OUR FIRST PRISONER IN ITALY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 140, 2 March 1918, Page 8

OUR FIRST PRISONER IN ITALY

BRITISH SOLDIER'S SPRINT , AFTER THE ENEMY.

British Headquarters,

Italy. December 23. The British troops in Italy have taken their first prisoner. This may not sound at ihe first blush a very striking achievement (states one of the British Eress correspondents), but when the No Man's Land which separates you from the enemy contains a double-channelled river from four to five feet deep, with one of its streams 50 yards across and a current flowing in some places at 14 miles an. hour, it is a feat that takes some doing. In fact; our men had to go across the Piave to get him. , The patrol which went over > the river last night had sent on ahead, an advanced party of three or four, which was groping its way across the fields on the Austrian side when it ran suddenly into a body of the enemy. It was a dark, wet night, and all that I the little advanced guard could see was that there were many more of their adversaries than of themselves. They accordingly opened fire' at once, for with a deep river at their hacks the only safe policy was one of determined aggression. A yell of , alarm went up, and then cane the sound of stampeding feet, for the whole of' the enemy patrol took to flight immediately without waiting to ■ find out what was in front ->f ihem. . But one of the little party of Englishmen in this encounter, who was a keen fellow, saw his chance. He dropped his rifle and weut after them at tho host speed. There was a sprint of 100 yards, with the Englishman gaming all the time, and then he caught up with the last of the enemy, flung his arms about , him, and brought him down. . One may pay a tribute of admiration to the pluck of the men who crossed the icy waters of the stream, which comes straight down from . the mountain snows. They waded about until at last they found the fords. The tallest and strongest men had to be chosen for the work, and even they >;?ore swept off their feot again and again by the strong current. So bitterly cold was it that a man' 6 hand would be covered with ico a few minutes after he took it out of the water. Their drenched clothes froze stiff as a board, and oven when tho patrol got home to its own lines there was no fire to warm them back to life, for-the smoke might have attracted shelling from the enemy beyond the river, let in this Arctic river the men would wade about chest deep for three midnight hours on end.