THE VALUE OF TAKING COVER.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 129, 3 February 1915, Page 7

THE VALUE OF TAKING COVER.

There are positions which can only be approached over open and uninterrupted ground, and there are many who fall to understand how, under such trying Conditions-, infantrymen are able to-find any use for their sidearms. Rut it is wonderful what useful cover may be obtained by the utilisation even of the slightest fold in the ground, and though this is not likely to be of much service when the assailants arc being subjected to shrapnel against rifle fire it is often of th ehilg'hest value, not only saving the men from the enmy’s bullets, but often tending to delude the defendants as to- the extent of the assault. Even amongst short grass or shrubbery it is truly surprising how hard it is sometimes to catch a glimpse of the skirmishers as they slowly work their way towards the position to be attacked. FRESH FOR THE FINAL RUSH.

Another point in which, the bayonet charge i:f t'jf da|' /differs materially from that of an earlier era is that the men, when they at last draw sufficient, ly close to engage the enemy hand to hand, instead of being worn out with the violent exertion inseparable from the prolonged skirmishing movements which precede the final assault, at the present day the troops come to grips with the enemy in a comparatively fresh condition, so often are the assaulting parties given the opportunity of a few moments’ rest in moving from one point to another. Thus it is not with men almost fainting with fatigue that the Germans have to deal when the British charge them with cold steel; but with men fully prepared for the encounter and frantically eager to get to the business in hand

The counterattacks which the Germans have coca;’"orally launched against the Allies have been mild indeed compared to the terrible charge of the British. Until the present war, of c >nrse, the people of Germany have always regarded the Briiish forces with undisguised contempt, but recent ex’odcnces havf* taught them that they cannot effect to deephe the British bayonet, which they oread, curse, ari l abhor.