BATTLEFIELD SKETCHES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2452, 4 May 1915, Page 6

BATTLEFIELD SKETCHES

BY "EYE-WITNESS-THE FIGHTING ROUND SAINT JULIEN ■ (Rec. May .3, 7.20 p.m.) London, May 2. "Bye-Witness" writes:—When the French were retiring before the gas - : clouds the British position, was shelled ' with high explosives, for some hours. The Germans also fired poison shells for . an hour. ! , •, The. enemy's infantry had entrenched 120 yards away, and evidently expected some result. They looked over their trench parapet to see the,effect of the gas, ana we ,poured a rapid rifle fire at intervals. : , "A strong wind dissipated the fumes. i\Ve did not suffer seriously. The enemy ■ did hot attempt to advance. "On April 24 the.Germans used, gas on several occasions, but didi not press forward quickly, a prisoner explaining •that many of tlie German infantry were overcome by the fumes and could not • advance, "On April 26 the: Germans delivered a massed attack on Saint Julien, and . made several assaults' with „ increasing v. 'fierceness, but reinforcements .secured our position. British Fall Back. .'"Further east, our lines were pierced t« the rear of Broodseind,: and-a small body of the enemy oocupicd a, portion of . W "trenches. "An Anglo-French counter-attack that sameafternoon from Steenstraate,to the . eastward of Saint Julien was accompanied by a violent bombardment, and , was evidently the turning point in the battle. It caused, a definite check to - the enemy's offensive, 1 relieved the presV sure, and a certain amoun.-, of ground, • (was regained. . .■■ :- "During the attack the guns on both Bides were contracted into a coinpara- ... . tively narrow front, out of which poured ' ;» great; volume of fire. ■ ' • 'The • infantry on our right. stormed ■■■ the : German. trenches cjose to Saint Julien,'. and ill the evening gained the - southern, outskirts of the tillage in the /■ 'centre;.further west;a;similar advance was 'made. .■. _ • "We could not maintain our gain at • \ ' all points, opposite Saint Julien, and fell back southward, the enemy making expensive use of gas and machine-guns. • . Meantime the Fren;ti had recaptured . ■ . Lizerne. ■ . . ... ; ".Our losses were'heavy, but .the en- • •: .emy's Tvere terrible, their close formations making them'an-excellent artillery' target. ;"There was-a..lull' after April 27,; the ' : -,«nemy i 'being..greatly'- exhausted after . their fivodays' fighting.' ', i 1 , A Brave Machine Cunncr. . "'"There were many acts of-gallantry. 'A machine-gun on our left, in an ,angle . , 'of the trenches.' oontinued in action ' ' ; : v though;five dead bodies lay around it. ■ The man took his-place at the gun, though his brother was one of the fallen men. The Germans pressed on, ' j •'■and ; ;he iwaited until they were only a • • few: yards away.' Then lie poured a stream of bullets from the gun; the ad- • ■ vance was broken, and they fell back, . leaving rows of dead, while the gunner was wounded. , ■ ." . > ' Gallant Airman. : "The air raid at Courtrai cost us the •. . valuable life of the aviator, who started alone.: Arriving at Courtrai ho glided down to within three hundred feet, and dropped a large bomb on the railway ■ junction. Meanwhile lie was a target • for hundreds of rifles arid machineguns. / "He was severely wounded in the thigh, and might have saved his life by -i' . descending into the enemy's lines. But ho decided to save his machine, and made' for. the British lines. . He landed ■ mortal}y wounded, at his own base, made - r his-report, and died in the hospital."