BRILLIANT EXPLOIT

Marlborough Express, Volume L, Issue 83, 7 April 1916, Page 6

BRILLIANT EXPLOIT

GERMAN TRENCH CLEAREB AT

DEAD OF NIGHT

DEADLY WORK WITH STRANGE

WEAPONS.

British. Headquarters, France, February 1. A party of officers and men "somewhere in France" are satisfied at last. The- monotony of trench warfare was Lcginumg u> pall upon their own particular ideas of "getting on with it." And >;o wh<?n they were specially picked io undertake a raiding expedition of extreme peril, they were, in the language •of a distinguished officer, who actually saw them start upon their tlirilling adventure, "as plaa.sed as a bunch of dogs -with, two tails.''

"lhe affair has been recorded, with characteristic brevity, in an official communique. Tt is therein stated that trenches about the KemmelWytseheete Road -were"attacked,--'that thc\ enen.y suffered 40 casualties, that, throe prisoners were taken, and t\vt> TOac-hUKHjuns wore destroyed.

It happentHl-during the dead of; a very ..dark- and nusiy night.'. The millers would havo chosen^ a wild Av?nd and a slashing rain, something to* Jseopt the Roches' crojichinp; in their diTOigKDiiits^ tat it was good enough.

'IHE SENTRY'S; COUGH

A space between the opposing troiichssj. averaging "about' 160 yards m width,- had to be crossed without detection, for detection here would have spelt annihilation for the whole party. Barbed wire entanglements which represented the-.work of months had he .silently got through. How this was ;ill managed lot the Germ.-ins find out—if thi?y can. The iaiders tell of a sontry with a nasty cough, who continually ciiine'nearer to choking himself in' his efforts to sup•i.ress his paroxysms when his instinct .warned him that something was astiroat in the silent blackness. An unseen bayonet thrust cured the poewrWretch..

The roomy front line trenches yr&re full t/f shadowy figures, when with a marvelous unanimity the invaders loo;ned over ihe parapet and -bombs flashed crimson death io right and left. Amid the squealing confusion the invaders did their -work with grim promptitude. Having emptied his revolver point blank, one- officer snatched up a German's rifle and either bayoneted or clubbed half' a score of foes Men came tumbling out of d»g-onts, bawling in panic, .with blankets wrapped round them. In several cases before they could get clear, bombs wei^e bursting in the interiors of these dug-outs.

THE TWO-POUND HAMMER

Some of the .inssailants showed a weird taste in weapons. One . had expreKstx I.' a particular desire to Iboeouie poaps^d of v •t\vciipoiui4

hammer before starting, and as cpfl^ oessioii was the order oi: che day towards men thus taking their live* in their hands, his request • was gratified. When asked why ho wanted this hammer, he explained that in the cmir.se of Ms regular busiao.is at home ke had handled a twopound hammer also daily, for years,' und that somehow he felt that he» could do bettev with it; than anything else lie could think of.

The whole fierce affair' only lastorJ a few minutes,- the assailants bein«c recalled by pre-arranged signal, and withdrawn as if on parade. Th« German trenclnnen- swarmed aroiimG irro of -their nsiuchine-guns and trained these upon; the invaders,-.only' to discover that tfsey had becn-'hop©*-lessly crippled Wild rifle fire, broke out .-ill .-tlong the enemy front.- 33nfc vim only casualties which befel thegallant party were caused by the devotion of a couple- «£ men who were assisting a wounded" comrade o\vr the* parapet. •

Scarcely woi-o the-.witicrs \voM clear of the .trench, whicdr now began U>> Maze with Hares a.n<J colored signal lights, and was paclceeE with riflwnen seeking revenge, ilhn our. .-M-tillerr r.pened lire The devastation . it caused must have hecst terrible. B«V the slogan of cur armies is that ihty way to Avin the war :"s hy killing Boches, and 'the- exploit*, of the vadorous raiders has called forth a cheer from, .the' Yser to-the .Sonmi'e.— Reuters Special, in Daily News.