In the West.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 22, 26 May 1915, Page 6

In the West.

BATTLE OF RE€*iE.BQURC. Unitid Fbim AMOflrA-rioif.i London, May 25. In a letter a British officer.describes the battle at Rechebourg between the )th and the 17th. The Sussex, Northwnptons, Munsters, and the Black Watch opened the attack, but met a heavy rifle fire totally unexpected. After the bombardment, which equalled that of Neuve Chapel le, the Ministers 'and the Black Watch seized the trenr, dies but shortly afterwards, they were (driven out. Reserves were called 'up <on the 9th for a fresh attack, including the Worcesters,.lnniskilling Fusij§rs, the King's Royal Rifles, and a '"Liverpool regiment. By ten o'clock in pie evening four lines of men were lying ill the open in front of,the breast- | work, with others in the trenches behind. The attackers rose at 11.30 in I pitch darkness, and went forward at a ■ Hjk. They had hardly, started when hi flare came from the German trenIches. The men continued walking. I-Soon there were other flares, and then '• a hail of lead. The men dashed ahead. The King's Rifles and the Liverpool ! soon won a trench and went on to a •second, but the 'Worcester* found the task impossible. The. Inskillings pushled on line after line despite terrible Closes, and won the first trench and 'immediately made for the second, I which was captured. The three sucI cessful regiments joined up at dawn, f : and many heroes in the British tren["ches dining the day shouldered boxes of bombs, bandoliers and' ammunition, |and attempted to dash three hundred : yards to a German trench. Many fell, S but some got across. All the trenches twere subjected to a terrific bombardII nient, in which the wounded suffered I terribly. It was *hip(fla*We*to mTJTO them until dark. The Oxfordshires and Highland Light Infantry pushed : on on Monday, and won more ground. The advance continues. THE PLIGHT OF YPRE.&, Times and Sydney Sun Sebvkjb. London, May 24. • A- Times' correspondent at the BriI tish headquarters gives a gruesome description of the devastation of the Ypres zone, which was riddledy and has *only left roofless houses, broken furniture, a deathly stillness in the streets, and human remains everywhere. A sickening smell of decay ovefcp'owers the scent of spring flowers; jackdaws : are cawing amid the ruins and starlings are rebuilding their nests in tho alter of St. Matin,s Church, which is still draped in black, for the bombardment interrupted a Mass for the dead and the sacristy was full. Vestments and candlesticks are tumbled together, covered with a yellow dust from the explosives. The gnlveyard is a shellcrater from which human bodies protrude.

The correspondent says this is a most highly organised mechanical war,: depending on modern science, and, as a last resort, there is the human fac-| tor in the fighting matt.' Despite artificial aid, the armies are depending on the same qualities which gave victory in the days of the bow-and arrow. He believes that in the human factor we are superior to the enemy.i He-gives an example of a British private asleep in a cellar when Ypres was vacated in November. He awoke and placed eleven townsmen under iron discipline,, and shot looters on sight. Though hifiself inclined to the bottle, he. prevented drunkenness amongst others; He was known a« the.king of Ypres, and his kingship lasted for a week. He was court-martialled, but for maintaining orderliness he was forgiven other delinquencies. DEATH STRUGGLE IN CELLAR. Paris, May 25. Extraordinary details have "'been heard of the taking of Carency, which was captured house by house. In one 'ease thirty-two Frenchmen found twenty Germans with fixed bayonets in a cellar, which atready contained piles of German dead. A death struggle commenced, all fighting like fiends. Sometimes Prussians pretended, to be dead and then drew a knife and attacked and stabbed a Frenchman. A Prussian officer appeared to go mad.. He threw down his revolver, tore off his tunic, and lashed-out with.it, After forty minutes not a German was alive. Most of tlie French were wounded, but twenty-eight were idive.