Allied' 'iSj troops the crack of rifles and the ritd»,|a| of quickflrers broke, out, mowing down wliolo GeHuan detachment. Carrying all -.ia before them, tho Allied troops swept the enemy out of the villages of Hollebecquo, and Messines, which oonstitutod!S| important strategic points. During counter-attack a Wurtemburg battalion ’lii was driven into the muddy hod of LWSi Lvs, and only escaped being engulfed in SI the stream by surrendering. The attack i|| lasted five hours, ‘during which the CScNijjsGjj man's lost 3000 killed and. wounded. Imß Allies also capthred/mahyprisonera «m|H six guns, as I wcll as an entire ambnJSM Idnce. The eneniy was rfepulsed a di«9| tance of six miles. 981 GURKHAS’ MURDEROUS KNIVES.'’«

Tlife; Indian troops have done splendid ', service at many, points in the lone battle ; lino in the North of France and in B«-$ gmrrtt (writes another correspondent).,' They have given the Gormans a taste -ofl their quality as first-class fighting men ' in some tough encounters, and the T«k| ton who lias hod the ill-luck to stau&Hl the path of the wiry Ghurka when latter’s, knife has come whistling through,; tho air shudders at the mention of ml coloured warriors of tho British They have shown themselves superb in J their valour'when the fight has comoto.i the" stage of the desperate clash with ? the enemy, and man meets man stand? 7 ing foot to foot. It is no longer «n( ? unseoiS enemy that he is fighting, Thai foe is before, him. '’His fighting bkwaf boils in his veins, and officers have haroSS work to restriaih* him until tho girani moment arrives 'for the feharge* ; -’|p|| spoke recently to.%man, who had «v«Qnth tho Gtoikas from India, rtjß stood beside them when the- enemy :;.ju| lasb.'|same to , grips. u.«n as we_cou|d do.to hold thCOhurkas imiVl he said. “Gradually ji'o Crept ckuerf and closer to the Genhkdj position, at last came the order German trenches were, prttoctod by :*w| entanglements, but thb tatmkM *S5Sm| bled across and doshed ofiu ‘Seeing wfijfti .■wqs. coming, the GentjuiS rose to meetl them; Poor black mM'-they thougfijfct them, I aupnose. The ■BprkW lom*H ■were in their hands, dhd.at a diSSaM , n ,b°nJ' Isft they sent /jthem whimngl at the Genntos iq frotyof'them. Tbeai thev gripned their rifles "and dashed onl to .finish tho work with-the bayonet. IKa'l Germans stood' up to them, atid there 1 Was fjinous fighting,, but German morale! could not" stand that shock. The dSI ■mans bolted. in the end, - d left thb ■.beaming and panting Ghuyhas victori-r .■. - ■ ■