EQUIPMENT DESCRIBED
London, September 80. Belgian forays irom Antwerp between September 9 and 14' inflicted great losses on the enemy in killed and wounded, and resulted in the capturing of between two iaJid;threo thousand Germans. The Belgian: activity, necessitated tho maintaimng'of the last-German reserve at Liego, where there has;been great congestion of troops. Recently one hundred thousand ''meii destined 'for tho Aisne wero held up, .'living in railway trains or encamped on the hills surrounding the railway yards. They could not by sent ahead of the supplies and munitions of war.: It is. reported'that sickness is spreadiug among these waiting troops. • ■ Two' or three divisions, with heavy siege guns intended for the Aisne,'have fceenldiverted to Antwerp. • A CHANGE IN TACTICS. Each German infantry regiment has ton or twelvo machine guns concealed in light regimental transport. They are carried by hand, and Can be quickly moved into the'tiring line. _ These guns have changed the German infantry tactics; the accuracy of .individual fire has been subordinated to showered shrapnel .Viand fovelled volleys of musketry. Trusting to clearing .the way in this .fashion, tiio infantry was moved forward in great i_.--.ios. 1
In -tho early fighting tlio commanders did nou mind the losses, but the great mortality began to tell on the morale, of,the men. - At Liego, some regiments lost 00 j)cr cent., and whole companies ( ivero leu without officers.. Profiting by this lesson, the fighting at Namur was . an artillery duel throughout. The 42centimetre (lGi-inch) guns were tested for the first time, liacii was fired every .quarter of an hour. The dust from tho impact of the shell could bo seen a distanco of six or seven miles, forming a ' geyser of dust three or. four hundred :' feet high. .' . i-, The German sole advantage at present is the possession of great siege 'guns and a preponderance of machine guns. ' rThe individual rifle fire cannot be compared in accuracy and efficiency witli the ■ British. • The transport of the Landwehr and the Landsturm is of the! makeshift . order, the vehicles.including, furniture vans and many wagons commandeered in' Belgium, and the horses are very inferior.
Tho Germans have a vast a.rray of automobiles and motor-cycles. "... BOY. SCOUTS FOR THE FRONT. The army of Occupation includes' a •large number of Boy Scouts of ages ranging from 15 to 17, mounted on bjcycles, also 6000 marines with floating mines'and torpedoos for the destruction of the Antwerp dock. The Germans .have enlisted the bourgeois as railway police. These patrol the lines under a guard, and. are hostages for tho safety of the railway; So far the main lines have not been damaged, .owing- to prodigal expenditure. Interruption for even a day. 'or. two .would spell "disaster. ■'■•
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Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2270, 2 October 1914, Page 6
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448EQUIPMENT DESCRIBED Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2270, 2 October 1914, Page 6
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