THREADING THE GERMAN LINES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 285, 21 August 1918, Page 8

THREADING THE GERMAN LINES

GUARDSMEN'S DARING ESCAPE. Private Street, of the Grenadier Guards, son of the Rev. S. Street, of Langley, near Macclesfield, recently returned to England from Erance, after having escaped as a prisoner of war from behind the German lines. He was captured on April 13. With other prisoners ho was employed within the lire zone, chiefly upon road-making, but ho also hod to help in the filing of a munition dump. Tho night of Monday, May 13, was dark, with very heavy rain, which was driving againest the entry of the "billet" in which Private Street was oonfined. The sentry, to s,et shelter, wont to the back of the building. Street and a man in (he Coldstream Guards seized tho opportunity to escape, and began a bold and fortunate attempt to get back through the German lines. The first night they reached the German reserve line. They stumbled into a party of Germans, but avoided detection by lying down among the sleeping soldiers. Creeping out a little later, they found a patch of marsny ground, unfit for men to be billeted on, which made a gap in the line. Wading here waist-deep in water, they -reached tho other side of the fesorve line,'and hid all tho next day in a irreat shell crater. They could hear the Germans tnlkinfr behind them, and there was a field battery in action on either side of them. At night thoy crawled out and reached tho support lines. They happened to striko a part of the line which, having been much cut up by gunfire, had rot a continuous trench. They slipped between two posts. When thoy were getting through the wire the Germans scorned to hear them, sent up a lot of lights, and turned on the machine-ipns. Prt?«ito Street got a bullet through his coat which pierced a collection of letters and photographs in his breast pocket; but both men escaped unhurt. Early on the Wednesday morning, crossing No Man's Land, they fell in unobserved with a"party of men out wiring. Not knowing whether tho men wcro friends or foes, but believing them to bo British, tho escaped prisoners followed them bock to their post. The two men reached the post unobserved, but when they revealed themselves they had the narrowest squeak of the whole adventure. For the sentry fired his rifle on them, without hitting them, and was only prevented from using his bayonet by Street jumping upon. him! Private Street has been able 10/ give eomo information to the War Office, And he has been granted two months' leave.